The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-01-26
BEST BOOSTERS OF N. I. GIVEN THE
FREEDOM OF CITY BY MAYOR LOWELL

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troll Of his foreign advertising, hence
am going to do what ! can in a
small way to bring the attention of
Y newspaper fraternity to some
things which might he the means of
lettering conditions along this line.
After being a user Of ready prints
for the past eighteen years, it seems
a little funny that | should be called
upon to talk to the North Dakota
Press association on this subject. but
| want to say that it is a matter in
which / am greatly interested, and
while / hardly know how to tackle
the subject, what / say in this short
article is going to be said without fear
or favor to anyone.
There are between $50 and 400 news
papers published in the state of North
Dakota, and a large majority are at
present using the ready print, hence,
I say that a large majority OF he
newspapers of our state are interested
in this subject, both financially and
otherwise.
The first question we would ask
ourselves is, is the ready print with
all its foreign advertising a good
thing, Or is it a bad thing for the
average publisher. We believe that a
majority of the boys will
readily say that it is really a bad
thing, and that some plan should be
arrived at whereby all advertising
handled in a newspaper should be
controlled by the publisher.
The next question to arise is. how
can this be done. We believe that the
problem can easily be solved, pro-
vided we have the united support of
every publisher in the state. TO start
with the old style ready print should
be abolished, and If we must have a
part OF u newspaper printed away
from home let us go after the ad-
less ready print. This may cost us a
little more money to start with. but
we believe that If every ISL in
not allowing an ad to appear in their
paper, only as the space Is contracted
for, either directly with the publisher,
or through some reliable advertising
agency which the publisher may have
a contract with, that it would not be
a year before the newspapers Of our
state would be receiving good. fair
prices for all foreign advertising. and
thereby making more than money
enough to pay the difference between
the present ready print and the adj
less ready print.
There is little use in attempting this
without, as / stated before, the CO.
operation of every newspaper in the
state. The time has come when adj
vertising, even in the smallest country
paper, is not a charitable act but a
business proposition, and if the news
papers of this state would take a firm
stand and say that all advertising
must be paid for at a reasonable, liv-
ing rate, and that rate to be fixed by
the publisher, we believe that in the
long run it would put thousands of
dollars in the pockets of the publish
ers. From what we have been able TO
learn the foreign advertising which
appears in our ready prints costs
the advertiser about 8 cents an inch
and just as long as they can follow
their present methods and get space
for those rates, just so long must the
publisher suffer a financial loss. That
rate is too low to be even considered
as a legitimate advertising proposition.
We believe that the best way to
solve the problem is this: There
should be an advertising commission
selected from the members Of our as
sociation, and a competent man placed
in charge to handle all foreign adj
vertising, and all of this kind of ad-
vertising placed in the papers of North
Dakota should be placed through him,
he being allowed a reasonable COM
mission on all business, and we ven
ture to say tina if this were done that
it would not be many months before
this would be a self sustaining propo-
sition. This commission should have
the power to fix a reasonable and just
rate based on circulation per 1000
copies, with extra charge for compo-
sition.
During the past twenty years news
paper advertising has increased at a
rapid rate, and today it is no expert
ment, but an absolute necessity to the
business man who wishes to succeed.
The bigger his business the more he
must advertise, but there is no bust
ness so small that it will not pay to
advertise 1t, and it has become an es-
tablished fact that the best way to
reach the people is through the news
papers. Is there any good reason why
a foreign advertiser should be able to
buy space in a newspaper cheaper than
a local merchant, who is a steady and
! consistent advertiser? We believe not
and vet 1T is. true with most news
papers that the local man is paying
more for his space than the outsider
This Is wrong and is bound to react
on the publisher one or later.
am pleased to say that this condition
does not exist with the paper which