AJC Daily Circulation Drops Again:

JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION,
ATLANTA (FULTON CO.)
AVG (M-F) DLY was: 183,415 now:  173,884
Circulation averages for the six months ended: 9/30/2011

JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA (FULTON CO.) AVG M (M-F) DLY   173,884

JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA (FULTON CO.) SUN DLY   410,022

JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA (FULTON CO.) SAT M DLY   186,034
From: http://abcas3.accessabc.com/ecirc/newssearchus.asp

Why no BBB report for their long time member?

You are now at my main AJC site!

This is one of several sites set up to inform the public of just how bad the littering problem is with the Atlanta Journal Constitution and ACI (American Circulation Innovators) throwing 88,000,000 advertising circulars around the metro Atlanta area each year.

The AJC admits that this is done 'to save money', originally they mailed out these pieces of junk mail, but for the last two years have had ACI employ 800 housewives, retirees and college students to drive through our metro Atlanta area neighborhoods and throw these circulars onto our property. 

Take a look at the site and then hopefully you will cancel any subscription you have with the AJC (they only have a circulation of 183,000) and Boycott anyone advertising in the circulars.

2 Mailings being prepared

Some of the readers of this site will soon be receiving a mailing containing a collection of informational post cards and magnets along with the below text.  The first mailing was sent out 10/6/11.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
250 Informational packets, such as those enclosed
here are being sent to:
1. AJC/ACI employees
2. Media representatives
3. Homeowners
4. AJC Advertisers
A further 250 will be mailed later in the month.
Various internet sites are online dealing with the
AJC/ACI’s massive littering of Metro Atlanta.

Subscribers are asked to cancel subscriptions and
advertisers are asked to boycott the AJC until they
cease their massive littering campaign.
Here are my 4 blogsites, plus one other put up by
other annoyed consumers:

http://www.atlantajournal-constitution.blogspot.com/
http://atlantajournallitterproblems.blogspot.com/  
http://atlantajournalsucks.blogspot.com/  
http://eveningedge.blogspot.com/  
and also see:
http://www.stopajcreach.org/  

Here is one of the people responsible for tossing all this crap around Atlanta!

Photo:  David Morel,Vice President/Operations at American Circulation Innovations - (ACI)             

===================================
Torrey Sanchez

News Media Circulation Manager at American Circulation Innovation

Drop him a line and tell him what you think of all the litter they are throwing around Atlanta:

Torrey Sanchez

ACI Media Circulation Mgr
3380 Town Point Dr., NW
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Take a look at the ACI web site at:  http://www.acicirculation.com/

September 2009 – Present (2 years 2 months) Greater Atlanta Area

"I work closely with the Market Director and lead a team of sixteen employees and nearly eight hundred Independent Contractors through a weekly distribution of 1.3 million copies of Atlanta Journal Constitution media products weekly."

===================================================

AJC/ACI Wants YOU!

Hurry over and bring your SSN card, vehicle insurance, drivers license and sign up for a minimum wage job tossing crap onto peoples property!

Shown Above: 1 of 3 Distribution Centers. 
This pictured one is located at: 
ACI Dist. Center at
3380 Town Point Dr., NW
Kennesaw, GA 30144

The other 2 are located at:
South Fulton (Atlanta)
5295 Buffington Rd. Ste. 200-I
College Park, GA 30349

North De Kalb (Atlanta)
675 Park N. Blvd., Ste. 100
Clarkston, GA 30021

The below advertisement is typical of all ads for ACI:

As of 10/6/2011 The Better Business Bureau says: 
"BBB's information on this company is being updated, and no report is available at this time."

The info has been updating for at least 2 months, my below 8/4/11 post also mentioned this.  Why is it taking so long to 'update' the information?  My guess is that the BBB has had so many complaints about this 3rd rate newspapers littering that if they actually rated the AJC they would have to downgrade the usual A+ rating and of course that might make the AJC decide to quit the BBB.  The AJC has been a dues paying BBB member since 1952.

