Contract, Coordination, and Public Goods: The Example of News

This paper looks at various contractual methods devised in Britain and the United States for supplying news. Based on these historical investigations, I question whether the supply of news is best characterised as a "public goods" problem or a coordination problem. If it is best understood as a coordination problem, then perhaps the most effective way in which to overcome the so-called market failure associated with the supply of certain public goods may be to encourage cooperation, and not to encourage the creation of new forms of property protection.