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For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations June 26-27, 2004:

And then there was one.

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries. 

Recently, one of U-S stamp collecting's two remaining newspapers was bought by the parent 
company of the other....and shut down. That leaves stamp collecting with only one paper.

The hand-wringers are saying it's a sign of the shrinking of stamp collecting and will mean 
a lack of competition for the survivor, Linn's Stamp News.

I don't think so. It seems to me more a sign of the changes in media these days.

More and more stamp collectors -- more and more EVERYBODY -- are getting their news from 
the Internet. Even Linn's, with its full-time staff, can't get the news to its readers any 
more often than once a week. Those stamp collectors who need a news fix more frequently 
are getting it online.

What a stamp newspaper can offer that the Internet doesn't yet is depth and solid feature 
material. But there, Linn's still has competition, from monthly magazines. Simply buying 
another newspaper isn't going to be enough.

And that's Stamp Collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News. 

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