South Dakota’s Top Newspapers Circulation

1. Even more of a red flag for the argus is the SF MSA population is 250,000. That being said, I doubt the argus is read by 20% of the adults in our area. Reason number one for poor numbers. Annual price in SF. $468. Annual price in RC. $276. Wonder if Stu brought that up in his weekly put down of anything Rapid City?

2. Yankton Press & Dakotan paper was $157 a year for my mother last year. She actually gets something to read everyday without having to read about Sanford.

3. Proves Argus doesn’t know their market. I’d subscibe if they’d print something (anything) about city of Sioux Falls corruption, non-competitive bids, rigged elections, charter dictatorship, half billion in debt, ordinances not allowing citizen appeals into court, police shoot then ask policy, false arrests, etc. etc..

   There’s lots of good material to sell lots of papers. They wear blinders or their heads stay buried in the sand.

4. The Argus is becoming a “fluff” type newspaper more, all the time. It is getting to be more local news instead of state and even more that state national news, which is what I expect from a town this size. I also expect the really important news to be on the front page, which is where it belongs. What is so important about a homeowner that doesn’t have an address for his home? What is so important in the “She” magazine that came with the paper today? I don’t know anybody that can afford to buy anything in it. Oh yes! I think something should be done about the people building a “Super 8” in the McKennan Park area. It sounds like the people building it don’t have both oars in the water, if the are actually planning on letting people in the park come into their home to use bathrooms, etc. The powers that be in the city should have known better than to allow that large of house to be built on that size of lot.

5. Joan

   Newer neighborhoods have covenants (very important).

   Monstrosity on Second Avenue is being built by Sanford physician and her husband.

   Another example of an over-sized house on a small lot was just built at the SW corner of 28th and Phillips Avenues.

   Seems to be the trend in this area of town.

   Wonder if the home at 21st Street and Second Avenue (sale pending) will be demolished and another McMansion will be built there.

   Also, watch what happens across from McKennan Park at 4th Avenue and 26th Street (existing home was just demolished there).

6. Scott, I am glad you brought this to the public’s attention. We need a newspaper in Sioux Falls, and I believe that the good people in our community want a quality publication. I have met with the leadership of the Argus Leader several times concerning the drop in the subscription numbers.
   I suggested that they take the names of the former customers and do an intensive door to door campaign to get them back. Offer them a reasonable rate, do away with the “easy pay” (“Easy rip-off “)payment policy and ask for feed back on what these former customers feel is important in their hometown newspaper.

   There is a huge information disconnect in our community. It would be great if someone would step up and invest in starting another paper. A little competition would be healthy for the media industry. I think people would be on board with it.

7. Oh Oh! Stehly’s involved. If the Argus isn’t paying attention, maybe a petition-like declaration of independence from citizens sent to Gannett in Alexandria VA.

8. Well, why buy what you can read for free online? I know they limit your free articles to a certain number, but if you clear your cookies, you reset the ticker.

9. Also, they upset a bunch of people when they started limiting obits to 3″ for free. After that you pay at least a couple hundred to get a decent tribute to your dearly departed, or at least room for listing all of the survivors, etc.

10. Obit space for the argus is very expensive. Charged by the column inch. If sanford, avera, or mmm were charged the same per inch, we’d read very little about them.

    We dropped the tree killer edition with the last round of rate increases. Talked to a rep on the phone and she said the rate increase was because of the new expanded USA Today inclusion. For me the price was a bit to steep and were it left to me we’d have dropped them altogher, but my spouse needed her daily fix in the morning of coffee and the funny pages. So we compromised on the e-edition. Lot cheaper and a hell of a lot more dependable than the tree killer edition.

    Things I’ve noticed. Their daily polls. For starters, if you wish to participate, harder than hell to find. For another, if you believe there is the slightest bit of accuracy in them then I got some ocean front property in Beresford you might be interested in. A typical poll question on a good day might draw a hundred responses, any more than that, and odds are it has been freeped. Just last week in their eating establishment March madness bracket thingy, there were over 9000 votes cast for one runoff? Bogus…just like any other poll.

    One other thing. Last Sunday I read an article in the USA Today section about the oil industry woes. Tuesday, I read the same damn article in the business section. 48 hours in an age when real news is microseconds away? Uh uh. Ain’t buyin it.

11. Thanks for posting these.

    A couple of weeks ago, I was actually left wondering about the circulation for the Argus Leader after seeing tweets from Corey boasting about the robust vote turnout for his Food Falls restaurant brackets … until he learned that his virtual ballot box had been stuffed!

    Would be pretty funny if not for the fact that he is a digital dignitary for the AL Media empire. Hope they don’t let the digital advertisers in on the secret.

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