Car column possible?

April 16, 2009 10:19 PM

What resources are there for getting a car column into a local paper.

This question isn't so much about me as it is for my father. He works in the auto industry as a service manager at a local dealership. He came to me today asking about starting a web page which would answer individual car questions, debunking myths, etc. After discussing many options we came to a conclusion that what our local paper needed was a column that dealt with just this issue. It would be similar to an "Ask Amy" column but for cars, kind of like Click and Clack (If you listen to NPR). My questions are:

1) Is this realistic?

2) How should he prepare a proposal to submit to our local paper?

3) Are there any resources which provide information on starting your own column?

We live in a town with about 100,000 residents, most of which commute to the nearby city central.

posted by Groovytimes to media & arts (6 comments total)

It's plenty realistic. I used to work for a small community newspaper. Our publisher would have definitely considered something like this, as it would have given him content for an auto section (or page, depending) which he could sell ads around to local dealerships.

The big question is, what does your father expect in payment? When I worked for the local paper, many ads were placed on barter. Maybe he could work out a deal for a small ad for his dealership in exchange for writing the column -- that would be easier on the publisher than paying out for it.

He might look into writing up a sample, that would probably make the local paper very enthusiastic about it. Local papers are very interested in content from folks in the community.

The newspaper industry is a pretty floundering one, every page of content needs to have sold ads to justify it in order to keep it from becoming a losing proposition, so keep that in mind! Might be difficult right now since I'm sure many local dealerships don't have deep pockets with which to buy ads... but it's certainly worth a proposal!
posted by pazazygeek at 10:38 PM on April 16

I actually like his original idea better: he could start it as a web site, get Google Ads revenue, and have a whole bunch of established content and readership to bring to the paper if at any point he wanted to start selling content to them.
posted by XMLicious at 11:34 PM on April 16

Tom & Ray's show (and syndicated newspaper column) is less about the car industry than it is about two guys laughing at each other's jokes. It's entertainment.

A proposal would include a summary of your father's auto industry expertise/background, samples of his published writing style, and one or more fully developed sample columns the editors can consider.

If you can find a spin on talking about cars, then you'll have a better chance than others who would like to start a car column.

And I'll bet the Hivemind can help you come up with a better name than 'Car Talk'.
posted by artdrectr at 11:51 PM on April 16

I can really only answer your first question. From a strictly business standpoint, it's possible, but not likely. Of course it depends on the paper you're talking about but most of them are making cuts and reducing their editorial content and instituting hiring freezes. Also realize that the problems in the auto industry are affecting newspapers, too--auto classifieds have gone way down, affecting ad revenue. Publishers may not be sold on a column about cars when they see the numbers every day that cars aren't a big revenue stream in the paper anymore.

But exceptions can always be made. Good luck.
posted by girlmightlive at 5:01 AM on April 17

I thought I'd try to address your other questions.

First, your father needs to be a great writer. I would try to expand on the "Q&A about cars" idea because, honestly, it's been done. Can he find a way to make it very local or unique to your community?

I like XMLicious' idea in this particular scenario. Newspapers are all about hits on their websites and if your dad can create a site that gets lots of hits, he may have an in for a column.
posted by girlmightlive at 5:19 AM on April 17

I work at a newspaper. I'd tell him to take his proposal to an advertiser first and see if said advertiser would agree to sponsor his column. Walk in the newspaper's door with a column backed by his expertise and an agreement from and advertiser and you're on your way to getting your column in the paper. And remember, while most newspaper content is judged and inserted by the Editorial staff, there is some judged and inserted by the Ad Managers. This is called 'Advertorial' and happens all the time. Happy hunting.
posted by lpsguy at 6:34 AM on April 17