JOURNALISM OF TO-DAY 437
Boston printed the opinion of the attorney-general and the ad- vertising of the department store was temporarily suspended in the columns of The Transcript. Newspaper critics at once jumped to the conclusion that the store withdrew its advertising in an attempt to dictate policies to The Transcript or to punish The Transcript for not being more thoughtful of department stores. To these critics the thought never occurred that there might be other reasons for withdrawal of advertising. But even if the critics were right, the incident shows the independence of The Transcript and may have impressed the department store with its dependence on newspaper advertising, for it is now one of the most liberal users of space in that publication. Department stores simply cannot get along without the newspapers. The great newspaper strike in Chicago showed the dependence of department stores upon newspapers a dependence forcibly impressed by the loss of trade through inability to tell patrons about store bargains. Not until the newspapers with their store advertising appeared again on Chicago streets did business be- come normal.
OPINIONS OF ADVERTISERS
For some reason critics have not gone to department stores for information. A little investigation shows that department stores feel that they have not been treated squarely by newspapers. They assert that a man cannot have a harmless fit in their buildings without some account getting into the newspapers, while he may have as many fits as he chooses in a smaller store without a single line in the newspapers to record the fact. De- partment stores maintain that every time their delivery wagons have an accident the fact is made known in the press with the name of the store to which the wagon belonged printed conspicu- ously in the account, while horses attached to wagons of smaller stores may run away and do considerable damage with news- paper readers none the wiser about the event. Department stores feel that the newspapers might render a little editorial assistance in matters of public convenience and public safety such as a bridge joining two buildings occupied by the same store : they assert that the newspapers are unwilling to endorse such
