PAGE Cooperative has voted to expand its membership
eligibility beyond the association’s long-standing, independently owned,
newspaper-only requirement to now permit newspapers of all ownership
categories, as well as commercial printers, to become members of the highly
respected buying cooperative.
PAGE Cooperative is recognized as one of the
largest buyers of newsprint in the United States and one of the
leading buying resources for print-related software, ink, printing plates, and
supplies, the cooperative says. PAGE stands for “Publishers Associated to Gain
Economy.”
The vote, cast by its newspaper members, was
acknowledgement that the distinction between publicly and privately held
newspapers is no longer relevant, according to Brandon Eyerly, PAGE Cooperative
board chairman.
“Currently, PAGE counts among its members many
small, single-market newspapers as well as some very large privately owned or
privately financed newspaper groups. Before this action by PAGE,
printing/publishing sites owned by publicly traded companies were not eligible
for membership, yet other large newspaper groups with different capital
structures were permitted,” Eyerly said. “The dynamics of the market and
ownership structures have shifted due to merger activity. Plus, when you
consider that many newspapers are outsourcing their printing, whether to
another newspaper or to a commercial printer, it makes sense for many of these
businesses to have the opportunity to realize the even greater economies of
scale that are feasible with an association like PAGE.”
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