Circulation Management 101:

Independent Contractor Newspaper Carriers -

A District Manager’s Guide

Circulation Management 101 was developed with the goal of assisting Newspaper Circulation Executives, Managers and their field personnel in understanding the legal issues faced in today's media environment.

Many newspapers use District Managers to oversee the relationship between the newspaper company and its independent newspaper carriers. The importance of this relationship to the newspaper company cannot be overstated and, to a large extent, the quality of that relationship will depend on the managerial skills possessed by the company's District Managers. The actions of even a single District Manager, in certain situations, can have an enormous impact on a newspaper's reputation or financial fortunes.

For these reasons, any District Manager's "tool kit" must include a basic understanding of the laws affecting newspaper circulation. Such an understanding will play a vital role in helping a District Manager to implement distribution contracts properly, to resolve emergencies, and generally to avoid situations that could lead to legal action against the newspaper company. This course is designed to help District Managers understand the legal implications of decisions they make during the performance of their daily responsibilities.  There is no CLE credit for taking this course.

Mark E. Hunt is the partner in the Circulation/Distribution Section. He received his undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University, where he graduated with honors, and his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law, with honors. Mr. Hunt has focused his practice almost exclusively on legal issues which confront newspaper companies. He has provided consultation and litigation services to many of the over 300 newspapers King & Ballow has represented. Over the years, he has dealt with the broad range of legal problems confronting newspaper publishers and has authored numerous publications which address those legal issues. He is a frequent speaker at legal seminars and circulation trade association meetings.