Newspaper Wars Follow Typical Pattern
by January 26, 1998 12:00 am 65 views
Newspaper wars are increasingly rare, but, when they occur, the patterns followed are all-too predictable and some experts question whether the reader benefits.
“All too often, the way they’ll go back after readers is to cut circulation costs,” perhaps from 50 cents to 25 cents a copy, says Richard Parker, an expert on economics and the press at Harvard University.
In that case, “You’ve got an extra quarter in your pocket every day,” he says. “But it’s been rare in my experience that quality and quantity of news hole has been the reward readers have gotten for a newspaper war. I’d be hard-pressed for an example of where I think that’s true.”
Parker says publishers usually cut their ad rates, first by offering discounts to large advertisers and, eventually, by reducing costs across their rate cards.
“Everyone would like to say, ‘I never cut my card,’ … but that’s unrealistic,” Parker says. “Rate-card cutting is the first line of defense against capitalist competition.”