The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-06-01
THE .FLoRlAA EDITORS AND
MISSION OF EDITORS.

To the Florida State Press Associa-
tion-Ladies and Gentlemen:
l have been requested to say some
thing about the Florida editors. 1t
gives me great pleasure to say that
they are the most enterprising people
on earth. 1t is the concensus of opin-
ion that the Florida newspapers,
measured by the numbers printed, the
sparseness of population and the scant
patronage they receive, are the best
in the world.
1 might cite Ocala as an example.
The census gives us a population of
less than 5000; of this number one
half or more are colored, and, as a
rule. are not newspaper readers;
counting one-fifth of the whole as
adults, We have less than 500 adults
male and female, or a population Of
$50 white adults. Yet we print in
Ocala two weekly newspapers contain
ing from twelve to sixteen original
pages and two daily newspapers aver
aging day in and day out from twelve
to fifteen columns of original and gen.
orally interesting matter.
I do not believe that this record has
a parallel in any town of similar size in
the United States. and if not in the
United States, then not in all the
world.
1 want you newspapers editors to
stick a very big pin here.
The real newspaper spirit is of re-
cent date in Florida as it is in the
United States. 1t received its first
war and Immediately there
after. Before that time the value of
a newspaper was in the personality
of it's editor and not in its news SER
vice. The entire paper was colored
by the politics and the personality of
its editor and nearly every line in it
was made to reflect his opinions. News
was of secondary Importance or of no
importance at all.
l can well remember when the New
York World was recognized as the
national organ of the democratic par
ty. 1t was owned by Manton Marble
and when it was purchased by Jo-
seph Pulitzer it had less than %. 700
subscribers. The breezy Pulitzer i'm
mediately began a vigorous campaign
to make its subscription list a record
breaker and when it reached 1OO. 900
it was thought to be so remarkable
that he fired from city hall park in
honor of the event a salute of one hum
dred guns.
We have now metropolitan newspa-
pers whose subscriptions lists foot
UP nearly half a million.
At the outbreak of the civil war
there were no daily newspapers print
ed in Florida and for many years
after the civil war there were
none. The Tallahassee FIoridian.
established in territorial times,
was recognized as the lead
ing newspaper of the state and was
the great moulder of political opinion.
It held this position as long as its foun-
der Capt Chas. Dyke lived and at his
death his almost imperial scepter
died with him. There We're none left
10 inherit the title and today every
newspaper in Florida is a law unto
itself and more or less a leader in
its own locality and all are independ-
ent along certain lines.
The newspapers of Florida are sim
gularly free from party domination
and the party whip" once used so
effectually, has departed and has taken
its place along with other bygone rel
les.
To note the thrift of the newspa-
pers of the present compared with
one or two decades ago. it is only nee
essary to say that Jacksonville had a
population of more than $4,000 before
it had established daily newspa-