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With hopes of attracting new readers and boosting its bottom line, editors at Cleveland's only daily newspaper have reached out in recent years to young adults, women and business leaders.
Readership and advertising revenue have shown gains. Circulation has increased as well.
But now, as it introduces a new Monday business section, The Plain Dealer is trying to sell to customers its first daily price increase since 1993.
One executive said the price hike - an extra 15 cents a day for newsstand buyers and extra nickel for subscribers, both for the Monday through Saturday papers - would help cover the costs of the sections and features added to target readers. Two journalism professors, however, said the increase could stunt the newspaper's growth and send news-hungry Cleveland residents to television and the Internet.
"Our costs have just gone up, just like anyone else's," said Robert Long, executive vice president of The Plain Dealer.
Coinciding with last week's price increase was the release of the
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