Afar Media, which is launching its experiential travel title, Afar, in August, has just appointed Laura Simkins as its Audience Marketing and Planning Director. DMNews spoke with John Sheehy, president and publisher of Afar, about the hire.

Here's an irony: Faith in American business appears to be at an all-time low; the nation's president has just fired the CEO of a leading automaker; a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll indicates that 8% of the country blames the banks for the current financial crisis. And yet, 1,000 Americans surveyed in February and March by Roper Public Affairs & Media for a Custom Publishing Council survey said that their faith in, commitment to, and enjoyment of custom publishing has actually increased in the four years since the last Roper/CPC poll.

Last week's In Circ discussed the newest circ marketing efforts of two newspapers whose very existence has been threatened: The Boston Globe and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. This week, we hear more about the Globe's efforts from Bob Powers, VP of communications and public affairs for the Globe.

When I was a kid growing up in New York, I learned two valuable lessons that I have carried with me for years: always get a tetanus shot before riding the subway, and never compromise your integrity for anything. While I admit the sanitary conditions on the F Train have become less of a problem since I moved to West Hollywood, the latter issue has developed into an ongoing battle throughout the media world.

Both the Boston Globe and the Minneapolis Star Tribune are launching self-promotion campaigns this week — a pushback to layoffs and the looming threat of closure that have threatened newspapers nationwide.

Given the current state of the global economy—and the media marketplace specifically—it is natural for publishers to enhance the quality of their circulation while maintaining or reducing costs. A tall order, but many publishers believe it is one that digital editions might be able to fill.

Bonnier's Popular Science magazine and Discovery's Science Channel have teamed up to create a new TV series: "Popular Science: The future of." The interesting thing about this partnership is that the sales and marketing teams from both brands will be working together on integrated plans — and sharing revenue on integrated ad packages.

Recently, the USPS posted a $1 Billion dollar net loss in the Third Quarter of 2008. This year looks even bleaker, with mailers of all sorts and sizes bracing for the next round of postal increases due on May 11, 2009. Officials blame the Postal loss on reduced mail volume across the industry, coupled with rapidly rising transport costs due to the increasing costs of fuel. Seeing my mail box much lightened by the lack of mailings, I think this would be a great time for marketers to get new creative test mailings going.

A close friend of mine is the type of guy who likes a good deal. He'll spend hours scouring SlickDeals.net just to save $5 on a set of headphones or a pair of tennis shoes. So when he started finding offers for free and nearly free full-year subscriptions to magazines, he was quick to jump on the titles he wanted: The New Yorker and Wired. The New Yorker, in particular, seemed like a great deal. As a weekly (and a "venerable" one to boot), it's not cheap. I had to wonder where the payoff would come in for the reseller.

Jane Giles, director of business development for Cambey and West and president of the National Trade Circulation Foundation Inc. (NTCFI) contributed the tips below from the NTCFI's "Up in a Down Economy" luncheon series. In a panel discussion on March 12, Brian Snider, president and chief creative officer of GRI Marketing Group, and Jim Katz, VP sales and business development for RealMagnet, discussed ways for circulators to keep their heads above water in this challenging economy. Philip Scarano of Triad Services moderated.