Take out a few minutes of your time and put in your own complaint about the AJC littering problem.  You can do this online in just a few minutes or you can write via snail mail.  Here is the contact information:

BBB of  NE Georgia
503 Oak Place, Suite 590
Atlanta, GA 30349
www.bbb.org
The quickest way is online at:    http://atlanta.bbb.org/
===================================================

Aug 4, 2011

The AJC has been a dues paying member of the BBB since the 1952 and normally they have gotten an A+ despite the many complaints about them.  I see that now the BBB is 'updating' the AJC report. 

I suspect that this means that they don't want to downgrade them and lose the dues the AJC pays them to be a member so they put up the info that the firm is being reviewed.  These days absolutely no one would believe that the AJC would deserve an A+ rating.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution, as a money making newspaper, is finished. All newspapers are today’s version of the dinosaur. The news delivered by any newspaper is 12 to 24 hours old. This is called ‘history’. For ‘news’ people turn on their television, radio or look at the internet. Why read about how London is burning when you can watch it in real time.

Q)  So just what keeps the AJC in business?
A)  Advertising, but NOT the advertising in the daily papers.

What black ink the AJC has comes from 2 advertising flyers that American Circulation Innovators distributes on behalf of the AJC. The ‘AJC Reach’ on Monday/Tuesday and the ‘Evening Edition’ on Thursday/Friday.

For economic reasons the AJC believes it has the right to throw

1,700,000 plastic encased advertising circulars onto the lawns, sidewalks and driveways of homeowners each week. Yes that is each WEEK. That is 84,000,000 pieces of litter in metro Atlanta each year.

The Atlanta metropolitan area (see map) spans 28 counties in north Georgia and has a total 2010 population of 5,268,860. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has an average readership Monday through Friday of only 184,000.

Two years ago these flyers went via US Mail. The AJC admits that they now use the ACI firm to distribute these in order to save money.

The AJC should either return to using the post office to deliver their advertising materials or just quietly go out of business. Their desperate attempts to stay afloat come at the high price of being the major source of litter in metro Atlanta.

Scroll down to view text of the document or,
Click on for larger and more readable document:

For easier reading here is the AJC reply to my 2nd BBB complaint:

8/12/11: Immediate response and corrective efforts were made on the day of the report of unwanted delivery and continue to be made. An immediate dispatch to confirm no paper remained on the property was made on the day Mr. Smith made us aware of the issue. A complete review of events was conducted and an immediate corrective plan put in place based on findings. We regret any inconvenience this has caused Mr. Smith. We are committed to responding and resolving reports of delivery concerns as quickly as possible.

We will continue to monitor results and confirm no delivery is made to the Smith property.
====================================================

 The BBB invited me to comment/reply to the AJC:

Who is this "Mr. Smith"? My name is HARRIS, I am the same HARRIS that has been complaining about the AJC tossing unwanted sale flyers onto my property for nearly 2 years.

I think you must agree that this reply is just a slap-dash sort of reply and has no merit at all, very typical of the AJC. They can't even get a boiler plate reply done correctly so you can't expect that they 'checked the property' - whose property did they 'check'? I see that your BBB site is 'reviewing' their rating.  It is usually an A+ as they have been a dues paying member of the BBB since 1952.

I expect you will want to keep them as dues paying BBB members so you will probably continue to rate them at A+ and this will just shoot your BBB credibility in the rear.  No one in metro Atlanta thinks that the AJC is an A+ business and a continued rating of A+ will just show people who look them up that you are totally in the bag for this bunch of incompetents.

=================================

From the 'cheap shots are a terrible thing to waste' department:
"At least we can be pleased that this bunch is only running a newspaper and not a nuclear reactor."

