The Press: Out of Business

The most unusual problem encountered by a reporter at the Democratic Convention last week was that of Joseph Volz of the Washington Daily News. Having just learned that two men carrying guns had been arrested in front of McGovern headquarters, Volz rushed to phone Washington and dictate his story. Instead of a stenographer, he got City Editor Stan Felder: "Joe, you won't have to dictate this one. The paper's out of business." Volz hung up and went in search of a drink.

Joe Volz was one of the lucky ones when the tabloid Daily News (circ. 207,000) was bought and closed down by its afternoon rival, the Evening Star (circ. 303,000). He will be one of 30 or so staffers absorbed by the Star. Some 570 others will be out of work unless they can catch on elsewhere in the 17-paper Scripps-Howard chain, which founded the Daily News in 1921.

Both the staid Star and the brash Daily News have lost money in head-to-head competition for the afternoon advertising dollar. Star President John H. Kauffmann expects to pick up both circulation and ad linage in the takeover and make the newly named Evening Star and Washington Daily News profitable. He also hopes to make it into more formidable competition for its sole remaining rival, the morning Washington Post (circ. 526,000).

The reduction of Washington to a two-newspaper town leaves New York the only U.S. city with three separately owned general-circulation daily papers: the morning Times (circ. 846,000) and Daily News (2,130,000) and the afternoon New York Post (623,000).