Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/1164

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1110
NEWSPAPERS


outside the city in which they were published, as, for example, // Lavaro in Genoa, // Matlino in Naples, La Nazione in Florence, and // Resle del Carlino in Bologna. It is further true that, on the whole, the Corriere della Sera, which had by 1917 increased its circulation to 600,000 copies, remained the only universally read paper in Italy. Of late years, and in particular during the World War, the provincial character of a large part of the Italian press, arising from the fact that Italy's unification was of so recent a date, certainly tended to diminish. Certain newspapers, well established in their own cities, attempted to extend their dis- tribution, as, for example, the Giornale d'ltalia and Messaggero of Rome, both of which issued South Italian editions, while at the same time new papers were founded and took their place in the ranks of those journals most entitled to represent the various elements of Italian public opinion.

Shortly after the beginning of the war, for example, the Idea Nazionale, which was established in 1911 as the weekly organ of the Nationalist party, was turned into a daily, and later became the principal advocate in the press of the far-reaching claims on the Adriatic and elsewhere, associated with Gabriele d'Annunzio. The opposition of the official Italian Socialist party to participa- tion in the war led also, at the end of 1914, to the foundation of // Popolo d'ltalia, which played a prominent part in the Inter- Conventionist campaign in 1915. Two other daily papers es- tablished during the war are // Tempo and L'Epoca, both pub- lished in Rome.

The classification of the Italian press according to party divisions is not practicable. Only two parties, the Socialist and the Catholic partita popolare, founded shortly after the end of the war, are organ- ized to any considerable extent and each has its party organs, the former having the Avanti of Rome and Milan for a daily and La Crilica Sociaie (Milan) as a fortnightly review; the latter, the papers of the so-called Catholic Trust, chief of which are the Cor- riere d'ltalia (Rome), Italia (Milan), L'Awenire (Bologna), and // Momenta (Turin).

The remaining Italian newspapers can in general only be dis- tinguished individually or according to the politician they support. Thus, in Rome, La Tribuna, which was Giolittian, was opposed by // Giornale d'ltalia, which upheld the policy of Baron Sonnino; and in Turin the Giolittian Stampa had as a rival the Cazzetta del Popolo. The most important Radical paper is // Secolo (Milan), whose Rornan counterpart is // Messaggero.

In addition to the newspapers already mentioned, the following deserve notice: In Milan, La Perseveranza, La Sera and // Sole, the last of which specializes in economics and finance; in Venice, La Gazzetta de la Venezia; in Genoa, // Secolo XIX.

There are a considerable number of excellent Italian reviews, of which the most important are the fortnightly Nuova Antologia, the Catholic literary review Vita e Pensiero, La Crilica of Naples, the philosophical, historical and literary review edited by the philosopher Benedetto Croce, the political review L'Unita, the political and literary Rassegna Italiana, the cultural paper II Marzocco of Florence, and the two purely literary reviews, repre- sentative of the younger Italian writers, La Voce and La Ronda.

A complete list of Italian papers, together with other informa- tion concerning the Italian press, is given every year in the Annu- ario della Stampa, published at Rome.

(6) SWITZERLAND. During the World War Switzerland became an important centre from the point of view of the press. The geographical position of the Confederation made it the prop- agandist cockpit of Europe, and not only the leading nations but all the small peoples with a cause to advocate, such as Georgians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, took care to see that their arguments were presented in the Swiss press or in newspapers specially established for the purpose. After the war had been proceeding for some time the Federal Council found it necessary to curtail the supplies of paper and prohibit the foundation of new papers, while their Government regulations sought to prevent the Swiss press from controverting the official policy of strict neutrality with regard to the various Governments engaged in the war. This did not prevent open expression of sympathy with one side or the other on the part of practically all Swiss newspapers. The French- Swiss were on the whole pro-French and pro-Entente generally, although certain of the more important such as the Journal de Geneve, whose wide continental circulation and reputation were even more increased did not forget to be Swiss first. In Ger- man-speaking Switzerland German propaganda was from the beginning extremely active in the press, but the most responsible

papers, in spite of a certain admiration for German institutions and culture, remained, generally speaking, open-minded. The Neue Zurcher Zeitung in particular deliberately adopted the policy of opening its columns to both sides, and was in consequence widely read outside Switzerland, particularly in Germany and Austria, a statement which may be applied also to the Easier Nachrichten, National Zeitung (Basel) and the Bund (Bern).