The AJC is back throwing their crap on my property again

I made it clear to them last year that if/when it happened again that I was going to hire an attorney to go after them. Now they are back tossing this garbage onto my property. They did the whole Summer Stream subdivision today. I am now looking for a lawyer to take up the matter.

Yeah, I've seen just how well this works-

Subject: Response from AJC Publisher Mike Joseph
Date: 9/28/2010 10:29:36 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: JPetty@ajc.com
To: Consumer2010@aol.com
Dear Mr. Harris,

On behalf of the AJC, I wanted to respond to your e-mail to Publisher Mike Joseph on Monday, Sept. 27.

REACH has served customers and advertisers by delivering valuable savings every week for nearly 20 years. It provides effective advertising solutions to both small and large advertisers across metro Atlanta as well as every week offering hundreds in savings to consumers.

Moving to driveway delivery is a decision that we, along with many others in metro Atlanta and across the country, have made due to rising postal costs and the need for guaranteed day-of-week delivery. That said, we will always honor individual requests to discontinue or move delivery back to the mail. Residents can e-mail reachee@ajc.com, or call to request a delivery change: 404-526-9473. This number also is printed prominently on the REACH product itself.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Petty, Public Relations Specialist, AJC

Another BBB Complaint is filed:

OK, I admit it is a waste of time to file another BBB complaint, but I don't want anyone saying I didn't take all options open to me. You might see below my first complaint. The AJC promised the BBB that they would stop tossing their crap on my property. Obviously they have started up again, so you can't believe them even if they swear on a stack of bibles that they won't keep doing it.


Also you might want to consider that the BBB rates this firm as an A+, that the AJC has been a dues paying member since the 1950's and that the BBB isn't going to downgrade them as long as they keep paying dues. The AJC pays $ each year for 'membership', I don't. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Contact infor for the AJC

Publisher - Michael Joseph, 404-526-5893, mjoseph@ajc.com
Editor - Kevin Riley, 404-526-2161, kriley@ajc.com
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer - Todd Cregar, 404-526-5125, tcregar@ajc.com
Senior Vice President, Human Resources - Susan Davidson, 404-526-5377, sdavidson@ajc.com
Senior Vice President, Sales - Moya Neville, 404-526-2009, mneville@ajc.com
Vice President, Sr. Managing Editor - James Mallory, 404-526-5325, jmallory@ajc.com
Vice President, Circulation - Amy Glennon, 404-526-7237, aglennon@ajc.com
Vice President, Marketing - Amy Chown, 404-526-7214, achown@ajc.com

If you want to contact other AJC employees or mass mail them this link will take you to their email addresses:   http://tinyurl.com/4yzcelv

As a Consumer Issue . . .

I would have expected more community indignation over 1.7 million pieces of junk advertising supplements being thrown onto private property each WEEK.

Over the last 20 months there have been protests here and there, several blogs set up, at least two confrontations with the thugs hired by ACI to deliver this crap, but no real uprising of interested community activists.

Where are all the tree huggers when you need them, the Save the Whale folks are also out to lunch.  There is no one in metro Atlanta doing more damage than the AJC in respect to littering our community.  The AJC has been doing this since they transitioned from mailing out the garbage supplements to dumping them on citizens lawns, sidewalks and driveways.

Corcerned individuals are having problems finding others to join in the protests.  The AJC simply dosen't care who likes it or who dosen't, they are going to continue dispensing this litter as long as they can make money doing it.  Speaking of which, it may well be that the only black ink on the AJC ledgers comes from this advertising, clearly they are not making money with M-F circulation of 183,000.

Since the AJC won't stop of its own accord, continues to ignore citizen complaints and won't even provide any comments on the situation to the Atlanta media you might well ask just what can be done to halt this littering of Metro Atlanta.

I move up the blog my earlier comment on this FYI:
=============================================

We need some Legal help, where are the activist lawyers in Georgia when you need one!

