Fighting for free newspaper rackspace inside coffeeshops, bars, restaurants, and other merchants is a long-standing practice among publishers of pulp in Madison, ranging from the most lucrative and long-established rags to the most ephemeral underground papers, zines, and poetry sheets. Though many locations feature special tables, shelves, or whatnot for stacking print, many locations also feature coated-wire racks owned by the bigger players, which in Madison mean Isthmus, The Onion, coreweekly, and Wisconsin Sports Weekly.

Use of these racks, particularly the lower shelf, is up to the paper, though the host merchant certainly plays a role as well. In Madison, most of the lower shelves are used by smaller publications focused on niches like music or the UW. Use of these shelves is at the discretion of the racks' owners, who are for the most part open to sharing. Competition for space is fierce, however, particularly in smaller downtown commercial spaces that do not have room for the racks of all four papers. Building circulation is an integral part of this competition, and it is common for print publishers to limit access to other products using their racks. Competition for readers and ads is also fierce between these papers, particularly between The Onion and coreweekly for a youthful demographic, and between Isthmus and coreweekly for classifieds business.

A brief survey of the lower State Street area found that coreweekly is using several racks owned by The Onion, Wisconsin Sports Weekly, and Isthmus, with photos appearing below the fold. Given the competition mentioned above, the size of the corporate parent (Capital Newspapers/Lee Enterprises) of coreweekly, and the experiences of its publisher Catherine Nelson in Pittsburgh three years ago, such cuckoo bird-style distribution raises further questions about the monopoly business model of Capital/Lee.

Launched at the end of last August, coreweekly is approaching one year of publishing. In its first couple months of existence, the paper was regularly distributed into the racks of other Madison newspapers, primarily those owned by Isthmus and The Onion. Later in 2004, though, the paper began to supply its own indoor racks and sidewalk boxes, which continue to get placed in new locations. Currently, copies of coreweekly are primarily distributed in their own racks, though some still appear on the lower shelves of racks owned by other papers.

For the most part, four weeklies own and distribute via indoor racks - Isthmus, The Onion, coreweekly, and Wisconsin Sports Weekly. Niche-oriented publications like Maximum Ink, Rick’s Café or The Madison Observer, which are published on a less frequent than weekly basis, are regularly placed in racks owned by all four weeklies. Though this placement is at the mercy of the rack owners, it is usually in their best interest to share their lower space.

This sharing makes for good PR on the part of the weeklies, but it is primarily in their interest because it helps build readership. Persons who pick up the niche publications on the bottom shelf might also pick up the weekly sitting at top. In other words, sharing space with the small papers probably boosts circulation to a small degree, a necessary component of a publication's drive for readership.

All four weeklies appear to be fairly generous about sharing. Jeffrey Roll, the administrator for coreweekly, explained their policy with regards to other papers using their lower shelves. "We are ok with that, we have a two-tiered rack, and the bottom rack can be used for whatever, like Rick's Café," he said.

When asked about the use of others' racks by coreweekly, Roll said, "that is unacceptable, and we send out regular letters to our drivers telling them to not use Onion and Isthmus racks. However, there are instances where the business owner will take them and place them in there, and that is out of our hands, but that is unacceptable. We do not allow the use of others' racks."

This policy is not adhered to, at least at a number of sites near the campus end of State Street, however.

A brief survey late last week of the neighborhood between the Kohl Center and State found seven locations where coreweekly sitting in three other papers' racks. These locations, with the owner of the rack in parentheses, include Brothers (The Onion), University Square 4 Theaters (The Onion), The Nitty Gritty (Isthmus), Dotty Dumpling's Dowry (The Onion), Ian's Pizza (Wisconsin Sports Weekly), Wando's (Wisconsin Sports Weekly), B-Side (The Onion), and Steep & Brew (The Onion). A stop by the High Noon Saloon this evening found them sitting in an Isthmus rack.

Though this may be due to the actions of the business owners as mentioned by Roll, the density of the squatting, nearly a year after the new weekly's founding, suggests that Capital Newspapers is taking advantage of the generosity of its much-smaller competitors.

All three papers were founded by local entrepreneurs; Isthmus and Wisconsin Sports Weekly are locally-owned, while The Onion is of course a locally-founded rag gone national. All three are dwarfed by the ~$115 million per year annual revenue (circa 2003) of Capital Newspapers, not to mention the now greater than $1.1 billion per year annual revenue of Capital's primary owner, Lee Enterprises.

