Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-05-25
American Newspaper Evolution

American Newspaper Evolution
Twenty-Five years ago the large city
newspaper had a circulation extending
over a much greater area than it has to-
day The carrier delivered the morning
newspaper from the city Of the first class
by the hundred copies to the city Of the
second class a hundred miles away. The
old method has changed almost without
our knowing it. The daily from the
great city has indeed as large a circuia-
ton as formerly, but it is drawn inward
and localized The daily Of the small
city. on the other hand, crushed and over
Swallowed quarter of a century ago by
its great city rival, has doomed up in as
! tonishing proportions and taken on new
! life. Newspaper evolution has beenin the
direction of localizing all journals and
combining them TO their own neighbor-
| hoods, at the same time that the daily
of the smaller cities has increased IN IN
Auence, wealth and circulation hun
dredfold. It has practically driven out
of its neighborhood the daily of the great
city. At home it is king.
The newspaper of the small city now
compares fayorably in appearance and
contents with the great daily as well.
There are no handsomer or more newsy
and able papers in this country than
some Of those published in the small
cities.
This remarkable change is due to sew
eral reasons. First we have the general
increase in wealth and population.
Neighborhood papers get more liberal
patronage by tenfold than formerly.
= Advertising and daily newspaper read
ing have increased enormously. The
country merchant now has rich and
fashionable stock of goods, the farmer
l must have his daily paper. We are be-
: coming a citified nation throughout.
| The public schools of America have so
> diffused desire for knowledge among us
{ that we are a nation of newspaper
r readers.
y Another reason for the enormously in
# creased circulation of the country news
Is paper is the localization of its news. Yor
= can now pick up your familiar papel
v and find out what all the people yor
|. know are doing or are going to do. Th'
20 character of the journal has changed
IS completely. The first newspapers pub
m lished in this country were filled witt
nd irna nl rAnafTN
p News as a feature of the newspaper wa
al scarcely thought Of Now nearly all
Is news-that is, all except advertisements
=, If that master Of fine English josef
. Addison, were ON earth today, his essay
N would be thrown into the waste baske
of any live newspaper in Amerlci
Readers want current events dished n
:. for them daily, particularly the even
:. of their own locality.
~ The leveling tendency between II
newspaper of the large city and that
vi the small one is altogether in favor I
vi the smaller. 1t has leveled up, so
~ speak, alongside the great daily. Ho
ny greatly the syndicate system has Co
le- tributed to this happy result it is impo
10 sible to calculate. A number Of new
OF papers in different parts of the count
IA combining to buy the same correspon
en- ence, the same news or the same orr
ace inal novel, thus lowering the share
'ch the price paid by each to comparati
vas triAe, has brought the best journalist
of achievement within reach of the smi
the daily equally with the large one. The
airs are not as good newspapers anywhe
pie else in the world as in America, and t
to small ones are in many instances bett
md than the large ones. While the lar
on. ones have remained stationary the SIN
fer ones have improved immeasurably.