Spread 5.2Rates checked July 2026

Magazines vs newspaper advertising

Neither tier publishes rate cards anymore, so this spread compares structures, not invented numbers. The structural difference is time: a newspaper is read today and recycled tomorrow; a magazine is read this month and passed along. Everything else follows from that clock.

The magazine

Clock. Weeks of shelf life, pass-along readership, waiting-room and coffee-table afterlife.

Canvas. Glossy stock, faithful color, premium adjacency; product photography works as intended (specs).

Audience. Chosen by interest: readers self-select the title, which is targeting no data layer replicates.

Lead time. Space closes weeks to months out (Step 05).

The newspaper

Clock. Daily or weekly cadence; ads can run within days of booking, and date-locked offers fit naturally.

Canvas. Newsprint: cheaper look, coarser color, but native to price-led retail and legal-civic formality.

Audience. Geographic and civic: older-skewing, locally rooted, strong for government-adjacent and community trust categories.

Lead time. Short closes; remnant and per-inquiry space cycles fast through marketplaces.

Across the foldUrgency picks the paper; consideration picks the book. A weekend sale belongs in the daily. A brand, a menu, a practice, a destination belongs in the city magazine. Local budgets doing both should split by job: newspaper for the dated offer, magazine for the standing reputation, each instrumented separately.

Local tier here: local magazine rates. Mailbox alternative: direct mail.

Sources on file

[1]Alliance for Audited Media (AAM). Ongoing audit bureau. Retrieved 2026-07-31. Evidences: Publisher statements and audited circulation used to verify any title's claimed distribution.
[2]Mediabids performance print marketplace. Current site, model description. Retrieved 2026-07-31. Evidences: Per-inquiry print model: advertisers pay per qualifying call or lead, terms set per campaign; no public rate card; free for publications; payouts via Tipalti.