RENEGADE TEXAS NEWSPAPER
TAKES ON NEW YORK TIMES
"WE CAN TAKE THEM DOWN" CLAIMS UPSTART EDITOR
New York -
- Insiders at the headquarters of the sprawling, $2.4 billion media and communications
conglomerate, the New York Times Company, claim that members of the Sulzberger family, long time
owners and publishers of the New York Times are concerned about trends showing a weakness in their
overall marketing strategy.
Sources say they are particularly concerned about an upstart publication from the smallest town in
Texas, the Round Top Register.
On the surface, this report seems far fetched. Many experts doubt this multi-faceted
media empire, which owns the Boston Globe, seven radio stations, a variety of successful magazines and
commands a daily circulation of over a million subscribers, has anything to worry about from a small, rural
Texas quarterly newspaper with a circulation still less than one hundred.
However, persistent rumors continue to surface. A source who asked not to be named who heard it from
a woman on the subway who heard it from a magazine vendor that has a shop not far from the 43rd street
headquarters who heard it from a man he won't identify, attributes the following quote to a "Mr. Vigliotti."
According to our source, Mr. Vigliotti owns a solid waste company that, along with the companies of
twenty-three other garbage magnates, is currently under indictment for alleged participation in a Mafia
dominated trash cartel.
His publicist also claims that, under a pseudonym, he wrote the popular self-help tome, "Garbage as a
Guide to the Inner Man." As Vigliotti and Sons is the Time's garbage vendor, claims our source, he has
a close personal relationship with the Time's rubbish...and thus, its inner secrets.
Mr. Vigliotti was reported to have said, "Arthur (Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. - Publisher of the
Times) is obsessed with...it. His trash can is full of notes and torn off pieces of yellow legal pads covered
with "Register this..." and "Register that..." He's trying to convince 'Punch' (his father, Arthur Ochs
'Punch' Sulzberger, Chairman and CEO) that the Register is a significant threat. Lance (Lance Primis,
President and CEO) is just sitting on the sideline waiting for the (expletive deleted) to settle."
Another source close to the Sulzberger family claims the story is a “cheap, tawdry, far-fetched publicity
stunt from a desperate amateur newsman who lacks the advertising to properly support his pitiable
publication.”
In an effort to get to the bottom of the persistent rumors, we contacted the Editor of the Round Top
Register, Mr. Chris Travis, to ask if any of the scuttlebutt had substance.
“Sure...I think there’s something to it. I haven’t talked to Arthur or “Punch” myself you understand but
it only makes sense.” Mr. Travis is a surprisingly attractive man who seems to have the attention of a
number of national supermodels. “I mean,...they’ve been around forever. Sure, they’ve got a good
paper...even a great paper but ...they’re getting a bit tired. You know, that bureaucratic rot takes the edge
off those big institutions....it was bound to happen. I guess they just can’t move fast enough to make the
grade when they’re up against the versatility of a one-person newspaper.”
The New York Times, with 1994 sales of almost $2.4 billion, owns not only the Boston Globe but
twenty-three other smaller daily newspapers in ten states, two newspaper distributors, five TV stations, two
New York radio stations, ten sports and leisure magazines and stakes in two paper mills.
The newspaper was begun in 1851 by George Jones and Henry Raymond. (No one seems to know if
George started the Times before or after the breakup with Tammy.) In 1896 Adolph Ochs, a journalist from
Chattanooga, bought the Times and added the newspaper’s now famous slogan “All the News That’s Fit to
Print.”
The paper was passed down from son-in-law to son-in-law until “Punch”, Adolph’s grandson took over
in 1963. Punch took the Times public but made sure the family retained firm control of the ownership.
In 1992, Arthur Jr. took over from “Punch” although his father remains chairman and CEO.
As a convenience to our readers, we have compiled comparative statistics...
COMPARATIVE STATISTICS
1994 TOTAL SALES
New York Times - - - - - $2.4 billion
Round Top Register- - - $ 200-300
EMPLOYEES
New York Times - - - - - 10,000+
Round Top Register - - - 1
PAID CIRCULATION
New York Times - - - - 2,436,436
Round Top Register - - - 60 something
(total free circulation 15,000+)
INCOME OF PRINCIPAL
EXECUTIVES
Arthur Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger
Chairman and CEO - - NY TIMES
$ 962,200.00
Lance R. Primis
President and COO - - NY TIMES
$1,100,800.00
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.
