A newspaper vending machine or newspaper rack is a vending machine designed to distribute newspapers. Newspaper vending machines are used worldwide, and they are often one of the main distribution methods for newspaper publishers. According to the Newspaper Association of America, in recent times in the United States, circulation via newspaper vending machines has dropped significantly: in 1996, around 46% of single-sale newspapers were sold in newspaper boxes, and in 2014, only 20% of newspapers were sold in the boxes.
History
The coin operated newspaper vending machine was invented in 1947 by inventor George Thiemeyer Hemmeter. Hemmeter's company, the Serven Vendor Company, was based in Berkeley, California, and had been making rural mail tubes and honor racks. The new invention could be adjusted to accept coins of different denominations. The newspaper rack was able to be used with one hand, and took around 30 seconds to dispense a paper. Two models, one with a capacity for 1250 pages of newsprint, the other 2500 pages, were brought into production initially. By 1987, over one million machines had been distributed. One of the most popular newsrack manufacturers is Kaspar, a Shiner, Texas-based wire works company famous for their Sho-Racks. news rack
Legal issues
In the United States, publishers have said that the distribution of newspapers by means of street racks is "an essential method of conveying information to the public" and that regulations regarding their placement are an infringement of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 1983, the city ofLakewood, Ohio adopted an ordinance that gave the mayor of the city complete control of where newspaper racks could be placed, and which newspapers could be placed in them. On June 17, 1988, this ordinance was overturned by the United States Supreme Court in a 4-3 ruling, citing that the ordinance could potentially be used to penalize newspapers that criticize the local government.
Re-purposing
The newspaper vending machines began to lose popularity as many newspapers switched to online distribution, and as newspaper prices rose; as most vending machines are completely mechanical with no moving parts, few of them have paper currency validators which need some kind of electrical power to work, requiring multiple quarters or dollar coins to be inserted. This is especially true for Sunday newspapers, which see machines go unfilled by some papers due to the bulk of those editions reducing the number of copies that can possibly be sold. By 2009, various artists and inventors had begun working on re-purposing the boxes.
Criticism
Newspaper vending machines have been criticized for occasionally failing to distribute a newspaper after it has been paid for. Additionally, the design makes it possible for money or newspapers to be stolen from the machine. Newspaper machines are frequently cited by economists when discussing "utility value". Due to their design, one could insert the requisite amount and remove more than one copy of the newspaper. However, a second copy of a newspaper normally represents little value to the thief, as the information contained within the copies is identical; thus, the potential lost revenue due to stolen copies is mitigated by the low value that the average person places on a second copy of a newspaper. However, the potential for theft of additional copies is obviously problematic when a copy of the newspaper in question has potential future value, such as on the day after an election, sports event, or major world occurrence.
