Coming soon to a newspaper near you

Steve Smith shared with the table a copy of a Spider-Man comic that will be included in Sunday’s paper. The issue is a reproduction of a 1962 edition of “Amazing Fantasy” (google at your own risk), the first comic book in which the character appeared.

The comics will be inserted in 47 Sunday papers over the coming year (no holidays), and are aimed, Smith said, at driving readership. “I don’t think it actually makes any money for us,” he said.

Careful readers of the ad on the back of today’s “Today” section will note that the comics are distributed by News America Marketing , which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation . That didn’t actually come up in the meeting, I just like to keep the conspiracy theorists occupied.

Amber waves of grain

Editors really liked today’s story and slideshow on the threshing bee in Endicott (if you don’t know what a “threshing bee” is, read the story). This package, along with the photo of a man driving into the Rathdrum post office, provides a “sense of place,” Smith said, which is a role the newspaper plays that isn’t often talked about.