Category: Media and Marketing

In the ring he was Ali, but in newspapers he was still Clay

Cassius Clay
The Courier-Journal’s first reference to Ali by his chosen name didn’t come until 1969, five years after he adopted it.

Shortly after he defeated Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight title in February 1964, Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali. The new name, bestowed by Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, “was important to Ali, who referred to Cassius Clay as his slave name and took umbrage when people used it,” The New York Times says in a new story.

Muhammad Ali
Ali in 1967.

But in The Courier-Journal, the Times, and many other papers and magazines, “Cassius Clay won the Liston rematch in 1965, Cassius Clay beat Cleveland Williams in 1966, and Cassius Clay refused to be inducted into the Army in 1967.”

Indeed, the earliest CJ reference to the late Louisville native by his chosen name didn’t come until Aug 24, 1969, when the paper’s Bill Petersen interviewed him in Chicago, according to a search this morning of the CJ archives in Newspapers.com. At the time, Ali faced five years in prison and a $10,000* fine after his 1967 draft evasion conviction; on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court eventually threw it out. (Correction: In fact, the CJ used “Ali” as early as 1964, the year he adopted it; please read this new  post.)

Under a Page One headline that said, “Going to Jail for Beliefs Appeals to Cassius, Deposed Champ,” Peterson wrote: “The mature Muhammad Ali — Cassius Clay, if you prefer — looked good. He was still [lightning] fast. His shoulders and biceps were immense. His stomach was flat.”

Ali died last week in Phoenix, his primary home, after battling Parkinson’s disease for decades; he was 74. He will be buried at Cave Hill Cemetery today.

* $65,000 in 2016 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.

In today’s Courier-Journal, a tale of two newspapers

CJ premium editionFor a glimpse of what the Courier-Journal can do when it really commits resources, consider today’s installment of the quarterly premium sections introduced in March. It’s devoted to all things food: from farmer’s markets to an impressive farm-to-table restaurant guide. It’s handsomely designed, as you can see in the photo, left, of the cover.

And at a $1 per-subscriber surcharge, the sections surely brings in tens of thousands of dollars in additional revenue. Plus, they’ve got a long shelf life, so readers are likely to keep them well after recycling the rest of the paper.

But that’s in the CJ’s printed version. Where’s all that special new content in the other, more important edition: the website and mobile app, where coveted younger readers spend most of their time? Boulevard can’t find it online in  the food section. Ditto for the farm-to-table section, or health and fitness. Strangest of all, it’s not in the subscribers-only Xtras section, even though that’s where the paper’s top editor directed readers when the first installment was published in March.

Newspapers everywhere are battling for business in a world turned upside down by online competition. But all too often, their digital distribution comes up way too short, especially when it involves content that, like freeze-dried food, has a long shelf life.

1,000 swans + 55 lbs. of salmon + 1 rocket-powered skateboard = Taco’s newest TV commercial

Now airing, it’s for the much-anticipated return of Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch and Cheesy Double Beef burritos. The Yum division stopped selling the limited-time menu items three years ago. But fans wouldn’t have it, inspiring this LOL ad.

Related: How customers organized the Beefy Crunch Movement to win back the burritos, including a Facebook fan page that drew 40,000 likes and a Change.org petition. Taco Bell finally raised a white flag March 30, returning the $1 spicy Fritos-stuffed burritos to menus three weeks ago. Plus, more videos on Taco Bell’s YouTube page.