Homeless in Arizona

Part I

And is that why Ray Stern seems to be biased???

I am not sure if Ray Stern is biased on his own, or if he is biased because the New Times has told him to be biased and write articles to say the MPP initiative is great and the AZfrm initiative sucks.

First in today's issued of the Phoenix New Times there were 2 and 1/2 pages of medical marijuana ads. I wonder how much the medical marijuana dispensaries and medical marijuana doctors paid for those ads?

Second if marijuana is sold like cigarettes, tomatoes or potatoes all those ads disappear.

However if the MPP initiative passes a second monopoly for the 85 dispensaries will be created and the New Times will probably continue to run those ads for medical marijuana, in addition to running new ads for recreational marijuana.

Third just for fun go to this URL and ask the Phoenix New Times to email you a pdf file with information about New Times advertizing.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/advertise

The pdf file is named:

mk.pdf

Wonder if that is why Ray Stern is biases???

If marijuana is completed legalized and treated like potatoes or tomatoes all these ads will go away.

Now go to page 16 of the document. On page 16 they list the sizes of display ads that are run in the new times.

In today's New Times, they ran about 2 and one half pages of marijuana display ads.

Most of the ads were 1/8 page ads, which is a total of about 20 ads.

Sadly the pdf document doesn't list the cost of the ads. Maybe somebody can call a New Times sales man and get the cost of an eight page display.

If an eight page ad costs $500, we are talking about $10,000 a week in revenue from the marijuana ads.

If an eight page ad costs $1,000, we are talking about $20,000 a week in revenue from the marijuana ads.

Maybe somebody can call the New Times and get a cost for these ads we will quickly have an answer on if Ray Stern is biased for financial reasons.

Now go to page 51 in the pdf file.

Ahhh, another section on advertizing for MARIJUNA. This section is called Cannabis Headquarters!!!!

Another reason that Ray Stern is biased for $$$??? Maybe!!!!

And again, if we legalize marijuana, and pot is treated like potatoes or tomatoes all these ads will disappear!!!!!!

I wonder how much money the Phoenix New Times makes off of marijuana ads???

I suspect since the current medical marijuana business in Arizona is a monopoly or oligopoly with only around 85 or so players the Phoenix New Times makes good buck off of marijuana ads.

In this weeks edition of the Phoenix New Times I counted about 2 and 1/2 pages of display ads for medical marijuana.

Of course if marijuana was legalized and treated like potatoes or tomatoes, I suspect all those display ads would disappear.

No wonder Ray Stern seem biased towards the MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) initiative rather then the AZfrm (Arizonans for Mindful Regulation) initiative.

Source

Phoenix New Times Seeks Pot Coverage Coordinator

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016 AT 4 A.M. BY RICK BARRS

New Times is seeking a hardworking journalist to serve as the publication's pot coordinator.

The ideal applicant for this 20-hour-a-week job is a skilled writer and reporter who can find interesting stories about the burgeoning marijuana industry and culture in metro Phoenix and Arizona.

Organizational skills are important, since part of the job will involve developing and maintaining cannabis clinic listings for our website and producing a weekly online newsletter.

Photography skills, knowledge of the Phoenix metropolitan area, and possession of a valid state Medical Marijuana Card are a must.

The perfect applicant should have a thorough understanding of the cannabis business in Arizona and the politics that surround it.

Please e-mail a short cover letter, your resume, a few story ideas, and links to published articles to andy.vandevoorde@voicemediagroup.com.

Part II - Letter to Jason

I suspect the Phoenix New Times and maybe Ray Stern are biased against the AZfrm initiative because they will lose a lot of money in advertizing revenue if the AZfrm initiative is passed.

Last week the Phoenix New Times ran two and one half pages of display ads related to medical marijuana.

I suspect the main reason the dispensaries run those expensive display ads is because there is a limited monopoly of 85 or so dispensaries and display ads are effective in that environment. Same goes for the "doctors" that run ads offering medical marijuana prescriptions or recommendations.

If the MPP initiative is passed the number of display ads run in the Phoenix New Times will probably increase. Maybe even double in size from 2 and 1/2 pages to 5 pages.

We will go from a cartel of 85 medical marijuana suppliers to a cartel of 170 or so recreational and medical marijuana suppliers who will continue to run display ads in the New Times. I suspect the number of display ads will increase and possibly even double.

However if the AZfrm initiative is passed that will allow 1,600 retail marijuana stores, and marijuana will go from being a specialty item sold by a limited cartel of 85 suppliers to a generic commodity sold by 1,600 stores.

And if that happens I suspect a good number of those display ads run in the Phoenix New Times will disappear, causing the New Times to lose a good chunk of revenue.

