The PDN&S was wrong

Typically, I try not to be critical.

But I happened to see something this week that made me cringe.

It was an editorial in the Poteau Daily News & Sun that was critical of the Poteau Chamber of Commerce getting their 2010 Membership Directory printed at the Southwest-Times Record of Fort Smith.

The PDN&S writer, who did not bother to post a name in the editorial, chastised the chamber for its choice of a printer without giving the local paper a chance to bid on the project.

The Poteau Chamber is pushing local citizens to buy local, which it should. But the paper was upset when the Chamber chose to get its printing done out of town.

Okay, let’s look at this a little closer.

First off, Stephens Media (which owns the Southwest-Times Record) has been a member of the Chamber for over 10 years.

Second, this is a true magazine printing job, not a newspaper job. The PDN&S implied that it could handle this type of printing, but had trouble with a previous order from the chamber last year.

Third, the PDN&S boo hoos about this and how it was not awarded to a LOCAL company. Hmm, last time I checked, the paper was owned by Horizon Publications, which is located in Marion, Ill., which looks like it might be an out-of-state company. True, the workers are local, but all profits are sent out of state.

Fourth, the chamber has spent a bunch of money advertising with the paper this year and every year.

Fifth, the Chamber has 7,000 editions printed. Of those, 3,000 are given out in the Fort Smith area while 4,000 are distributed in LeFlore County.

What’s next? Will the PDN&S complain if somebody advertises with another media outlet, especially if it is a Fort Smith newspaper, television or radio station.

A couple of other observations: David Seeley is doing a great job with the sports section at the paper. Also, I was surprised that the paper printed several pages in pink on Thursday. That is to honor breast awareness week, which is good. But then I noticed that there were several advertisements about breast awareness week, which makes me think that this was all an advertising venture, not just trying to raise awareness.