Less Paper

War means retrenchment to U.S. magazines no less than to newspapers (TIME, Jan. 4). To conserve manpower, electric power and transportation, publishers will be allowed less paper. Last week the publishers of the nation's some 6,000 weekly, bimonthly, monthly and quarterly periodicals found just how much they will have to retrench. Ordered the War Production Board: in 1943 no magazine can use more than 90% of the total tonnage of print paper it used in 1942. Exemptions: magazines using less than 25 tons a quarter.

WPB left it to publishers to decide how to reduce. Some, like The Nation, will use lighter weight paper. Reader's Digest, with a circulation over 9,000,000, will have to reduce its circulation, perhaps to as low as 7,000,000, by sending fewer copies to newsstands. FORTUNE had already announced a reduction in its page size effective with its March issue. TIME and LIFE, before the limitation was established, had of their own accord already established limits on the amount of advertising they would accept, and other magazines may now follow. Harper's Bazaar announced the elimination of its March 15 issue (it had been published 13 times a year, will drop to twelve).

Unlike the newspaper limitation, which based paper quotas on 1941 circulation, the magazine order based quotas on 1942, in recognition of the fact that magazine circulations have been changing rapidly--some up, some down. But this took care of only part of the changes. Magazines whose circulation dropped 25% during 1942 may find themselves with paper quotas for 100% of all they want for 1943, and those whose circulations gained rapidly (prime example: the Reader's Digest, up approximately 3,000,000 since early 1942) may have less than 80% of what they now need. Helped most will be radio, where advertising sales are immune to paper limitation.

Another difference between the newspaper and magazine limitations was that the newspaper quotas were based on net paid circulation and the magazine quotas were based on tonnage paper use. This means that magazines which loaded the stands with copies (taking a heavy percentage of unsold returns to avoid missing any sales) may now take most of the cut out of their returns. But those magazines which rationed newsdealers closely and took few returns will really feel the pinch.

For publishers the order in general meant good news for those whose properties were slipping, a penalty for those who were making progress.

In announcing the newspaper cut W. G. Chandler, head of WPB's printing and publishing division, promised special consideration for any newspapers "whose circulations have increased greatly since 1941 and may appear to be hard hit." No such relief was promised to magazines.

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