Access: Birmingham
Times are tough for newspaper publishers, who are trying to sell their relevance to subscribers and potential advertisers. The temptation to drop standards is ratcheting up, and once standards are lower it’s hard to recover that blow to reputation.

Just a year ago, the Washington Post shelved an idea publisher Katharine Weymouth had floated – whereby you could essentially buy your way into a party and get access to key friends of hers in the Obama Administration, and Congress, and maybe even some of the editorial staff. All for the low, low price of $25,000 to $250,000.

If this recent email solicitation from the Birmingham Business Journal seems like three-or-four orders of magnitude less dangerous, it’s because – by definition – it is exactly three or four orders of magnitude removed!

You can click to enlarge the image, but here’s the transcript:

Biz Mix

  • Mix
  • Mingle
  • Make business contact

The Wine Loft and the Birmingham Business Journal presents [sic] Biz Mix, an “easy-to-meet-people” networking opportunity.

Meet the publisher. Meet the editor. Meet new business prospects… meet everyone you need to know. Be sure to bring your business cards!

Date: Tuesday, August 24
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $25 (includes light hors d’oeuvres & 2 drinks)

Now, I can understand wanting to increase visibility and profile through hosting a meet-and-greet. That happens all the time.

I can also understand why a player in a shrinking and cash-strapped industry would want to find outside sponsorship for such an event.

I can even see where asking $25 to cover the cost of the finger foods and the drinks might make sense.

But to throw in access to the publisher and editor?

I am reminded of the classic quote, often attributed to either Winston Churchill or George Bernard Shaw, that “we’ve already established what you are; we’re merely haggling for price.”

(I wouldn’t worry about any ethical breaches just yet. The ad asks you to CLICK HERE to register, but there was no embedded hyperlink…)