I worked for a “liberal” at an alternative newsweekly (similar to the Reader in SD) in the early 1990’s. The owners, a husband and wife, were total hippies but he was an amazing salesman. Those free weekly papers derive 100 percent of their income from advertising and this guy could sell ice to Eskimoes. He was an astute market researcher and figured out the markets that his paper would do well in (places with young urban liberals and gays) and then targeted businesses that wanted these groups to advertise. They expanded from one paper to three (three separate markets) and but for the internet would probably still be doing well. Craigslist creamed them in classifieds, and all newspaper readership is declining.
The pay was terrible but the benefits were good. In exchange for a relatively low hourly wage, we got health insurance and “fringe benefits” which included a free gym membership, concert tickets, and occasional gift cards to restaurants (all advertisers). We were expected to take the low pay because of the coolness factor involved with working at the newspaper. Whenever a commission salesperson started doing “too well” (i.e. making close to $100K) they would get fired.
It was actually a fun place to work and since I was in grad school at the time, I wasn’t looking for a career. I got to see lots of great concerts and eat at good restaurants for free*.
*I did pay income tax on the value of the freebies.
