I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
As automakers struggle through a crushing financial downturn, their advertising budgets are being reduced significantly to save capital. Automotive News reports:
Automakers are whacking TV commercials, events and other spending as they urgently cut marketing costs to conserve cash.
“We are looking at a distressed industry,” said Andrew Capone, senior vice president at New York’s NCC, which sells spots on cable TV nationwide.
Fourth-quarter spending is “very weak,” Capone reported. Next year, he predicted, spending cuts could be in double-digit percentages.
The article also notes that the cuts in advertising could harm the companies’ ability to recover from their current malaise:
Massive budget cuts violate traditional marketing wisdom, which holds that advertising during slumps lays the foundation for gains later.
“The brands that don’t keep advertising will be forgotten,” warned Stephanie Brinley, senior manager of product analysis at AutoPacific Inc. in suburban Detroit. “People will not think about you when they do decide to buy.
“The domestics, particularly GM and Ford, have to work on eroding the perception that foreign automakers automatically have better quality and fuel economy,” Brinley said.
Auto industry advertising provides a large portion of ad revenue for TV networks and publications. For the four major broadcast networks, such ads comprise 5-9% of all revenue.
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