AMERICA'S PRINTED WORK TOO MUCH POWER FOR TOO [ ]

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100190003-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2004
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: August 15, 1977
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

41 5 AUGUST 1.977
New empires of the printed word are on
the rise as newspaper chains and vast con-
glomerates swallow up, one publisher after
another. Concern grows as they get more
and more say over what Americans read.
Far-reaching changes are under way in America's once-
unchallenged empires of the printed word-newspapers,
magazines and books--as they seek their niche in the elec-
tronic age.
Great and venerable publishing houses are under pres-
sures of many kinds to give up their independence and join
chains or conglomerates for a safer existence alongside goods
and services ranging from rental cars to rugs.
Inroads are becoming apparent in quality, too.
Many publishers, in trying to keep up with changes in
reader tastes and interests, are turning more to gossip, shock
and scandal-often at the expense of solid information.
There is growinng: concern that the publishing business,
long considered essential to an informed citizenry, is losing
its diversity and that growth of corporate empires in publish-
ing is making "the bottom line" of profit margins the
supreme factor in the industry-to the detriment of excel-
lence and responsibility to the public.
What will happen ultimately to the quality of opinion and
factual information reacnmg tvmencan raaumb eaL,,.LU YVL W
-Chains, whose holdings are. rooted'in one field of publish-
ing, and conglomerates, whose business interests run 'the
industrial gamut, will continue to grow. A broker specializing
in newspaper stocks says: -Further concentration of owner-
ship is inevitable. The trend in the communications business
is no different than in any other."
The wave of publishing acquisitions, which began in the
early 1960s, continues with such instances as these:
? CBS, Inc., recently added a second paperback-publish-
ing house-Faweett-to its TV magazine and book-publish-
ing
enterprises.
? Time, Inc., publisher of magazines and books, and owner
of a TV station, a TV production company, a film-distribution
and production company and a cable-television system, has
announced it is buying the Book-of-the-Month Club.
? Capital Cities Communications, Inc., which owns news-
papers, television stations and specialty newspapers such as
Women's Wear Daily, added the Kansas City Star and
morning Times to its holdings.
The tens of millions paid for these and other publishing
properties generate optimism about the economic future of
the print media.. That, however, is tempered by. concern
Says James Hoge, editor-in-chief of the Chicago Sun-Times
and the Chicago Daily News: "All the good will in the world
by conglomerates who say they will establish op-ed pages
F----They Oversee Big Publishing Conglomerates
Arthur UChs sulz oved For Releas* b?4~9g?P arLIA-RDP88-01314R06~d40MSO 42
Chairman, New York Time ompany airman, . ashington ost Company Chairman, Time, Inc.
Approved For Release 2004/09/28 : CIA-RDP88-01314R0001001900Q3-2