Your guide to the region's top events, mixed with some commentary about life, media, gossip and politics in Washington, DC.
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“A Dollar? I Remember When the Post Only Cost a Quarter!”
By
Harry Jaffe
If it’s December, the Washington Post must be raising the price of its newspaper.
The Post notified retailers outside the greater Washington area Tuesday that the cost of a daily newspaper would increase 25 cents to $1 on December 13. The price of the Sunday paper will go up 50 cents to $2.50. UPDATE: Inside the Beltway and in counties bordering DC, the price for the daily will remain at 75 cents, but Sunday papers will cost $2 a copy, starting this Sunday.
Last December the Post added a quarter to the price of its daily paper and added 50 cents to the price of the Sunday edition.
Just two years ago, you could buy the Post for 35 cents. Back then it was the lowest priced major daily newspaper in the nation. And for many years it was just a quarter.
At a buck a copy, the Post is still a comparatively good buy. In May the New York Times raised its newsstand prices for the third time in less than two years. The daily Times costs $2; the Sunday Times sells for $6.
The Post and other newspapers are jacking up prices in an attempt to bring in more revenues that might offset drops in advertising. The risk is that raising the price of the print newspaper will drive more readers to replace it with the Post’s Internet site, where ad revenues are not as plentiful. Or readers might put their spare change to a cup of coffee.
At J&J Market on Route 7 in Virginia, regular customer Billy Martin issued this verdict: “The Post is going to wind up driving away readers.”
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Category Tags: Post Watch
Comments
Like all of the news media, the WPost needs revenue to pay the expenses of gathering, writing and editing and operations of providing a newspaper. From what is that revenue to come for news reporting that I believe is potentially very important to our area and to the nation? Display and classified ad revenues are way down and seem likely to stay that way. That leaves subscriptions and individual issue sales. How much will the readers pay? Even with a special one year subscription at a cut rate, the news and columns in the WPost are getting so thin that I have doubts about continuing my subscription even at the current cut rate. No one seems to have an answer for how to pay for wide and deep quality news. I don’t know why Warren Buffitt continues to own a substantial amount of stock in the WPost and as the owner of the Buffalo daily newspaper.
Posted by: Jim Breiling, Dec 11, 2009 07:35:49 PM
the express makes money! that’s why it rolls on. but the daily paper for a buck? it’s a great value for THIRTYFIVE CENTS but no more. The Post is busy driving readers away while doling out bonuses to brauchlli, narisetti, weymouth, don graham. oh and bradlee hasn’t ’worked’ there in years but maintains an office and secretary and draws pay as a vice president at large.
Posted by: lauraannelee, Dec 09, 2009 08:12:08 AM
All this will do is drive off even more print subscribers and newsstand buyers, which will offset the increased price. Pretty soon, the Post will be 10 pages and cost five bucks Mon-Sat and be $10 on Sundays.
I cancelled my subscription and don’t miss reading it most days. Too many price hikes and cuts in the size and quality of the paper in recent years. Time for Ms. Katherine to step down as editor.
Posted by: Ripoff, Dec 09, 2009 06:49:09 AM
On some days the Washington Post is worth more than its price, whatever that happens to be, and on other days quite a bit less. The issues I value have significant facts, allowing you to draw your own conclusions, opinion and interpretation which stimulate further thought, anecdotes worth cherishing, jokes which are not time-bound.
Posted by: Candadai Tirumalai, Dec 09, 2009 06:02:28 AM
Recently a single day’s Post op-ed section published pieces from two former Bush officials, one former Reagan official, two right-wing politicians, a Fox News neocon, the CEO of America’s largest oil and gas producer, a defender of the right-wing Honduran military coup leaders, and one (1) liberal columnist.
Katherine Graham’s dead, Ben Bradlee hasn’t worked there for a long, long time, and I’m quite happy to pay $2/$6 for the Times.
Posted by: David Blumgart, Dec 08, 2009 03:28:29 PM
Will they deliver a later edition of the paper to those outliying areas? I thought not. It would be nice to get the results of sporting events that end by 11pm. Just a couple of years ago they would even hold the Tuesday edition to get the results of the Monday Night football game in, if it looked like it would end by 1130pm.
Posted by: Dave, Dec 08, 2009 09:26:16 AM
@Greenbelt Gal: Counties neighboring DC will stay at 75 cents.
I wonder about Fairfax County outside the Beltway though. I think it barely touches DC.
Posted by: Tim, Dec 08, 2009 09:01:25 AM
So, in communities like mine that are on both sides of the Beltway, does that mean that the CVS in Greenbelt West gets to sell the Post for 75 cents and the CVS two miles up the road has to charge $1?
Posted by: Greenbelt Gal, Dec 08, 2009 08:51:07 AM
This is an attempt to get people to subscribe who pay considerably less than buying it at 7-11 or a news stand. It might work, it is a better paper than the Wash Times by a lot. The City Paper is OK at best, and the Wash Express never impressed me.
Posted by: Mike, Dec 08, 2009 08:20:42 AM
The Express persists because it garners good ad prices - http://www.washingtonpostads.com/adsite/_res/files/managed/09-138%20Express%20Recruitment.pdf - and has a lot of slots to sell. The Post will cut pages in their daily before they’ll kill the Express.
Posted by: Don, Dec 08, 2009 08:04:54 AM
The Post has already drove me away from the weekday editions and now with the Sunday paper going up, I can no longer afford it.
What I do not understand is why the Express was not halted. How much business sense does it make to continue to compete with the City Paper while the flagship paper suffers? The leadership is a judgment call.
Posted by: cloudfire, Dec 08, 2009 07:40:12 AM
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