By now most Bonneville County residents have received their March 1 issue of the new weekly newspaper, River City Weekly. This was the inaugural issue, if you don’t count the test issue they sent to a few homes early in February. All pages are available in PDF format on their website rivercityweekly.com
What do you think of the new River City Weekly?
This issue contained 24 pages, has many traditional newspaper features, color photos and graphics, looks professional, and has as much advertising per page as the Post Register. They do not have an awesome graphical artist like the PR’s Steve Fischbach, but I would like to see them focus early on quality news reports rather than pretty graphics.
Substance is more important than style, in my opinion. I’m not saying at all that the PR is deficient in either, they do a great job with their product. If a new weekly newspaper has to focus on priorities, I hope they prioritize quality news reports higher than pretty graphics.
There is speculation that Frank Vandersloot either owns River City Weekly or provided significant financial backing. I mentioned that Frank’s fledgling news organization (unspecified if it encompassed a newspaper) was hiring reporters several weeks ago. There is the thin word relationship between River City weekly and Riverbend Communications. River City Weekly’s editor Melody Forshee has commented on IFz about their new venture, hopefully she can shed light on that detail.
I think it is healthy for our community to have at least two printed news sources. Both will work that much harder to keep their products top-notch, and we citizens will benefit. Our area is growing and hopefully can now support to successful printed news organizations.
On the other hand, other city newspapers have launched over time, and all have failed. Does anyone know the specific workings of those past newspapers? What mistakes did they make that the River City Weekly would be wise to avoid repeating?
What do you think?
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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{ 121 comments… read them below or add one }
If a front page story about high school super fans is the best they can come up with on thier maiden voyage, then this ship is sunk before it leaves the harbor. The River City Weekly might compete with the Big Nickel, the Post Register has nothing to worry about.
I had that same thought as I browsed through it today. Superfans??? Page 1??? There really wasn’t much more depth to any of the other articles either.
There are real and substantial issues to cover in this community so a lack of news can not be an excuse.
The design was decent, but not spectacular. Same with the photography.
However, if they keep the same volume of advertisement, they will more than likely do just fine regardless of substance.
I personally was not impressed with this issue. I would like to see a lot of local news in this publication. It seemed there was more feature writing and really not a lot of news.
The graphics were okay, but could use some improvement. I see them only being around six months or so.
Some one mentioned the paper didn’t have a lot of new. Well, I don’t think we’ll be seeing any investigative reporting coming from the River City Weekly. They call themselves an “independent feature newspaper.” BUT, I will admit the lead story of this second issue is weak. It’s personable, but nothing to make me want to keep reading.
I didn’t get the impression that the River City Weekly was representing itself as a news publication, or in any way a direct competitor to the Post Register.
A weekly, feature-based, newsprint publication in Idaho Falls is a one-of-a-kind. As in, it has no real competition, other than for advertising dollars. Just another niché that had yet to be filled.
The idea, in general is a good one, and their execution is above average. The content is light-duty fare, and the design is typical, but not entirely bland. All of which, however, are consistent with its audience.
It’s really too soon to tell how long they’ll be around.
I find it cruelly ironic that so many among us proudly support local business ventures, yet as soon as one starts up, it is welcomed with predictions about when it will go under.
I liked it. It was short, sweet and to the point. It didn’t give you all of the news like the post Register does, but that wasn’t its intent. I like it because if took me 20 minutes to read and I didn’t have to sit down for 2 hours like with the PR and thumb through what was worth my time and what wasn’t.
Maybe it IS Frank V’s and he just didn’t want anyone to know, for fear of it failing right out of the gate!
Oh well…I hope it succeeds nevertheless.
I appreciate the comments. I didn’t realize that this was designed to be a feature newspaper.
I believe I’ll simply watch each issue and make a better judgement then.
Considering the fact that Frank isn’t listed as one of the Managing Members of River City Weekly with the Secretary of State I highly doubt that he is directly involved with the paper.
I thought it was a good little paper. I thought the stories were interesting and did appreciate the fact that they included the obituaries as well.
If he were only an investor but not involved in management, would he have been listed?
I wonder if “individuals” could submit articles such as restaurant review or sporting event coverage. This could help them with writing about the local “news”.
Joe, River City Weekly is an LLC as opposed to a corporation with “investors” or “shareholders” so to answer your question, no, because there aren’t any for an LLC.
You have a good point, Roxy. They could have still accepted seed money though, couldn’t they have?
Maybe they’re not bankrolled by Frank, I don’t know. I’m surprised to not hear from Melody about it since she posted a few comments here promoting their newspaper.
Maybe someday we’ll know for sure.
Hello again, this is Melody from River City Weekly. I just checked back in to find all of the speculation about the new paper. I was busy getting the next issue out (yep, there’s yet more soft news on page 1 this week) and not keeping my eye on this website to quell the rumors. And to end the speculation – no, Joe, Mr. V isn’t an investor. At the moment neither is anyone else. We’re supported by advertising revenue and my own pocketbook. We’re not “news” based as someone finally noted – we’re a feature, community newspaper. My background – and degree and graduate study – are all in journalism so I understand news reporting. I watch and read local, national and international news almost compulsively. My son is a Marine stationed in Iraq; I monitor news constantly. But hard news is not the point of River City Weekly – there are plenty of “news” outlets in this town. It’s not our purpose to compete with the PR, either, even though their advertising staff, at least, were initially more than curious (I shared the story before about their ad rep coming into my office claiming to be a graduate student in search of communications data, to get a copy of our rate card). While some commenters on this site may not care for feature writing, our supporters in the community have come out of the woodwork – I’ve had hundreds of phone calls and emails from enthusiastic community members in the last month, every single one taking the time to let us know they’re pleased with our effort. We’ve been inundated with story ideas, resumes, and potential advertisers calling us, wanting to be part of this new publication. We’ve also had hundreds of hits on our website, and over 400 visitors have downloaded our rate cards and classifed order forms in just the last week. We must be doing something right.
