Editorial drives Newport's machine

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June, 1990 by John Masterton

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF.-The last time Doug Condra wrote a "deadfish" editorial was when he "took the coward's way out" after back surgery 15 years ago. In the years since, Condra has staked out a name as one of the hardest-hitting commentators in business publishing.

As editor in chief of Newport Publications' Heavy Duty Trucking, which primarily covers medium and heavy trucks, Condra has tackled everything from unsafe trucking equipment and road taxes to drug testing and new commercial licensing procedures; his readers always know his position on the issue at hand. Unlike many trade press editorials, his succinct columns never fail to take a clear stand. And they don't always jibe with the advertisers' priorities.

But 97,000 truck owners and fleet managers aren't the only ones taking notice. For the third year in a row, the American Business Press (ABP) acknowledged Condra's efforts with its Neal Award for editorials. This year, Heavy Duty Trucking won one of Newport Publications' two awards for best staff-written editorial and received a certificate of merit in the best single article category. Also at this year's Neal presentation, Condra won the ABP Crain Award for career contributions to editorial excellence in the business press.

Condra is also vice president/ editorial director for Newport's four trucking industry titles, which include Truckers News and Truckstop World.

Because of deregulation and recent changes in the marketplace, the trucking industry hasn't been easy to cover. There have been bankruptcies and mergers and acquisitions. But there's still a lot of competition and--as with the airlines-a lot of scrambling for profits, says Condra. All that doesn't daunt him. He's as unstinting with the magazines' editorial as he is with his own commentary.

Reader comes first

"The reader must always come first," Condra stresses. "If you have credibility with your readers, you'll have credibility with your advertisers, even if some of them get hurt once in a while. We have that credibility."

Heavy Duty Trucking uses its credibility as a marketing tool. "We prove our credibility to top fleet managers," Condra explains. "Then it trickles down to the people who buy advertising."

Indeed, Condra and his staff have gained the respect of advertisers. While advertisers know they can't put any special spin on a piece, they also know the readers know it. Even under sometimes trying circumstances, Condra says, major accounts have stayed with Newport's program.

He cites one case a while back in which a regular advertiser had agreed to sponsor a series of high-speed truck races. Condra considered the contest unsafe for drivers and spectators alike, arguing in his column that no truck was equipped for such performance and that no course could withstand an accident.

"Before the editorial appeared, one of our reps told company officials we'd be coming out against the competition," Condra recalls. "We didn't show them the copy, but we offered them a chance to back out of the issue. They said, Do what you have to do' and stayed in. I believe that was a vote of confidence in how we do our jobs."

Put title on the map

Safety is a primary concern in the trucking business, and much of Heavy Duty Trucking's hardest hitting editorial over the years has addressed safety-or lack of it.

What really put Heavy Duty Trucking on the map, Condra believes, was a two-year series on a controversial Federal anti-lock brake law. Fleet owners claimed the new brakes caused accidents, the Government said they improved safety and manufacturers worried about equipment that met the standards but didn't always stop trucks.

"That's probably our proudest accomplishment," Condra says. "We were young and hungry, and none of the competition really stayed with this long, complicated story. We had 12 advertisers who made the equipment, but we felt public safety was the overriding concern."

Starting with the May issue, the title is running a monthly column devoted to court cases involving safety issues. Written by a transportation lawyer and couched in layman's terms, the column offers fleet owners and managers guidance and points out potential pitfalls through a real-world case approach. Safety is also covered in a "special emphasis" issue, as are maintenance for profit, fuel economy and winterizing. These topics also rate continuing coverage.

Editorial sentinel

Since joining the company in 1971, Condra has devised policies to safeguard editorial against advertiser intrusion. These include prohibitions against unorthodox ad positioning and staff involvement in advertorials.

Regarding an advertiser's request to plop a square third-page ad in the middle of an editorial page, for instance, Condra wrote in an internal memo: "The attempt here is to get full-page recognition for partial page ads. It also creates confusion ... as to what is advertising and what is editorial.... Plain and simple, there is editorial and there is advertising. We do not offer, nor accept, advertising copy that tries to blur differences. "