Diversity of newspaper outlets and diversity of newspaper ownership are both generally conducive to economic efficiency within the newspaper industry. A review of the economics of newspaper publishing reveals two major factors concerning the structure and ownership of the press. The first is that scale economies of production are largely responsible for the tendency of newspaper markets in cities and towns to be dominated by a single title. The second is that the combined effect of economies of scale and newspaper firms’ drive towards growth is likely to bring about a high concentration of newspaper ownership. It is argued that economic theory lends qualified support to policy proposals to prevent mergers between newspaper firms and to require divestiture of newspaper titles.