The Wolf Point herald., 1923-07-19


During the months of bidding
and negotiations which brought
Jack Dempsey and Tom Gibbons
together at Shelby on July A, the
great argument used as wedge
to raise guarantee funds in Great
Falls and in Shelby was the vast
amount of publicity which the af-
fair would bring to Shelby and
Montana. How even the optimists
in this respect fell short in their
estimates may be cleaned from the
following survey undertaken by
the Christian Science Monitor.
The poll, which was nation wide
and representative, was apparently
inspired by depreciatory attitude
at the fight receiving so much
news space while a meeting of edu-
Gators in San Francisco discussing
world problems was dismissed with
a few desultory paragraphs.
The Monitor article, published July
6, follows, in part:
"a nationwide survey of metro
politan American newspapers reveals
with startling clearness the compare
tive Importance which editors of the
United States attach to news of a
prize fight in Montana, and meet
ing of world educators in San Fran
cisco. where the National Education
association and the World Confer
ence on Education have been in ses-
sion for some days discussing matters
of significance to every man, woman
and child in the United States.
Gotham Leads All
''The survey shows that in New
York city yesterday, in eight news
papers, Laps 3-4 inches of space, or
about 70 columns, we're devoted to
the Dempsey-Gibbons prize fight in
Shelby, Mont, while the San Fran
cisco conferences, where such sub
jects as "a World University" fNeed
for a World History Textbook" and
school needs in various parts of the
world were being discussed, received
only SO IL inches, or about three
and one-third columns.
"In Chicago, the people of Amer
ica's second largest city who read |
seven of the metropolitan papers,
were swamped with 1853 inches of
prize fight news, or ga columns, in
Guiding pictures, while only 1 3-4
inches, contained in one paper
apart from slight editorial comment
the information edi-
tors thought essential to give to
cover world education.
Washington, usually center for
national news, devoted 19 IA col
umns to the fight yesterday in four
while education was
given but eight inches. On the day
before, the Washington News had
given four columns of space to the
prize fight and nothing to the con-
ventions.
Editors of four Philadelphia
morning papers, gave 33 1-3 columns
to the fight and let their readers
search in vain for information re-
garding the world problems of edu-
cation.
Ratio Better than so to 4
considering the 23 editors of
these four cities as representative of
current journalistic judgment as to
the value of news, the following aver
age might be that of the country:
278.8 columns to the prize fight and
about 4.94 columns to the education
a ratio well over so to 1.
This is approximately IL columns ]
and something more than two-tenths ]
of a column of educational confer /
ence news.
"The incidents to be reported,
whether that in the remote town in
Montana, or in San Francisco, were
10Th far from the editorial offices in
question.
"Yet the judgment of editors in :
'ther parts of the country, nearer to
me or the other, was about the same.
If the 23, the Chicago Herald-Exam-