Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-12-28
Paper Shortage
Causes Ad Limit

That the newspapers of the coun-
try are being hard hit by the unprei
cedented advance in print paper Is
being emphasized by the fact that
newspapers are finding it necessary
to limit the amount of their adver-
tising patronage in order to make a
profit.
The New York Globe recently pub
lished the following Notice to Ad-
vertisers":
"On account of the limited supply
of white paper-the demand in the
United States seriously exceeding the
supply-The Globe will be forced, at
least temporarily, to limit the amount
of advertising which it can print.
preference will be given to adver-
tising which is received first at the
office and which is revised and ap-
proved for insertion. Advertising
will be received and set into type
only on the understanding that II 1t
can not be published on any particu-
lar day it may be printed at the first
favorable opportunity.
Under any and all circumstances
The Globe reserves the right to limit
the volume from any advertiser on
any day, end no advertising failing to
make editions one day will be run
over into the next"
The edition of The Globe in which
this notice appears is composed of Is
pages with an average of about two
columns Cf news or editorial matter
to the page.
How the limiting of the amount OF
business may accrue to the advantage
of a newspaper may be puzzle to
any one not familiar with the news
paper business, but it is explainable
as follows:
A newspaper to show profit must
carry a certain proportion of adver-
tising matter to so much reading
matter. If the advertising matter
falls below certain proportion OF
the entire paper, there is no profit.
If newspaper should have its usual
quota of pages filled with the proper
proportions of news and advertising
and another advertiser should come
in with quarter page ad., making
it necessary for the paper to run two
more pages, three -fourths of which
would be reading matter the adver-
tising would then fall below its
proper proportion of the entire space
and the profit would be gone. At the
present time, with advertising rates
the same as heretofore and paper
more than twice its former price and
ink and other things entering into the
printing of a paper much higher than
before, the proportion of advertising
to news must be increased in order
to show profit and 1t becomes nee
essary for the paper to refuse ad-
vertising this would make it neces-
sary to run extra pages upon which
there would be too great a proper
tion of reading matter.
To make the matter plain: A
newspaper can not add just sufficient
to it's size to take care of small
overflow of advertising The least
it can add is two pages. If paper
is ready to go to press, with all its
pages properly proportioned as re-
CARDS advertising and news, the re-
ceipt of en- eight-inch ad would make
1t necessary to add two extra pages.
It could handle full page ad at the
same expense ais it could an eight
inch ad. Therefore newspaper may
find it necessary to refuse extra ad-
vertising unless there is sufficient to
permit 1t to add extra pages at
profit.
1t has been the habit of newspa-
pers to make contracts with large ad-
vertisers at prices very little above
cost. Newspapers having made long
term contracts of this kind are being
hard hit right now with their cost Of
production doubled and have found
it absolutely necessary to limit the
amount of advertising they can run
on these contracts.
Last Council