Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-06-14
The Newspaper Business.
From the Memphis Avalanche.

| In few remarks before the Tennessee
Press Association, Mr.. Ira P. Jones, of the
| Nashville UNION AND AMERICAN, said that
! the newspaper business of this country rad
! entered upon a new era, and ;t must come
| up to it, 1t must proclaim its independence
in business way. Every line in news
| paper has a positive value, and il ought 70
/ be asserted. If the business was properly
managed, there was 10 necessity for ''pOor
devils of printers a man might be in
| dependent in the expression of his views,
but every time a newspaper did, it bad to
pay money. Mr.. Jones in this stated
| a fact as well known to newspaper
| editors and publishers who understand their
business, as it is unknown to large class Of
people who look upon newspapers as free
vehicles, in which everybody is invited to
ride. The policy Of a class of newspaper
conductors who, fortunately for the profess
sion, are rapidly disappearing, produced this
feeling. What else could people think when,
politically, editors abased themselves before
little cliques and rings? How could it be
otherwise when in matters of business pub
fishers meekly accepted for advertising any
offer they could obtain, rather than allow
the patronage to go elsewhere? How long
could a merchant sustain himself in such a
policy? Yet, outside the large cities, it has
been only within . few years that publish
ers have begun TO realize the force of the
maxim that "business is business" We
have found it a difficulC task to make even
some of our best business men comprehend
this truth in Journalism which was the
foundation of their own success. No man
would think Of taking a cig,r or plug of to-
hacon from q fpbooapnist nit b,,r,t nov for
yet we have known men to almost choke
with passion because asked to pay for an
AUdlGnche taken from our business Office,
as ifa large outlay of money was otrequir-
ed to produce the desired paper. Men who
would scorn to ask a merchant for a
yard Of calico or a spool Of thread, do not
hesitate to ask the insertion, gratis, of
communications eulOgistic Of the Hon. Jo-
sephuS PumpkiDyine, or some other equally
conspicuous patriot Of whom nobody ever
before heard, but whose election to Office
they desire, for reasons best known to
themselves. Articles of this kind are pure
" matters ofbusiuess; as such we invaria-
bly, treat them, and thus not infrequently
incur the enmity Of persons who, sin
gularly enough, think that to please
them we should pay printers for set
LlLS llt types lOI lDtSC lutI8Sg anu
fill valuable space with them-all without
charge. Do these persons ever stop to
think that printing a paper like the AUa-
ldllChe requires cash outlay Of nearly
$1,000 per week, and that, aside from the
space devoted to editorials and news, our
columns are our dry goods, groceries, cot
ton, ETC., which must command price that
this heavy expense may be met? We sup
pose not, or we would not be asked to give
something for nothing, as is yet frequently
the case. As Mr.. Jones tersely puts it,
'eVery line in a newspaper, has a positive
value" Those devoted to avs and OPT
MONS give the paper the circu alton and
popularity necessary to render its columns
valuable to legitimate business men,
as well as to persons who have private
OF public axes to grind. We hold, with
other business men, that whatever is worth
printing is worth paying for. This is rule
to which we strictly adhere, and which eve
ry publisher, to be successful, must keep
plainly IN view and strictly follow. The loss
of the patronage of the cl5ss who demand
that we shall work for them for nothing
does not seriously disturb us. We are more
than willing that any of our contempora-
ries shall absorb and "laUgh and grow fat
on it, which they can do Whenthey learn to
live by feeding on vapors. Business is bust
ness