local vs. big-city vs. national newspapers

For awhile, I've used newspapers as a question on exams about "monopoly" and "degrees of monopoly power". In a sense, newspapers are classic monopolies-- the only provider of a good or service in a given market. But they're also a great example of how the term monopoly is so limited. The preferred term/concept is broader and points to the reality of different levels of monopoly power-- for example, in comparing a small town vs. a big city vs. a national newspaper in delivering various types of information.

Over the past few decades, small town newspapers have really struggled (in general). But now, it's the big city papers that are in big trouble. They offer relatively little that is unique-- and much that is replicated and often done better, quicker and cheaper for consumers.

The national papers are still in fine shape-- as long as they can continue to deal with the availability of news on the Internet. Big city papers will need to make drastic changes in the way they deliver various sorts of news. And ironically, going forward, small town newspapers may be in better shape than their big-city brethren.