Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-02-07
NEwsPAPER BUsINESS,

Very few people know anything about
the great cost attending the publication of a
daily newspaper. Let any business, carried
on from day to day as the newspaper is, in
this city, undertake to carry Saturday
night pay bill from year to year of from
$500 to $1,000, to men employed, and see
how long they will stand it. Yet, for now
nearly three years, has this been the psy
roll of the two morning papers of this
city. We viii assert here that the money
paid out by the newspapers of Nashville fer
ayear, to employees, exceeds that Of any
other branch of business in the city.
The newspaper is an industry, and not
merely profession, and requires intelli.
gent labor far beyond any other industry,
for it is skilled, technical and educated, and
always commands the very highest price.
1t is ignorance of this fact that leads to so
many failures in newspaper enterprises. A
man may write good brief, good ser
mon, essay or lecture may be the pride of
his circle, or the oracle of his set. he may
be able TO judicjously and soundly criticise
the leaders in the journals of the day, point
out where they could be bettered. People
may flock to hear him, and bis "speech"
may be the burden ofsocill and street ser
sation. "What pity he cannot be on a
newspaper" Yet placed in the editorial
chair, the man is failure in weeks lime,
and at cost Of ultimate thousands to over
confident friends.
Again, politicians seeing the ease with
which newspaper apparently pushes for
ward a man to eminence and place, think
if they only had paper to "puf them,"
the long dream of ambition would be speed
lily realized-result, thousands more gone
to those heavy bills of Saturday night. A
newspaper ie, i'll one sense, like any other
business, it depends upon the demand for
the article it supplies. 1t occupies re-
stricted field, and cannot extend beyond
its success depends upon the cultivation of
that field. The aggregate circulation Of
the morning dailies throughout the
country will show that the num-
Der of papers subscribed for bears
nearly the same per cent. in ell
cities. This may be taken as the maximum
for business calculation. Advertising to
newspaper is very essential, but at the
same time a very fuctuating resource
more fluctuating than subscription. When
merchant is prosperous he advertises lib
orally, and when compelled to economise it
is one Of the first to be curtailed. 1t is in
vain to tel him what the newspaper man
knows, that it is just the time he should be
most active and liberal in that line-he
don't have the tangible cognizance of the
fact and viii not be convinced. II adyer-
tising was as constant in supply as SUBJ
scrip.i0n, newspapers would be far more
profitable than they are.
The multitude viii buy as the "magcot
bites them," but thinking business men and
citizens ought to make the sum expended
on their newspapers both certain and lib
eral one. 1t comes back with compound
interest and principal in thousand ways.
We know that correspondents of this paper
have from certain localities brought more
trade to our merchants than their own trav-
cling sslesDen. The railroad fare and ho-
tel bills of one trip of such salesman from
each merchant in the way of advertise
ments paid to US, would enable us to keep
such correspondents constantly in the field,
all over the country where they trade.