Mr Willes, a veteran of the breakfast-cereal industry, seems obsessed with reacting quickly to consumer tastes.

ECONOMIST: The press

Singleton and Scudder say they can boost circulation even as Willes does.

FORBES: Encirclement

There are indeed dangers in Mr Willes's plan (would you write a hard-hitting story on Hollywood, if your department head was wooing a big studio chief?).

ECONOMIST: The press

So when Mark Willes, Times-Mirror Co. boss and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, said he wants to increase his 1-million circulation by 50%, Singleton said okay.

FORBES: Encirclement

Under a new scheme unveiled by Mark Willes, the chairman of Times Mirror, the marketing men at the Los Angeles Times will be organised around the same editorial sections as journalists are.

ECONOMIST: The press

Several other farmers are keen to take slurry to spread on their own fields, and ways to deal with worries over water pollution are being squared with the EA. As for animal welfare, Peter Willes, one of the dairies' co-owners, points out that it is in his own economic interests to keep his animals happy and productive.

ECONOMIST: Industrial dairy farming