New-York tribune., 1900-12-26
THE FUTURE NEWSPAPER.
ALFRED HARMswoRTH CRITICTsEs
JOURNALISTIC WORK OF TO-DAY.

American Review an article OF striking interes
on what he calls The Simultaneous Newspaper
Of the Twentieth Century" Mr.. HarmsWorth eN
presses the opinion that in spite Of all the progress
that has been made in the development OF the
newspaper hitherto. are still mercy al tiie
fringe OF journalistic development some OF the
improvements he regards as not unmixed blessings
or newspaper illustrations. he says;
venture to think that twenty years hence y
illustrations are then as treqoeslt IsattSte % %
present day heTspaper picture win seem 2x to our "
cons as great NcTpS esY Pos S DOES or s9 he US So
Advertiser OF hundred years ago
be properly produced Is no doubt good thing 1ii ma sn
a. sr hfRiI ~ nse are quite
sary and are merely given as matter OF haeiI. s
The les urgent reasons that there is certain
amount of space TO be decorated and artists and
phofogra pliers TO be kept occupied.
The political cartoons and fashion plates are
sten n.f enTesh s usually unrecognzabe if not
iutely grotesque. Even when hall tone s ne
printing press often reduce them 70 mere smuagees
ne eaiy JeOfns 6as been IN any real sense an over
Eheiming success Even the genius ana ~, entrIe id,
labor OF the late Mr. Thomas could not % raise
Daily Graphic. Of LondoT, to such high wafer
marx OF success as its weekly namesake'
NEWSPAPERS CLUMSY IN SHAPE
Mr. Harmsworth takes exception 10 the hope
1e,slv clumsy shape OF the ordinary newspaper
..vv,tb the newspapers of the whole civilized world
before me" he says, each week L look IN VAIN
for any great and impressive stroke OF originality
or daring We still cling TO the clumsy ana awk-
ward shane in which newspapers are issued,
80 ,be man who has attempted to manipulate one
of them on a windy day will best appreciate the
force OF my remarks. Why should this relic OF
the DAYS of the old and slow fiat printing press
stiu Inconvenience us daily? By the use Of I'M
proved machinery # would be possible to issue the
newspaper of the future in what is obviously It's
proper form-a small portable and neatly indexed
publication Of the size of page OF The North
American Review and Of the bulk and appearance
Niorlr he host of
reviews Something Of the kind has been done in
Germany, and one proposal to issue a daily jour
nal in handy form made in England (by Mr
Stead. but fell through"
He contrasts the journals of different countries
sn the following terms:
To the Englishman who goes to America for the
first time, some Of the newspapers seem TO be
outrages on the public taste and all Of them be
arranged on a principle dificult for him to grasp
81 the outset. But after very short acquaintance
paper without much trouble. and he begins feel
a home in H. Sooner or later the fact dawns M
upon him that il is practically the same as MS
newspaper AT home the differences lying mainly
in its unw:eldy bulk scare headlines" and a
When the American comes TO England. the British
Climate / have often watched him twisting and
torning one Of these great. big dull puzzles OF
MAJ. may not. ind buried there. and thoroughly
Tsneement' ard even or news itself But as in
she OF the Englishman. he soon discovers that
so1rns The cbef 5eTence lies in the fact that
Il does stand prominently out on the page and
strike his eye at first glance
Among the newspspers that in my my opinion io are are
lack OF commercial morality, are some OF me
French journals. They have always been noted
for their high literary excellence. The ANONYMOUS
editorial has never been particularly strong feat
Of the French newspaper On the other hand.
has been of its chief -ehara cteristcs. Nearly
eery Teneh t, man q been ee rsenIaT or
occasional writer for the press. One has only TO
mention, among noted French Journalistic. such
men as Msrat. Mirabeau, Brissot. Camille Des-
mouths. Sainte-Beuye and, in more recent days
tiere, 70 can to the readers mind the names Of
many others that might be enumerated. The French
papers are now adding their pre-eminent literary
excellence very good news services. For example
paper than Is issued either in the United States
or IN Great Britain In addition 10 its own news
4 gives practically the whole news service OF The
london Times"
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY PAPER.
The special interest Of Mr. Harmsworth's article
lies in his prediction what the great news
paper Of the twentieth century is likely TO be. He
detects in certain tendencies which to-
day the forces which viii direct the future growth
and shape OF newspaper enterprise He says:
We are entering the century of combination and
sman trader is past ana that Of the great emporium
absorb the individual I do not say that this is
the best possible state Of things: only refer to 1t
newspaper Of the twentieth century will be drawn
into the vortex of combination ana Capitalization
tion. and the occasion. there seems 10 be no rea-
dominate great sections of the United states or
eimost the whole Of Great Britain. In other words
where there are now multitude of papers-good
oao and inoinerent-there will be then one or two
The thing is not improbable as it sounds. The
Mhole tendency OF the times, both in America
great efIairs IN the hands Of few. may perhaps
ssy without offence that the power Of the British
parliament is now practically concentrated in the
hanos OF one family, the Cecils of whom the Mar
gus Of Salisbury Is the distinguished head They
pqon1iinates the Cabinet. which in It's turn rules
esasss hs %sh0d og 9g " which such journals would be
ployed in the formatior Of the ordinary trust But
now could such multiple newspaper come into
oy some man or group Of men. holding practically
onlimfed capital and possessing intimate knowi-
eoantr saoB fs's sFoap 70 might sasg be
papers Of New-York or london forced 70 n @
willing friendship by the desire TO escape compe-
ution BY combining their forces they would be
In position 10 command the situation
In my opinion, their first steps would be to buy
ene best brains newspapers and machinery. to con-
struct private telegraph wires and cables, or
Tefe nm, eHsting monoPohes for the time prevented
entail use Of the wires That this can be done is
The immediate result would be that the journals
owned by this combination would secure such CAPT
tai such a news service and other advantages that
their rivals would be seriously incommoded
The power 10 1ndersell would drive many news
papers into the combination. and little by little
IVA newspapers would be so weakened that where
sbsorption would be a comparatively easy and
mileaIPensiEe m step. The less Important ones would
would continue appear in their old form but
containing much identical news matter and OF
course. under the control OF the combination.
The possibilities Of such development would be
practically without limit Possessing own cables
wires. dispatch boats and special trains. the simu
tRneous newspaper concern would soon have It's
own paper mills, printing ink factories machinery
SHOPS and the like: this Is already partly o.
The London Times and other leading
1t would probably take the control OF an railway
and street newsstands. and by persistent and over
~helming pressure would compel all news agent,
70 accept the position OF agents of the combine
All this would involve simultaneous publication
IN the great centres Of population. Dsfrihusioy
z wide area by means of specisI neUsDaDeI