Awesome Melody, thanks for clearing that up. Hope you do well in your niche, it sounds like you have a great idea there.
I missed last week’s issue, but I will be sure to check it out in the coming week
Sounds as if Melody has something really neat going here. I look forward to more and more issues of the newspaper.
I’m glad Melody visited again. I think there will be a niche for River City Weekly (RCW). Actually, Melody may inspire others to open weeklies, monthlies, quarterly papers etc. Certainly, the population in the area has grown so much that there is a wide diversity of interests (I wish someone would do a specialized sports paper).
Hundreds of supportive phone calls speak to the growth of the area. I for one see that as good. And advertisers – marvelous that there is another opportunity for local businesses to market local goods and services. I only see RCW as adding to keep the local economy stronger. Good for everyone. I hope your staff is well paid.
Melody, I have a story idea. How about talking to ISU and asking why tuition is so expensive for classes in Idaho Falls? Additionally, why aren’t more and different classes being offered in Idaho Falls when the need is there?
With ISU’s enrollment dropping overall, it seems to me that ISU should be thrilled to have additional student population and classes in Idaho Falls.
I find it a little odd that ISU is quick to reap the benefits and international recognization they are receiving for the ISU- I.F. Campus (CAES) venture (the one INL landed). I also know others who post here, share my view.
You may not consider the issues of the high price of higher education and the limited classes in Idaho Falls not appropriate criteria for a feature. However, I know a lot of students with high tuition bills would find it one of the most interesting features your weekly could write.
Of course, that depends on the demographic market you are trying to reach, whether you perceive those issues as relevant.
BTW, Melody, I can’t contact you directly on your website, which is why I’m writing this here. Given your requirements for folks to register and give their verifible phone number -it isn’t an option for me.
Maybe you’ve never had an employer in your career of journalism require the strict confidentiality I am required to follow, but there are many employees and private contractors who cannot participate on your website with their real names and “verifiable phone number.”
I respect what your requirements are for users. Since you are bank rolling the weekly (if I understood your post correctly), I’m just offering some feedback on IdahoFallz.Com, a site many of us find so popular and useful.
We are allowed to use consistant usernames here, since Joe launched this site in Oct, 2005 I believe. That allows us to not violate terms of our employment or contracts, yet be involved in our community.
In a future publication, I hope you’ll explain how you got enough venture capital to print the trial issue let alone subsequent the weekly news. The cost of postage alone must be staggering – I can only guess! I also hope you’ll introduce us to your board members.
I appreciate your sacrifice as a mother, waiting and wondering every day about your son in Iraq. I send my very best wishes for his safety, as well as all the military members serving their country and us. As you may have discovered visiting this website, other users have family there too.
I look forward to your next installment on IdahoFallz.Com to explain to us more about how RCW works. I do believe transparency in any news organizations is needed.
I’m so grateful Joe possessed the knowledge, skills, internal desire and patience to develop this site to get Idaho Falls residents talking (actually, area residents). I sincerely hope your new venture can add to the Internet sites offering discussions about the Idaho Falls area.
Also, I hope someday, as another feature, you’ll cover
IdahoFallz.Com as the original website that started so many of us sharing our ideas to better our area.
I’m glad everything has worked so well with your venture to this point. I wish you all the best.
I like the last 4 posts after Melody said what she did. Like everyone else, I hope she finds her niche and does well with that subgroup of the local population.
It’s nice we can see what we can see online. Not all of us can afford the Post Register so I’m really asking you please to write a feature story about the high costs of ISU and how little they are offering in Idaho Falls compared to what they should, given the population.
Ok4Now has brought up 2 really important topics of how much college costs now, and why there aren’t more classes in Idaho Falls.
Melody I’m another student who is “Going Broke” trying to pay for it all. Between the costs of ISU’s tuition always rising, the horribly expensive textbooks and trying to work enough to support my family, I can’t register for some classes in Pocatello. Have you ever added up how many hours it is, even on the bus, to commute back and forth sometimes for just one class? I could be working to support my family and even take a nightclass 5 nights/week and be better off financially, and closer to my degree.
This sounds like an appropriate feature for your magazine – looking at the costs of education. If you write about it, please ask what many of us wonder? Why can’t more classes be offered in Idaho Falls? ISU offers more degrees, and many more different classes in Boise than they do in Idaho Falls. That seems wrong, given the universities in Boise, compared to what we have in the eastern part of the state.
I know students who barely made it into a basic English class locally because there were so many who needed the class. There are lots of students who have done their basic requirements and now need upper divison classes. But ISU won’t ofer those classes in Idaho Falls. Why?
The state isn’t listening to us. But maybe ISU will have to answer your newspaper honestly. I hope so!!!!! I’m about ready to see if my credits could go farther at U. of I., or how much it would cost to even finish my degree through BYU-I.
Not all of us can afford the Post Register on tight budgets, so I’m really hoping you will write a feature story about these problems with ISU. It may be an education feature for you, but it’s our reality and lives, for many of us.
Thank you.
I’ve always wondered why SO many people in this particular state have it all backwards! Why not go to school FIRST and get your degree, get a good job/career and THEN have a family? I’ve lived in a number of states all over the country and that’s how most people do it. Not here though….it’s all about getting a girl pregnant in or right out of high school, having 4 or 5 kids and THEN they decide they need a better education to support them all. This is a strange phenomenon I must say!
And they wonder why they can’t afford to buy a newspaper! Makes no sense to me.
