The proposal to start a Co-operative daily paper—in the sense
of representing the co-operative movement—sounds heroic, for every- thing connected with national daily papers today is on such a scale that the initial expense of floating a new paper must be formidable. But a co-operative daily paper will face an obstacle which none of its competitors has to consider. Every paper, of course, is kept solvent by its advertisement revenue, and the larger that revenue the more it can afford to pay in staff salarieS, news services and every- thing that makes a daily paper technically efficient. Such papers depend for the most part on advertisers who see in the co-operative movement a bitter competitor, and it would be folly for them to advertise in a paper nine-tenths of whose readers buy everything they can get at the co-operative store. I see it is estimated that the " gap " between revenue and expenditure will be £12,500 a week. That comes to £650,000 a year. No doubt the co-operative movement is quite capable of subsidising a paper to that extent, but I wonder what Labour would say if the Federation of British Industries decided to found a daily paper and subsidise it.
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