With a circulation of 4,500 paid print and 285 e-edition behind a pay wall, The Baker County Press weekly in north Florida operates with a small staff. Even so, Jessica Prevatt, the advertising and production manager, reports it’s been “easy” to find and keep the three sponsors for Kid Scoop.
“We zeroed in on those who didn’t advertise much and pitched having them become education partners with us. They’ve continued on six-month contracts. This covers the costs of content and extras, too,” Prevatt explained.
“It’s a great way to get started with youth content.” The Baker County Press has published Kid Scoop for nearly three years. “We have limited time, so it’s manageable for us.”
“Kid Scoop is easy to manage because it’s turn-key. Sometimes we use the tabloid-size Kid Scoop. We like the options to use color or gray scale, and it all comes to us ready to drop in. We also deliver to four classrooms and two of them participate in the Writing Corner.”
Prevatt has created a Community page in the paper that includes the half-page Kid Scoop edition along with a local history column and writing contributed by young children. “All we had to do was show Kid Scoop to the Superintendent of Schools, and she recognized the educational value immediately,” Prevatt explained. “She contacted the schools and gave us the names of all the kindergarten through sixth-grade teachers, so we could set up the deliveries easily.
“Kid Scoop gives us the weekly theme for the children to write about. We publish the children’s writing, and the parents love seeing their child’s writing published! Again, Kid Scoop provides a template so it’s easy to just drop the submissions into our Community page,” she said. The Baker County Press has a market penetration of 70%.
The writer of this article is Ellen Creane. She is a freelance reporter for newspapers, an ESL college instructor, a former NIE manager at three newspapers and a marketing communications professional. To reach her for your project, email ellencreane@gmail.com. Also see her LinkedIn profile.
