The New International Encyclopædia/Newspaper
NEWSPAPER. A public print issued at periodical intervals, sold at a fixed price per copy, and for a definite period to regular readers known as subscribers, and giving three classes of information: (a) relating to events, or ‘news’; (h) opinions, or ‘editorials’; and (c) wares on sale, or ‘advertisements.’ A newspaper is distinguished on one side from the magazine or monthly by the absence in the latter of any concerted effort to present a new record of recent current events. It is separated from the pamphlet or newsletter by its periodic appearance and stated publication. Special postal privileges in the United States—a rate of one cent a pound, paid in bulk, or one-eighth that for books, one-sixteenth that for merchandise, and one-thirty-second that for letters—and in other countries press laws have led to many judicial and administrative decisions which unite in defining a periodical as earmarked by recurrent publication and a subscription list made in good faith, and the newspaper as published at least once a week. The term newspaper, while legally applied to a weekly, usually indicates a daily publication issued either early in the morning or in the afternoon. When the size of a sheet of paper and of a press bed-plate was limited by conditions of manufacture to the sweep of a man's arm in paper-making or in working a hand-press, the newspaper consisted of one large folio sheet doubled, giving four pages. When the changes in paper manufacture at the close of the eighteenth century and in the bed-plate of a press at the beginning of the nineteenth century through the application of power to printing enlarged the sheets and altered their limit, the newspaper began to be folded for the weekly to a square octavo, and enlarged for the daily to a large ‘blanket’ sheet. The introduction of the cylinder press after the middle of the nineteenth century and the manufacture of paper from wood-pulp of any size desired, fed to a press from a spool, changed the daily newspaper to its present form, containing a variable number of pages—from 4 pages to above 100, but usually 12 to 16 pages in English-speaking cities of over 500,000; 8 to 12 in cities of 250.000; and 4 in cities of less than 20,000; in Europe, usually from 4 to 8 in cities of 100,000; and 4 in smaller places, printed on both sides at a single impression. Newspapers, by periodic appearance, divide sharply into weekly (usually devoted to a special field, social, political, literary, the general weekly being the exception) and daily. The special daily is the exception, the world's four largest capitals and some American lesser cities having dailies devoted exclusively to the stock market or sports. American universities of over 1000 students usually support a daily. The city daily necessarily covers four fields: (a) the events of the place in which it is published; (b) events without; (c) opinion, usually given on a separate page, known as the editorial page; (d) the quotation of stock, cereal, and other exchanges, and advertisements. To these are added combined criticism and record, in special articles and correspondence on special fields, as politics, sports, theatre, letters, education, etc. Usually the earlier pages of a newspaper open with news from without and pass to local news. The markets and the larger share of the advertisements are usually on later pages. The editorial page, or expression of opinion, is generally between. When the two sides of a 4 or 8-page sheet had to be printed successively (until the invention of the web-perfecting press), this division was necessary. Still preserved from custom, an arrangement is now growing up in the United States in which important news, likely to attract buyers, gravitates to the front, and other fields to the rear pages, an arrangement long prevalent in the French boulevard press. As politics is the one subject of universal interest for men, newspapers in all countries tend to ally themselves with one of two political parties, where a bi-partisan organization for the control of an elective government exists. Where, as in European countries, parties are replaced by groups, each has its newspaper. In both cases some papers are known as independent. In all, newspapers exert a double influence. Those who read are directly affected by what is printed as with any printed utterance, but the periodic issue and the consequent array of subscribers or regular readers give newspapers in politics and in other fields a representative character, their influence depending on the fact that what is said expresses the opinion of a great multitude of readers. The skillful editor succeeds in combining leadership in new exigencies and problems with the capacity of expressing the opinion or sentiment that great masses of his readers will feel as new events call for the application of old principles.
Two empires, the Roman and the Chinese, had from an early period issues similar to the newspaper. The Acta Diurna (Daily Occurrences) of ancient Rome contained reports of great military achievements and of interesting events at Rome, as reports of elections, trials, games, fires, sacrifices, and miracles. They were written out by officers called actuarii, and deposited among other public archives. Copies were sometimes posted in public places, and sent at irregular intervals to the generals in the provinces, that the army might be informed of what was taking place in other parts of the Empire. They continued to be issued until the downfall of the Western Empire.
