Copyright © 1997 by the Boston Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.

This Just In: Circulation wars

A two-bit promotion

By Dan Kennedy

The Boston Herald will turn back the calendar this coming Monday by slashing the price of the Monday-through-Saturday paper from 50 to 25 cents. The eight-week-long promotion will reportedly be limited to papers sold in Greater Boston and will not affect the Sunday paper, which sells for $1.75.

With both the Herald and the Boston Globe losing circulation in recent years -- like newspapers across the country -- the promotion may give the Herald a significant leg up on its larger rival. "We do not intend to do the same thing," sniffs Globe spokesman Rick Gulla.