NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY SEVERELY STRUCK BY CURRENCY CHANGE

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 September 1949, Page 7

NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY SEVERELY STRUCK BY CURRENCY CHANGE

WELLINGTON, Sept. 22 (P.A.).— “Devaluation has landed like a bombshell on the newspaper industry of this country,” said the president (Mr R. H. Horton), in his address to the half-yearly conference of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, “All our supplies of newsprint are at present drawn from Canada, and a 42 per cent, increase in the price will mean an added charge of £336,000 on our production costs. Wage increases during the last 12 months have also added a very substantial sum to the cost of our daily newspapers. “Newspapers will have to find some way of meeting these extra charges, and the best solution to that appears to be for the industry to be decontrolled, and for us to be allowed to work out our own destiny.” British Report Mr Horton said that the Royal Commission on the British press stated inits recommendations on the financial and economic state of the press that “in our view free enterprise in the production of newspapers is a prerequisite of a free press, and free enterprise will generally mean a commercially profitable enterprise in the case of newspapers of any considerable size and circulation.” The report also stated “it was suggested that to keep. the commercial motive within bounds a limit should be set to the profits of newspaper undertakings.” The commission’s answer to that .suggestion was: “Such a limitation would, it seems to us, be both unfair and undesirable, and would not achieve the purpose intended.” In a further section, the report condemned any attempt to limit adveftising revenue and gave as, its reason that “limitation of revenue might necessitate either an increase in the price of newspapers or a reduction of the amount spent on producing them, and possibly of thd quality of service given to the public.” Government Newsprint

Mr Horton also referred to the apparent determination of the Government to spend large sums of money on the pulp and paper-making project at Murupara. He said that on several occasions assurances had been given that newspaper proprietors, who were the principal consumers of newsprint, would be consulted before positive decisions were made but no such consultation had yet been proposed.

He expressed a hope that before the Government proceeded with any plans foi’ the manufacture of newsprint it would refer the whole matter to a committee of inquiry on which the users would be represented.