by Stop-AJC-Reach on January 28, 2011
Kennesaw Patch has a feature article about Kennesaw resident William Harris, who has battled the AJC to stop “Evening Edge”, an advertising flyer similar to “AJC Reach”.
“I am simply one individual who is trying to get a large, faceless corporation to do the ‘right thing’,” Harris told Kennesaw Patch.
From the article:
“Litter like this is unacceptable no matter what the source,” stated Harris. “Keep in mind that we are talking about 1.7 million such flyers weekly in metro Atlanta. It isn’t just a few thousand here and there; it is a major source of litter in the whole of Atlanta [and] these statistics come from the AJC and the firm they hired to toss this stuff.”
Although Harris is concerned about the environmental effects of the flyers, he said that his primary concern about the deliveries is the safety of homeowners.
“I am concerned with litter and the environment, but also I am really [upset] that they are putting a bull’s eye on my property for any nogoodnik that is looking for some stuff to take the pawn shop. This means that such toss away papers will pile up and serve as an invitation to any burglars that no one is in residence. I don’t want to come home to find my home has been cleaned out because some criminals have noticed the pile up of these ‘Evening Edge’ papers.”
Read the full article: Kennesaw Retiree Battles Unsolicited Mail (Kennesaw Patch)
Related article: How to Stop AJC Reach for Your Entire Neighborhood
by Stop-AJC-Reach on January 25, 2011
Here’s how to stop AJC Reach across your entire neighborhood. This is an easy way to stop AJC Reach delivery across a wide area.
If enough neighborhoods do this, then unwanted litter across Atlanta will be greatly reduced or eliminated.
The AJC has stated in writing (documented at the bottom of this post, after the jump) that if you are a “designated representative of your HOA or community association”, you can contact Willie Leonard (e-mail: wleonard@ajc.com) of the AJC to direct the AJC to stop delivery of AJC Reach to your entire community.
What we did in our neighborhood: We raised the issue with the Virginia-Highland Civic Association and asked if the civic association would write such a letter to Mr. Leonard. After deliberation and vote, the president of the civic association sent the e-mail to Mr. Leonard; she received an e-mail back from Mr. Leonard, so he did in fact receive the e-mail. Since then, we have not seen any deliveries of AJC Reach in Virginia-Highland. (Thank you to VHCA board for sending the letter.)
What you can do: Ask your HOA or community association to send a similar letter to Mr. Leonard of the AJC.
Here’s a draft that you could use as a template for your neighborhood:
“Responding to the AJC’s information from Dawn Forman of AJC customer service, the Virginia-Highland Civic Association directs the AJC to permanently cease dumping any future deliveries of “AJC Reach” or other ad circulars in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood that would otherwise be delivered in the streets, sidewalks, gutters, driveways/yards, etc in the neighborhood, unless specifically requested by individual residents. Should the AJC decide to resume deliveries of AJC Reach in Virginia-Highland, the neighborhood association directs the AJC to do so via USPS; or only to those residents who specifically opt-in to receive deliveries. Neighborhood Boundaries for Virginia-Highland: “The area bounded on the north by Amsterdam Avenue and its extension to Briarcliff Road, on the south by Ponce de Leon Avenue, on the east by Briarcliff Road, and on the west by the Southern Railroad Line which is within the city limits of Atlanta constitute the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.”
If your HOA or neighborhood association sends such a letter to the AJC, please contact us so we can track this and report on it here.
[click to continue…]
by Stop-AJC-Reach on January 20, 2011
Like a bad zombie movie, the AJC is back at it again.
CBS Atlanta Reports:
“It’s the same thing we saw all last spring and summer, plastic bags filled with ads thrown onto driveways, many ending up in the street.”
Video: “Is The AJC Breaking The City’s Litter Law?“ (CBS Atlanta)
And more in this summary from a blogger who’s mad as heck and not going to take it. “See, I told you the AJC Sucked!” (by the creatively named “The Atlanta Journal Constitution Sucks”
We’ll have more on this issue tomorrow, with an article about how to stop AJC Reach in your entire neighborhood.
by Stop-AJC-Reach on September 12, 2010
The AJC Reach littering issue is on the agenda for the Virginia-Highland Civic Association annual meeting this Monday evening, with a 5 minute update scheduled.
Here is a post with an update, on the Virginia-Highland yahoo group, seeking feedback from the community in advance of the presentation.
Please post any ideas and suggestions for this 5 minute update, either here or on the VHList Yahoo Group.
Stay tuned for reports here, after the annual meeting.
by Stop-AJC-Reach on September 5, 2010
AJC Reach advertising circular in gutter in Virginia Highland
StopAJCReach.org received this reader mail from William Harris, who publishes several blogs, including http://www.atlantajournal-constitution.blogspot.com.
Mr. Harris sent this letter to Sanford H. Schwartz, President of Cox Media Group, parent company of the AJC, seeking comment about AJC Reach litter in Atlanta.
9/4/2010
Mr. Sanford H Schwartz
President, Cox Media Group
6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GA 30328-4524
RE: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Dear Mr. Schwartz:
I have seen your site “Cox Conserves Heroes“ and while I am impressed by it I have to comment that it seems rather odd that Cox can on one hand support conservation efforts and on the other have their major Cox newspaper (Atlanta Journal Constitution) throw 1,500,000 advertising flyers each week onto lawns, driveways, sidewalks and sometimes even in the gutters in the Atlanta metro area.
You could do far more for the environment by making the AJC go back to mail delivery of their advertising supplements than you are doing with your entire Hero’s organization.
The firm that the AJC chose to distribute their toss down advertising circular has had a very poor history and lasted 7 months in the Dallas area, doing exactly what they are now doing in Atlanta.
It seems that the AJC Executive Selection Committee knew about the poor reputation of American Circulation Innovators (ACI) even before they chose that firm to be their distributor but went ahead with the contract simply on a low bid basis. Clearly this is putting money before responsible management decisions and it entirely opposite of the values your group has set forth in your ‘Heroes’ awards.
I have several blog sites and I am now asking you for a formal reply to the above concerns so that I can post it on my blogs.
Sincerely,
William Harris
