THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “ Public Service.” MONDAY, JUNE 29, 1942. NEWSPAPERS’ PROBLEMS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3137, 29 June 1942, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “ Public Service.” MONDAY, JUNE 29, 1942. NEWSPAPERS’ PROBLEMS

Not the least of the industries adversely affected by war conditions—and there are few that escape—is the printing and publishing industry. This adverse effect has been more particularly felt, and is increasingly being felt, by the publishers of newspapers, whether large or small. Increased costs and falling revenue, difficulties in maintaining adequate supplies of newsprint have all made the task of newspaper production harder and more precarious. But there is, among others, a vital factor that adds to the difficulties, particularly among the smaller publications. That factor is manpower. Enlistments and successive ballots of men for service in the Armed Forces have taken such a toll of the relatively small staffs that the struggle for survival until better times comes has been a heavy one; so heavy, indeed, that some newspapers that have served their town and district well for upwards of half-a-cen-tury and more have been Obliged to cease publication—temporarily, it is to be hoped. Amalgamation of, or co-operation between, similar businesses as a war measure has proved a solution of immediate difficulties for many; and this policy has been sponsored and encouraged by the chairman, Mr Edwin Edwards, and.members of the Paeroa (No. 2) military area Manpower Committee. Faced acutely with the manpower problem, both’ the Waihi Telegraph and the Hauraki Plains . Gazette—each of which serves a district with a community of interests—hope to find a way out by collaborating. Conferences have taken place between the managements and staffs of each publication, and it has been decided that, starting to-day, Monday, June 29, both papers will be printed in the same office. The change is purely a mechanical one. Neither paper will lose its identity, nor will editorial or financial issues be involved. By making such an arrangement the two managements feel that they are acting in such a way as to merit the sympathetic consideration of the Manpower Committee. For technical reasons, the two papers will be printed at the Gazette office, but both papers will continue to be circulated in the afternoons of the days of publication. It is inevitable that the change-over will cause some little dislocation for a time, but it is hoped in the very near future to overcome any technical difficulties that arise. In the meantime, we must crave indulgence and co-operation of both readers and advertisers.