In early 2003 the bar reported 26,936 active members in Georgia.  Attorneys in Georgia are not equally distributed throughout the state. More than two-thirds—almost 18,000—reside within sixty miles of Atlanta. Forty percent work in one county, Fulton.

Now the AJC distributes 1,700,000 of these toss away advertising supplements each week to homes (not apartment houses), so logically there would be at least 12,000 lawyers who are getting these unwanted flyers in their driveways, or on their lawns or sidewalks.

Isn't there just 1 lawyer out there who will take the time out to file for a TRO or initiate a class action suit to stop the AJC?

More Problems with the Atlanta Journal Constitution

While my own subdivision in Kennesaw has no recent problems with the distribution of the 2 'junk' throwdowns, it is clear that the rest of the Metro Atlanta area continues to be plagued by the rude and foul mouthed scum employeed by the AJC to toss down their unwanted advertising sections.

Below is an incoming item sent to me from Mr. Covey of Lawrenceville which goes into his dealings with an AJC driver.

The matter is NOT going away unless someone goes to court asking for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to keep their HOA or even just their own home free from the AJC littering.

Readers of one of my 4 blogs will recall that I have threatened to do just this is even 'one more' of their trash publications ends up on my property. This warning by me to the AJC resulted in several months of my home in Kennesaw being staked out by AJC people to make sure that none of their drivers mistakenly left me a little present.

I am still entirely willing to take them to court if I do get another unwanted gift and I would be pleased to join into any class action suit by other consumers.

Here are my 4 blogsites, as direct links, plus one other put up by other annoyed consumers:

http://www.atlantajournal-constitution.blogspot.com/

http://atlantajournallitterproblems.blogspot.com/

http://atlantajournalsucks.blogspot.com/

http://eveningedge.blogspot.com/

http://www.stopajcreach.org/

American Circulation Innovations Advertisement for delivery people:

I see on the 6 pm CBS news 1/21/11, that a David Cranford of Marietta was arrested on a Felony charge due to an argument with an AJC delivery person who was in the neighborhood tossing crap onto peoples lawns.  See video at:  http://www.cbsatlanta.com/local-video/index.html

Seems he tossed a piece of paper into her open back window to illustrate a point that people do NOT like strangers to throw trash onto their property, whether it is the AJC throwing garbage onto private property or some citizen throwing a piece of paper into some jerks car. Anyway it seems that the charges were almost immediately dropped.

Just another reason that THE AJC TOTALLY SUCKS!

If you are one of the 190,000 people that read this dispicable rag every day, here is an idea.  Don't.  Just don't buy one from a box and DO NOT subscribe! 

Buying even one of these papers just encourages these morons.  Those of us who have lived in the metro area for the last 10 or so years know just what a joke this paper has become, I guess you could use it to wrap dead fish in but frankly what did the fish do to you to deserve it.  So STOP buying this rag. 

The sooner you do then the sooner this 3rd rate rag will go out of business.

Here is the CBS Text of the report FYI:

Man Arrested After Confronting AJC Delivery Driver


David Cranford Charged With Terroristic Threat
By Lesley Tanner, CBS Atlanta Reporter

MARIETTA, Ga. -- For months CBS Atlanta has reported complaints about the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's ad circular, the Reach. Residents all over metro Atlanta say the papers stuffed in plastic bags become litter, and one Marietta man's confrontation with a delivery driver landed him in jail.

"I tried to get her to stop throwing the papers out here, see who I needed to talk to about doing that," said David Cranford.  Cranford said that confrontation lead to his arrest. When the driver refused to stop and talk, Cranford said he noticed her open back window and tossed in a folded up piece of paper. His neighbor, Mark O'Brien, saw the whole thing.

"He said, 'Well how would you feel if people threw stuff on your property,'" said O'Brien. "The back window was down and he just threw that piece of paper in the back window."

"She slams on her brakes, calling me a drunken idiot," said Cranford. "One thing lead to another and we got in a shouting match."

