Do you like to be short changed?
How would you feel if you had been promised something on a weekly basis at a certain price and then found as the months went by you were receiving less of the product but were still been charged the initial same price?

Back in July 2011 the Scunthorpe Telegraph announced it was to cease daily publication and move to being a weekly addition from 18th August. The editor, Mel Cooke, promised his readership a 140-page newspaper that will provide the most comprehensive package for those who want the best in news, sport, features, jobs, homes, cars and what is happening locally or for the price of £1.
The final daily edition of the Telegraph appeared on Friday, 12th August, with the first weekly edition hitting the streets the following Thursday, 18th August.

The decision to turn the newspaper into a once-a-week product was seen as the best way to secure the long-term sustainability of the Scunthorpe Telegraph, which has been serving the community since 1937.
However as the weeks and months have passed the number of pages have become fewer and fewer where we now see a paper which regularly contains around 116 pages (supplements omitted), last weeks paper having 112.

This reduction in product has seen no reduction in cost to the consumer. If people were to buy pint of lager or a litre of petrol for a fixed price and then each consecutive purchase contained less and less but they were still being charged the original fixed price words might be exchanged or a reason given. At worse, trading standards could be involved in the case of these short measures. It could be argued that the Property Guide supplement makes up the missing shortfall in promised page content but you wouldn’t pay £2.50 for pint of beer and expect one fifth of it to be froth.

At the Scunthorpe Telegraph, whilst the pages have become fewer there has been no explanation from the editor why the readership is now receiving less value for money. Whilst the Scunthorpe Telegraph may be seen as having a long tradition of serving the local communities and is still widely anticipated by the local populous is it time questions were asked as to its pricing structure, is the paper value for money?