The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-06-14
VALUE OF QUALITY
IN CIRCULATION
Gunis
Manager Of the Brooklyn Eagle ,......... .

TAKE TT that the question we are
considering is the comparative value
Of quality and quantity In newspaper
circulation as relating to newspaper
advertising. Tho advertising man. as a
rule, is n pretty shrewd individual, and
If he has had experience Is generally able
to judge correctly those mediums which
produce the best results. AS 1t Is very
difficult to trace direct results from adj
vcrtising In any particular paper 1t Is
of the utmost Importance that advertisers
should be able to know what papers best
reach the class of readers who are most
apt to become Interested in the announce
ments which they make.
Reaching the Buyers.
/ would not make light of papers hav-
ing large circulations but quantity alone
counts for very little. There are mer.
chants who seek to get into the homes
ley having inserted into reputable news
papers their advertisements printed on
separate sheets, and while large num-
Ders of these inserts are thus circulated
1t is doubtful whether that kind of cir
cuation is of any value whatever. The
advertiser is seeking the individual buyer,
not merely the individual reader; but the
man who, reading the paper. has the
ed that he desires the article offered for
sale. Five thousand Indians on the West
crn plains might read an advertisement
of the Steinway piano and not one would
be sold as a result of that publicity. Ten
thousand factory girls might be impressed
with the attractive announcement of
Brother Daniels Chicago limited train,
yet not single ticket would be pur-
chased by them. Lord Timothy Dexter
of tn tbp
West Indies. lie could not sell them. lie
had taken them to the wrong place. He
did, however. remove the covers and sold
them as sugar scoops. 1t is of the ut
most Importance to reach the people who
can buy. In most cases the papers hav-
ing the largest circulation are those
which sell for the lowest price. 1t is but
fair to assume that the people who buy
paper because it is cheap in the majority
of instances. are those who are limited
in their means. They are people who
must have the necessities of life and not
the luXuiics. The bulk of advertising is
for the sale of luXuries and not neccssi-
ties.
Different Kinds of Newspapers.
Newspapers are made for the public
They must cater to the requirements of
every reader. If they do not, they are
ers who can best understand the public
wants and meet them are conductors of
the most successful journals; but no one
can meet the requirements of
an entire community any more than one
religion would suit all classes of voters
under it's banner. Different classes of
require different kinds of
newspapers. AS the expert fisherman
knows the kind of bait to use for the
a fis,t ind of fiSt, l,a i,,
so the publisher must know the kind and
quality of paper to make for the constit-
uency he is seeking. 1t is natural that
every publisher should desire as large a
as possible. but in his anXi-
ETY. for numbers he may find that he is
gaining in readers among one class of
people and losing readers from another.
He may add to his. circulation in guam
tity. but lose in quality. lie may catch
more. jelly fish but not so many trout
Fixing Advertising Rates.
Undue stress has been placed on the
value of large circulation; even some of
our good friends among the advertising
agents have sought to reduce advertising
to an exact science and to fix rates for
advertising on the basis of so much per
line per thousand of circulation You
measure newspaper advertising as
that could be made applicable to all
papers, because conditions are so differ
ant. An influential paper of 5000 circu-
ation in small town might be of more
value to an advertiser than a paper of
ten times that circulation in a large city.
The quality of the paper and the charac-
ter and standing of the people who read
t are factors. in my judgment, of far
more Importance than the question OF
ma, .i,,tn
Who Are the Readersp
1t is not SO much the number of papers
which go out of the pressroom which
should be carefully examined, as the
act where those papers so to and who
IRE the people who read them. Are
1apers hastily read and thrown away.
Are they purchased to help pass away a
'ew moments ride on Il car. or are they
delivered in thc> homes to be carefully
cad by each member of the family? Are
hey read as we would read Il handb.l
~ are they read for information and |
Instruction, to become tie source of our
of contemporaneous life? The |
higher the mere literary quality of a |
newspaper. the smaller will he it's circu- |
alton. The masses of the people do not |
eq''ire such paper nor could they APP |
,rccate it. 1t is not necessary, how |
II scholarly to have a high grade of eX- |
ellcnce, htt it is possible for Il paper to |
'e ably edited, to he alert and enterprise |
ng, carry all the news, to use such illus |
rations as will make clearer the text. |
o be up-to-datc in every particular and |
ct maintain that high degree OF quality |
hat will bring to ii such Il large number
f readers that advertisers will generally |
se its columns and the revenues of the
aper will be such that the best talent
nd the finest mechanism can he en-
oyed in the production of it. Yet such
paper must necessarily he limited in
REGULATION. TO meet the requirements of |
IS readers it must carry all the news OF
he world and of the country ana in ad-
ition large amount of local news, so.
iety events. obituary notices, sports,
novements of stade politics. religion and
hundred other subjects in which their
eaders are personally Interested. If
ime was eliminated in delivery of such
New York paper to Chicago it would
n hn .,tt |