The Peking Gazette, Tching-pao, “News of the Capital,” has appeared since 713 to 741 in the T'ang dynasty at the Chinese capital, and has for many centuries been issued daily. It is printed in a Government edition sent to officials, and in a popular edition with regular subscribers, reprints also appearing in the provinces, both having been furnished from an early period. It consists exclusively of Imperial rescripts, council decrees, and official news. It is undoubtedly the earliest daily in existence.
Neither of these official issues has any relation with the modern newspaper by example, still less by direct descent. The newspaper, as known to-day, is of composite origin. In the sixteenth century it was represented by news sheets, single folio pages sold by peddlers and criers giving news of a single occurrence. The first dated examples of these appeared in 1498, and some 800 examples are preserved which appeared before 1510.
These small news sheets appeared in Augsburg, Vienna, Ratisbon, Nuremberg, Antwerp, and many other places, generally in the form of letters. The extant numbers contain, among other matters, accounts of the discovery of America, of the conquests of the Turks, of the French and Austrian War in Italy, with such local occurrences as executions, inundations, earthquakes, burnings of witches, and child-murders, supposed to be committed by the Jews. Of equal interest are the official Notizie Scritte, established by the Venetian Government in 1566, containing accounts of the wars carried on by the Republic, and of other events of general interest. At first they were not printed, but might be read in various public places on payment of a small coin, called a gazzetta, whence the name Gazette (q.v.).
These represented the issue of floating rumor or a private letter by the presses of the day. As the press ceased to be a personal, and became a business venture, and regular communication was established by various posts over European countries, these broad sheets of news and opinion developed into the journal regularly issued—of which the Frankfurter Journal, published by Egenolph Emmel in 1615, suspended in 1902, was the first—the ‘news-letter,’ furnished to the correspondent by men usually in official life at the different capitals, the prototype of the later despatch and correspondent, and the pamphlet, discussing opinion, which began treating public affairs all over Europe from the standpoint of the editorial in the seventeenth century. By the opening of the eighteenth century these became united in daily journals which combined the report of the broad sheet, the correspondence of the news-letter, and the polemics of the pamphlet, adding the advertisement in 1648, and the regular market report at the close of the eighteenth century.
England. The founder of the English press was a London printer named Nathaniel Butter (died 1664). As early as 1605 he was issuing news pamphlets; and in 1622 he began The News of the Present Week, which under varying titles was continued till 1639. His slips were mostly compiled from similar foreign sheets, and contained very little home news. But they bore the distinguishing mark of the newspaper: they were published regularly. During the Civil Wars there circulated a large number of sheets, with such names as England's Memorable Accidents; The Kingdom's Intelligence; Mercurius Aulicus; Mercurius Politicus; The Scots Intelligencer; The Parliament's Scout; The Scots Dove; The Parliament Kite; The Secret Owl; Mercurius Mastix; Mercurius Democritus; and Mercurius Acheronticus, or News from Hell. The arrangement of the news was poor in the extreme, and the comment most virulent. The first English newspaper which aimed at general information was the Public Intelligencer, established by Sir Roger L'Estrange in 1633; it was dropped soon after the appearance of the London Gazette, the first number of which was published at Oxford, November 7, 1665. A second paper, called the Observer was started by L'Estrange in 1681. In the reign of Charles II. the development of the newspaper was checked by the rigid enforcement of the licensing act of 1662. Under that régime nothing but an official organ could long survive. The repeal of the licensing act in 1695 opened a new era in English journalism. Newspapers at once sprang up in London and in other cities. Besides news-letters, flying posts, and mercuries, appeared the Edinburgh Gazette, a semi-weekly (1699); the Daily Courant, the first English daily (1702); the Review, established by Defoe for the discussion of political questions (1703); and the Orange Postman, the first penny paper (1709).
