My local paper...

Will probably wait until they start calling me. Last time, they kept delivering like six weeks past the end of the subscription. They kept the price the same and waived the 17 bucks they claimed I owed, even though they kept delivering.

 

And it dawns on me that, since the demise of their competitor less than five years ago, the six-month subscription price has doubled. Not that the competitor's circulation was large enough to matter.

 

Sat in a meeting with those with power who were considering raising the price of the paper by $.25. I said why not lower the price in hopes of adding subscriptions and, in turn, possibly increasing the number of ads in the paper, which in turn could lead to higher ad rates (which have been slashed in the last year). Papers don't make the bulk of their money from subscriptions but from ads so it made sense to me.
Nothing but silence. Price raised a quarter ("We'll get the money out of those who really want the paper. We'll only lose fringe subscribers.") and both subscriptions and rack sales have dipped even more.

 

God, this industry really has turned into a bag of mashed assholes.