The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-01-25


the nation by the power of his eloquence.
Another mistake in newspaper work was
appropriately described by Croly when he said
that any one who proposes to start paper to
| ventilate certain views of his own-to change
the face OF society-to get people to adopt diff
ferent theories of life and religion from what
they now hold, must expect to do it at his own
cost. All journals having mainly in view the
education or betterment of mankind, are from
the start business failures. 1t is painful to see
earnest, enthusiastic men, and women too
conscious of noble purpose, sure that if their
views were adopted society would be bettered,
starting journals, expecting the public to
change their opinions, and pay for the pryi-
lege OF doing SOL say it is sad to see how
often these amiable people fail.
dignity, decorum and perfect culture are
conceptions not often realized in actual life.
| The readers of a country newspaper are very
imperfect human beings, and the editor who
abandons all fine-spun theories and aims to
understand just what his patrons want and
not what few call for, will make successful
paper. Long leaders and elaborate arguments
are all very well in their way, but in reality
the motive which prompts the mass of readers
to buy newspapers, is curiosity to know what
is going on in their vicinity and in the
| world.
| The ambition which aetuates man to start
country newspaper is considerable, but in
| many cases there is an astonishing lack of
| Judgment. This insane passion for newspaper
| publishing is not confined to the practical
printer but pervades all classes of people, You
will find among the readers of any newspaper
| plenty of men and women who consider them
selves better qualified to fill the editorial chair
than those who have fitted themselves by
years of study in the hard school of
| experience.
1t requires remarkably good Judgment to
decide where country newspaper is needed
AS rule population of ten thousand will
support local paper, but much depends upon
the business enterprise of the locality, as well
as upon population. Much depends upon the
character of the man who is to rule and guide
the new venture, and his capacity to adapt his
paper to the wants and needs of the commune
! ty it is meant to serve. And still more de-
Ponds upon the amount of capital he has to
risk IN the business. Even under the most
advantageous circumstances a country news
| paper has long end arduous struggle before
it becomes firmly established upon permanent
and paying basis. Horace Greeley, who ought
TO be good authority, said: ut is probable
that no class of men in the community do SO
much honest and advantageous work for SO
little pay as the editors and publishers of the
newspapers of the interior. They deserve all
the support and aid which can honestly be
gwen them. The good ones among them are
among the most valuable sources of progress
and enlightenment, and even the inferior ones
have use and merit of there own"
moments inspection of local newspaper
| published fifty years ago shows that the mat
| ter OF reporting the events of its own immedi-
| ate locality was studiously avoided. Mar
rages and deaths usually constituted the
| entire space devoted to home affairs. When
| we consider that at that time the centres of
| population were remote and the means of COM
munlcatlon rude and cumbersome, that each
community was world in itself, feeling only
faint currents from outside life that by reason
OF lack OF mail facilities newspaper circulation
was limited substantially to the places of pub
llcation, we are surprised that the interests
and happenings OF the immediate neighbor-
hood did not assume the first Importance The
newspapers of fifty years ago were printed
upon cheap dingy paper, such as modern
country editor would reject with scorn. Their
contents were even more peculiar. Meagre
adyices from Europe, brought over by the last
packet, gleanings from exchanges, extracts
from the private correspondence of townsmen
discussions of morals, essays upon geography
and historical treatises, filled the space not
occupied by advertisements. But when we
look for what we now-a- days call news, and
SopSCidliJ iOCdl News, We uUQ II StrlKl02lY
conspicuous by its absence. The journalism
of the past has been aptly termed "the iron
age of newspaperdom." while that of the
present might be called 1.-The age of BRASS"
The ancient newspaper told little or nothing;
the modern newspaper tells all there is and a
little more. 1t is question whether in saw
ing too little our ancient bretheren did not
commit greater fault than those of the
brazen age do in saying too much.
But while the railroads, the steamboats, and
the telegraph have brought the most distant
parts of the civilized world nearer to US than
adjoining States were century or even half
century ago, the successful modern country
editor deals more in the affairs of
his own locality, even to the exclu-
sion of the important matters of
State and nation which reach him daily. In
tact the local newspaper of too day is largely
dependent for patronage upon its ability to
gather and present all the news of its locality
in readable form. Occasionally an editor
has higher notions of the supreme Importance
of journalism and disdains to chronicle the
insignificant events of his town and sssssatFsusa
ridlcules the idea of reportisteaaeeihs concern-
ing the shin q};.ng or sam Jones's barn or the
weissnvorJohn Smiths hog. An examination
feof such an editors subscription list will show
that his circulation is as limited as his con-
ceptions are erroneous.
A country newspaper with its prescribed
quarters, has Its peculiar sphere which the
city press with a broader field cannot in
wade. The rural '.locals," unless of great
Importance, would never be appropriated by
the city editor; the country editor knows they
are his main dependence, that it is to his ad-
vantage to publish what may be termed in
fact as well as in name, a local newspaper.
There can be no model among newspapers
because what would suit one locality would
fail in another, and the test of newspaper ex-
cellence is the demand created for it among
the people it aims to reach An editor makes
his paper for the Instruction and edifcation of
his readers, and his readers purchase it with
that end in view. A country weekly, if it
wishes to be sustained, must of necessity, be
of an intensely local nature for that is its chief
value. Long, prosy editorials are not de-
manded by the great mass of country readers,
who enjoy fact more than individual views. 1t
has been said that a paper sells its news but
ordinarily gives away its opinions. But while
holding up the department of news as of the
first importance, there are other adjuncts to
success which should not be neglected. The
local press ought to show an intelligent in
terest in the progress of the worlds develop
ment, and not forget what men doing in
literature, in science, in art and in philosophy.
Truth is an attribute which should be IN
culcated in every editorial sanctum. The
golden age of journalism will only be reached
when the disposition becomes general to sift
the kernel from the chaff and deal with facts
truthfully. The doctrine that has grown up
in the city press that newspaper has neither
conscience nor memory, would ruin the most
successful local paper in the country. The in
junction of accuracy should also apply to the
circulation of newspaper. Circulation is
publisher stock in trade-and in too many