In nearly five years, there's never been a story in Media Life that roused reader reaction as much as yesterday's piece "Please, rep, don't waste my time" by A. J. Livsey, our newest staff writer, who joins us after spending five years as a media planner in Richmond and San Francisco.
   When I assigned the piece to A.J., I wanted a frank piece. I could well have instructed her (A.J. is a she, not a he, I should note) to write her critique of magazine reps as if writing to a friend or another young media planner. I wanted a piece without any sugar sprinkled on it.
   I didn't have to instruct her in that way.
   A.J.  turned in just that.
   Her point: A lot of space sellers are not very good at connecting with the media people they're selling to. A.J. goes on to explain some of the more egregious examples of inept selling.
  Way up in the front of the piece, A.J. makes a point of telling readers that she's only 26, putting her precisely at the age of so many planners in so many media departments.
   The reaction to A.J.'s piece was one of fury.
   The rage reminds me very much of a big flap almost 15 years ago over a New York Times piece on the subject of the Media Queens, really kids just out of college, who sellers complained back then didn't know an ad page for a free-lunch invitation and cared less. If these young planners read anything, or could read, they were the downtown publications, and that's where they were inclined to send ad dollars, at the expense of respected titles that delivered valued readerships to advertisers. Or so the grousing went.
   What most impresses me is that this very issue--the young media person in conflict with a more senior seller--appears to have not abated at all, and it may in fact be worse now.
   Here's a letter from one seller, Marcy Kettler-Thibault with HGTV/DIY Networks:
   "In response to the article so eloquently titled 'Please, rep, don't waste my time,' I'm so offended I can hardly see straight. 
   "How is it that a 26-year-old-rookie can criticize, undermine, and scold sales reps and be commended for it?
   "Everyone of us has a job. We're all expected to follow the rules and guidelines upper management sets forth. 
   "Give me a day and I'll have a list just as long and twice as articulate stating the idiosyncrasies of agency personnel. I'm so tired of defending my profession. 
   "I'd love to let A.J. know that respect is a luxury given only to those well-deserving. It's not automatic to any schlep that uses his or her brains to PLACE media space.
   "None of us are rocket scientists and I hate agency brats that think otherwise. Planning, selling or buying, we all just put commercials on the air (or ads in magazines in this instance). 
   "It's really about time that sales people were viewed as part of the process that helps make that happen, not annoying jerks who get in the way."
   One seller, who asked not to be identified, wrote of A.J.: "This is exactly the type who has all the answers and knowledge that we all resent calling on," referring to A.J.'s admission that she was only 26. 
   And the criticism of the piece came not just from sellers.
   Some media buyers were no less irate.
   "AJ is obviously a very angry person who does not do media planning anymore," wrote one longtime media buyer, "THANK GOD!"
   Bruce Haynes, vice president and media manager for Doner National Broadcast, writes: 
   "I've been on the media planning and buying side of the desk for over 15 years, and I've dealt with more than my fair share of reps, and even I was insulted by (A.J.'s) very clichéd and patronizing viewpoint." 
   "We're in a business that requires us to build relationships with our media partners, not turn them into adversaries. I really like your site, but if you're going to allow some kid to use it as a place to vent about reps that apparently didn't respect [her] (i.e. kiss [her] a**) enough, I'll get my media news and viewpoints elsewhere.
   "[She] just knocked the overall quality of your editorial down several notches. Those who can, do, A.J., those who can't criticize others."
   But not all Media Life readers thought A.J. was full of arrogance and beans.
   "I just wanted to say thanks for the article," writes Ken Wolff of Burrell Communications in Chicago.
   "A.J. Livsey makes some great points. I wish this article could be sent to reps in all mediums. 
  "There is nothing that bothers advertising media professionals more than reps who don't know who they're pitching to or who/what the client is all about. 
  "I especially appreciate A.J.'s comment about 'never, ever, ever, say your publication is number one.' Especially when the readership is less than 100,000. 
  "Thank you, A.J., for saying the things most advertising media professionals have been wanting to say for years but were afraid to at the risk of losing their jobs!"
   "Great article," writes John Mitton, a longtime buyer.
  "You could have substituted 'Radio Rep' for 'Magazine Rep' and would have described our daily interactions perfectly! 
  "Our company specializes in creating and placing recruitment advertising for clients on radio, TV and cable. I can’t tell you the number of 'Special Recruitment Packages' we get every week that have everything to do with stations unloading trash inventory and nothing to do with targeted schedules that benefit our clients.
   "Keep up the good writing!"