Newspapers are very profitable things to own.
Over time, only pharmaceuticals have earned a greater return on investment. In 1900, there were 8 newspaper chains, and they owned 27 dailies. By the 1920s, the Scripps chain owned 18 newspapers and bought three more in the 1930s. By 1930, there were 55, and they owned 311 daily newspapers. The other great chain-builder of the time was William Randolph Hearst.