The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1910-04-28
THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A GREAT NEWSPAPER
AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF HOW DAILY PAPERS ARE MADE WRITTEN FOR T
LORTROTWOOD MAGAZINE BY T. l. SEELY EDITOR OF
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS

pages and while the reader receives each
day page after page of advertising, the
character of which is such that a paper
would be uninteresting without it, he also
receives more pages of news and literature
thar ever before, and with this transfor-
nation has come the most marvellous de-
velopement of modern merchandising
the reduction of the price below the cost
of manufacturc-and the placing of a mod
crn metropolitan newspaper on the door
step for one or two cents a copy.
This change may say this wonder
full change-urparalled in any other line
Of industry, has transformed the newspaper
from more or less puveyor of ideas and
stale news to strictly a reporter of events
simply newspaper
1t can be seen, therefore, that SO long
as the publisher intends to market his paper
for less than cost, his term of life depends
on how long he looks properly after the
business end Of his enterprise.
So now | have set forth what some of
our more antique brethren will call a
horrible state of affairs, most debasing
line of ught-heretical in the extreme,
unethical and all that-encouraging ignor-
ance and disregard of culture and thought.
WE'LL maybe so, but l think the opposite,
ard because have demonstrated my theory
in the paper which l am publisher,
rake bold to preach the doctrine as a safe
one
1t works out this way, if publisher
is half way honest. A newspaper that
is successfully managed in business way
prints the news dispassionately and makes
a market for his product. When his
paper is in demand the advertiser seeks its
pages and the publisher has the means
and feels the liberality to purchase the
very best intelligence to handle the news
and literary end of his enterprise.
He will employ men with college train
ing where. a knowledge of literature is
needed and will place strong, clean men
of high intelligence where responsibility
falls-but he will never allow man to
handle the policies of his publication who
will shape or color the news or invest senti-
ment in favor of interests or political
forces.
"a commercial enterprise" some will
say, but let's see. The editorial writer
on the paper | have the honor to publish
is a graduate of the University of Geor-
gia, Master of Arts of Princeton Uni
versity and is the author of number
Of books-successfu ones, by the way.
The managing editor is university
graduate and most of the reporters are
college men.
| conceive it a great aid to intellectual
development that the pages upon pages
Of news that are placed before the masses
of people each day be grammatically cor
rect perfect in English, free from poison
and gloom and as helpful and clean as
they can be and here is the opportunity
for skll-for watchfulness and integrity.
1t is practically the only part literature
plays in the modern newspaper.
Possibly we may call it applied literature
it is of the momentary sort-it is dis
criminatory rather than creative. The
world creates the things the paper of to-
day is called upon to print, and the reader
asks little of US that could be classed as
creative literature.
| believe, therefore, as what | have
thus far said would show. that men of
high order of intelligence should be en-
trusted with the work of a newspaper,
but we Of the Georgian carry our plan
of Integrity one step further. We place
greater stress upon the safety valve of
our rganization-proof rockingham
nearly any other paper we know Of
The head proof reader was employed
by the United States government Tor nj
teen years and nothing but perfection is ac-
cepted there He is letter perfect, grammar
perfect, and if by any chance an error in
policy, such as the handling of an unclean
advertisement, or liquor advertisement,
or husband wanted" should have pass
ed through all other avenues of approach
to the type, he is SO much of a man and
so thoroughly in sympathy with the paper
and its ideals that he is the final defense
that makes our system of safeguards almost
invincibIe.
| am portraying line of thought that
is modern, and that is not in line with
some conceptions of publishing, but / only
need to contrast my ideal of publishing
q modern ynefronolifan nevvsD aDerwith one