Coming soon to a McClatchy newspaper near you: a price hike

Sacramento Bee subscribers can look forward to paying more for their Bee in January, as Publisher Cheryl Dell reports the price of The Bee will go up in January. Facing increased costs of newsprint and gasoline, plus declining revenue, newspapers across the country are raising prices.

Here are some newspapers that have recently announced newsstand price hikes:

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McClatchy's Kansas City Star jumps from 50 cents to 75 cents (and the Sunday edition goes from $1.25 to $1.50) beginning October 19.

The Roanoke Times jumps from 50 cents to 75 cents in November.

The USA Today jumps from 75 cents to one dollar in December.

These papers raised prices earlier in 2008:

The Seattle Times (half-owned by McClatchy) jumped from 50 cents to 75 cents in September.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer jumped from 50 cents to 75 cents in August.
The New York Times jumped from $1.25 to $1.50 in August.

The Wall Street Journal jumped from $1.50 to $2.00 in July.

Are subscribers willing to pay more for newspapers that offer less? My blogging colleague Jim Hopkins has heard the USA Today has plans to remove "a significant number" of newsstand racks at sidewalks and other venues, anticipating a drop in single copy sales.

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But McClatchy will be hard-pressed to absorb more drops in circulation. McClatchy's The Olympian newspaper has lost 1,000 subscribers in the last year; more losses could be catastrophic.

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