Is a newspaper worth as much as a fancy cup of coffee?
A blog post on the guardian.co.uk asks: How much should a newspaper cost? Why shouldn’t a quality newspaper be the same price as a fancy cup of coffee?
The article notes that British newspapers have been increasing their cover prices:
This week the Daily Telegraph quietly upped its cover price to £1, following the Guardian, which made the jump to £1 in August. The Independent already has a cover price of £1 and the Financial Times retails at £2. (One pound currently converts to 1.65770 U.S. dollars.)
Three years ago, the blog notes, British editor Simon Kelner wrote:
“It used to be said that a newspaper should be the price of a cup of coffee. Today the Independent is 70p and a cup of coffee is £3. I think daily papers should be £1, weekend papers should be at least £2. Now you can get a weekend paper that costs £1.70 and, with it, you get a DVD worth a tenner. The economics are fundamentally flawed, and we have to reverse that trend, because the obsession with DVDs and CDs for short-term circulation gain is a form of crack-cocaine.”
The blog notes:
Three years later there are fewer DVD giveaways, most quality dailies newspapers now cost around £1 — and most of the Sunday qualities are about £2 — and everyone is fretting about web-revenue strategies.
But these moves are still nibbling around the edges of the big question. On the web: to charge or not to charge? And in print: free? Carry on charging and hope? Or, how about regarding newspapers as a premium product, based on the idea that those who want them are prepared to pay — as much as a fancy cup of coffee?
Steve Parker is the deputy managing editor for news, and oversees the Post-Dispatch's front page. STLtoday's online news editors are on his newsroom team. Parker has been at the paper since September 1980. 
This would go over in England. When it comes to newspapers, the Brits are much better read than the average American.
Perhaps some newspapers are of good enough quality to be considered “Premium”. I haven’t seen one, but I will let you have that one. The Post Dispatch is certainly not of premium quality - not even close. I would offer that the print version should be given away for free. That way the PD could claim circulation numbers that would encourage advertisers.
i’d say probably not…one can obtain news virtually anywhere, and from thousands of direct sources unfiltered by publishers, editors and reporters who frequently have conflicts, biases and other faults…who needs ‘em?…we’re all reporters…bloggers galore, directly from the scene…who needs to wait for a newstruck w/ minicam, reporter barely older than a tennybopper and 3 miles of cable to see a fire anymore…i’d rather see a cellphone video instead…same w/ print media…most of them are worthless, and shameless editorialists…
at least after a cup of coffee, i can pee it away…poor newspaper reporting never goes away, and usually keeps coming back every day in similar forms…
The prices for the Post Dispatch are ridiculous.
Rule of Ecomonics: You lower prices when demand decreases. Readers do vote with their pocketbook.
News unfiltered by publishers, editors, reporters (um, if it is unfiltered by a reporter, it has to be eyewitness with your eyes)isn’t news. The most important thing any publication (web, audio, video or paper) does is verify, filter, digest (i.e., make smaller)and arrange it in a shorter, understandable and engaging manner.
This is where the added value of a publication is over raw fact, rumor, streaming audio or video. Whether objective or subjective news, that is the provence of the fourth estate. If they do this well, paying for the selection, editing, presentation and condensation is well worth it. If not…
Look at the prices of magazines on a newsstand vs newspapers. Some of that is in the printing process, of course, but newspapers have lagged that of slicks and white paper publications for years. In the drive to stay cheap, quality has been sacrificed. I’m very impressed with the journalistic quality of some online pubs, and would pay for access. I do pay for a couple of specialty weekly and monthly publications printed on newsprint.
Remember the old printer adags: cheap/right/now. Pick two, and hope they are the most profitable two.