Homeslice, are you a native…? and if not; then consider this…
Perhaps due to the influx of population with more and more folks moving into our state that it might be difficult to determine just how many people living here are natives and are doing the ‘backwards’ way in your opinion, of starting families and going to school…
perhaps, for argument’s sake, those folks doing things ‘backwards’ are transplants…moved here to go to school after they had begun family life… and yet, it is still admirable that they do want to go to school and get a better education, to better their lives, maybe the opportunity to go to school is different these days, and maybe the way things are done these days are just ‘backwards’ in every aspect of life… maybe the ‘backward’ is now the ‘forward’…
Thanks for all of the comments about River City Weekly. Just a quick note to those who want to communicate directly with the paper or get your questions answered more quickly – you can write to us at info@ at and then the domain name, rivercityweekly.com. I am getting a huge volume of email, so please be patient – if you have a question or a story idea I will get back to you, it just might take a bit. You can also send regular mail to our street address or send a fax – all of that is also on the website. Thanks again for taking the time to write.
No, I’m not a native and I didn’t mean my comment to offend in any way. I just think its odd the SO many people in this state and surrounding states, choose to get married and have 4-5 children before they’ve even finished school.
I mean…what is the big hurry? Maybe I’m old fashioned but it was always best (in my day at least) to get an education and find a great job/career/start your own business or whatever, BEFORE having such a large family. This way you’ll actually be able to supoprt them without having to struggle so much.
Maybe its the huge Mormon influence that surrounds this area, but even with that being said, why is it that Mormons push people to have such large familys?
This question goes out to the men: Surely if you have found a woman who’s in love with you and accepts you for YOU, then she will wait a few years for you to finish school before wanting to have such a large family. Why would she rush you into having 4-5 kids when you both know it will be a struggle to support them all?
Perhaps the backwards is the new fowards these days….at least in this area. But it just makes better since for a man and/or couple to be able to support a large family, before actually having one. (in my opinion)
There are at least 5 guys at my place of employment that are only in their 1st or 2nd year of college and they’ve got anywhere from 3-5 kids (1 not even in college) To me that’s crazy!
Am I wrong in my thinking here?
Homeslice, I don’t think you are wrong in your thinking about going to college, and it may be less stressful for some to go to college before getting married and starting a family, but what I am curious about is why it bothers you so much if some couples choose to do it differently than you would.
I was always under the impression that as citizens we have the right to choose, getting married and having kids is one of those choices. It isn’t for everyone, and yes, it would certainly be a struggle for families to help get dad through college, or mom, but it is their choice, and if they cannot afford a newspaper because of that choice then they should keep their personal complaints about that to themselves.
For me, the irritation is all the complaining and moaning about how hard everything is…
whining about not having enough money to buy a newspaper is just that, whining…
Life is fair, simply because life isn’t fair for everyone so that makes life fair…
Oh, it doesn’t bother me one bit if thats how they choose to go about it. I did it my way and have no complaints whatsoever. But I was able to afford TWO newspapers AND a mocha latte each morning while I sat down to breakfast with my 2 kids.
The thing is there are so many of them that complain about it, when it was actually their decision to have 5 kids before an education.
Doesn’t bother me one bit though.
It is nice to see them improving their lives through education though.
I just thought it seemed rather backwards thats all.
Homeslice, it has been a delightful discussion, I always appreciate someone sharing their opinion with truth and valor…
thanks and have a great weekend!
You too!
I get my issue delivered on Fridays.
I liked the features on the volunteer group putting together the soap/shampoo packs, and the story on the Russian food store. I had not heard of either before.
Joe – I’d seen the Russian Food store advertised in the PR. There is a link and the beginning of a web page. I liked the story, though, as I couldn’t quite understand the demographics and who would open it.
That being said, I’m going to buy some goods there (or at least shop for them) to take to a Russian Orthodox Easter Celebration to which I’ve been invited. I use to be SOOOOOOOOOO niave about the Ukraine and cultures from the area.
There are so many things we share in common. I was glad to see the business highlighted and I hope the owner does well so she can move forward with her dream of building a small cafe or restaurant. Many would be surprised how much of our food is variations on the themes of Ukraine food.
Homeslice – I appreciate your comments. I did college the “traditional” way. However, I’m not sure the world is the same today as when I received my Bachelors degree.
I read on MSNBC 12-18 months ago that we use to consider 21-22 as the age when people completed college and should enter the workforce ready to contribute. NOW, that age is 27. Furthermore, the article said many of even the 27 year olds have to move home for a while, due to the staggering costs and getting an adequate job.
I respect your view. I just think there are many different factors that can create situations where students can’t put their education first, regardless of how much s/he would like to do so. One example is illness in a family member where a potential student HAD to support the family instead of having the luxury of higher education at that time. Yet, the student didn’t give up the dream.
Another example is what happened with my dad. He lost his a brother, a sister and his father family all within 5 years of each other. Each of them died from tragic, unrelated accidents, like my aunt scalding to death in a YNP guyser. My father had NO CHOICE but to start supporting his mother and remaining siblings at age 16, given the needs of the others in the family.
My dad didn’t receive the benefits of a college education, but was extremely successful. However, because he was deprived the opportunity to attend college as a first priority, he made sure that all of my siblings and I had the opportunity to get an advanced education.
Another example I can think of, is one spouse gets through college and is working. Having previously agreed that when the first one is working the second spouse receives his/her opportunity to attend college.
I believe in these families there is a tremendous amount of planning. But, the rising cost of tuition is limiting how rapidly the second spouse can obtain a degree, or even the amount of time one can commit toward it.
I’m aware of at least four people who are users here and their stories of why they couldn’t go to college first and are trying to do so now to improve their skills and opportunities for employment. However, those stories are not mine to share. Perhaps some would feel comfortable doing so or maybe not. I think we all can learn from them.
All I ask is to think about the fact that each of us have unique factors in our lives that make us different from others. I, for one, admire adults who obtain a college education when working and trying to raise a family.
