Evening star., 1952-05-17
Newsprint Price Rise
To Cost U. 5. Papers
$50 Million a Year
By the Associated Press

by the Associated Press
Faced with another $10-a-ton
boost in the price of Canadian
newSprint-the second such in
crease in less than a year-Ameri-
can newspaper publishers find
themselves in an increasingly diff
cult cost squeeze in getting out
your daily paper.
The latest increase-it's sched-
uled to take effect June Isis
expected to add more than $50
million a year to costs Of publish
ing in this country.
Newsprint, the paper that news
papers are printed on, accounts
for up to so per cent Of the ex-
pense of getting out a big metro
politan daily. Figuring in the new
$40 increase. the price Of news
print since VI Day has climbed
152 per cent. It has gone up more
than 200 per cent since the great
depression.
Some publishers predict that
the higher costs will inevitably
lead to further increases in ad-
vertising and subscription rates
already near or past the satura-
ton point, in the opinion of many.
Trend to Mergers Seen.
Others say the steady trend to-
ward fewer and larger newspapers,
toward mergers and consolida-
tions. will gather new force. Ex-
pectations are that an increasing
number of newspapers may be
put out of business.
The Truman administration i'm
mediately asked the Canadian
government to reconsider and re-
scind its approval of the price in
crease.
Price Director Ellis Arnall, in a
telegram to c. D. Howe, Canadian
minister of defense production,
said 749 American daily newspap-
ers have disappeared within the
past 20 years through consolida-
tions, mergers and failures.
If newsprint prices continue to
rise, Mr.. Arnall said, the trend will
continue and-in the end-the
Canadian newsprint industry itself
would ultimately be injured.
For the American Newspaper
Publishers Association, Vice Pres
ident George Biggers and General
Manager Cranston Williams con-
ferred at length with Mr.. Arnall
and afterward issued a statement
saying the $40 price boost
will have serious repercussions
throughout the newspaper busi-
ness"
Chairman johnson of the Senate
Commerce Committee, suggested
study to determine whether the
United States Should retaliate by
increasing the price of sulphur,
which these newsprint producers
must get from u.s.
The increase will boost the price
of Canadian newsprint delivered in
New York to an all-time high Of
1926 ton.
In the depression years Of the
early 30s newsprint cost $40 a
ton. It was $50 a ton at the time
OF Pearl Harbor.
Here's. what happened since:
In 1916 the price mounted to
$84. The next year it climbed to
$50 and reached $100 by the end
Of 1948. A further increase in
1850 raised the price to $106. It
scared to $116 last July, nudging
the previous high of $120 set in
the early 1920s.
Was Convention Topic.
The Tightening cost squeeze on
the Nations newspapers was a
topic of major interest at the
recent convention of the ANPA.
Subscribers prices have in
creased almost to the limit COM
patible with mass coverage, and
advances in advertising rates are
meeting resistance" the ANPA
reported.
Newspapers, caught in the mid
die as it were between increased
and apparently ever-rising costs
of operation and inability to find
increasing revenue to meet those
costs, are beginning to wonder
what the answer may be for them
they are reluctant to say that
merger and suspension is the
solution"
The obvious solution, it was
held, is bringing in more money
and cutting costs.
Publishers are expected to give
increasing attention to the deli
cate balance between news and
Observation-Disclosures unpaid and
revenue-producing space-in their
columns. Last year the ratio
averaged about 60-40, with news
and other unpaid editorial mat
ter filling &C per cent of the space
and display and classified adver-
tiSing the remainder.
AS to boosting advertising rates
many newspapers have increased
fbnir rotoS cnvoro1 times since the