The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-11-10
MEXICAN NEWSPAPERS.
JOURNALISM AND JOURNALISTS IN A
SPANISH REPUBLIC.

paper Row" in the Mexican Peniten-
tiary-The Profits of Newspaper Work.
Here's your daily paper of tomorrow
This is the cry hear at o'clock every
afternoon in the streets of Mexico City.
Dozens of newsboys are crying it.
Ragged, dirty little fellows, they look
out under big hats and stick cheaply
printed newspapers under your nose
while they yell out in Spanish the names
Of their papers and say that they con-
tain all the news of tomorrow. In the
morning they will cry the same papers
as just from the press and pretend that
they contain all the news of the day.
Mexican daily newspapers are always
printed in the afternoon before the date
of publication. The editors and report
ers are too lazy to think of night work
and they have no idea of the value of
news. kilograms are just as likely to
be printed three days after reception or
to be thrown out entirely as to be used
at once, and a prosy three column edi-
torial often crowds out a big accident or
good news matter The Mexican re-
porters do not know what the word
scoop" means, and many Of them will
not take kilograms, because they say
they have not the room for them.
Nevertheless, there are Twenty-Five
dailies in Mexico City. The most Of
these are subsidized by the government.
All have small circulation, and the big
gest journal of the whole Mexican re-
public runs out only about 5000 copies
daily. This is Ell Monitor Republican,,
which is the great independent daily of
Mexico City, which contains about 3OO,-
600 people and which is bigger than Gin
ciunati.
NEWSPAPER ROW.
The Monitor Republican, pays $40, 600
year and it is the best newspaper prop
crty i'll Mexico 1t gets no subsidy from
the government and it is supported by
the Conservative party. 1t is one of the
most independent of journals in its ad-
vertising methods. 1t will not take an
advertisement for any fixed time, only
for as long as it is convenient to publish
it, and it will not make any reduction in
price for q number Of insertions. It has
four pages and sells for six cents copy.
The editor of The Republican, is now
and then too decided in his criticisms of
the government, and like all other edit
ors in Mexico he suddenly finds himself
arrested and given few months or a
year or SOS Imprisonment in the peni-
tertiary. There is practically no free
dom of the press in Mexico The editor
of newspaper who is obliged to sign
his name to his matter never feels GER
tain as to whether he will not be taken
to Belem, which is the name of the
Mexican penitentiary. There is, in fact,
a corridor of this prison which is devoted
to newspaper editors and which goes by
the name of Newspaper Row."
The most of the articles in a Mexican
newspaper are signed, and the paper has
to print in every issue the name of a
man who is responsible for those which
are not signed, and in case of trouble as
to the unsigned articles this man goes to
prison. In some of the newspaper Offices
here the attaches assume this response
bility turn about. Ell TEMPO or The
Times is the organ Of the Church party,
and it often denounces the government.
Its editors are frequently imprisoned,
but it makes about SIC, 200 a year and it
considers itself doing well.
The leading government paper is Ell
Universal. This is subsidized by the
government and it gets 81 900 a month
from President Diaz. The editor has
also been made a senator and he gets a
senator's salary. The Universal has
about fifteen editors to every one re-
porter, and this is the proportion in most
of the offices. The editorials are chiefly
essays.
THE PAY OF EDITORS AND REPORTERS.
The Mexicans do not know what the
racy paragraph means. The first page
OF every Mexican newspaper is devoted
to long winded critiques and common
taries on current events or history.
The only live papers that the city has
are two dailies published in English and
patronized by the English speaking peo-
pie of Mexico. One of these is The Two
Republics, which was established about
twenty-five years ago and which makes
about $4,000 a year. The other English
paper is known as The Anglo-American.
All kinds of newspaper work ia Mexico
are poorly paid. Editors get from $40
to $25 a week in Mexican money, which
is only from $3.50 to $1S week in
American money. The essay editors get
the highest salaries. AS to Geographic
news, the papers seem to think nothing
of quoting from their contemporaries
kilograms which have been used day
or two before, and an event three months
old will be put in with as much assur-
ance as though it had just happened.
Time, in fact, is of no Importance in
any affair of Mexican life, and neither
the people nor the editors seem to care
as to whether the matter is new or old.
| found newspapers in every one Of
the big cities Of Mexico l visited,
and there is no perfecting press in all
Mexico. The presses in use are Of the
old French style, made after patterns
which have long since been abolished.
The amount paid for telegraphic service
in Mexico City ranges from 81 to $25 per
week per newspaper, and only the lead
ing newspapers pay anything for tele-
grams. AS to newspaper correspond
ents, these are paid by getting a copy Of
the paper free, and the papers through
out are run on the economical ground
The printers get from % to 35 cents per
thousand ems and q good foreman re-
ceives salary of $50 week. Such
printers as are on salaries get from Sc to
$12 week, and all of these sums are in
Mexican money which ia worth oTIv TX