From: jkearman@arrl.org (Jim Kearman)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: QST Advertising [Was: QST, in my opinion....]
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:02:05 EDT
Organization: American Radio Relay League

;From: jfw@ksr.com (John F. Woods)
;
;flloyd@L1-A.West.Sun.COM (Fred Lloyd [Phoenix SE]) writes:
; 
;Alright.  Most of this article was kind silly and whining, but I was more
;than willing to pass it over until it struck a hot button:
; 
;>QST has, shall we say, a _special_ requirement for all advertisers.
;>QST, unlike all other amateur radio related publications, requires that
;>advertisers be willing to submit samples of their product to ARRL for
;>evaluation as to fitness for service.  In other words, a company selling
;>"Antenna Wax" is not likely to get advertising space.  Is this good?  Well,
;>yes and no.  For one thing, the ARRL is suppressing free trade, freedom of
;>the press and free speech by denying these advertisers.
; 
;BUZZ!  Wrong, but thanks for playing.
; 
;First of all, QST *has* advertised Antenna Wax :-).  Second of all, to turn
;the famous phrase on its side, the ARRL owns the press, so they have the
;freedom[1].  The ARRL is doing absolutely NOTHING to prevent you from
;buying from shady advertisers (or those too stingy to let the ARRL have a
;freeby), and absolutely NOTHING to prevent these advertisers from conveying
;their message to you -- all these advertisers have to do is buy a tape from
;the FCC and they've got your address.  (Though it would probably be cheaper
;to buy a box of mailing labels from Buckmaster Publishing).  The ARRL is under
;absolutely NO obligation to run their advertisements in QST, however, no more
;so than you are obligated to hold Klan rallies in your living room.  If it
;really bugs you that you can't read snake-oil advertisments in QST, there's
;several other electronics mags (and a few all-advertisement electronics mags
;as well) which ought to supply more than your Recommended Daily Allowance of
;snake oil.  Me, I fully support the ARRL's right to enhance the value of their
;product (advertising space) by attempting to increase slightly the average
;quality of products advertised.
; 
<deletions>

We don't get "freebies." Products submitted for approval 
are returned. We purchase the Product Review items 
separately, through dealers. We take steps to avoid
getting a "wired" unit.

Not every ham, especially the new ones, is qualified to 
judge the merits of equipment. I recall, about 15 years
ago, someone in PA was advertising a nice-looking 2-meter
repeater. He couldn't produce one for our approval, so we
wouldn't take his ad. Many, many readers of other magazines
with less-stringent ad-acceptance policies sent their $$$
to this guy, and never saw a repeater or their money. Guess
who they called, looking for help? Our policy isn't a 
panacea for charlatans and lemons, but it's a better 
service to our members than the non-policies of other
magazines I'm aware of.

****************************************************************

JIM KEARMAN, KR1S                    Voice: 203-666-1541 ext 279
ARRL Assistant Technical Editor	     FAX:   203-665-7531
Author of `The DXCC Companion'	     ARRL Headquarters
Editor of `Now You're Talking!,'     225 Main Street
ARRL License Manuals,		     Newington, CT 06111
ARRL Instructor Guides		     e-mail: jkearman@arrl.org
Author of `Wally and Mike' stories

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From: Claton.Cadmus@f100.n282.z1.tdkt.kksys.com (Claton Cadmus)
Sender: FredGate@tdkt.kksys.com