Even that view links back to my family. My mother had one year of college at the U. of I before she got married. When I started grade school, as the baby of the family, she started commuting 100 miles a day (by herself as there were no buses or group commmutes at that time) to get most of her credits. Then one summer, she spent the entire summer in another state finishing her upper division courses. Finally, after those 12 weeks away from her family, she graduated from college ready to go back to teaching with her new degree.
As a side note and funny part of my mother’s experience, having taught early in her career without having her Teacher’s Certification (when it wasn’t required), going back to college as a non-traditional student yielded some interesting results.
One profesor in particular was quite dogmatic and less than understanding of students who didn’t understand math the way he did (none were math majors and were just trying to pass to accomplish their goals.). Apparently, the students newly graduated from high school as well as those a bit more experienced in college did not dare ask him questions, as he belittled them and somehow created such an atmosphere of fear, the students thought it was better to just be quiet and pray they would pass the class. However, a few of the more resource ones realized they could ask my mother to ask the questions, thinking this prof would have more empathy for a mother returning for her degree.
The store finishes with my mother “teaching class” one day, when the teacher said the same old words over and over again, when someone asked him to explain, and no one had a better understanding of the concept. Per my mother, whom I trust to have told me the truth, she said to this 30-35 year old prof, “Young man, any teacher worth his salt knows there is more than one way to teach a principle. Maybe it is you who needs to brush up on how you teach instead of telling us what we don’t know how to do.”
Apparently, he was very kind to my mother after that and she got a relatively good grade in his class. I doubt he wanted her to come back for another round.
When I first saw this weekly, I was skeptical. My training is in journamlism, and after being around the ISU Bengal and the Pocatello paper…I was not expecting to be impressed.
I was, however. The layout is very well done – good enough that the rather par-at-best skills of the photographer are masked. The writing is feature style, but it works with their aims.
One of the first things I noticed was that there is no opinion page, which I suspected was not an accident after noting the rest of the style of the paper, and it itself affirmed my suspicions.
It’s nice to have something a little lighter. I think the niche will be comfy.
As to the question of its stability, something that caught my attention is that they appear to have two staff members of a small in-house crew working on advertising…I think this is really wise, and I think it will succeed because of it. If you’re running a paper, and you’re sending it to as many residences as you are…advertising is your bread and butter. It’s what gets the job done. People may not like it, but there is always an opportunity cost. That Melody has a professional, 24 page (that’s impressive, guys, I promise), full-color (also impressive), top-notch layout (waaaaay impressive), with a real staff is just simply fabulous to me. She can run half of that space as ads for all I care, if the quality stays where it needs to be!
Great paper, I applaud.
That is a great question Guest1948.
I think there is a difference between appropriate discussion value and shameless plugs. This is a discussion we are having about a new media outlet in our city.
I consider a shameless plug as a comment thrown in that promotes a business, their products, their website link, and the entire comment had nothing to do with anything else in that discussion thread.
Do you agree or disagree?
Hummmm….. I remember seeing somewhere on this site something about ’shameless plugs’ in terms of ‘advertising’ for a media/type/publication… does that not apply here with this newspaper?
Just asking a question Joe…
Joe, I will ask you, from reading this thread with an open mind, does it promote a specific moneymaking newspaper? It is a business designed to make a profit, right?
What is the definition used here for appropriate discussion and shameless plug?
From what I have been reading on this thread, it clearly promotes/advertises a specific media outlet, for free.
And yet, it seems ok, no one is having a fit over all the free advertising here … and once more I say the newspaper being discussed here is trying to make money. Shameless plug?
The disagreement I have is directed at the inconsistency and discrepancy, I hate to use the phrase ‘choosing favorites’ but it seems to apply here.
After reading post #29 I was uncomfortable, (maybe just too sugary) it is clearly a plug/advertisement for the newspaper.
If I wish to submit an article promoting a business on your site, what would your answer be?
In terms of staying within the intended discussion, sometimes discussions will automatically deviate away from the intended discussion, some of our intelligent minds move out of the box and go on a road that others cannot follow or have trouble following, I have heard it said that some people need to come with subtitles… that is the beauty of intelligence and being human…
Discussions that are healthy and educational… it is all good.
I just had some questions for you Joe, thanks for listening.
Sure, and thanks for bringing this up.
Yeah, comment #29 might be a plant from someone with vested interest, but the beautiful part is that others can call it like they see it, just as you called it too sugary and possibly a blatant advertisement.
It is tricky to balance what is legitimate discussion material against blatant advertising. Another payday loan place opening in IF would not be as interesting as a new media outlet, right? I think context is most important.
If one wanted to write an article about another for-profit business in Idaho Falls, that is up to them. Just be aware that business may have anyone say great or not-so-great things about them in response, right?
An article appearing here would appear more legitimate and less advertisement if they discussed a milestone, a new service, or something they achieved that would be important to the general community.
An article that just promoted this weekend’s upcoming sale would probably be deleted since it would not really have discussion value. Or I might leave it up a few days to let community members express how they do not like that kind of stuff here. The commentary could prove very harmful to the business.
So you see an article on a for-profit business could be valuable to our discussions and essentially free advertising for the business, but it needs to be done carefully so they don’t find themselves neck deep in nasty comments.
Clear as mud? 8^)
In fact, I have considered a few times holding a meeting with local business owners/leaders to discuss how they can strategically and effectively promote themselves on IdahoFallz.com.
I don’t know if any would be interested in discussing that with me though.
Thanks for your response Joe, and you are correct about a for-profit article being open for blasting, just a chance writers and readers take I suppose.
Although the last several posts have been off topic, I wanted to bring up that issue because of the effect the sugary/advertisement had on my perspective.
If you can get businesses willing to meet and discuss a viable strategy for promoting themselves on here that would be interesting, and yet it might create a repellent for viewers. “Not another website built for shameless plugs!”