Though the licensing act was of the past, the newspaper writer was held to strict account for what he printed. During the reign of George III. prosecutions were especially common. The usual result was to give increased currency to the doctrines assailed, and to confer a fictitious importance on traders in politics, by whom many of the journals were conducted. The first attempt at Parliamentary reporting was also resented by the House of Commons as a breach of privilege, but the imprisonments of 1771 ended in the tacit concession of publicity of discussion, which has ever since prevailed. The Speaker in 1893 excluded the representative of the London Chronicle from the Commons gallery, and it was generally accepted as within his power. A greater obstacle encountered by the press was the stamp tax. In 1712 a duty of a halfpenny per sheet was placed on every paper of a sheet and a half. It put an end to Defoe's Review, Addison's Spectator, and ‘all the little penny papers.’ The tax was raised in 1757 to a penny a copy; in 1770 to a penny and a half; in 1789, to twopence; in 1794, to twopence-halfpenny; in 1797, to threepence-halfpenny; and in 1815 to fourpence. At this time the usual price per copy was sevenpence. In 1836 the tax was reduced to a penny, and in 1855 abolished altogether. And in 1861 the duty on paper was repealed. As a result, newspapers increased enormously in number, and the price per copy was reduced to the present level, from threepence to a halfpenny.
Notwithstanding these exorbitant imposts, which were at first intended to be as deadly as the old licensing act, many newspapers were established, and as their scope widened they became more and more important. The Saint James's Post and the Saint James's Evening Post, each started in 1715, were fused in the Saint James's Chronicle (1724), the liveliest paper of the period. The London Daily Post and General Advertiser, founded in 1726, changed its name in 1752 to the Public Advertiser, and was afterwards famous for the contributions of ‘Junius.’ In 1762 John Wilkes issued the first number of the North Briton. The Morning Chronicle, established in 1769, was the first newspaper to give adequate reports of Parliamentary debates; it invented the leading article; and in its columns first appeared Hazlitt's dramatic criticisms. It was soon rivaled by the Morning Post (1772) and the Morning Herald (1781). The London Daily Universal Register, begun in 1785, was turned into the Times in 1788. From the first, the Times, under the direction of John Walter (q.v.), devoted itself mainly to a discussion of public affairs, governmental, educational, and commercial. Its Parliamentary reports and ‘leaders’ soon became the best, and in course of time it was recognized as ‘the leading journal of Europe.’ It was the first to discard the handpress and to substitute steam (1814). In 1846 appeared the Daily News with Dickens as editor; and in 1855 the Daily Telegraph, the first penny paper of the nineteenth century, which gained an immense audience under the regime of G. A. Sala. The Standard, now the chief Conservative newspaper, was started in 1827, as an evening edition of the Morning Herald. It made a stout fight against Catholic emancipation. Its cause lost, it lived a lingering life until revived in 1876 by its able editor, W. H. Mudford. Other popular London dailies are the Globe (1803); the Echo (1868), the first London halfpenny newspaper; the Pall Mall Gazette (1865), which John Morley turned from its conservative ways into a powerful Radical organ; Saint James's Gazette (1880); the Evening News (1881); the Star (1888); Westminster Gazette (1892); the Sun (1893); and the Daily Mail (1896), founded by A. C. Harmsworth, who is a striking figure in recent journalism.
The London literary and society papers have a line of connection with Addison. The numerous imitations of the Spectator (1711-12) were essays on manners and literature. The nineteenth century type of the weekly review was set by Leigh Hunt in the Examiner (1808), which combined literature and politics. Under its first editor and Albany Fonblanque (q.v.), it had a brilliant career, as an exponent of current radicalism. The Athenæum (1828) confines itself to literature, art, and music. Though it has had many rivals, it is to-day one of the most trustworthy reviews in the world. The Academy (1869) is similar in design, but runs more to literary gossip. The Saturday Review (1855), once the most solid, is now the ‘smartest’ of English weeklies. The Spectator (1828), under R. S. Rintoul, exerted for thirty years a mighty influence for reform. After R. H. Hutton assumed the editorship (1860), it became less radical in tone; and its sane discussions of politics and literature were among the best that journalism has ever offered. It still holds its high position. As the champion of radicalism, the Speaker was established in 1890 by T. Wemyss Reid. Other weekly reviews of literature, society, and politics (one or all), are the Literary World (1868); the National Observer (1887); the Outlook (1898); Literature (1897); the Pall Mall Budget (1868); the Saint James's Budget (1880); the Weekly Sun (1891); the Guardian (1846); the Weekly Register (1849); Pearson's Weekly (1890); Vanity Fair (1868); Society (1878); the Pelican (1887); the Critic (1895); Lloyd's Newspaper (1842); Reynolds's Newspaper (1850); the Referee (1877); the brilliant World (1874), founded by Edmund Yates; and Truth (1877), edited by Henry Labouchere. Exceedingly popular are several light journals approaching the magazine, such as Tit-Bits (1881) and Answers (1888). At the head of illustrated weeklies stand the Illustrated London News (1842); the Graphic (1869); the Lady's Pictorial (1880); the Gentlewoman (1890); and Black and White (1891). There are also reviews for distinct trades, professions, and pastimes; the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News (1874); the Cycle (1893); the Musician (1897); the Economist (1841); the Statist (1878), for the markets of finance; Engineering (1866); and so on through many phases of contemporary life. Among comic journals Punch (q.v.) is still supreme.
