We get a weekly report compiled by a circulation supervisor. It lists above-the-fold stories, sales compared to a week ago and a year ago, weather conditions and any other unusual circumstances.
Biggest-selling recent copies included the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl; the Rangers winning a division championship and subsequent playoffs; national/state/local elections; Michael Irvin busted with drugs and two hookers in local motel room; TWA crash; Rowlett boys murdered and subsequent arrest of their mother.
We don't have list of "top sellers of the year" at this point but you can see a pattern: Dallas Cowboys or other sports stories are almost guaranteed to help sales. And the Cowboys can boost sales without even playing football games if they get caught with drugs and hookers.
Are there good examples of enterprise triggering sales?
I'm not aware of any pure enterprise or project packages visibly boosting sales on a given day,
How significant are headlines? Can you describe some major sellers? Is size of headline a factor?
Our theory is that size of headline is important to the extent that it's easy for the single-copy buyer to spot a topic of interest. From the list of good-selling papers, however, almost all of them are predictable stories in the sense that buyers would have arrived at the point-of-purchase knowing that the event had happened. Headline above the fold and large enough to be visible may have triggered a sale but probably a minority of them and not measurable by us,
What about pictures and color?
All of our photographs on section fronts, certainly on 1A, are in color every day,
Do you use contests to drive single-copy sales, and what effect do they have?
We don't run contests to attempt to boost single-copy sales. There have been promotions such as a current one in which single-copy buyers on Sunday receive a reproduction of an historic DMN page with a sports theme. For example, current Sundays are featuring front pages from five previous Super Bowl wins. Before that, major events from Texas Ranger history were used such as Nolan Ryan's 3,000th strikeout.
Circulation has run promotions and contests that involve distributors or single-copy outlets. None has been aimed at the single-copy buyer.
Do you use radio or TV promotion, and what effect does that have?
Radio and TV promotion is used from time to time. The circulation department
feels that it helps significantly. Television, in particular, is prized by
the department. It has not been done as regularly as the department would
like. 
Langer is senior vice president and editor of the Dallas Morning News.
