Asda Demands Editorial Space to Sell Publishers’ Magazines

Asda’s magazine purchaser recently e-mailed the company’s magazine suppliers, demanding either two pages of editorial space or advertising space each month in publications sold at Asda.  The email also requested that the suppliers pay Asda £2,500 for shelf space in any new store that is opened, and also an “item set up” fee of £2,464 any new titles distributed in Asda stores.  [Click here for the original e-mail or the full story.]

The first baffling aspect of this move by Asda is not the motivation, but the audacity.  These demands encroach upon the voice that publications give to particular issues and constituents.  By elbowing its way onto the editorial pages, Asda (which is owned by Wal-Mart) would have the potential to silence those issues or spin them in whatever way bolsters their profit margins.  (Now, some would argue that Asda or Wal-Mart may write on issues in which they are interested that could correspond with the themes of the publication.  But if that were the case, then these companies would have conveyed that interest and demonstrated more than a superficial commitment by already submitting pieces or working directly with particular communities.)

The alternative to the editorial pages is the advertising space, where magazines traditionally earn most of their revenue.  Not only would this amount to lost revenue for the magazines, but it would also foster serious tensions with Asda’s competitors.  The price wars between Asda and Tesco have been bloody, and if magazine publishers agree to Asda’s demands, other distributors would surely revolt.

Moreover, cowering to such a demand by grocers and retailers would severely compromise any notion of a publisher’s content independence.  An initiative that provides Asda and Wal-Mart the ability to alter any of the content of a magazine is a slippery slope away from a top-down regulation of speech by disinvested corporations. 

In response to the furious reactions from publishers, Asda has released statements, implying that the e-mail contained their “wish list” and that they are expecting to go to the negotiating table.  Asda claims that when the publishers bring their own list of demands, a compromise will be reached.  But as they prepare to take their seats at the bargaining table, I would implore publishers to stand together against a particularly suspect infringement upon their autonomy and to remember that walking away from the bargaining table is always an option.

Posted by Joel Nezianya on Wednesday, July 30, 2008

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