OK, carry on soldier! I am done with the fussing of the shameless plug stuff! Is it Friday yet???
“Not another website built for shameless plugs!â€
And that is exactly what I want to make sure does NOT happen here. I think the open and anonymous feedback responses keep it honest.
Anyone with similar questions or scenarios?
I got my first copy about a week ago. I thumbed through it, yawned, checked out the “senior living” section to see what I was missing out on, and threw it out.
It’ll make for good fire-starter material in the fireplace of my new house. Whoopie!
See how comments 1-4 and 37 help balance out the sugary positive comments? Any business that gets discussed on IFz is both praised and scowled.
I think it all balances out in the end to people’s honest opinions. I like the honesty.
Yet Jeremy’s comment @37 is clearly slanted. He’s entitled to his opinion, but coming from him, it comes off implicitly as praise for the PR…not-so-cleverly disguised as a sucker punch.
Honest? Yes. But childish, in the context of this discussion.
Oh my goodness, too dang tootin funny there Jeremy…
Perhaps the most entertaining thing about reading and interpreting another writers comments is the individual interpretation or perspective each person gives or gets…
one man’s dream is another man’s nightmare…
reading between the lines gives ample room for diverse intrepretation of the meaning, and sometimes, quite often actually, the intended meaning is not received.
Jeremy and I don’t want to read the new River City Weakly newspaper, and many others do…
What Jeremy and the other posters, who like to bash this paper and any other topic that doesn’t appeal to their young minds, don’t understand is…The River City Weekly isnt trying to replace or even compete with the PR. All its intended to be is light informative reading.
You guys are expecting way to much from a FREE paper.
Where is the bash? Suggesting another use for newspaper as fire-starter is not bashing, just getting some double-dipping use out of the recycled trees.
What is wrong with expecting alot out of reading materials, free or otherwise, if we spend time reading the contents shouldn’t it be worthwhile?
Why put the time into creating something if it isn’t worthwhile? By suggesting that we as readers shouldn’t expect alot out of our reading experience with the River City Weekly, then what is the point in reading it?
I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed in the paper this week although I don’t know if that is truly the fault of RCW. I read the article about the Girl Scout cookies and mentioned it to my husband. Neither of us knows anyone that has a daughter in Girl Scouts and haven’t had the oppurtunity to buy any cookies for several years because of this.
We decided to go to the store on Saturday morning and buy some cookies. We went to Fred Meyer, the Ammon Wal-Mart and Ammon Albertsons on both Saturday and Sunday and alas, no Girl Scouts and no cookies. I don’t know if it was an error in the paper or the girls changed the schedule but it was disappointing.
I was at WalMart (West side) over the weekend and the Girl Scouts were out in full force. They were at Smiths as well. Gotta have my yearly box of thin mints.
An observation I have made this week: A subscription based newspaper would be better than a direct mail newspaper for an advertiser, even if the numbers are considerably different.
Why: As I have seen on the posts here, many who received the direct mail newspaper have trashed their copy and aren’t interested in this piece. The subscription based daily paper is one that people want, or they wouldn’t subscribe.
If I was to advertise my business, I would go with the source that would offer the most interested readers. Quantity doesn’t always mean better results.
NufSaid: I agree with your point, and that is a strength of the PR.
We’ve got to remember though that daily paper subscribers sometimes get overwhelmed and skip a few days, and that people may want the content but will quickly skip over the ads.
Great point. I know I tend to skip the inserts on Sunday and they go right to the trash.
The unique thing about the Post that I have seen, is the ads will run multiple days often, giving better chance of being seen.
I don’t even subscribe to the Post, people. I have zero (I mean zero) affiliation with that company and have no interest in defending it. I still have friends that work there, but that’s about it. I don’t even own stock in the company (from what I understand, it’s employee-owned anyway).
I only read it at work while I’m on break since our company has a subscription. It’s a decent paper for a small town like IF. I enjoy reading it.
The Sun Sentinel & the Miami Herald took all day to read, so its nice to be able to breeze through the Post Register!
I noticed this weeks River City Weekly is only 16 pages. Down eight pages. Does this mean the advertisers aren’t supporting it? It’s got to cost a lot to print and mail out to all of Bonneville County.
Does anyone know what happened to the River City Weekly last week? I didn’t get it at home or at the office. Have they closed their doors? Their web page still has the prior issue with nothing posted about not putting out any more newspapers.
They mentioned something about it on the news last week, stating that they were changing things up a bit. Most homes would still receive them, however they were going to put them on the doorsteps now instead of mailboxes. Also, apartment complexes would get a bundle of them for the leasing office and they would also start putting out stands in like Wal-mart, Albertsons, etc. Kind of like the thrifty nickel or whatever the name of that classified paper is called.
Hope that helps.
I live in a townhouse so I’m wondering if I’ll recieve mine as well.
Thanks a bunch. Wasn’t sure what had happened and must of missed then on the news. It looks as if the cost of postage must of forced them to their alternative.
That’s what I’ve always wondered about, NuSaid, is if RCW could continue the high postage to general delivery.
Well, it will be interesting to see how the next phase goes. I’m not really invested either way, except to see if the paper/website can keep advertisers and how large their circulation is in 6 months.
The person who wrote a nasty comment, after I asked about the postage issues in the chatbox, I hope better understands now, that I realize postage is high. I simply didn’t see how this publication could continue mailing to all, regardless if every page had ads.
That is a lot of postage, or at least it would be for me, if I were footing the bill.
So I just checked the River City Weekly website and it still hasn’t not been updated from the April 19th issue of the paper. I didn’t receive an issue last week and thought it was because of the new home delivery thing but considering the website hasn’t been updated in a couple of weeks I was just wondering if the paper has gone under or what happened.
I hope they continue publishing.
