Good Morning Team,

Many US papers are planning ad rate increases in an effort to make up for lost ad dollars -- The Hartford Courant  plans a 3% to 4% boost in 2002, The New York Times' overall rates will likely increase 5% or so next year, while The Wall Street Journal's net effective general ad rate will be up 3.3%.  USA Today's general rate will go up 4%, as it has in recent years.  The Houston Chronicle plans to raise daily ad rates about 5%, only slightly below last year's hike, said Gary Randazzo, senior vice president of sales and marketing. "While the downturn is significant now, ... we think that, because of the [federal] stimulus package, ... next year may begin getting back to some normalcy," he said, adding that advertisers may benefit from wider use of volume discounts.  Let's hope that advertisers are willing to pay, as ad dollars comprise a significant portion of newspapers' revenues...

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The anthrax scare continues... Gannett will begin environmental testing for anthrax this afternoon at its Rosslyn headquarters and at its Capitol Hill bureau in the District.  Gannett plans additional steps to screen and segregate mail and also intends to buy more safety equipment.  The anthrax scare is only compounding an already poor economic situation for newspaper groups.

Ayesha