Newspapers across the U.S. are confronting a severe newsprint shortage and sharply higher prices, accelerating the industry’s shift away from print editions.
The supply chain crunch is forcing publishers to cut pages, reduce printing frequency, or speed up plans to go fully digital, according to a report early this week by Brier Dudley, editor of the Seattle Times Free Press.
“If these conditions persist, cost and supply challenges may lead more newspapers to reduce pages, as The Seattle Times is doing temporarily until supply improves, cut print frequency or accelerate plans to become entirely online products,” Dudley writes.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and many other publications have already taken similar steps.“It’s kind of a double-whammy for publishers,” said Kevin Craig, CEO of Page Cooperative, a North Carolina nonprofit that buys materials for about 1,200 newspapers. “It’s not only expensive, it’s really hard to find newsprint right now.”
Craig added that newsprint prices “have gone haywire, they’re as high as I’ve seen in many years.”
One major U.S. mill has already stopped production. NORPAC in Longview, Washington — one of only two remaining domestic newsprint mills, produced its last roll of newsprint on Tuesday after being acquired by International Paper, which is prioritizing packaging products.
The last surviving U.S. newsprint mill, Inland Empire Paper, is fully booked and cannot accept new orders until June or July. Its owner, the Cowles Company, is also shifting more production toward packaging materials such as bags.