Arkansas' newspaper war

In today's paper, the ADG celebrates the 25th anniversary of a critical anti-trust lawsuit in Arkansas' newspaper war between the old Arkansas Gazette and the Arkansas Democrat. Reporter Jake Sandlin does a fine job in recounting the mail events (subscription required). See Wikipedia. And again.

Both papers had storied histories, but the Gazette was the oldest, going back to 1819. It claimed the Democrat was trying to put it out of business by cutting prices and giving away want-ads, but the Gazette had not lost any money and was still financially sound.

The story raises questions about the whole value of the anti-trust idea, which everyone has studied in college courses. The theory behind anti-trust charges, as one commented in the article said, makes sense to economists, but not to consumers. Everyone likes low prices. So it is a hard idea to sell. When I was in college, I recall hearing about railroad rebates and kick backs. They were supposedly bad. Well, I like rebates, discounts, and kickbacks of all types, LOL. Nobody ever pointed out how consumers felt about paying lower prices. 

The Gazette was sold to the Gannett Co., which owns USA Today. Five years later Gannett sold the Gazette to the Democrat, forming the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I highly recommend this article. Most of what you find to read about this story is based on the memories of old, worn out Gazette reporters.

Despite the decline of newspapers across the country, the ADG is one of the most financially successful newspapers. How could that be true when you consider that Arkansas has one of the lowest percentages of adults with college degrees? (See March 23 post.) Consider too that the Arkansas Gazette started way back in 1819 when this was a rough, frontier state. Somebody needs to explain this discrepancy.