The newspaper business may be hurting, but Barack Obama — whether he realizes it or not — is doing what he can to help.
The latest paper to cash in on Obama’s popularity is the Boston Herald. According to a newsroom source, the paper has published an ad-free, 32-page color magazine called “Boston Celebrates President Obama,” which will cost $2.99 when it hits newsstands tomorrow. Overseen by city editor Jennifer Miller, the magazine will include contributions by everyone from Keith Lockhart to Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the hosts of NPR’s “Car Talk.”
The Boston Globe, meanwhile, printed 65,000 copies of an eight-page extra on Tuesday afternoon, following Obama’s swearing-in. The Los Angeles Times and several other papers did the same, and those that didn’t printed more copies of today’s paper than usual.
The New York Times is being unusually aggressive. I managed to scarf a couple of copies on Election Day, visions of eventual eBay riches dancing in my head. Yet the Times is still selling copies of that day’s paper, and has now added today’s edition, along with a lapel pin and a photo. So much for the three copies I scored in Danvers Square at 5:30 this morning.
Maybe I should invest in those Obama coins that Montel Williams is pushing? Uh, I think not.
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Adam Gaffin
The Globe wuxtry edition was on sale at the Village Market in Roslindale for $2 today – behind placards announcing the price that the Globe had printed up.
NewsHound
Dan, I wouldn’t recommend loading up on such investments. I think it will be a long time before they have much cash appeal in the secondary market simply because of the huge supply fulfilling all current demand. Between now and then, and still a long time from now, your descendants, like many others, in the most likely scenario, will be frantically transferring “treasures” from the attic to a nearby dumpster and after that has happened in enough descendants’ former homes these special editions will bring a few extra dollars but not likely to match an investment in an equity.I must admit, that through the years I’ve done the same but I remain uncertain of any of its future salvation. So, I shouldn’t discourage you but hope you don’t have your hopes too high, either. Come to think of it, my attic is getting a little towards overload and maybe that oversight will contribute to its rapid demise some day.
Michael Pahre
I once read a story about a collector of memorabilia, such as old newspapers.He said that editions of famous events (such as Wednesday’s newspapers describing Obama’s swearing-in on Tuesday) are generally not worth so much.The problem is that lots of people save the papers from those special days, thereby glutting the market.If you want to make money, he said, you should save newspapers from ordinary days, because very few people do so.Just pile them up in every corner of your house and enjoy the silverfish!