Nothing against any other business, but it was nice to sit once a week and read feature stories that you knew were going to all be pleasant. You know there was not going to be any school shootings, murders, crime, government failings, etc.
It was all feel-good news, and it was nice to enjoy if even for five minutes once a week.
I didn’t receive mine either. Bummer!
The issue that was dated April 19th was delivered to my doorstep, not the mailbox. Inside the issue was an article stating that they were making a transition to carrier delivery. http://www.rivercityweekly.com/paper/041907/RCW0419%20Page%2003.pdf
Yesterday (5/2) I talked to a person who does business with them and asked if they knew what was going on. I was told that the paper told them they needed to take a week off to organize their delivery routes, and they would publish again this week. Since their publication dates have been on Thursdays, maybe there will be a new paper today.
I also like reading a paper that is mostly fluff and good news. I don’t know whether I would pay for it or how much though. I hope that they continue publishing and I’m sure that their content, size, and method of delivery will evolve over time. It would be nice if they had some info on their website so people would know what’s going on instead of rumors and speculation.
I just got the new one and am so happy with this new local! I am pleased IF is growing in so many ways. Now if the PR will just get it’s editorial act together and cover some unbiased and relevant content at some point…
MaeWest. I’m surprised at the tone of comment #59. I read the PR daily and feel there is a lot of editorial content and they do a great job. I feel our daily newspaper feeds our community well and focuses on our community.
In the RCWeekly, I like the features, but feel the memorials (obits) are not necessary.
“Now if the PR will just get it’s editorial act together and cover some unbiased and relevant content at some point…”
I’m surprised to hear this also.
Can you give a specific example of recent biased and relevant content in the PR?
How would you have done that example differently?
I saw an advertising job for RCW advertising on one of the national job search engines this week.
Not sure if that is to replace someone, or to increase staff.
Does anyone know?
Man I’ve given up on the river city weekly. They quit mailing to my house about a month ago, and I’ve never gotten a doorstep delivery despite their assurances they deliver everywhere in my neighborhood. I just don’t look for it when I go out.
Joe,
I received mine today, and every week. I left the house at 12:30pm and when I returned at 9:30pm it was on my doorstep.
dreavill, it sounds like you get yours on Wednesday. Is that the case every week?
After the week they didn’t publish, I’ve received mine every week too. Problem is, sometimes it’s Thursday, sometimes Friday. Sometimes daytime, sometimes nighttime. I never know when to expect it or if it will ever come.
The two weeks after they didn’t publish it showed up Saturday and Friday. Recently, at least the last two weeks, it has arrived on Wednesday afternoon’ish. Looks like they have found a consistant delivery person for my area.
I did receive it this week after saying I never receive it anymore. I need more patience (eeeexcept for those other weeks.)
First of all, the River City Weekly lasts about 90 seconds in our house…and its only real value is that it gives us one more thing to recycle.
Secondly, their blatant—and blind—support of Army Sergeant Evan Vela and his family confirmed my earlier suspicions that they’re not at all interested in objectively reporting the news. At best, the paper is a hobby—a money-making pet project—for its owner, Melody Marler.
Of course, I’m referring to the editorial piece, not the ad that was
givensold to the Vela family.Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he’s guilty—that’s for the courts do decide. Melody and her employees are certainly free to defend their beliefs about the situation in their private lives. But their flagrant endorsement in print reveals a clear lack of journalistic principles.
Are they still in business? I haven’t received one at my house for weeks, maybe even months. I sent them an e-mail and they never replied.
yeah, they are. I always get mine late too. But I’ve seen who delivers mine and it’s no wonder. I get mine from this little old fat woman with three little kids. They usually arrive late in the evening around dusk putting the papers on everyones doorstep. I wish they’d go back to having the post office deliver them. At least they were consistant.
Must be costly though. I don’t see these people making very much to deliver this little publication.
Jerry – That was a mean comment. What does HER size or her family size have to do with the delivery of your paper? She is probably just trying her best to eek out a living. Have some humanity.
I think her size has everything to do with it, being that I continue to get my paper delivered so late in the day. I used to get it by 2 in the afternoon, now since she started delivering it, its usually dark by the time they come around..
Don’t be so sensitive. Sure it’s a sad fact that over 75% of Americans are obese. Not just overweight, but OBESE. And it’s nobody’s fault but their own. Don’t you agree? Too many people don’t want to talk about obesity in America and why is that? It’s not MY fault she’s overweight. But noooo…..lets not talk about it. It may hurt somebody’s feelings! Give me a break. She’s in this situation because she let herself get there. Sure she’s trying to make a living and that’s all well and good, in fact that’s great and I commend her for it! But the fact I get my paper later than I used to, has got to say something. You don’t see what I see everytime they come around to deliver my paper.
But hey…at least she’s getting out there and working and that’s great . But that’s not the point, and I’m not judging anybody, just saying it as I see it. It just irritates me when people get so sensitive over weight issues. Nobody told them to eat that extra cheeseburger and live one their couch and not excersise. I’m not going to apologize for the way I feel about an issue. It may sound cruel to you, but this is why America is in the state it’s in. Everybody is too dang sensitive about every little thing. Oh you hurt my feelings. Give me a break. America needs to get over it and get off the couch I say!
You ever watched Fat March or Biggest Loser? They have a bunch of whiney obese people on their that they whip into shape. They all start out whining and crying and wanting to quit because it’s too hard and they can’t handle it. The ones that stick with it end up losing huge amounts of weight and get their lives back. So anybody can do it.
But hey…shes out their delivering the paper, so maybe she’ll be slim and trim in a few months, that’ll be great huh? I’ll be the first one to commend her.
It’s just sad that America is the only country in the world with the majority of it’s population in the obese category.
Hopefully shows like this will inspire the rest of the country to start taking better care of themselves and work on their weight issues. Let’s just stop being so sensitive about it, because really that’s what’s holding people back. Not talking about it.
