LA TIMES TO DOUBLE NEWSSTAND PRICE

Price Jumps From 25 To 50 Cents


SACRAMENTO, Calif. - In a reversal of one of the key initiatives of former
CEO Mark Willes' reign of error, the Los Angeles Times is doubling its
daily newsstand price to 50 cents beginning March 5.

Times' Publisher and President John Puerner said the decision was
prompted by a "response to higher newsprint costs and general inflation, and
reflects the high quality of the Times' journalism.''

Along with The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and
The San Francisco Examiner, the L.A. Times was one of the last
major metropolitan dailies to charge 25 cents.

The L.A. Times raised the price to 50 cents in 1995, but reduced it in
1996 as part of a failed Willes plan to dramatically boost the paper's
circulation.

The L.A. Times upped the single-copy price to 25 cents in 1979, boosted
it to 35 cents in 1991, briefly raised it to 50 cents in 1995, then lowered it to
25 cents in mid-1996.

The new price will be effective from Monday to Saturday. The Sunday paper
remains $1.50. The L.A. Times has a circulation circa 1.3 million.



Joel Davis (jdavis@editorandpublisher.com) is West Coast editor for E&P.



Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.