The shouting match ended when the driver called her supervisor and then police. "I thought it was a good idea to call police," said Cranford. "I'd like to have them out here myself."

But after hearing both sides, a Cobb County officer arrested Cranford and charged him with making terroristic threats, a felony. A police spokesman said when someone throws something into a moving vehicle, that's the most appropriate charge. Cranford was taken to jail where he spent several hours.

"It shouldn't have escalated to this, not whatsoever," said Cranford.  An AJC spokeswoman said the company wouldn't comment on the incident because it didn't involve one of their employees. Delivery drivers are hired by a separate distribution company, but Cranford disagreed.

"I think it is their matter," said Cranford. "She called her supervisor. Her supervisor works for that company."   The case against Cranford was dropped.

============================================================

Here is some good news!  2 more years of declining circulation and the AJC will be out of business!

See full article at:   http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2010/10/26/ajc-circulation-drops-14.html


The Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s paid circulation continued its decline in the past year. The Audit Bureau of Circulations’ preliminary numbers shows the Atlanta daily’s paid weekday circulation fell about 14 percent (from 211,420 in September 2009) to 181,504 in September 2010.

Its weekday paid circulation was 274,062 in September 2008.

We need some Legal help, where are the activist lawyers in Georgia when you need one!

We need some Legal help, where are the activist lawyers in Georgia when you need one!

In early 2003 the bar reported 26,936 active members in Georgia.  Attorneys in Georgia are not equally distributed throughout the state. More than two-thirds—almost 18,000—reside within sixty miles of Atlanta. Forty percent work in one county, Fulton.

Now the AJC distributes 1,700,000 of these toss away advertising supplements each week to homes (not apartment houses), so logically there would be at least 12,000 lawyers who are getting these unwanted flyers in their driveways, or on their lawns or sidewalks.

Isn't there just 1 lawyer out there who will take the time out to file for a TRO or initiate a class action suit to stop the AJC?

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
SUN Circulation  391,815
SAT  Circulation  199,568
(M-F) AVG  DLY  183,415

Circulation averages for the six months ended:  3/31/2011

See, I told you the AJC Sucked!

The AJC Reach is back in the news again for continuing to litter the streets, lawns and driveways of Metro Atlanta. 

CBS TV had a 3 minute long update on the problem in tonight’s 11 PM broadcast.  News Anchors Stephney Fisher and Jaquitta Williams summarized the problem and tossed it to Leslie Tanner in the field in Reynoldstown , SE Atlanta where she interviewed local resident Karl Xjimenez who complainted that the AJC had started the New Year with a continued barrage of advertising supplements and Ms. Tanner also interviewed Ms. Peggy Denby of the ‘Keep Atlanta Beautiful’ organization which is in the midst of a survey of the litter problem in Atlanta.

As usual the Atlanta Journal Constitution is ducking and diving and not providing any explanation for their continued bad conduct. 

In my own Kennesaw area we still seem to be on the AJC ‘do not throw’ list, but as I have commented before, these lulls never last long, and I expect that before much longer we will have the problem again with both of the AJC toss away papers.

For the latest story see:  http://tinyurl.com/6kn874c

Attn: Mr. Sandford H. Schwartz

9/4/2010

Mr. Sandford H. Schwartz
President, Cox Media Group

6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Road

Atlanta, GA 30328-4524

RE: Atlanta Journal Constitution

Dear Mr. Schwartz:

I have seen your site http://www.coxconservesheroes.com/atlanta-ga.aspx and while I am impressed by it I have to comment that it seems rather odd that Cox can on one hand support conservation efforts and on the other have their major Cox newspaper (Atlanta Journal Constitution) throw 1,500,000 advertising flyers each week onto lawns, driveways, sidewalks and sometimes even in the gutters in the Atlanta metro area.

You could do far more for the environment by making the AJC go back to mail delivery of their advertising supplements than you are doing with your entire Hero's organization.