In addition to those named the following were the most important Swiss papers at the end of 1920: Tribune de Geneve, Gazette de Lau- sanne; Zuricher Post, St. Caller Tagblatt, Vaterland (Lucerne), the leading German-Swiss Catholic papers; Berner Tagwacht, Zurcher Volksrecht and Easier Vorwdrts (three of the most important Social Democratic daily papers) ; Gazzetta Ticinese (Lugano), // Dovere (Bellinzona).

The chief reviews were, in French-speaking Switzerland : Bib- liotlteque Universelle (Lausanne), Semaine Litteraire (Geneva) , Revue Romande (Lausanne), and the Revue de Geneve, founded in 1920. During the war, too, the Revue Politique Internationale, which numbered among its contributors distinguished writers from all countries and was founded in Paris a few months before the war, was transferred to Lausanne, where it continued to appear until the Armistice in 1918. Among German-Swiss reviews may be named the fortnightly Wissen und Leben (Zurich) and the monthly review of literature and art, Schweizerland (Coire).

L'Annuaire de I' Association de la Presse Suisse (Jahrbuch des Vereins der Schweizerischen Presse) is the standard work of refer- ence on the subject. (L. M.)

(7) UNITED STATES

In 1920 there were fewer newspapers in the United States than in 1900, but their circulation was very nearly twice as great. It was estimated in 1920 that there was then published every day one copy of a daily newspaper for every fourth inhabitant, in- cluding children, illiterates, and the mentally incompetent. The first decade of the century had been one of constant growth in the number of newspapers as well as in circulation; it was also the period which saw the culmination of the conditions introduced intp American journalism by the sensational or " yellow " press.

In 1921 it could hardly be said that confidence in the press had largely increased among American readers, or that it had regained that older editorial influence, the loss of which was so generally admitted. The older generation, to whom the New York Tribune meant Horace Greeley, the New York Sun Charles A. Dana, or the Chicago Tribune Joseph Medill, had seen the golden age of American journalism. With the growth of the newspaper audience, both the character and influence of the news- paper had altered. The dominant factor in successful news- paper editorship had become either the exploitation of news or the promotion of profits, principally through advertising. Where the newspapers had become corporate properties with what might be called " absentee " owners, these conditions were aggravated. Nevertheless a reaction for the better was already noticeable during 1910-20. One of the influences which helped it was the very agency to which much of the demoralization of the press was commonly attributed, namely advertising.

In 1914, according to the Government census figures, the total amount derived by American newspapers from subscriptions and sales was $99,541,860, while the advertising revenues were nearly double this amount, the exact figure being $184,047,106. One of the clearest evidences of the actual influence of adver- tising was in the changing attitude towards circulation. Mr. Whitelaw Reid, for many years editor-in-chief of the New York Tribune, wrote in 1900 that a great circulation, no matter among what classes, was then regarded as the only evidence of success and the only way to make a newspaper sold below cost ultimately a source of profit. That was perhaps a natural theory to adopt in the days when the potency of advertising on a large scale was first being tested and exploited. Its fallacy was discerned even then by far-sighted publishers and advertisers. That the interests of advertising did not lie exclusively in a large circulation was perceived as early as 1891 by Mr. Adolph Ochs, who not only profited greatly by his discovery, but in his administration of the New York Times set an example which was of salutary effect throughout the country. In a speech delivered before the Na- tional Editorial Association, Mr. Ochs, then the proprietor of a newspaper in Chattanooga (Tenn.), said: " It is not alone the