Tips on getting out the truth
By Leslie Feinberg
If you live in Buffalo, N.Y., the newspaper you're reading
right now might be in your hands because Terry Hannon dropped
it off at a location in your neighborhood. Hannon knows a lot
of tricks of the trade about newspaper distribution. He makes
his living as a truck-driving Teamster who delivers the Buffalo
News.
How long has he been doing that job? He laughs wryly: "Too
long! I started on the job 27 years ago." When asked his
opinion about the Buffalo News, Hannon's answer is unprintable,
except for his addendum that it reflects the interests of
Corporate America.
But when he talks about Workers World newspaper, his voice
fills with warmth and pride.
"I started out taking the papers to two or three locations
in my neighborhood and I've just expanded it over the years,"
Hannon recalls. "Now I'm doing 25 to 30 stops a week. I can do
even more than that during the summer time because I have more
flexibility about stops on my bicycle. During the harsh Buffalo
winters I have to rely on my car or travel on foot or by public
transportation."
How many newspapers does he distribute? He computes in his
head: "I get out about 225-240 a week."
He ticks off on his fingers, "I take them to the colleges
and universities--Buffalo State, the two campuses at the State
University of New York at Buffalo, Erie Country Community
College city campus--neighborhood delicatessens, restaurants,
laundromats, newsstands, coffee shops, bookstores, the food
co-op."
Hannon sees growing interest in Workers World newspaper on
campuses. "Two years ago I'd put five papers at the Buffalo
State Student Union each week and get two or three back. Now
I'm putting 15 a week and I'm not getting any back. And the
same is true at the four to five buildings at the north campus
and two to three at the south campus of UB. I can see that the
students are picking up the paper. Things like this are very
encouraging."
When it comes to community locations, he stresses, "Almost
completely I try to drop the papers off in neighborhoods of
working class and poor people. The locations where I put the
paper is where people would be most interested in building a
revolutionary movement in the United States."
Hannon is very systematic. "I keep a record of how many
papers I put in a particular location. This helps me to gauge
how many newspapers are being picked up and read and I can know
when to increase or decrease how many papers I put in any
location."
Hannon consults his weekly chart. "I put 10 papers at the
laundry last week and they were all gone. So I bumped it up a
bit to 15. These are little tricks I learned from being a truck
driver for the Buffalo News. You see what they do with the
corporate rag.
"I try to build up a readership by dropping off the papers
at the same locations every week. It gives the person who picks
up the paper an opportunity to return the following week."
But Hannon also tries new locations. "Last week we held a
street meeting against the war and racism at the Broadway
Market--a completely multinational shopping center in a working
class, poor neighborhood. I put newspapers there for the first
time last week and I'll do it on a regular basis and see how it
goes."
Hannon is going to start slipping a subscription blank in
the newspapers he distributes to give readers a chance to get
Workers World mailed directly to their homes.
Hannon also distributes Workers World to a handful of his
co-workers every week. "I get good feedback from them," he
exclaims. "One guy is ecstatic over the paper--that's not an
exaggeration. He'll read this and get a big kick out of
it."
Hannon says with conviction, "I'm compelled to get the paper
out. I think it's absolutely essential that this paper get into
the hands of working and progressive people because the big
business media--I hold it in such contempt. It's
disinformation. It's a distortion of the truth. It's outright
lies. It's a pillar of the corporate establishment. I just got
back from the laundromat where I left 15 papers. The television
there was tuned into Fox News and it was on and on about
Afghanistan and the war frenzy.
"A revolutionary, Marxist newspaper is so essential,
especially today. I'm very encouraged by the fact that many
people are picking up Workers World," he concludes. "It's
rewarding because I keep a record of this and I can see that
it's working. I can see that people are interested in it. It
makes me feel proud."
Are you ready to help get Workers World into more hands?
Order a weekly bundle by writing: Subscription Department,
Workers World, 55 West 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Or call
(212) 627-2994.
Reprinted from the Nov. 15, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
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