------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Nov. 15, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
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 in 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. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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