North Dakota paper charges for business briefs

Jim Romenesko reports that the Grand Forks Herald newspaper in North Dakota is now charging people and companies who want to submit a business news brief.

This is from a Romenesko reader:

I got back an email letting me know that the Herald now runs paid business briefs every Saturday, and my brief could run for $70. I sent them another brief just last week and got the same note:

Good Afternoon John,

The Grand Forks Herald publishes business briefs on a paid basis to ensure your company’s news items are published in a timely manner. The business briefs will publish in the business section of Saturday’s Herald. As an added value, your brief will be included on GrandForksHerald.com. The deadline is Tuesday at 5 p.m. to run in the Saturday edition for $70 (up to 75 words), additional words are 10¢ per word and photos are $5 each.
Did you still want to proceed?

Thanks
Paula Walden
Classified Advertising Manager

So far, I haven’t chosen to pay for a brief. They’ve gotta make a living, so I don’t begrudge them the effort. But I can’t help but think it cuts their business readers off from a potentially useful stream of information. Those little briefs often are about who got promoted, who got a new piece of business, who’s expanding their building. Things that don’t rise to the level of a staff-written story, but are useful little bits of business intelligence. And now, like me, many people will probably choose not to pay $70 to put their little bit of business intelligence out into the world.