Well Jerry, I haven’t been getting my paper at all lately so just imagine how obese the delivery person in my neighborhood must be. Geez, give me a break! At least this person is out working and trying to do something. Their weight might be due to a medical condition. Who are you to judge?
Jerry, 75% of all americans are obese? 3 out of 4 people you meet are obese? I dont think so. Why do you feel the need to make fun of someones weight?
I’ve heard that 63.875% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Does anyone else share—or disagree with—my opinion about yesterday’s paper, or do we all want to talk about obesity?
How did I know “it’s a medical condition” would come up with somebody’s weight problem! That’s rich! It’s funny how so many obese people blame their weight gain on a medical problem. Yeah…it’s called cant keep my hand out of the cookie jar itus.
I’m not making fun….I think its sad. I’m just pointing out how everyone is so sensitive about the issue and nobody wants to talk about it. Which is why all these obese people can’t and or don’t want to work at losing the weight. They think if they don’t talk about it, it will just go away. Between that and the people like Guest1234 who want to blame it on a “medical condition”, people need to wake up and smell the wheat toast!
And if you would have read my comments completely instead of just seeing what you want to see, I did say it was great she was out delivering the paper and working. She’s probably losing weight doing it and that’s great. Sounds like an issue that’s hitting to close to home for some here.
Jerry, I didn’t blame it on a medical condition. I said that it might be due to that. I’m not defending obesity, just pointing out your stereotyping of people. You say people don’t want to work at losing weight, but it sounds like that’s what your delivery person is doing. And I’m in great shape myself, but thanks for speculating on my weight too. You’re a real piece of work. You say “I’m not judging anybody” and that’s exactly what you’re doing.
Not really, I just think you’re blowing it out of proportion and being a little too sensitive over an important issue.
But I digress….
Getting back to the topic at hand. I’ve always thought what they did report on was objective, but then I didn’t get a chance to read the editorial Nevermind was talking about. But aren’t editorials just that….other peoples opinions on an issue or topic?
*Sigh*
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” —Philo of Alexandria
Maybe she has an inoperable tumor on her pituitary gland, which causes steady, uncontrollable weight gain. It’s not unheard of, you know.
Perhaps it’s not that at all. Maybe she overeats. Constantly. Immensely. However, maybe she started overeating when her mother, her father, or her daughter passed away suddenly. That’s her battle.
Clearly, Jerry, your battle is the inability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and show a little empathy. And I pity you, in the kindest way possible.
Awwww…I’m touched.
I believe the majority of this country has a “medical problem”. I only wish I had bought stock in Pfizer back in the 80’s!
Does anyone know if River City weekly is only delivered in city limits, or to certain neighborhoods? If we live in the county can it be picked up somewhere, like you can the Idaho Falls magazine?
what about the lack of delivery to county hoods?the alleged overweight paperlady can”t do it all even if she split the young children into routes of there/their own.
If it’s not available in your “neck of the woods”, you can pick it up at many of your local stores in town. WalMart, Albertsons, etc.
…or read it online
http://www.rivercityweekly.com
The River City Weekly needs to start putting their weekly papers into plastic baggies, otherwise they get soaked and are unreadable (such as this week).
Probably a good idea, but then the cost would go up. Can’t they be put inside a shelter somewhere? I have to admit, I only see them in a few places, but as I recall they are always indoors or in a shelter.
I liked it when it first came out and it was delivered with my mail.
But it really doesn’t affect me since they put it in my Post Register holder when it rains. (fine by me) But I can understand how frustrating it can be to go outside and find your paper all wet.
You are lucky to even find a paper at all. When I do get mine, it is around two days to a week later than it’s supposed to be. For several weeks I thought I wasn’t getting it at all. Then I was doing some fall leaf cleanup and found a bunch of rolled up moldy RCW papers buried in my flower beds. They need more reliable delivery if they expect to be taken seriously.
I get mine in the mail because I live in the country. Many of my friends that live in town comment that the newspaper is always in their flowerbeds. They quit retrieving it because they lost interest, but have grown quite angry from the mess they cause.
I live in town, and we don’t get delivery at all. We used to get it in the mail, but for some reason it just stopped.
Those of you not receiving the paper on your doorstep should inform them of this so they can have a talk with their delivery folk. They (RCW) won’t realize there’s a problem if nobody tells them.
It takes 2 minutes to make a phone call. (About as long as it took for you to long onto the internet, find this site and type your complaint.)
I did complain. I used their contact link on their website and nobody replied.
I never make complaints online. I always find that if I get bad service, talking to a live person always gets better results. Even if I’ve ordered something online from say Amazon, TigerDirect, etc. If I log a complaint with someone over the phone, and have them give me their full name and phone number extension, etc. will almost always get me the result I’m looking for.
IMHO
I don’t think it’s so much a complaint (since it’s a free service), but more letting RCW know they have a distribution problem with obviously more than one person. Put them in baggies when it rains, and have stricter guidelines for where your delivery folks put the papers and I think it will improve your product.
So the RCW is dropping the home doorstop deliveries, if I understand their recent announcement correctly. They are going to still put free copies out to some various stands (such as the library), and if you pay postage costs you can get it delivered via USPS mail. And of course you can still get each issue, PDF page by PDF page, at their website.
I cannot blame them. The home deliveries were spotty throughout good weather, I probably would not want to deliver in cold weather, either.
I don’t have it in front of me, but wasn’t an annual “subscription” something like $50? Do you think you will pay for it, or will you try to snag the free copies around town, or will you just let the RCW disappear from your life?
I have come to like the RCW, especially their development-related articles. I think they publish some valuable and unique insights to local developments which we do not find at IFz or the PR, and that could be one of their strengths.
Unfortunately, I skip most of their other articles so I do not think the subscription will be worth what I get out of it.
