The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1939-04-14
CITY WITHOUT NEWSPAPERS

Imagine Juneau, in this day and age. going for
five months and three weeks without newspaper
being published That is what happened in Wilkes
Barre Pa during a Newspaper Guild strike which
was ended last week
Would Juneau miss its newspapers? Wilkes
Barre did
THE community is hungry for local news said
Justin Bergman. President of Bergmans Department
store in this anthracite coal town 176 miles from New
York Though the business Of leading merchants
was holding TO normal through a shopping bulletin,
absence Of newspapers deprived merchants from put
ting on special promotions which very essential to
department store life will be glad to see the
papers resume publication"
Harry Stern. Manager of the Isaac Long store,
said 4 feel definitely that resumption of publication
will act as an immediate stimulus all forms OF local
business The recent unfortunate situation has def
intely shown newspapers be the vital connecting
links between the various agencies OF the community
Resumption of publication means that Wilkes
Barre can return to normal living" said j. Arthur
Bolender, Secretary of the Wyoming Valley Chamber
Of Commerce. With publicity again available we look
for steady improvement in business Our people
will be better informed as TO community activities.
Unfounded rumor and rampant gossip have been diff
ficulties hard combat without papers The payroll
of 800 newspaper employees VIII again be welcome
money in circulation. Everybody feels better already
The Wilkes Barre situation gained wide publicity
as what Time Magazine termed perfect laboratory
in which to test the cherished and vital belief
of all U S newspaper publishers. that local business
cannot get along without them"
The merchants of Wilkes Barre tried TO get along
without newspapers. The five largest. department
stores to handbs throwaways and individual
shopping guides get their sales story across to pur-
chasers. After five weeks. however, they combined
and issued weekly a cooperative shopping guide.
How did this compare with newspapers adj
vertsing medium?
The merchants give convincing answer The day
the strike settled they discontinued publication
OF the shopping guide and put all their advertising
back into Wilkes Barres three daily newspapers.
Publishers know, and large-scale advertisers who
have made extensive studies Of the problem know
that other medium method Of advertising can
produce the sales response which retailers require at
low cost newspaper advertising.
The truth about the Wilkes-Barre retail situation
during the newspaper hiatus that business was
bad retailers discouraged the two shopper
throwaways found to be inadequate substitutes
for newspapers the cost per page nearly double
the former cost of equal space in the newspaper of
greatest circulation, department managers blamed
their inability get sales on the of newspaper adj
vertising; and stores being damaged by wild
rumors which spring up from nowhere and sweep I'M
checked, in the absence OF published news
II is not healthy for city be without vrie
newspapers good newspaper is the best retail adj
vertsing medium There is no doubt argument
about it in the minds Of retailers The only obstacle
to more advertising is and retailers constantly