You are correct in that anyone can get a birth announcement placed in the paper. Happens everyday where I’m from. In NJ, where they are corrupt to the core, I can post anything I want. Sometimes you don’t have to pay.
We had a call in numbers for men’s league softball(and other sports). We would call in the score and give some details. It was all printed in the major newspaper the next morning. We would sometimes give some names of ficticious people or some lesser players as having done well. it would be printed without question. For laughs we gave scores and stats for games that never occurred. We would have a ball at their expense. The A C Press is not the biggest paper but it is not small town either.
Call in a birth announcement for a William O’Reilly then fax him a copy of the paper.