Here is my suggestion to the RCW to help us get their papers, and to increase their subscriber base: Create an RSS feed of the weekly publication.
An RSS feed can be simple text (such as when IFz publishes new articles or new comments), media (such as mp3 or video podcasts), or even PDF files (which would work great for RCW).
So if RCW can create an RSS feed (not terribly difficult to do), they create an easy mechanism for us to continue automatically receiving their publication the minute they release it, they open up new markets for folks like me who use iTunes more than television broadcasts, it does not cost them much (except some bandwidth), and they can get detailed subscriber statistics via Feedburner which they can then use to prove a higher subscriber base to RCW advertisers.
Talk about Win/Win/Win! All I ask is WHEN the RCW reaches their first 100 digital feed subscribers, try to mention IFz in the next issue. 8^) I hope this idea works for them.
I received the last two copies of RCW in my mail box. I don’t get where you think we have to pay postage, I didn’t have to pay postage. Perhaps I just got lucky?
Did anybody else receive theirs free via the postal service?
They had a big cover announcement on their paper a couple weeks ago. They said they will not be doing home deliveries anymore, and if you want it from now on you have to either pay postage for home delivery or grab a copy from one of the stands around town.
It happened again Friday!! I don’t know about everybody else, but this is the third time I received my River City Weekly in my mailbox. (& I haven’t given them a penny)
Is anybody else still receiving their RCW in their mailbox?
I get mine in the mail. Also, I haven’t subscribed. Don’t believe I will. Maybe if they took out the obits and focused on local news instead of the fluff.
I like their development articles, I hope they focus on that area.
I just heard about the River City Weekly and I would like to receive it delivered to my home, if there is no charge for it.
My information is:
————
————
Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402
Thank you,
Carol
Wow! Carol, that’s not too smart! This isn’t the River City Weekly’s website and you certainly shouldn’t be giving out your home address on some website you’ve never been on!
(And people wonder why their identities get stolen! Incredible.)
Joe, you should really take her information off the site.
And Carol, you should go to Wal-Mart or Albertons and pick up a copy of RiverCityWeekly from the little magazine racks as soon as you walk in the door, and call the phone number in the back of the paper and ask them about delivery.
I just saw that and edited it. Eeeek! Yeah you can get the RCW at local Albertsons or the public library. I thought there was a charge to get it by mail, but then i got one yesterday addressed to resident, so maybe they changed their mind again.
IFz has been mistaken for being the city newspaper before so I”m not too surprised. We’ve also been mistaken for being run by the official Idaho Falls city government. Good thing I’m not a devious scheming kind of person. 8^)
Joe,
I just read your suggestion for River City Weekly to publish an RSS with PDF’s. Are you saying that they should run an RSS with links to the individual PDF’s or is there a way that the actually PDF’s are sent through the RSS feed?
If it is sent through the RSS feed, do you know of a sample site that I could look at to see how it is done?
The individual PDFs are sent to subscriber’s computers by the RSS “pull” when those subscribers open their RSS software (such as iTunes).
It would make more sense for them to publish one multipage PDF document per edition for the RSS feed rather than the multiple separate PDF pages they have on their website for each edition. If it sounds like a large download, it isn’t. Most folks who subscribe to podcasts are used to large files being downloaded via RSS.
Wow. Some people are very supportive of highschool “superfans.” Maybe I’ll tell myself to quit being one and acutally do something.
Ok, Gwendolyn, ya got me…wha?
Did you mean to put your comment on another post?
I was a little confused about her comment as well….
ditto…
Owning a weekly newspaper is a complex job. I enjoy the River City Weekly and empathize with their challenges. My husband John and I started the Island Park News in 1997. It’s a free weekly with a daily Web site, IslandParkNews.net and a recreation site, HenrysForkCountry.com
We work constantly. We are about to go on a 7-day vacation. To do so, we worked with no days off to produce two papers back-to -back. This is the first week long vacation we have had since starting the paper.
We missed one week in 1998 when my dad died.
Our passion for community news keeps us going and we admire everyone who shares that passion.
I think a lot of people view newspapers as institutions without seeing that most papers are produced by ordinary people working hard to get the paper out every day or week. People call us and ask for the subscription department or the ad department or the editor. It’s just the two of us working in our log cabin! Funny!
Our other writers and photogs live where they want and e-mail their work. (We could use a good fishing column if anyone is interested.)
Small papers go down if they hire too many people, deliver door to door, ignore people who have a valuable conversation, and isolate themselves from the community.
Be kind to your independent news outlets. Thanks!
Last week the RCW ran a heartbreaking story of a local church assembling Easter baskets for kids whose parents are in jail. Yeah I know the parents messed up and I’m not pleading leniency, but it wasn’t those kids’ fault and I thought the RCW did a good job with the story.
I read that story too and think it was a neat slice of life.
Has anyone received a River City Weekly lately or did they stop sending them out? Is this publication even still around?
The little paper is still going strong. I think they stopped sending it out due to overhead costs but it is available for free in distribution boxes located out front of most area businesses.
Thanks ISU Alum!
http://www.rivercityweekly.com if you want it online for free.
I’m still getting a weekly paper, and I thought that was what it was….
I guess I should look closer next time…
Hi! I am just new here. I will take your suggestion Find Humor in Life. I only want free. I will check it out now. Thanks!
I see that the RCW is now just digital and will no longer print any issues. Is this for the summer only as stated in their last issue, or will this be permanent. Sad to see this little newspaper go away.
I learned that Melody Marler’s note was calles last week, it will be a great challenge to go back to print. I never want to see anyone fail at their business but the RCW was just boring. As bad as we all like to hate the local paper, it is that very info that we need. Like the Darren Palmer story. At first everybody though the PR was bashing another Mormon then we learned the truth, Palmer is a thief stealing from neighbors.