Providing A Free Lunch

The gall of people never ceases to amaze me. Let me provide an example.
A community person recently asked us to publish what clearly should have been a paid ad as a "news story." She was promoting her business.

I told her that the company policy is that stories in such cases have to follow the purchase of advertising.

Then I got "soft" and told her that maybe we could publish the item free but with the understanding she would purchase ads later.

Then one of my staff members saw that much the same item, maybe even the same item, was published in other area papers as paid advertising!

I went ballistic and decided not to publish the item free.

The lady showed up at our front counter today demanding to know why I did not publish the item. She had gone to the troble of buying a paper to see herself written up.

I told her again about our policy. When a business is advertising itself and the so-called "news release" is nothing more than an ad, it has to be paid material.

I did not get that straightforward with this potential client, but the point was made. I suspect I never will see her as a client in the future.