Abused Sled Dogs

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Oh, I was so compelled to post my comments at BozemanTalks.com. I don't know why. It is almost like someone is inserting thoughts into my brain--not unlike a subliminal ad which is inserted right in the middle of a TV show, or maybe a NEWSPAPER STORY!

Chronicle, if you want to advertise your site in your newspaper, go for it. But I am disgusted that you use your NEWS platform and the news story itself to advertise. It distracts from the news, and is invasive to those of us who would like to read NEWS.

To those of you who say "Hey, it's their paper, they can do what they want with it!" I say, just because they have the ability doesn't mean it's right. I also say I have the ability to cancel my subscription.

We are [Go shopping downtown!] inundated with advertising on a [Eat at Joe's!] daily basis, even when [Support local business] we PAY for a service, such [Elect the lesser evil for President!] as a movie, an [Post a nasty reply to this message!] automobile, or a newspaper.

I have no problem with advertising in a newspaper. I DO have a problem with advertising being inserted right in the middle of a story, with the intent to USE the news story to incite me perform in a way that benefits the Chronicle.
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tags: Abusive, Annoying, Intrusive, Overpowering, Advertising + add tags
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location: Bozeman, M.t.
posted on Thu, May 15, 2008 09:59 AM
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Thank you for your feedback byPooterman1 month ago (0 votes) (report abuse) (reply)
bcmontana: We appreciate feed back and want to make BozemanTalks more enjoyable. I am sorry you are so unhappy with how we encourage our readers to post their thoughts on what they read. I would however like to put this into perspective:

Today's story width is 5 columns, takes up about 11" of the paper and is aprox. 4" high. The sub-header is about 4" wide and about 3/4" high and sits under the header but not inside any of the story paragraphs. Right next to the sub-header is a little 2" wide by "less" than 1/2" high logo encouraging our readers to post their thoughts on BozemanTalks. Like the sub-header it too is not inserted into the actual story paragraphs.

It's not likley that we are going to stop encouraging our readers to post their thoughts on BozemanTalks, but if you have a positive suggestion on how we might do so differantly (besides don't do it), I will be happy to share it with management.

-Thank you
Positive suggestion bybcmontana1 month ago (0 votes) (report abuse)
I see, only positive suggestions will be shared with management--not valid criticism. Okay, here are my positive suggestions: Advertise the site in a responsible manner, and with some catchy graphics or tag line that will encourage readers to visit the site. Then, once on the site, keep your visitors here by making the site easy to read, and organizing the content better. The poor organization of the site and the software has already been hashed out elsewhere.

It doesn't matter the dimensions of the advertisement inserted into a news story. What matters is that the ad was INSIDE a NEWS story. The Bozeman Chronicle is USING hard news to further their own cause. That is offensive.

As for me, I'm done supporting this site (I can faintly hear the cheers...) Whether or not I keep my paid newspaper subscription depends on the actions of the Chronicle in the coming days.