The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-14
NORTH CAROLINA NEWSPAPERS

According to the 1895 report of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were
219 newspapers published in North
Carolina during 1894.
Last year there were 235. OF these
90 are dailies, 40 weeklies, 80 month
lies, 5 semi-monthly. There are liz
Democratic, IL Republican, z Populist,
9 Farmers Alliance, 10 independent, 5
independent Democratic, II educa-
tional % non2political, 81 religious, 1
f~raternal, 9 not classified. Raleigh
leads with %.
This report shows that the newspapers
of the State are keeping pace with the
general progress being made in manu-
featuring and agricultural pursuits. In
saying this,'we do not mean to be witty,
for really the keeping pace" is the
other way. TIE newspapers are tax
ing the lead, and if all the papers in the
State were as much in earnest as some
are, the State would be a new country
in a short while.
For many years most Of the North
Carolina newspapers we're run for fun.
Nearly every citizsn in the State be-
came an editor. The length of time
the paper was conducted by the same
management depended upon the
amount of money the editor could ex
pend in working off a practical joke.
The people generally entered into the
spirit of fun with some enthu siasm and
rarely ever refused to take the paper
from the p~ostofice, but only in excep-
tional cases would they back up their
interest in the joke with cash. After
awhile the editor would quit sowing
his wild oats and settle down and be-
come a good citizen. Then some other
man, generally q young one, would
start another newspaper enterprise and
keep it up a few months and the people
would have all the fun they could stand
while it lasted. Most of the papers
were strictly party organs. The party
they represented was a pure as the
morning dew, but the other party was
a hideous eruption on the top side of
the earth.
That day is over. Many of our news
papers are permanent business enter
prises and the editors are making a
precarious and hazardous living out of
them. We all find it hard to get out
of the old ruts, and harder still to edu
cate the people up to the true value of
a newspaper. But we are slowly, but
surely doing it. After awhile the leaven
will leaven the whole lump, and every
family will realize that they must have
at least n or two good papers, and
they will not hesitate to pay for them.
The people will soon learn that a good
county OIL State paper is worth more
than a great Institution of learning in
any county in the State, and we are not
detracting from the value of colleges.
It costs from two to four thousand dol
lars a year to run a good county paper,
and then the editor and printers only
make a bare living, but if eight-tenths
of the families in any county would
subscribe and pay for the paper, the
cost of it would be a mere trife as COM
pared to its value. People should learn
that it is just as important to pay for
a newspaper as it is to pay for shoes or
any article they buy. The publishers
of papers r largely responsible for
the carelessness Of the patrons, and we
mustsadopt better business methods in
order to build up the papers on a sub
stantial basis and keep them there.
Some of the editors in the State are
not angels, but many of them conduct
clean, truthful, independent news;
papers. If the people will pick out
such only as are worthy of patronage,
the dross will soon disappear and all
the people and the newspaper profes-
sion will be benefited thereby.