The firm that the AJC chose to distribute their toss down advertising circular has had a very poor history and lasted 7 months in the Dallas area, doing exactly what they are now doing in Atlanta.

It seems that the AJC Executive Selection Committee knew about the poor reputation of American Circulation Innovators (ACI) even before they chose that firm to be their distributor but went ahead with the contract simply on a low bid basis. Clearly this is putting money before responsible management decisions and it entirely opposite of the values your group has set forth in your 'Heroes' awards.

I have several blog sites and I am now asking you for a formal reply to the above concerns so that I can post it on my blogs.

Sincerely,

William Harris

Click on for larger image

The Moleman Says:

From deep within the bowels of the Atlanta Journal Constitution comes the information that:

• Many local retailers are calling in to report that thousands of the AJC flyers are being tossed into their strip mall dumpsters each week.

• ACI (the distributors of AJC Reach and Evening Edge) lasted 7 months in Dallas (08/09) when they tried to distribute the Morning News’ “Briefing”, described as a total screwup. Weekly Briefing distribution was 1 million papers.

• The AJC top management (ie: Selection Committee) knew about the poor history of ACI prior to signing up with them but went ahead anyway due to their being the cheapest distributor.

• 40% driver turnover weekly.

• Managing ‘Stop Requests’ gets little attention, it is lip service most of the time.

• Drivers have no time to consider those few ‘stop lists’ provided and the drivers are told: “Get the papers out of here!”, this results in papers in the gutter, on sidewalks, lawns etc.

• Never had all routes delivered yet, due to lack of drivers willing to work for min. wage and toss 3,000-4,000 papers a day. (normal route is 1,200).

• ACI is really a ‘mom and pop’ operation that has a good blog site set up and that is about all it has that works.

• ACI may be terminated shortly due to poor performance in delivering the papers.

• Even if canned tomorrow, ACI has made a mint already.

• Neighborhoods of vocal protesters are skipped in the hope that they will then give up their protests thinking things have changed (they haven’t).

More 'Moleman' news coming soon!

=======================================================

Thanks for looking at this site!

But don't forget there are other sites on this topic and you will want to take a good look at them also:
http://www.stopajcreach.org/,
http://twitter.com/StopAJCReach,
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=372770857545

=================================================

CBS TV Keeps after the AJC

AJC Reach Continues To Break Atlanta Litter Law

City Officials Still Haven't Written Citations!

By Lesley Tanner, CBS Atlanta Reporter

 June 28, 2010

ATLANTA -- Six weeks after city officials told staff at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to change delivery methods of their weekly "Reach" circular, the company still hasn't complied.

David Eckoff read comments on the Facebook page dedicated to the circular and those who want it stopped. Hundreds of members have posted complaints about the paper. They said it's thrown on their driveways, blows into the street and ends up left behind as litter. For the past few weeks, Eckoff said his street hasn't had those issues, because deliveries have stopped.

"If it's due to permanent and lasting changes in the delivery process then I'm delighted," said Eckoff.  But he said he can't find out for sure.  "It's particularly difficult when the AJC won't communicate with us," said Eckoff.

Eckoff started calling the mayor's office in May, hoping to discuss the city's litter law. Under current code circulars must be weighed down or secured to a door or porch.  Eckoff got his first reply on Monday, when a member of the mayor's communications staff called Eckoff, and told him the AJC is testing ways to weigh down the bags.

CBS Atlanta went to find out where and how the tests were being done.  A few blocks from Eckoff's house deliveries looked like they might be sealed to keep the papers in the bag, but the plastic was just melted together.

Crews didn't find any bags with weights in Kirkwood either.  Resident Jay Taylor said he's unhappy to hear the AJC is still breaking the law.  "I wish the city would cite them if they're breaking the law, and they should," said Taylor. "Little things that are allowed to slip by like that can build up into big things."

