Paid Personnel Listings 'Modest Success' in Kansas City

By: Jennifer Saba About three months ago, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star drew wide interest when it became one of the first papers to start charging for business personnel announcements -- typically a free service. The paper was looking for ways to increase classified revenue; and the editorial side was looking for a better way to manage the influx of press releases that generally pile up.

Since the change, the program is having some "modest success," said Arthur Brisbane, publisher of the Star (Click for QuikCap). "It's still too early to tell."

The paper is filling half a tab page with paid classified personnel moves in its business section called Star Business Weekly. The ads cost $4.45 per line, including text and photos. "It's not a large volume at this point," Brisbane said. "But right now we're satisfied and it's still worth proceeding if it continues at this pace."

Brisbane said that the amount of personnel changes has dropped since they instituted the paid program on March 9. He has also received some negative comments regarding the switch from a free to paid service.

Overall, classified revenue at the Star is on the rebound but it's not as dramatic when compared to some other papers. "It's still in the single digits," Brisbane said. The bulk of the increase is coming from recruitment.