New York Times Will Drop UPI Wire Service
United Press International suffered a major blow Monday as the New York Times said it would drop UPI’s news report on Dec. 31.
Insiders said the decision could make it easier for other papers to drop the wire service and will mean a loss of an estimated $900,000 to $1 million a year in revenue to the struggling agency.
Newspaper editors also viewed the decision as a setback to Mexican newspaper magnate Mario Vazquez Rana, who purchased UPI out of bankruptcy in June.
“It’s a major loss because it is a prestigious paper and a very large source of revenue,” said Louis Nogales, former chairman of UPI.
Called ‘Setback’
“The Times cancellation does not do the wire service in, but it sure doesn’t help,” said Gene Roberts, executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and a member of the UPI advisory board. Roberts called the decision a setback for “those people who think having two basic wire services is important.” The Associated Press is UPI’s dominant rival.
UPI President Maxwell McCrohon refused to comment on the New York Times’ decision.
The New York Times is one of UPI’s largest clients, along with the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune.
New York Times spokesman Leonard Harris said the Times decided to drop UPI in June, about the time of the ownership change, but had agreed to continue until now while a team of editors reviewed the news agency’s product.
“This ends a very long relationship,” Harris said. “We have been with UPI since its beginning” 79 years ago.
Wants Photo Service
Harris said the Times has asked to continue UPI’s photo service and is awaiting an answer.
UPI has struggled for years financially, but its problems worsened in 1982 when founders Scripps Howard sold it for $1 to two Nashville businessmen with little newspaper experience or financial backing. UPI filed for bankruptcy in 1985, but the agency had hopes that Vazquez Rana would have the financial stamina his predecessors lacked.
Insiders at UPI said the news agency probably has only 300 daily papers still receiving its full news report, although UPI officially claims closer to 700.
In the last several months, several large papers have announced they are dropping the wire service, including the Newark Star Ledger in New Jersey, the Portland Oregonian, the Booth papers in Michigan, the Denver Post, Hartford Courant and Dallas Times Herald.
William F. Thomas, editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times, said The Times has budgeted UPI for 1987 but can cancel on 60 days’ notice.
