The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-12-30
ON THE NEWSPAPER BUSINESS
Is the Field Becoming Unprifitable TO
Morning Publications.

The New Orleans Item. says the
morning newspaper is dying out. Dur
in the .ast 20 years the number of
morning papers that have failed. SO tar
as our knowledge goes, has steadily
increased. In Chicago, the. Chronicle
has shut W shop, leaving W morning
papers in the metropolis of the Missis-
sippi valley. In New York h Herald
and World are making money with the
other morning papers on the ragged
edge, and not a new one established in
a generation.
I'm Philadelphia the Times ha sus-
pended. In Baltomore, the Herald, after
costing yer $1,000, 900, turned itself
into an afternoon paper-the only one
in the field besides the News-and went
to the wall in a few months Balti-
one afternoon paper. 1t is a city of
more than 100000 people whose papers
supply 2,O0O,O 900 substantial reading
people. Only recently both its morning
papers have been making money.
Among cities the size OF New Or
cisco, that has maintained three morn
ing papers, and those papers have a
general circulation throughout the en-
tire Pacific oas
Atlanta supplies all Georgia with
news-it is a far greater advertising
center than New Orleans-yet Atlanta
has but one morning paper. the Con-
stitution. Memphis is a great center
for newspaper distribution. vet the
Commercial Appeal is the sole survivor
of three morning newspaper attempts.
st. Louis has but two English morning
newspapers, likewise Cincinnati. Mil
waukee has but one. y
Different fields and different locali-
ties demand different standards Of
newspaper expenditure. 1T probably
costs Mr.. Hearst $1,000 or $1,000 a day
to publish his morning New York
American, on which he loses money.(?)
We know a newspaper published in q
last year, was over $500, 900, an estab-
lished and most carefully managed
property-but it's net revenue was only
a few hundred dollars.
1T is true that circulation responds
to the expenditure Of money, likewise
some advertising-but not enough to
pay. The new newspaper today is up
against a pitiless game-for 1t must
needs furnish something cheaper and
better han established papers. Pro-
vided it can do this-can expend un-
limited money and wait indefinitely, as
Mr.. Hearst has done with his papers
h fight becomes a real fight. It may
utterly destroy it's rivals, and still be-
cause Of the expense Of operation nee
essary to maintain the standard it has
set II ma prove Improbable. A stu
alton of this kind can be cited in a
number of cities today where both
morning n afternoon papers which
have monopolies of their fields are
operating at a loss.
"a newspaper is partly a great man
u%acturing and business enterprise.
There would be no substance to news
paper investment If years and years
of business upbuilding did not count
for a great dea
I'm fact, individual genius and per-
sonal work can no longer make a news
paper(?)-although a general lack Of
these qualities can break one : = =
This must be borne in mind, the
number of newspapers in the United
States i'm great cities is diminishing
and will continue to diminish In an
swer to an inexorable economic law.
The time has passed when newspapers
can be profitably started. morning or
afternoon. The commercial side Of
the newspaper business is not fully
understood by one newspaper in a
hundred, and we do suggest that those
men who have given their lives to it.
who have made in a modified way a
success of newspapers. should be given
credit for some knowledge and ability
in their chosen fields"