The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-12-10
COUNTRY WEEKIIES DYING
 BEFORE COMPETITION OF
 METROPOLITAN NEWSPAPERS
Carl c Taylor Says Rural Newspapers Must Serve Com nunties If They Would Survive in Stiff Battle For Circulaton-Makes Constructive Suggestions.

New Orleans, Dec. 8. - "The country weekly newspaper is on the Taylor, North Carolina State College, in his talk before the American Coun- try Life Conference being held here, as a member of the commftte on in vestigation
 'sThe chief cause of death among country newspapers is the advent of the city daily. The country paper can't compete with these powerful competi- editorial erudtuon or as agencies for circulating national advertisements: They must get out of the field of perish from the face of the earth within the next generation. It used to be the chief function of these small papers to relay the worlds news from the great datlies, magazines and other metropolitan sources into the coun- try. Today country people take the daflies themselves If, therefore, the weekly ts only to reflect the news and ideas presented in the greater papers It will not be read. Country people, like all the rest of us today. want the news while 1t is hot. The K. r. D. and city daily hand it to them right off the gridd1e."
 Some startling suggestions were made by Prof. Taylor among his recommendations for the weelsly's sal vation. He said 1t must "cease to be political, cease to be national. cease to be dominated with local town ma terials only and make good its survival and development of becoming local community institution with a mission. He vtsualized a future country news- paper that is ''predo1utnantly rural in it's organization and viewpoint, a oonl- bination between newspaper and agrf- cultural journal
 Several hundred papers in Missouri, North Carolina and elsewhere were examined in his study of the weekly paper from many angles. Complete per cent. of the total space was of strictly local interest. the remaining space being composed of national. syndicate, boiler plate, patent iusides, local material "a per cent. was given to town interests. leaving 27 per cent. for strictly rura1 interests. As the size of the towns in which the papers voted to local material decreased in the percentage of strictly rural ma terial. These papers averaged less than two per cent. editorial matter, the amount of editorial space tncreas- ing as the size of the town increased. Local editorials comprised 69 per cent. of the total editorial space this percentage decreasing as the size of | have no less than G2 per cent. devot- ed to town interests, thus less than eight per cent. was given to rural in terests. AS the towns get larger they
  per's space.
 The news space takes up 3s per cent of all the newspaper space, and 3s per cent Of this space is devoted to | local news, the remaining 62 per cent. being national, syndicate, clipped, patent inside and boiler plate mater ial. The towns get the Hons share of this local matter. s2 per cent. being
 town and only IS per cent rural news. While the papers Tn the larg- est towns had the smallest percent age-s4-of news. local news made up more of this copy, since patent in sidea boiler plate, etc, are seldom | used there. AS the towns in which the papers were published increased in size the local news space devoted
 to rural interests diminished untI less | than 13 per cent. was devoted to this 1 cause in towns of 4,000 population or l over.
 The advertisement took up e1 per l cent. of the space in thess papers. 77 1 Tor cant. of this space being local ad- veTtising. Of this local advertising. country adveatis by which is
 meant advertisements of goods to be
 bought or sold mainly by country i people. got 3I per cent. The loca