Oldsters in Shorts

Two journalistic ancients are trying a rejuvenation method which, before war's end, many a newspaper may try. The method is also calculated to cut costs-but both of them claim that cost-cutting is not their object. Last week the New York Post, oldest in Manhattan (founded 1801), turned tabloid. And Denver's Rocky Mountain News announced that it would make the same change this week.

Dorothy S. Backer (elected publisher in her sick husband's stead a fortnight ago) said the Post made the change because she was impressed, while commuting, with the difficulty readers had in trying to handle a full-sized newspaper. She was able to announce a highly satisfactory result: the Post's 208,000 circulation jumped. 30% within a week as a tabloid, passed the 235;625 circulation it had when the Backers bought it from J. David Stern. Publisher Stern pushed his circulation with premiums-from records to reprints of Van Gogh. The Backers, who have poured more than $1,000,000 into the long-ailing Post, have tried no circulation stunts, have sought to build their circulation on editorial appeal alone. "The Post is a better investment than Dead End, which I helped finance,." says Mrs. Backer, "and you know what a good investment that was."

The Rocky Mountain News, which in its wild and woolly youth was sometimes printed on wrapping paper, is the second* Scripps-Howard sheet to adopt a small format. Business Manager Howard William Hailey explains that he had an itch to get hold of the national Sunday supplement Parade, which is syndicated by Marshall Field III. The savings the News will make (mostly by dropping its old Sunday magazine and reducing the size of its comic section) will more than pay for Parade.

Although Denver has never had the morning-paper habit, since 1940 the News has managed to up both its daily and Sunday circulation some 5,000. It sells around 44,000 daily now, around 48,000 Sundays. This is a long way from the 158,000 daily circulation of the blatant Denver Post (evening).

With its issue of May 2 the Tiger, Princeton's campus funny magazine, will fold for the duration-as it did in World War I. Reasons: loss of advertising and too much curricular work for students.

*The other: the Washington Daily News.

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