Rising Costs May Force Increased Price Of Newspapers

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23365, 22 September 1950, Page 4

Rising Costs May Force Increased Price Of Newspapers

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 22. “I am sure we will have to look for an increase in the selling price of newspapers before long,” said the president of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association. Mr. R. D. Horton, last night when addressing the members of the association at their half-yearly conference.

Mr. Horton said that in America the newspapers on the east coast were selling for 5 cents a copy and on the west coast for 7 cents. In New Zealand money this was more than 4d and 6d respectively. The steadily rising costs in the newspaper industry could be met pnly by increasing the rates for advertising or by an increase in the selling price of newspapers. He felt it was unfair to throw the whole of the burden on the advertisers.

The price of newspapers had not been increased since before the war, but the old penny tram ride was now 3d and the penny box of matches lid. “While we are selling newspapers for 2d at the present time I wonder whether this is advisable,” -continued Mr. Horton. “The cost of machinery has risen greatly—at least two and a half times that of pre-war—and we are not making proper provision for replacing of plant and buildings. South Africa and Australia had been faced with the same problem and they had met it by raising the selling price of their newspapers to 3d.” Mr. Horton concluded by saying that the standard of the New Zealand newspapers compared very favourably with other newspapers published in the English-speaking world, both in respect of the integrity of their reporting and the standard of their production. _