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Interim press:
a case of malnutrition
The reader combing a New York newsstand in mid-strike found considerable variety. In addition to stacks of high-priced Newark, Philadelphia, or Boston papers, he could also turn to a newly sprouted local press. There were three tabloids of sensational cast, a larger, well-printed tabloid, and two full-size papers, one somewhat British in appearance.
Of the six, four had come into being with the strike. All suffered from the handicaps that had afflicted strike-time newspapers in other cities—too-early dead- lines imposed by intricate production arrangements, understaffing, and lack of access to sources of news. Three were further handicapped by repeated use of sensationalism to compensate for lack of substance.
The six interim papers,—all sold primarily by newsstand—reached a maximum claimed circulation of about 1,750,000, or roughly a third of the circulation of regular papers. Sales on any given day fell far short of this total. With one exception, the interim papers failed also to capture any sizable portion of the regular newspapers’ advertising. They provided employment to perhaps 200 newspapermen; many times that number would willingly have served.
Here is a summary survey of the interim press:
Daily Report: This tabloid, which ‘appeared on December 10, was an English-language edition of Il Progresso Italiano-Americano. At its peak, it claimed press runs of 300,000. A thin paper throughout, it published its last edition on March 30, making it the longest-lived emergency paper.
Metropolitan Daily: A tabloid, it was an expanded edition of a neighborhood weekly, Town & Village (circulation 5,944). It appeared on December 10, staffed largely by Times men, who were gradually supplanted. In time, the paper came to assume the character of the Mirror. It closed on March 8.
Brooklyn and New York Daily: In existence for twelve years before the strike, the Brooklyn Daily raised its press runs from 38,000 to 400,000 in the first week of the strike. Bold and black, it attracted enough readers to lead the publisher to decide to continue city-wide circulation after the strike. It gained national attention among journalists when its editor was indicted for criminal libel after writing an editorial criticizing a judge.
Brooklyn Eagle: Although its city-wide distribution was limited, this latest reincarnation (1962) of a6 Columbia Journalism Review
