As of this month the Washington Post will not be crediting readers with the value of their vacation stops. No longer can one ask for a temporary halt on delivery of the printed version and know you will not be charged during your absence. This they justify by saying you have access to the electronic version, so “read it on your i-Pad”.

This new policy smacks of desperation. I suspect that readership of the printed version of the Washington Post is nowadays skewed towards the older reader who either prefers print, has no tablet, or has tried the online version and dislikes reading a newspaper on a Kindle or i-Pad. These very same people have a tendency to leave town for longer periods (mostly in the summer), than younger readers, whose vacations are pitifully short and may not care. By asking the older people and retirees to pay for a paper that is neither delivered nor is readable, the Editor is asking for a whole bundle of trouble. Epicurus would probably say “No delivery, no pay”. Principle No.1 in business: look after your long-standing, loyal readers; they should be easy to retain, but are hard to get back.

Watch the readership of the printed version of the Washington Post nose-dive!