These
constitute the press for "general news." They are the key papers which
collect the news dealing with great events, and even the people who do
not read any one of the one hundred and seventy-five depend ultimately
upon them for news of the outer world. For they make up the great
press associations which cooperate in the exchange of news. Each is,
therefore, not only the informant of its own readers, but it is the
local reporter for the newspapers of other cities. The rural press and
the special press by and large, take their general news from these key
papers. And among these there are some very much richer than others,
so that for international news, in the main, the whole press of the
nation may depend upon the reports of the press associations and the
special services of a few metropolitan dailies.
Roughly speaking, the economic support for general news gathering is
in the price paid for advertised goods by the fairly prosperous
sections of cities with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants.
These buying publics are composed of the members of families, who
depend for their income chiefly on trade, merchandising, the direction
of manufacture, and finance. They are the clientele among whom it pays
best to advertise in a newspaper. They wield a concentrated purchasing
power, which may be less in volume than the aggregate for farmers and
workingmen; but within the radius covered by a daily newspaper they
are the quickest assets.
Pages:
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337