Most often squatted are The Onion racks, which is very successful among the college-age and twenty-something demographic targeted by coreweekly. According to Christine Carlson, who is the office manager for The Onion in Madison, they have not been paying close attention to use of their rackspace by other publications. When asked about use of their racks by a coreweekly, she said, "as far as I know, it might be an issue, but I haven't heard if it is a problem," adding that they haven't had any complaints. Carlson also noted that her paper and Isthmus share rackspace, with each using the other's bottom shelf variously.

Wisconsin Sports Weekly, published by a marketing firm based in Verona, was also founded in 2004, and is a much smaller publication than the others with a weekly print run of ten thousand copies. Jay Brazeau, the paper's president, said "we don't have any official policy" with regards to other papers using their racks, excepting an agreement with Isthmus to share space. He said, "they've been very good with us, and said if there's space available, we can use it and we would reciprocate with them. It's worked well." Brazeau also noted that he has "never been in touch with anybody from coreweekly, and they've never contacted us about using ours," referring to their bright red racks.

Unlike The Onion and Wisconsin Sports Weekly, Isthmus does have a specific policy with regards to other papers in their racks. According to Tom Dehlinger, who is the circulation manager for Isthmus, the weekly does "allow other publications to use that space" in "open markets," which are non-major grocery store racks. "It's kind of a free for all, and we count on those papers using our lower shelves to practice a little etiquette," he said.

Dehlinger also explained their policy with regards to coreweekly, which was described last summer by its publisher as "an alternative to the alternative" (i.e., Isthmus). "We have specifically asked coreweekly not to use our racks. Because they're financed by the big pocketbook on Fish Hatchery Road, they should be able to provide their own racking. We have no agreement with coreweekly, and I have specifically asked them not to use our racks," Dehlinger said. This request looks to be mostly though not completely respected, at least as evidenced in this sample.

Though coreweekly is nearly a year old, the big newspaper chain conceived and financed publication continues to build its business in part with an unrequested helping hand from its competitors. Moreover, the publisher of coreweekly, Catherine Nelson, was criticized for this Cuculidae-style of circulation three years ago at her previous paper.

Besides working as an associate publisher of the Shepherd-Express in Milwaukee, (from which she was let go from in April), Nelson was previously publisher of Pulp. This weekly was based in Pittsburgh, and founded in early 2002 by the Indiana Printing and Publishing Co., Inc. (also publisher of a small daily in Indiana County, PA). Previous to this launch, she was publisher of In Pittsburgh, another weekly which was purchased and shuttered in the fall of 2001 by Steel City Media, owner of the Pittsburgh City Paper, the largest circulation weekly in that market.

According to an April 9, 2002 report published by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN), the Pittsburgh City Paper, "obtained a court injunction ordering the new weekly Pulp not to place its papers in City Paper racks, but the judge wants the two sides to settle their other disputes without his having to rule again."

As quoted in the AAN article, Nelson claimed that the City Paper was "attempting to stop us from distributing, period," offered to honor requests from the City Paper to stop using their racks (and honor exclusive distribution agreements), and expressed frustration over the issue, saying it "is a phone call, not a lawsuit."

The Pittsburgh City Paper was a member of AAN, while Pulp was not, explaining the trade association's interest in and perspective on the issue.

Pulp "went dark" (according to Nelson) in June 2004, only weeks before the launching of coreweekly, and at the same time somebody at Capital Newspapers was soliciting applications for the new paper under the nom de guerre of Elizabeth Grugan.

The business model of coreweekly has been criticized here due to the ongoing ownership concentration of print and broadcast media, and the effects of this on American democracy and culture. It was founded with the intent of cultivating a youthful ad demographic in the Madison market, and is owned by the seventh largest newspaper chain in the nation by circulation (and fourth largest by number of papers owned), one that is among the most profitable companies in its industry.

coreweekly has as much right and opportunity as any other publication to compete for distribution space. Their policy allowing other publications to use their racks' lower shelves is commendable, in as much this practice is the status quo in the city. Furthermore, it is quite possible that some coreweekly racks are used variously by its primary competitors, Isthmus and The Onion, which is inappropriate. It might also be that The Onion and Wisconsin Sports Weekly are open to sharing their racks with coreweekly, which is their prerogative.

Despite these possibilities, however, the fact that the chain weekly continues to build its circulation via its much-smaller competitors' racks is inappropriate, and reinforces points made here and elsewhere about the strategy of monopoly pursued by Capital Newspapers and Lee Enterprises.

The pictures below are at University Square 4 Theaters (photographed on June 26), and at Wando's, Brothers, The Nitty Gritty, Dotty Dumpling's Dowry, Ian's Pizza, Steep & Brew, and B-Side (all photographed on July 7). The bottom picture was taken today at the High Noon Saloon.