The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Dan Richman and Todd Bishop report Friday that both the P-I and Seattle Times will be raising their daily newsstand price from $.25 to $.50 as of February 28. For those not familiar with the newspapers, they exist under a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA), one that the Times believes is damaging its ability to stay afloat. At the same time, the Times has made drastic changes to its paper, including laying off staff and taking out stock pages on Sundays. So at a time when the newspaper is only able to offer less, it is necessary to raise the price.
This begs the question: Would you continue to purchase your daily newspaper, if you bought it at the newsstand, if the price went up - or doubled - as it has in this case? What is the news worth to you? Finally, is it possible that this is only the tip of the iceberg, as newsgathering economics have changed drastically in recent times, especially with newsreading on the Internet becoming more of the norm.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Bill Schumm // Feb 4, 2005 at 7:01 pm
As far as getting the news, the internet is the superior source for information now. The only reason to purchase the local paper (for me, anyway) is to get the weekly ads, tv listings, etc. On some days of the week the papers are just not worth their price.
I have to admit, I’m retired and have the time to surf my favorite sources. If I was a daily commuter I’d probably buy one of the papers to entertain myself on the ride to work.
2 michelledellino // Feb 4, 2005 at 8:32 pm
The best way to end the cuts at the Times and prevent future price hikes would be to end the JOA. Hopefully that will happen eventually.