One corporation still can't live within its means

On 2011-09-26 I wrote how Forum Communications raised the price of the Duluth News Tribune by 33-1/3 percent.  Now just over a year later they've raised the price by 25 percent!  I had been forewarned by a vendor that the Sunday paper would be raised to $2.50, but I didn't know that the daily would be raised to $1.25.

When I went to the corner boxes this morning I was surprised to find that there were still copies of the Star Tribune.  This location is chronically understocked with the Strib, often being sold out a bit after seven.  I put four quarters in the Strib machine and took my copy.  Then I put four quarters in the DNT machine.  It wouldn't unlock.  I tried again.  Same thing.  I looked at the price labels on the box, and I know I saw $2.50 for the Sunday edition and $1.00 for the daily edition.

When I got home, I sent email about this to the Customer Service representative.  She had not responded by about one this afternoon.

I went out later and stopped at a convenience store.  It had signs about the price change for both editions of the DNT.  As I forked out the extra quarter, I joked with the clerk, "If government raised taxes by 25 percent, people would complain loudly.  Hell!  If they would complain if government raised taxes by 2.5 percent."

When I got to the fitness center, the DNT box outside the door had the new prices written in marker, not a "permanent" sign.

What a way to run a railroad, I mean a newspaper!  I wonder what a 67 percent increase in just over a year will do to circulation.  I really do appreciate having a physical copy of the newspaper to read at breakfast and lunch.  I wonder if the employees have seen a comparable increase in their income.

See also "Can't corporations live within their means?"

Another corporation can't live within its means

This morning my wife went to the corner to buy the Duluth News Tribune and the Star Tribune. She put three quarters in the News Tribune machine and it wouldn't unlock. She was able to get the coins back. She put three quarters in the Star Tribune machine and was able to take out a paper.

I later bought a News Tribune at a gas station and was asked for one dollar. What? It's 75 cents. Nope, it went up this morning.

Can't Forum Communications, the publisher of the News Tribune live within its means? Can you imagine the editorials in some of its more conservative papers if any government raised taxes 33-1/3 percent?

I know many people in Duluth will not buy the News Tribune because they don't think it has much content, not even 75 cents worth. Will there be even more people who think the content is not worth one dollar?

Forum Communications may find itself in the situation many bus companies did. Costs went up and so service frequency went down. Service frequency went down, and so did ridership went down. Costs per rider went down and so service frequency went down…

By the way, the publisher of the Star Tribune is a paragon of efficiency:) Its machine at this particular corner still charges 75 cents even though the cost every where else is one dollar.