> So more publicity is definitely required which means
> more news in QST.
Let me add my personal view. (My professional responsibilities at ARRL HQ have
no direct impact on contesting or the QST publications policy.)
I agree, QST and the other magazines are a good outlet for publicity about the
fun of contesting. I just don't think that page after page of contest line
listings are the way to accomplish that. The ARRL decision not to publish line
scores in QST has nothing to do with costs. QST's size always has been
determined by the number of pages of advertising. More advertising means more
pages, with the general guideline that the editorial content shall be
approximately 50%. The decision to move the contest line scores from QST to
the web was strictly one of content of QST. The premise that that the pages
freed up by eliminating line scores can and will be used to have more articles
and features. Unless advertising falls off, this change will not make the
magazine smaller. (And it will not make room for more ads -- trust me, if ARRL
has advertisers lined up, they go in the magazine and the editor has to
scramble to find more editorial content to meet the 50% mark! Those ad
revenues are part of what keeps dues at $39 a year rather than $139 a year like
my IEEE dues!)
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