Which is why I suspect the Phoenix New Times is biased against the AZfrm initiative and supports the MPP initiative.

On Sunday the other Jason Medar told me that you had the prices the Phoenix New Times charge for display ads.

Would it be possible to send me a copy of the New Times price lists so I can calculate how much money the New Times is charging for those 2 and 1/2 pages of ads?

Or just tell me what an 1/8 page ad and a full page costs and I can do the math from their.

I am guessing the New Times is charging any where from $10,000 to $20,000 each week for those ads. And of course if the AZfrm initiative is passed they would lose a lot of that revenue.

After I get those numbers and if the numbers match my theory I will write a blurb that says the New Times seems to be biased against the AZfrm initiative because it stands to lose money if marijuana is legalized the RIGHT way.

Thanks

Part III - New Times Marijuana special

My logic is that as long as there is a tiny cartel of 85 or so medical marijuana businesses they will run continue to run expensive display ads in the Phoenix New Times.

If the MPP initiative passes, then the tiny cartel of 85 medical marijuana businesses will be expanded to include a second tiny cartel of 85 or so recreational marijuana businesses. And of course those new 85 recreational marijuana businesses will almost certainly continue to run expensive display ads in the Phoenix New Times. In fact the 85 new recreational marijuana cartel members will be the same as the old 85 medical marijuana cartel members.

However if the AZfrm initiative passes marijuana will shift from being a highly regulated product controlled by a monopoly of 85 businesses to a more or less generic product like potatoes or tomatoes sold by 1,600 stores.

With recreational marijuana no longer a specialty product, the 1,600 or so recreational marijuana stores will probably no longer run those expensive display ads in the New Times, and run advertizing for marijuana like they do for beer, wine or cigarettes.

And that change will cause the New Times to lose a lot of those display ads that are currently run related to medical marijuana for both the dispensaries and the doctors that write prescriptions for marijuana.

Last week the Phoenix New Times ran 2 and 1/2 pages of display ads for medical marijuana businesses, which include the dispensaries and doctors.

This week the Phoenix New Times run a whopping 31 pages of ads for medical marijuana ads.

That included 2 pages of ads in the normal Phoenix New Times newspaper. About the same as last week.

It also included about 29 pages of ads in a special advertizing insert or section that was included in the Phoenix New Times. [I counted the ads 4 times and each time I came up with a different number. So I averaged the 4 numbers. Does that mean I a have a short term memory problem like marijuana users do :)]

Now if marijuana is legalized via the MPP initiative nothing will change, and the Phoenix New Times will probably continue to run special advertizing sections like this.

The only changes will be we now have 2 marijuana cartels of 85 members each. The existing cartel of 85 or so medical marijuana dispensaries, and a new cartel of 85 or so recreational marijuana dispensaries. Which will give us a cartel of 170 or so members.

But if the AZfrm initiative is passed recreational marijuana will become a generic product sold by 1,600 stores across Arizona and I suspect the whole advertizing model will change.

And of course the New Times will lose the thousands of dollars in revenue it gets from these display ads.

The 1,600 marijuana businesses will probably run ads like they do for beer, wine or cigarettes, rather then running expensive display ads in the New Times.

I still have to look at the pricing info to calculate how much revenue that the New Times makes every week off of marijuana ads for medical marijuana. When I dig thru that I will give another blurb on why I think the Phoenix New Times is biased against AZfrm for financial reasons and biased toward the MPP law, again for financial reasons.

Last is Ray Stern bias? I don't know. You have to remember that even if Ray Stern ISN'T biased he works for the New Times and if the New Times tells Ray Stern to write biases articles Ray Stern is going to write biased articles or risk getting fired, demoted or punished.

Yes, the media is there to report the news, but the first and foremost job of the media is to make money, not write wonderful articles.

Part IV - Phoenix New Times is a National player

Voice Media Group - Phoenix New Times is a National player

I suspect they are because if the AZfrm law is passed it will treat marijuana close to tomatoes and potatoes and probably cause a big reduction in the number of display ads run for marijuana.

On the other hand the MPP initiative will continue with a monopoly for the 85 or so medical marijuana dispensaries and create a new cartel of up to 160 recreational marijuana dealers.

Last in my initiation posts I forgot to mention that the Phoenix New Times isn't just a player in the Phoenix area market they are a player in the National market.

The Phoenix New Times owns weekly newspapers in New York City (Village Voice), Los Angles, Westwood (part of Los Angeles), Orange County (part of Los Angeles), Minneapolis, St. Louis, Miami, Palm Beach, Dallas, Houston and a few other places. Those are the weekly newspapers the image which I attached.

I beleive the New Times started out as a counter culture hippie newspaper in the Phoenix area and grew over the years to a national group owning weekly newspapers all over the country.

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