Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-01-18
SATURDAY. JANUARY 18, 1918.
A SECOND DAILY IN BISMARCK?

- " OHiIV iN oIS"'N''SN
Now that there are rumors of a sec
ond daily in Bismarck, two questions
naturally arise, and they are, rs the
second needed" and "Who is going to
foot the deiicits?'
There is no business IN the face OF
the earth which is 50 tempting to the
outsider as the newspaper business,
and at the anne time there is no bu3l-
ness which costs so much 10 produce
properly and which givo5 such small
retlrns. 1t Is easy for men TO say they
will support a paper and to figure out
how it can be made a success, but it
is entirely n different proposition
when it comes to making good.
1t was nearly forty years ago thai
Col. Lounsberry crossed the Red River
valley and came to Bismarck to estab-
Iisil the Tribune among the Indians
and the occasional pioneer who was
dropping in. A little later came H. NJ.
Jewell, an enthusiastic and energetic
young man from the metropolitan daily
shOJs Of Chicago. All know his career,
and that he spent his last ounce OF
energy that the Tribune might be plac-
ed upcn a foundation and continue to
be the daddy of them all' which
proud position it holds today, though
that good soul has G5assed to his re-
ward. In those forty years several
dailie3 have been started: plans have
been laid for the roofing out Of the
old-timer, but il has continued nnmo-
Tested, thanks to the people Of Bis.
marck and OF the state. While it must
be admitted that the Tribune cannOt
be conducted TO satisfy all, yet it must
be admitted that it is giving d service
far beyond the requirements OF the
community, and the ability OF the com
muni;y TO pay. The newspaper end
of this institution neye" has been a
paying proposition and is no today.
Were ii not for the gigantic job plant,
the Tribune would have suspended its
daily edition long years ago.
Take a few illustrations and please
bear in mind that these remarks are
not said in disparagemeat Of other in
stitutions, but are hard, cold facts
which bear out the contentious Of this
article. Ia lie Fargo with two d~aiiies,
neither Of Which have a job plant, and
they have broken SO many men tinanc-
tally that The list exceeds the memory
OF man. This is in the metropolis Of
the state, a city Of owe 14,JGl. Take
Grand Forks, and while 1t is true that
city has TWO dailies, yet it is a fact
that two could not live till taken I'M
der one management, in one building
and with one plant, ad at that had to
pc nursed by an immense JOB pritt-
ing institution in order to pull through. !
It is now successful, but Grand Forks
has a population within a Few hundred
or that of Fargo.
Take Minot, the third city in size
in the state, with two dailic3; Devils
Lake and jamestown, with populations
about the same as that Of Bismarck, a
little over $3.50, each with two daiIieS,
and all with Job printing departments,
and what have the people in the way |!
Of service. They are no comparison
to that Of the Tribune. The publish
erS are not to blame. for the people
ness is not there, and the publishers
cannot afford to give the people what
they do not pay for. Take Valley
City, within thousand population,
and it affords but a very small daily,
in no way compared with the Tribune.
Isn't that enough? These are not said
!larslily. mo- 4boastfully, in fact are
distasteful to the Tribune, but they
are hard facts.
The proposition simrsered down is
this: There is only SO much cash to
be spent in a community for a news
Paper. and when there is not enough
to bear the expense of one legitimate
", how can the people or the promoter