What‘s it worth? – Grocott's Mail

The What’s On section of this newspaper (page 15 in this edition) is one of the most popular pages among
readers but it also triggers a surprising amount of discomfort here in the offices of Grocott’s Mail.

The purpose of the What’s On page is to provide non-profit organisations with a platform to publicise their events.

This means that if schools, charity groups or social clubs wish to tell readers about their fun-runs, fetes or variety shows they have a place where they can reach Makana residents.

We do not charge for this service because we understand that such organisations lack the resources to pay for regular adverts.

Our system is not unusual among community newspapers the name of the page might be different but almost all local newspapers have a page or a column where the community can advertise events for little or no charge.

If the show is purely commercial there is no problem you charge money at the door for your show, and you pay for an advert if you want to make any announcements.

Such a case is quite simple, but what happens if an NGO hires a singer to perform at a fundraiser and then asks Grocott’s Mail for a free advert in the What’s On section?

This is where it gets a little tricky, but if the school or charity organisation is genuinely arranging the show as a charity event, then we will assess the situation and possibly place a free advert in the relevant section.

Recently a highly respected charity organisation in town submitted an announcement about a show for the What’s On page and then requested a free editorial as well.

We subsequently discovered that although the organisers were unwilling to pay Grocott’s Mail a rather insignificant amount for an advert, they were quite happy to pay an enormous fee for the performer to put on his show.

This incident made us feel that our goodwill had been exploited and that perhaps, like other organisations in Grahamstown, we should charge for all our services.