(Management at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News sit among displays of new page designs at Monday’s announcement. Photo by Steve Tawa)
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - As of today, if you buy either of Philadelphia’s major daily newspapers at your local newsstand, the price is $1 per copy.
But management of the two newspapers says the 25-cent price hike brings readers several design, content, and product enhancements.
The Newspaper Association of America says that more than half of the big-city newspapers charge 75 cents these days. (Forty-three percent charge 50 cents and only six percent charge $1 a copy.)
But publisher Greg Osberg (far right in photo) defends the price hikes here.
“I think the price-value equation that we’re offering is a tremendous advantage for the consumer,” he says.
The Inquirer is adding more local and original content and less syndication in the A section, Osberg says, with more rotating columnists and daily themes in the business section.
At the Daily News, incoming editor Larry Platt (second from right) promises a feisty paper that’s loud and irreverent.
“The mainstays of our coverage over the years have been sports and investigative reporting. We remain committed to those areas,” he said.
Former governor Ed Rendell will do weekly sports columns in the Daily News, and author Buzz Bissinger, the former Pulitzer-prize-winning reporter for the Inquirer, will do guest columns.
Platt, a former editor of Philadelphia magazine, promises to go on rants as well.
Reported by Steve Tawa, KYW Newsradio 1060.
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6 Comments
The digital Inquirer is a huge mess. It is impossible to navigate. I am certain that Philly.com has had a huge drop in traffic. Such poor managment – can’t they learn from a successful news site like the NYTimes or WSJ??
I’ve stopped reading philly news – so any price hike will not be affecting me.
February 8, 2011 at 8:21 am
The Inquirer sucks, it has for the past few years. The online version is now unreadable and is by subscription with a 2 weeks trial period. i tried to read the online version this morning, after registering as a “New” user, after 10 seconds with the new format, I deleted the bookmark. i will give the the paper another 30 days of home delivery and if there is no improvement, adios.
January 31, 2011 at 7:06 pm
NO PROBLEM, THIS WILL BE THE NEXT NEWSPAPER TO GO AWAY. PHILLY IS A BLUE COLLAR TOWN. THE LAST THING THE CAN AFFORD, IS A HIKE IN THE NEWSPAPER. THEY WILL JUST READ ON LINE OR WATCH TV.
January 31, 2011 at 5:39 pm
Yeah how about issuing a Sunday Edition of Daily News.
January 31, 2011 at 4:30 pm
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Neither paper impressed me with any big changes worthy of the price hike. Since I only skim the business section of the Inqy, any changes there garner a big whoop-t-doo. As for the DN, I would expect for a $1 they would be able to have the paper folded in the middle and not off-set. And having the ex-Gov as a columnist does nothing for me.
January 31, 2011 at 2:58 pm