The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-04-01
THE CHICAGO PRESS.
The One Cent Dailies Losing
Money on Circulation
And the Advertiser is Paying the
Profits Changes in Policy of
the Times-H erald.


successful editor and proprietor has died;
a new paper has been started; new
force has entered the field and made it
self felt: and the price Of the leading
papers has been reduced to / cent each.
That reduction in price is the most as
tonishing development of the year. The
Tribune led the way and it was follow
ed quickly by The Inter Ocean aud The
Times Herald. Today there is but one
paper selling for as much as cents a
copy, and that is The Evening Post. Its
COM etitors sell for cent each, but The
Post with its 2 cent price prospers, and
the keeper of the newsstand in one Of
the big office buildings told me recently
that he sold twice as many copies Of The
Post as he did of any other paper except
The News. His sales of The News were
175; of The Post, 40 copies a day
The story Of the reduction Of the price
of the big morning papers is told very
quickly. Victor Lawson, the publisher
of The Record and The News, morning
and evening papers, sold at a cent each,
was making heavy iurOads on the circu-
lation of some of the older morning pa
pers The Tribune seemed to feel the
competition most, and one day. without
warning, it met the competition by cut
ting the price of the paper to cent.
The other papers followed, the Times
Herald protesting vigorously. The
Times Herald has never ceased to pro-
test, and its publisher, Mr.. Kohlsaat.
says he would be very glad to Join the
other papers in q return to higher prices.
All the papers now are losing money on
circulation and the advertiser is paying
the profits Every extra paper printed
now means an additional loss.
OF course if a publisher saw a posi-
biity Of increasing circulation to point
where advertising rates could be raised,
he would seize it. But a temporary in
crease is not desirable when circulation
represents loss.
The result Of the reduction was a loss
Of circulation to The Record at first.
But that loss has been repaired, and the
other papers cannot find any phenomenal
increase. In fact. it has been the expe-
rience of editors elsewhere that a reduc-
ton in cost brings only temporary in
crease Of circulation-thatn no permanent
gain results from it. 1t is quite possible
that the price will be restored by some
of the papers before this year is out.
In the matter Of country circulation
the records of the postoffice here show
The Times Herald now has the lead.
Mr.. Kohlsaat, who graduated from
bakery into journalism, has developed
surprising capacity as a newspaper man.
His chief editor, Major M. P. Handy.
tells me he never knew man more fer
tile in suggestion than Mr.. Kolhsaat. IF
IL
progress in journalism, he promises to
give the newspaper world one Of the
most striking examples in history Of in
dependence Mr.. KOhlsaat can afford to
be independent. Usually the journalist
of high ideals is hampered by the re
strictiOns Of the counting room. Mr..
KOhlsaat' s paper is edited and its policy
controlled entirely sup stairs - 1t has
left the field Of sensationalism and is
building up q family circulation. It was
probably the only paper in Chicago
which published the story of the recent
prize fight in an incOnspicuous place on
an inside page The Tribune, which
once represented dignity and conserva-.
tism in Chicago journalism, now caters
to the taste for sensation more than any
other journal.
promises to become a factor in national
politics. He has been a warm admirer
of Major Mckinley, and he is pressing
Mckinley claims to the Republican
nomination in the columns of his paper,
not, he says for any influence he may
possess in case Major Mckinley is elect
ed, but because he believes Major Nc
Kinley TO be the best man to be presi-
dent and because he thinks the people
want him nominated and elected. He
has told his friends that he does not
want anything from the administration
if Mckinley is elected, that he VIII not
take anything and that he viii not sign
a recommendation for any man who
wants an appointment
1t viii be an object lesson to the
newspaper profession if Mr.. k0hlsaat
lives up to his ideals IN journalism and
prOspers.
The transfer of The Times Herald
from Democracy to independent, hy-
phenated Republicanism left the Dem
ocratie party without an organ, and The
Chronicle came into being to fill this
short felt want. H. W. Seymour, who
helped make The Herald newsy and
prosperous under the late James W
Scott, is the manager, and he has sue
ceeded in giving the paper an excellent /
start. John R. Walsh, who was the
hacker of The Herald, is behind The
Chronicle, and 1t is pretty sure to pros /
per. Though The Tribune has lost some /
Of its prestige, it is still a leading fac
tor, and The Inter Ocean is still pros
porous and influential
One act of the Chicago publishers
which followed close on the reduction |
in the selling price Of the papers has
met with applause in many quarters. Tt
was the first step in the direction of /
abolishing the chrome in journalism.