.
larger circulation , in an ever-widening circle, the fear for the independence of the press is well grounded . If a nice balance is
preserved between the business side of the newspaper that relieves editors from personal care and anxiety, and the editorial side that prepares material worthy of the best efforts of business
managers, then the perfect circle is achieved. But the very extent to which invention has promoted speed in production and cheapness in distribution makes it necessary for the historian to take them into account. Speed may be attended
by inaccuracy, and the newspaper sold for a cent may cater to those who value a commodity by the low price paid for it. The
historian must understand the possible limitations for his pur
poses of the newspaper that has a daily circulation of half a million copies ; he may find that the newspaper of restricted circulation and higher price has for him the greater value.
This enormous increase in circulation has been both a result and a cause, it has both met a demand and created a demand . The rapid and wide extension of free systems of education carry ing with them compulsory features has created a new and ever widening circle of readers. Special times of crises at home and abroad , like Parliamentary reform bills, political and industrial revolutions, the Crimean War, the Civil War, and similar events
have all given an impetus to the circulation of the press, and its influence has not stopped with the consideration of the news that gives it its increased circulation . Through these influences
has extended the demand for the daily , and thus the newspaper in ever assuming new interests extends the area of its own influence.
The newspaper has ceased to be a personal organ and has become a social product; it no longer represents the interests of
an individual, but it represents rather a group activity . The press groups society and unifies each group , as Scott -James has pointed out.48 It unifies society on national lines and thus the press of each country has developed in its own characteristic
direction . It unifies the groups interested in religion, in politics, in business, in
automobiles , in
sports, in
education , or in
48 R . A . Scott- James, The Influence of the Press, pp. 208 –209.
