The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-10-19
WISCONSIN PUBLISHER, SPEAKING AT
PRESS MEETING, DIVIDES DEFINITION
OF NEWSPAPER into FOUR BRANCHES

Chicago. Oct. l9.tP) The dali,
problem Of the editor, when is d
Newspaper a News Paper" was dis
cusscd today by stephen Bolles. edi.
tor of the GAINESVILLE wisconsin
Daily Gazette, before the Inland Press
Assoc iation
The greatest blot on the character
Of the American people," said Mr.
Boiles. is that the newspapers with
screaming sensations. back alley
liaisons MaGdalcnes weeping over
yellow criminals and columns OF
moron pifflc written for the brain
OF IL, have readers. They say win
an audience but it will leave hastily
when some one else makes il worse
and more daring exhibit Of distorted
mentality"
Mr.. BoIlcs divided his definition OF
Il newspaper into four branches. in
replying to the following questions:
Are not many newspapers becom-
ing merely press association and feat
ere bulletins?
What proportion Of news should
be purely local?
How many front page heads should
be local news stories?"
Newspaper Has Changed
"The newspaper Of Yesterday has
changed" Mr.. Bollcs said. 1T is no
longer an experimental venture. II
IS business as sound as the making
Of steel. II is an established insti-
tuition. vitally necessary to every com
munity.
"Once we had national newspapers
but today distance is wall. Once
more than 500 copies Of the New York
Tribune came to the pOstoffice at
GAINESVILLE. There are less than half
q dozen now.
To-day the regional newspaper may
have more and better service than the
metropolitan newspaper could have
obtained in the '7O's.
Behind the metropolitan newspaper
81 the last century was power which
had not yet been developed in the
smaller city. That power was advcr-
Using. Like the question Of whether
the hen or the egg was first-the
priority Of the better newspaper as a
news paper, or the advertising pat
ronage which made the better news
paper possible, has been a serious
question. It's solution is Of value for
It will determine whether the adver-
tising just came as part of the
evolution Of business or the increased
value Of the newspaper by reason Of
growing circulation from better news
service made advertising a good in
vestmcnt on the part Of business.
Regional Paper Comes Into Its Own
I'VE do know that community news
papers. smaller city dailics, have come
into their own in the last quarter Of
a century. The regional newspaper
has become the real power in the Uni
ted States. It has wiped from the
map the national newspaper and made
the metropolitan newspaper Join
ranks as a regional newspaper along
with the daily printed in the city Of
10000 people. The advertising man
calls this region his field And the
news in the paper is the line fence.
Ability to receive reports Of press
associations made possible by the
reduction in costs and the ability to
pay for such reports made possible
by increased income has brought
about this new condition.
"Thc first consideration in news
gathering and publication is based on
this fact Of regional distribution.
These newspapers are published for
a definite, generally clearly defined
territory.
"The national advertiser must use
the paper Of the region. Neither
magazine, metropolitan newspaper nor
big circulation weeklies can compete
in house to house distribution with
the regional newspaper.
"Thc most powerful influence which
a paper has comes from the manner
IN which it gathers and prints it's
local news. The press should never
start without all of it being in the
forms. As for the amount on the
front page that must be determined
each day. Any hard and fast mechani-
cal rules as to how many local heads
should be printed on the first page
would be and should be useless. II
the editor does not know what to do
in a case like that, get another who
does