The rumble between the Post and the News to see who can give away more sponsor copies to boost their circulation shows no sign of abating: In today's Observer, News EIC Martin Dunn calls shenanigans: "If you'd lost $300 million over the past five years, spent $200 million on new presses, carpet-bombed neighborhoods with free copies and lost fortunes to sell a few thousand papers in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, you'd be desperate to celebrate creeping a few copies ahead of us." Post EIC Col Allan counters that "the Post is half the price, and twice the value." There's some particularly nice bitchery in the Times, where Dunn's party line about the News still outselling the Post in "the New York metro area," elicits the following response:

"The gall," responded Col Allan, The Post's editor in chief, in an interview yesterday. He described his counterpart at The News, Martin Dunn, as a "limp-wristed fellow" who "whines like a schoolyard bully that has just gotten thrashed."

Correct us if we're wrong, but the EIC of the Post just called his rival a fag. We suddenly understand why Sean Delonas still has a job.

Post Boasts, News Stews, as Cutthroat Tab Passes Foe; Next Step: Turn a Profit? [NYO]
Life With the Tabs: Sales Are Up! Each Says It's Ahead! [NYT]


Earlier: 'Daily News' Still Big Where It Counts