The Press: Gloomy Future

U.S. newspapers prepared for further austerities. Reason: the War Production Board had announced another 5% cut in newsprint consumption, to come in 1943’s last three months.

Publishers have already met the 10% cut previously ordered (TIME, Jan. 4, et seq.) by rationing ad space, reducing the size of comics and other canned features, refusing new subscriptions, telescoping editorial content, etc. Because advertising is booming, and population in war-industry cities is mushrooming, they have not done the job too well. In this year’s third quarter some 230 newspapers had to get extra allotments of newsprint from WPB. (Biggest grant: 1,772 tons to the Los Angeles Times; smallest: one ton to the Salem, Ohio News.)

What newspapers would do now was a nut many a publisher found hard to crack. Some may do what many magazines have done: use lighter-weight paper. Most newspapers are printed on 32-lb. paper, could be printed on 22½-lb. (telephone-directory stock).

WPB’s Donald Nelson wants to up newsprint production (war prisoners, furloughed Canadian soldiers may be used to cut pulpwood in Canadian forests). But he is not optimistic. Said he last week: “There will be even less newsprint in 1944.”