Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-05-27
Country Journalism.

Inc city editor, looking over his pile
of country exchanges, devotes scarce
quarter of a minute to each. He
glances at the third page to see if any
occurrence of local interest worth COPY
ing has escaped the telegraph and
then tosses the paper aside. It pos
sesses no more interest for him than q
last years almanac. He can tell with
out looking exactly what it contains.
On the first page there will be one or
two poems, generally of the silliest
kind, and an idle tale of the sentimen-
tai type, and a dozen scraps and items.
The editorials on the second page will
be pilfered-the ideas if not the Ian
guage-from the great city dailies, and
in most cases there will be no editori-
ais unless loaded news items may be
called such. The local columns will
be filed with merchants advertisements,
imposed upon the subscribers for
reading matter, interspersed with ex-
trsvagsnt puts of catch-penny shows,
worthless books and magazines, and
glori6cations of the petty town where
the paper IS published. The fourth
page as well as much of the others
wiz be occupied by quack medicine
advertisements and the notices of
merchants, sprawled out in hand-bill
type, and paid for ''in trade"
The cause Of the feebleness and dull
ness of the country press is that there
are too many newspapers published.
Almost every county IS overstocked.
Now, the range of circulation of q
county paper is rigidly limited by the
boundary lines of the county in which
it is published. There is q maximum
of patronage beyond which it cannot
90, no matter with what ability it may
be conducted. In MshonIng county,
/ for instance, with a population of abont
$4,000 there are probably 5000 heads
Of families. Of these at least 1000
win not take county paper, from
various causes: they are foreigners, or
ignorant, or poor, or take city papers
instead. This leaves 5000, say 1880
| Republicans and 100 Democrats,
enough to give a fair support to Two
papers, If four are published they
must Of necessity be but poorly sustain
ed. The character and ability of a
newspaper may be pretty accurately
measured by the support it receives,
for no sensible man will spend two
dollars on a paper when he can get but
one in return, and no man whose tai
ents will command handsome reward
in other fields of labor will long devote
bis time to conducting q county journ-
al at starvation wages. Men soon find
their level, and he who works for FIVE
or six hundred dOlla-s year is gener-
ally worth no more than he receives.
The cause of the low character OF
/ the country press is therefore, the too
/ great number of papers. How does it
happen that this business more than
others is overcrowded +? the reader Will
ask. One reason is that an idea pre-
walls among young men that the pre-
fession of editorship is especially
honorsble-a fallacious idea, for no man
is less respected than a poor editor,
! for his position is such that he is con-
stantly exhibiting his Ignorance.
conceit and follies to the public. His
faults are known to all, while nobody
cares to take his virtues into account.
In journalism, as in other pursuits,
merit alone commands respect, but in
no other pursuit is lack Of merit so
quickly perceived and severely CEN
sured.
ANY fellow possessed of a few hundred
dollars can buy an old press and few
types and start country paper. He
will be encouraged by q few men who
are dissatisfied because the old papers
have not puffed them enough, and by
politicians who want an organ" 10
trumpet them into Office. By dint Of
begging be gets a few subscribers to
pay him, and gives his paper away to
many others, and then persuades the
merchants to advertise by offering low
terms and promising to trade out the
bills. So the new paper is born. 1t is
a sickly thing and usually lives but a
year or two, but there are always plenty
of fools ready to start another when it
dies. 1t is no wonder that such semi
paupers bring contempt upon the
| profession into which they intrude.
If the character of the country press
is to be raised there must be fewer
papers and more liberal support given.
The people 10 each county must give
their patronage to the one or two pa
pers that merits it, leaving the others
to die out. When this is done men of
talent and culture will enter the edi-
torial profession and it viii no longer
be thought that no more education
and ability is required to conduct a
newspaper than to keep a small grocery
or drive a caTt.-NahOHing Register.