Lucky Star

When Texas Banker Joe L. Allbritton bought a controlling interest in the paper last year, the Washington Star was fading fast. An afternoon paper in an era when most people get their evening news from TV, the Star had been in the red since 1970 and was piling up new deficits at a rate of $1 million a month. Now, quite suddenly, the paper is making money.

Golden Ears. The Star owes much to the misfortunes of the Washington Post. One night eight weeks ago, pressmen at the Post (circ. 534,000) walked off the job after sabotaging their presses, and eight of the paper's other unions followed. The strike left the Post struggling for weeks to print shrunken editions (48 pages, v. a typical 96) on borrowed presses. Much of the damaged equipment was quickly repaired, and the Post last week put out a 104-page paper. But the Post probably lost $4 million in advertising during the first five weeks of the strike, while the Star apparently gained $2 million. Star executives will not say exactly how much they are benefiting from the Post's tribulations, but October was the first profitable month the paper has had in five years. For November the Star's advertising linage is running 17% ahead of a year ago, while circulation (normally 334,000) is up an extra 40,000.

The Star's serendipitous rise is cheering to its editors, who are completing one of Washington's biggest rebuilding jobs since Vince Lombardi overhauled the Redskins. The paper has been thoroughly redesigned: foreign news is being given less space, and domestic stories are receiving a more featurish, consumer-directed treatment. While the Post's two top stories one day last week were the Paris economic summit and a leftist rally in Lisbon, the Star led with stories on tax abuses and the new FBI crime statistics. One of the Star's most recent innovations is a column called "Gobbledygook," which uncovers choice items of bureaucratic doubletalk. The paper last month began sending gold-colored metal pins in the shape of an ear to prominent Washingtonians who are tattled about in its new gossip column "The Ear," which is scheduled to be syndicated nationally in February. Says Editor James Bellows: "We've got momentum going and everything is looking good."

Everything could start looking bad again if the Post's health continues to improve. Post executives have let it be known that the paper is now operating in the black again, printing about 80% as much advertising as this time last year and picking up more lost ads every week. Even if the strike drags on and on -a strong possibility, said Post Publisher Katharine Graham in a letter to nonstriking employees -the Star's recovery could falter.

Negotiations between the Post and the pressmen broke off three weeks ago, and neither side has budged from pre-strike positions on such crucial issues as overtime and manning levels. In fact, while the Post has been learning to live without its striking pressmen, many pressmen have been easing the pain of lost wages by working one day a week at the Star's busier-than-usual plant across town.

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