Publisher - - - - - - - - - NY TIMES
$ 918,200.00
Christopher Karl Travis
Editor - - - - ROUND TOP REGISTER
$ Coming Soon!
INTERNET PRESENCE
New York Times - - - - - - - - - - yes
Round Top Register - - - - - - - - yes
FUNNY
New York Times - - - - - - - - - - - no
Round Top Register - - - - - - - - - yes
AGE OF SENIOR COLUMNISTS
New York Times
No one over 100 years old
Round Top Register
Uncle Sack - - 191 years old
# OF ‘96 INTERVIEWS
WITH THE REAL SANTA CLAUS
New York Times - - - - - - - - - - - - 0
Round Top Register - - - - - - - - - 1
1996 % CHANGE
IN CIRCULATION
NY TIMES - annual
Down 3% to 1,081,541
RT REGISTER - 6 months
Up approx. 6,500% to 60 something
RESULTS IF RATE OF CHANGE
REMAINS THE SAME:
6-1-96
REGISTER - 3,900
TIMES - 1,065,318
12-1-96
REGISTER - 253,500
TIMES - 1,049,338
6-1-97
REGISTER - 14,477,500
TIMES - 1,033,598
(THEY NEVER TOLD ME I HAD
TO DO MATH WHEN THEY OFFERED ME THIS JOB)
The Round Top Register was founded in 1995 by the merchants of the town of Round Top. Its editor,
Mr. Chris Travis, created the newspaper to share his love for Round Top, the biggest little town in Texas,
and its people.
He is not without journalistic experience. He created his first neighborhood paper when a teenager but grew tired of typing all the copies for his subscribers during the second issue and retired. He
worked as a copyboy at the Austin American Statesman but was fired for having long hair.
He was once on the front page of the business section of the Houston Post lying in a portable spa
wearing tennis shoes and a business suit.
He once interviewed Leon Hale, columnist of the Houston Chronicle. He subscribes to Wired and Net Guide magazines. Sometimes he reads the Newspaper. He has a good Life and plenty of Time.
The current issue of the Round Top Register is the first publication of Round Top Publishing
Company.
The current ownership is held by Christopher K. and Cheryl A.
Travis of Round Top, Texas. through control of class B laughing stock.
Despite industry naysayers, Mr. Travis remains confident that his newspaper is a viable competitor for the Times.
“Hey, this kind of thing happens all the time. Look at David and Goliath, the turtle and the hare, the
‘little engine that could’...I mean what about that goat and the million kilowatt dam? Everybody said he
couldn’t do it too.”
Each Sunday in the United States, almost 63,000,000 daily papers are distributed. Mr. Travis plans to
expand distribution as part of the Round Top Register’s strategy for broadening its piece of the print pie.
“We’re goin’ to put more of them out in Roznov and Nechanitz...probably take some over to Warda and
Walhalla. Wesley and Swiss Alp, West Point and Independence, Chapel Hill and Nelsonville. The list is
endless.
“It’s all in the numbers. If you look at our sales growth and factor in the slippage in the Times’
circulation...we should pass them up some time early in 1997. I’m not expecting any miracles...if it takes
until June or July, we’ll just have to be patient.”
When asked the purpose of his print crusade, Mr. Travis responded “Money and glory...I mean look at
what Lance and those Sulzberger boys make. I’m gonna be RICH! It takes three of them to do the job I do.
I ought to get all three salaries.”
Although a mammoth organization, the New York Times Company is not the largest U.S. newspaper
business. Gannet Co. owns eighty-two daily newspapers which sell over six million Sunday editions. The
Wall Street Journal has a larger daily circulation than the Times. In fact the New York Times Company
is only the fifth largest American newspaper company. When asked why he had chosen the New York
newspaper as his target.
“Well, the truth is, except for the Round Top Register, it’s the best newspaper in the world. If you’re
going to go for a goal...you might as well go for the gold. The way I see it...the best newpaper in the world
ought to be in Texas.”
Register's Home Page
The Round Top Register
...from the biggest little town in Texas.