Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-12-25
THE COUNTRY PRESS.
Points for Editors Who ATTEND
The Press Association to
Consider.

lLOulsVlle commercial.
The editors of the country pres
are all ill-paid class, considering thu
value OF their work to the State
Their work is less easily measured
than that of ordinary day laborers
hence they are often paid less. A
copy OF country paper paid for by
one subscriber, may go through the
hands of u dozen other persons, all OF
whom may be benefited without
compensating the publisher. If only
one man i'll dozen who ate bread
from bakery paid the baker for his
loaf, the bread-making business
would soon decline. The newspaper,
as an exchange of local news OF real
importancc-to say nothing of the
personal gossip which is equally in
tcresling.to most readers-has u sub
stantial value. 1t saves time for
those who otherwise would be Obliged
to gather by personal efforts the facts
contained in the paper; it saves
some persons from pecuniary loss,
by keeping them Informed in cases
where ignorance of current or ap-
preaching events would be iniuri-
Gus 10 business. The just basis of
compensation for the newspaper man,
If ii were possible, would he 10 COM
pute the actual value of the informa-
ton published, dividing this by the
number of persons to be benefited,
TO get the amount of the annual sub
scrip1on everyone should pay. A
more practicable method might be
TO estimate the cost of collecting and
printing the local news of town and
country, the amount with the editors
salary added, TO be assessed upon the
subscribers. Since 10 reader is salts
fed TO accept a poor paper for The
reason that the price paid is small,
il is seen the price and the value of
newspaper do not always correspond |
as nearly as with articles of food or
The local editor is expected
to furnish all the news in his county,
regardless of cost, for the very small
sum which the average reader of to-
day insists is enough for the price of
the paper. Yet the same average
reader does not go to his baker or
butcher, tender small sum of money
and demand for it enough food for
his family, regardless of the first
cost of that food. The price of the
county newspaper is generally loo
small, and the publisher, as a rule, is
unable TO increase it.
The mistake many people make is
in demanding their county paper
for the low price charged by the city
weekly papers. 1t should be under
stood that as a circulation of a news
paper increases the price may be less
ened. If Louisville weekly pub
fishes as many thousands of copies
as u Princeton paper publishes hum
1reds, it is impossible that the latter
should be both as good and as cheap.
But the two papers belong to two
classes. The people of Caldwell
county, few in number, need news
papel'published near their homes to
furnish them every week cel tain in
formation which cannot be given by
the outside press. The Louisville
paper gives more general class of
information, suited equally well to
every county in the State, and to
some other States. Neither paper
can fill the place of the other, and
the price of one should not be made
the basis of that of the other. A man
can not buy as large a bulk.of tea as
of wheat. 1t would be as reasonable
for him to demand this as to ask that
his country publisher give him as
many columns of print for a dollar
as a city publisher does. The Ken
lucky newspapers, Oh an average, are
not excelled by the country press of
any other State, but the editors are
doing too much for the money they
get. Their papers ought TO be small
er or their prices higher, and argu-
ments such as are given here ought
to be instilled into the public mind
until editing local newspapers is more
profitable.
Since the demand continues for a
meeting of the Kentucky Press Asso-
citation, the various editors in the
State should give their views of what
may be accomplished by organiza-
ton; also, what qualifications for
membership should be observed. It
should be point not to encourage
the attendance at the next meeting
of any but bonafide editors and pub
fishers.