Aftermath of the Death of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat: Are Failing Newspapers Still Worth Preserving?
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| Title: | Aftermath of the Death of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat: Are Failing Newspapers Still Worth Preserving? |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Sanders, Craig |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 38 |
| Publication Date: | 1988 |
| Document Type: | Speeches/Meeting Papers Information Analyses Reports - Evaluative |
| Descriptors: | Competition, Government Role, Legal Problems, Media Research, Newspapers, Publishing Industry |
| Abstract: | This paper contends that the failure of the St. Louis "Globe-Democrat" raises questions not only about whether the United States Justice Department's Antitrust Division should have worked harder to keep the St. Louis joint operating agreement (JOA) alive, but also about the efficacy of the Newspaper Preservation Act in preserving editorial rivalry by allowing commercial rivalry to cease in situations where both types of competition are in danger. The paper argues that the Antitrust Division's intervention in the St. Louis JOA failure was correct and that future JOA failures should be reviewed by the government. The paper examines (1) the Newspaper Preservation Act; (2) the decline of direct newspaper competition; (3) JOAs and failing newspapers; (4) the government's role in JOAs; (5) the possibility that JOA failures violate antitrust laws; (6) how JOAs could gain by failing; (7) the intervention by the antitrust division in St. Louis; (8) the failing company tests for publishers; (9) whether JOA failures merit government intervention; and (10) a case for saving failing JOAs. The paper concludes that unless the Newspaper Preservation Act is amended so that editorial competition can be preserved, the government should continue to intervene in JOA failures in the same manner that it did in St. Louis. (Ninety-two notes are included.) (MS) |
| Entry Date: | 1988 |
| Accession Number: | ED296355 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This paper contends that the failure of the St. Louis "Globe-Democrat" raises questions not only about whether the United States Justice Department's Antitrust Division should have worked harder to keep the St. Louis joint operating agreement (JOA) alive, but also about the efficacy of the Newspaper Preservation Act in preserving editorial rivalry by allowing commercial rivalry to cease in situations where both types of competition are in danger. The paper argues that the Antitrust Division's intervention in the St. Louis JOA failure was correct and that future JOA failures should be reviewed by the government. The paper examines (1) the Newspaper Preservation Act; (2) the decline of direct newspaper competition; (3) JOAs and failing newspapers; (4) the government's role in JOAs; (5) the possibility that JOA failures violate antitrust laws; (6) how JOAs could gain by failing; (7) the intervention by the antitrust division in St. Louis; (8) the failing company tests for publishers; (9) whether JOA failures merit government intervention; and (10) a case for saving failing JOAs. The paper concludes that unless the Newspaper Preservation Act is amended so that editorial competition can be preserved, the government should continue to intervene in JOA failures in the same manner that it did in St. Louis. (Ninety-two notes are included.) (MS) |
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