[ClairePMR]

I heard the most astounding thing yesterday from an author friend. A reporter from his local newspaper selected the author's book to do a review and wrote an article about it for publication. Before it went to press, the author was contacted by the newspaper (not the reporter) and told that he'd have to pay them to print the article. It was going to be a few hundred dollars; he hasn't yet decided whether to participate in this... oddity.

Am I uneducated in this? Is it common practice? I've heard of authors offering to pay to get reviews done and printed, but never this arrangement, where the newspaper hold the review "hostage" for what amounts to ransom. Your thoughts?