City officials wouldn't confirm if or when citations would be issued, but CBS Atlanta found out that for the past few months there hasn't been anyone qualified to write litter citations.

==============================================

Here are some email addresses for both top management and general mailboxes at the AJC.  Nothing like a good email to start off the day!  Just highlight and copy to your outgoing email:

mjoseph@ajc.com,  jdwallace@ajc.com,  beickhoff@ajc.com,  sdavidson@ajc.com,  moya.neville@ajc.com, jmallory@ajc.com,  achown@ajc.com,  listen@ajc.com,  customercare@ajc.com,  kpark@ajc.com,  newstips@ajc.com,  ajcclass@ajc.com,  letters@ajc.com,  insideajc@ajc.com

===============================================
"How Can I Make The Newspaper Stop When I Don't Subscribe?"

The link to this article has been on my blog for six months, but the article is still available and the 103 comments are from all around the country and are even more interesting than the article. This is a problem nationwide with other newspapers and you can find this info at:
Go to: http://consumerist.com/2010/01/how-can-i-make-the-newspaper-stop-when-i-dont-subscribe.html

================================================
ACI has approx 300 drivers who are independent contractors and who deliver on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday with routes of 1,400 homes a day. They operate out of North Cobb: Kennesaw, South Fulton: College Park and North Dekalb: Clarkston where they accept applications for employment and require a Driver License, Social Security Card, Current Car Insurance and Car Registration.

Some interesting info on another blog:

A sister blog that is also anti-AJC has a new post which in part quotes "What Georgia State Law Says"

Georgia law O.C.G.A. § 16-7-58 prohibits placement of advertisements on public or private property unless the owner of the property has given permission.
 
Take a look at this at:
http://www.stopajcreach.org/2010/07/ajc-reach-distribution-in-violation-of-georgia-state-litter-law-o-c-g-a-%C2%A7-16-7-58/

As posted on the Atlanta Craigslist

The Atlanta metro community is fed up with the trash that the AJC throws onto our driveways, lawns and sidewalks. They toss out 1.5 MILLION of these advertising supplements each WEEK. That's right it is each WEEK, not each month of year. They use to mail out the AJC Reach and Evening Edition but it cost a few cents too much so now they have hired a 3rd rate firm from California to toss this litter into your yards.


Boycott the AJC, if you have a subscription cancel it and let them know why, if you advertise with them, STOP it and let them know that you will not support them in their efforts to make money by littering our neighborhoods.


Take a look at:
http://www.atlantajournal-constitution.blogspot.com/
http://www.stopajcreach.org/,  
http://twitter.com/StopAJCReach,
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=372770857545

Keep an eye on these sites for information on picketing the AJC and also a class action suit that is in the works. We might need you for both efforts, so check back frequently!
==========================================

CBS TV - Many Reports But They Can't Get an Interview

A lot of people in the metro Atlanta area are rightly annoyed at this newspaper and the useless litter they put onto driveways, sidewalks etc. CBS has had no luck in getting the AJC to do any interviews on the matter.

See some of the CBS TV reports at: http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/23005466/detail.html and http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/23017222/detail.html the print stories are at the end of this blog, just scroll down to find them.

==================================================

Now I am getting the AJC trash on

Monday as well as Thursdays!

As you will read below, I have been trying for months to have the litter that the AJC calls 'The Evening Edge' stopped from being tossed onto my property every Thursday. They said to the BBB in reply to my complaint: "We have stopped all Circulars at this address. . . Your request to have the Evening Edge stopped at your address for good has been properly noted and received."

2 Thursdays have come and gone since they wrote that, both days there was an 'Evening Edge' in the driveway. Not only that, but today, Monday March 1 they threw a new advertising section in the drive and this is called 'AJC Reach'. So not only am I getting the Evening Edge on Thursdays now the problem has doubled with this new AJC Reach on Monday!

