{"id":2347,"date":"2012-09-07T15:41:45","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T15:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.quintessential.org.uk\/sa-mathieson\/?p=2347"},"modified":"2017-07-12T18:18:24","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T17:18:24","slug":"oxford-times-hikes-cover-price-by-53-but-it-still-beats-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samathieson.com\/sa-mathieson\/oxford-times-hikes-cover-price-by-53-but-it-still-beats-coffee\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford Times hikes cover price by 53%, but it still beats coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oxford Times<\/a>, the weekly local paper I have been reading since moving to Oxfordshire almost a decade ago, has just increased its cover price from 85p to \u00a31.30. It\u2019s a big one-off increase, and it may affect sales. But the new price feels more realistic than the old one: the Oxford Times is an exceptional local paper, and its new price is equivalent to a quality weekday paper and rather cheaper than a weekend one.<\/p>\n

More generally, on the basis of how much a reader gets out of them, newspapers are surely under-priced. In his 1946 essay \u2018Books v. cigarettes\u2019<\/a>, George Orwell reckoned that he spent \u00a325 a year on reading (including newspapers) and nearly \u00a340 on tobacco. More specifically, he worked out that a one-read book probably cost about two shillings per hour of enjoyment (eight shillings for four hours\u2019 reading), roughly the same as an expensive cinema seat.<\/p>\n

Times have changed. If I wanted to see Anna Karenina at the Magdalen Street Odeon in Oxford<\/a> tonight, it would cost \u00a39.50 for 130 minutes, which is \u00a34.38 an hour. For a modern equivalent to cigarettes (now with punitive levels of tax), I could buy a filter coffee from Pret a Manger for 99p, which would last me about 15 minutes \u2013 so, again, about \u00a34 an hour.<\/p>\n

Relative to 1946, reading has become much cheaper. Ben Macintyre\u2019s account of the D-day spies, Double Cross<\/a>\"\", is \u00a37.99* for 360 pages, and if I read a page a minute, that\u2019s \u00a31.33 an hour (assuming it is only worth reading once, which on the basis of his previous books is unlikely).<\/p>\n

Finally, no-one reads every word in a newspaper, but in this week\u2019s Oxford Times I looked at most of the news (Elizabeth Murdoch has got permission for extra security at her house in Burford<\/a>), columns, reviews (including one telling me that it\u2019s probably not worth spending \u00a39.50 on Anna Karenina<\/a>) and the newly-expanded and always-bonkers letters pages, this week featuring the paper\u2019s columnist, restaurant reviewer and arts editor Christopher Gray kicking off with Sandi Toksvig<\/a> about the sexuality of a character in her new play. That added up to about an hour of reading, which at \u00a31.30 makes it equivalent to a paperback, and far better value than coffee or the cinema. (The paper often has an extra glossy magazine, although this week it went for a supplement to mark its 150th<\/sup> anniversary, which improves the cost per hour further.)<\/p>\n

For a long time, we\u2019ve been used to newspapers being very cheap, due to the subsidy of advertising. It\u2019s never nice when things rise in price, but the important question is how much something costs relative to other alternatives, not relative to how much it used to cost.<\/p>\n

It may be a function of the soaring value of live experience over anything that can be digitised<\/a>, but I reckon that many newspapers, including the Oxford Times, are excellent value per hour of enjoyment. The editor calls \u00a31.30 a fair price<\/a>, and if you think about it, it is – if anything, it’s probably still a bit cheap.<\/p>\n

* Currently only \u00a32.99 from Amazon, so the book wins hands down… if it’s a title with a huge promotional discount<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oxford Times, the weekly local paper I have been reading since moving to Oxfordshire almost a decade ago, has just increased its cover price from 85p to \u00a31.30. It\u2019s a big one-off increase, and it may affect sales. 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