Meaning of "extra" in the context of a magazine article

Paul Epstein

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Apr 14, 2023, 4:38:26 PM4/14/23

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In the contents for the current edition of the London Review of Books,
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n08 , Pankaj Mishra's article, "The Big
Con: Modi's India" is billed as "EXTRA".
However, I don't understand what this means. The most likely interpretation
I can think of is "online only". But then why don't they just say that?
Any suggestions on what "EXTRA" means here?

Paul Epstein

bil...@shaw.ca

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Apr 15, 2023, 12:45:07 AM4/15/23

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In newspaper tradition, an Extra usually means a big story has "broken" and
a special section or edition is being sold on the street. In this case, it might
be a special edition analyzing who runs India these days, how and for whom.

bill

Paul Epstein

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Apr 15, 2023, 6:46:07 AM4/15/23

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Thanks for your reply. In this case, the issue is not a special edition on India.
In particular, the article billed as "EXTRA" is not accompanied by any other articles
on related themes.
So I don't think your conjecture, reasonable as it is, answers my question.
i suppose it's a possibility that the length of each issue, or the number of articles,
is somewhat standardised, and that LRB are saying that they're increasing this number
(or length) and attributing the increase to that "EXTRA" article, which is kind of an insult
to the other contributors.
Or it could be that the "EXTRA" article is given premier billing, as being particularly
outstanding/interesting/newsworthy etc. (which is very similar [maybe even the same] as what
you suggested).

Paul Epstein

HVS

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Apr 15, 2023, 8:27:01 AM4/15/23

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On 14 Apr 2023, Paul Epstein wrote

Not sure, but it sounds like the front-page teasers for the weekly
supplements that come with the Saturday Guardian. The standalone food
insert -- with recipes, a wine column, and a restaurant review -- is
flagged up as a "Free Food Magazine"-- "free" in this context is
utterly meaningless unless there are similar supplements that they
charge extra for.

--
Cheers, Harvey

Paul Epstein

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Apr 15, 2023, 4:07:23 PM4/15/23

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So, if I buy a chocolate bar with hazelnuts in it, and a sign says that
the hazelnuts in the bar are "free", that would presumably also
be meaningless unless they sold a more expensive version of the
chocolate with brazil nuts instead of hazelnuts?

Paul Epstein

Bertel Lund Hansen

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Apr 16, 2023, 2:23:46 AM4/16/23

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HVS wrote:

> Not sure, but it sounds like the front-page teasers for the weekly
> supplements that come with the Saturday Guardian. The standalone food
> insert -- with recipes, a wine column, and a restaurant review -- is
> flagged up as a "Free Food Magazine"-- "free" in this context is
> utterly meaningless unless there are similar supplements that they
> charge extra for.

"Free" for me is meaningless if you have to pay to get it. In this
context delivering personal data in return is also a payment.

--
Bertel, Denmark

Paul Epstein

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Apr 16, 2023, 7:58:12 AM4/16/23

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On Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 7:23:46 AM UTC+1, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:

> "Free" for me is meaningless if you have to pay to get it. In this
> context delivering personal data in return is also a payment.

Of course. I wonder how many incidents there have been of people simply
removing the supplements and keeping them without buying the newspaper,
on the grounds that they are labelled as "free".
Presumably this happens rarely enough that this marketing trick still stands.

Paul Epstein

Paul Epstein

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Apr 16, 2023, 7:59:37 AM4/16/23

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On Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 7:23:46 AM UTC+1, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:

I still don't see a particularly convincing answer to my original question.
I will now contact the LRB itself.

Paul Epstein

Paul Epstein

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Apr 16, 2023, 8:05:53 AM4/16/23

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I have now contacted the LRB itself with the question at the beginning of this thread
(slightly reworded).

Paul Epstein

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

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Apr 16, 2023, 6:23:05 PM4/16/23

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I'm wondering whther "EXTRA" indicates that the article is not in the
print version of the edition but has been added to the online version.

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

TonyCooper

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Apr 16, 2023, 8:07:31 PM4/16/23

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Before I would attach any meaning to "EXTRA" I would want to see
multiple issues of the LRoB. It's quite possible that this is a
regular feature and all issues have an "EXTRA" article. In this case,
it's just a publisher's ploy to give that last article some boost in
importance.

--

Tony Cooper - Orlando,Florida

Paul Epstein

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Apr 17, 2023, 3:53:04 AM4/17/23

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I read the LRB regularly (sometimes in print and sometimes online)
and I'm sure that this isn't the case. A reasonable guess, though.

Paul Epstein

Paul Epstein

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Apr 17, 2023, 4:01:10 AM4/17/23

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This is, in my opinion, the most likely explanation, and a possibility that I
mentioned earlier in the thread. In this case, "online only" would have been
much clearer
I have asked this same question to LRB and they will probably answer.

Paul Epstein

Paul Epstein

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Apr 17, 2023, 4:15:51 AM4/17/23

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On Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 11:23:05 PM UTC+1, Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:

Mystery solved! This turns out to be correct. The website lists the contents
of the print issue and the "EXTRA" article is not in it. "Online only" would have been
much clearer, and also more standard.

Paul Epstein

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

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Apr 17, 2023, 2:13:27 PM4/17/23

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On Mon, 17 Apr 2023 01:15:48 -0700 (PDT), Paul Epstein
<peps...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you for the information Paul.