Photos 3/1/2010

FYI: I put in a BBB complaint, the AJC still has its A+ rating with them and I see that my complaint has now been 'administratively closed'. I guess the BBB isn't going to take any action on a member that is clearly violating their own guidelines. IMHO the BBB is worthless.

=========================================

BBB - 2/26/10 Response

"We will close the complaint to report that despite the company's willingness to state their position; you did not agree with their response and therefore remained dissatisfied."

Better Business Bureau Atlanta

Since I had six months ago put in an unsuccessful BBB complaint I checked back to see if their A+ rating was still intact. Unfortunately it is.

This newspaper has been a member since 1952 and despite 35 complaints this year the BBB seems quite happy to ignore consumer complaints about a long standing member. I guess they like having the AJC as a dues paying member and are quite willing to allow the newspaper to get away with spreading trash around Atlanta as long as the paper pays their dues.

Here is the BBB site in case you want to add your own complaint to other victims of the AJC: http://atlanta.bbb.org/
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1,700,000 Copies a Week of 'litter' on our streets!

American Circulation Innovations is the firm that the AJC hired last October to distribute 1.3 million copies of their AJC Reach each week. ACI was also selected to distribute approximately 400,000 copies of Evening Edge on a weekly basis.

The total distribution in Metro Atlanta is 1.7 million copies weekly or 88.4 million copies on a yearly basis. That is a heck of a lot of litter to be tossing on our streets, driveways and lawns. The latest circulation figures for the M-F AJC shows that their daily circulation fell 24.7 percent to 195,582.

Keith Somers, is ACI's General Manager and their main address is: 1501 W. Wardlow Road, Long Beach, CA. 90810, Tel: (310) 233-2750 (FYI see: http://www.acicirculation.com/). David Morel, is the ACI Director of Strategic Planning and Development, Tel: (562) 805-7681.

This is a 40 year old firm and the AJC contract is their largest among the 50+ publications they distribute. Other papers using them are: Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Examiner, San Diego Union Tribune, Orange County Register and Yellow Book USA.

(See also: http://www.acicirculation.com/newsAtlanta.php)


From the ACI web site:

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The below is the 4/28/10 CVS emailed reply to my complaints:
CVS/pharmacy®

Dear Mr. William Harris,

Thank you for contacting CVS/pharmacy. Your e-mail has reached the Customer Relations Department. We appreciate the time you have taken to contact us with your concerns.

I have formally documented your comments and forwarded your concerns directly to our Advertising Department. We have contacted the AJC and they are aware of the complaints and working to resolve the issue, including updating their information about vacant homes in order to cease delivery to those addresses. They also offer the opportunity for customers to receive the AJC REACH via postal mail. They state that they have added a carrier penalty system for poor delivery performance and conducting spot checks in targeted areas to ensure delivery accuracy. They have established a dedicated Customer Care line for REACH delivery services. The number is 404-526-9473. Please feel free to contact them directly.

Thank you again for contacting us Mr. Harris. We value your feedback and look forward to serving you in the future. Have a wonderful afternoon!

Sincerely,

Danielle
CVS/pharmacy, Customer Relations
08828987

My Reply:

Thank you for your reply, I have posted it on my blog site: http://www.atlantajournal-constitution.blogspot.com/

I just want to make sure you folks at CVS are aware of the volume of this litter that is being distributed around the Atlanta area. I am not complaining about 100,000 copies or even 200,000 copies. The AJC is throwing 1,700,000, that is 1.7 MILLION copies of this trash and it is not a year or a month - it is 1,700,000 plastic encased advertising flyers each WEEK, over 88 MILLION of them a year.

The little tweeks that the AJC had put into place are really meaningless.

You really must reconsider just whose side CVS is going to be on. Do you want to support the major source of litter in the Atlanta area or do you want to do the responsible thing and tell them to STOP THROWING litter onto peoples private property.

You can't be on both sides of this issue.

Either you are part of the solution or you continue to be part of the problem!