The press of London, taken collectively, has passed through three broadly marked stages. It began on a mere transcript of the city's rumor, gossip, and abuse. Repressed by the licensing act for a generation, it took two forms on its repeal, 1695, one literary, of which Addison's Spectator was the highest type, and the other bitterly polemic (L'Estrange and Defoe). In these journals, which appeared in quick succession for a century, the personality of the editor was decisive. With the Napoleonic wars English journalism entered on a third stage, led and molded by John Walter, the founder of the London Times, in which the personality of the editor became only one factor, though still of importance, in a compact organ of public opinion and vehicle of public news, whose articles were anonymous and whose editor was by a transparent fiction unknown. The weight and influence of journals in this period turned on the success with which editorials expressed the opinions of the ruling forces of the nation, of a party, a class, or an interest, and the accuracy and impartiality with which its news columns recorded facts. While this type was most completely developed in the Times, it was apparent in all English periodicals, daily, weekly, and monthly, from the Napoleonic wars until the defeat of Gladstone's Irish Home Rule Bill recast party relations and based the Conservative-Imperialist majority on a mass vote. With this period, now nearly twenty years distant, English dailies began developing circulation independent of influence, signed articles and the personal journalist became conspicuous, and the publisher with an avowed commercial aim had an increasing control and influence. The earlier newspaper, like the Times, waned in weight, and the type of the new is not yet developed.
The earliest provincial English newspaper was the Worcester Postman (1690), which, under the name Berrow's Worcester Journal, still circulates freely through the West Midlands. Five years later was founded the Mercury, now called the Lincoln, Rutland, and Stamford Mercury. In 1706 appeared the Norwich Postman at a penny, with the announcement that a halfpenny would not be refused. It was followed by the Norwich Mercury (1714), which still exists. Among other early successes were the Nottingham Courant (1710), which with changed name continued till 1886, when it was incorporated with the illustrated Weekly Express; the Newcastle Courant (1710), with a present large circulation in the north; the still prosperous Hereford Journal (1713); the Leeds Mercury (1718), one of the best of provincial papers; the Salisbury and Winchester Journal (1729), now an influential paper; and the Birmingham Gazette (1741), to-day one of the leading Midland dailies. These examples, without the catalogue of numerous failures, show how the newspaper spread through England early in the seventeenth century. They were, however, small sheets, and continued to be such till about 1860. Still other well-known English papers are the Leeds-Yorkshire Post (1754), with a daily since 1866 and an evening issue since 1890; the Newcastle Chronicle (1764), now issuing two daily editions; the Liverpool Courier (1808), two daily issues and a weekly; the Leicester Daily Post (1872); the Sheffield Weekly Telegraph, with a circulation of 215,000; and the Manchester Guardian (1821), which has a reputation far beyond England for its independence and able comment. Wales depends largely upon the newspapers of the border counties. She has, however, several English journals of her own; as the North Wales Chronicle (Bangor, 1807); the South Wales Daily (Cardiff, 1872), in the Liberal interest; and the Western Mail (1869), in the Conservative interest. A few newspapers are printed in the Welsh language. Among them are Y Genedl Gymreig (The Welsh Nation) and Baner ac Amserau Cymru (Banner and Times of Wales).
Scotland very naturally had a hand in the numerous sheets employed to circulate information during the civil wars. The first to be printed in Scotland was the Mercurius Politicus (Leith, 1653; Edinburgh, 1654-60). Under the title Mercurius Publicus, it continued till 1663. The Mercurius Caledonius (Edinburgh, 1660) failed after ten issues. The establishment of the newspaper in Scotland was due to James Watson, who was both editor and printer. He started the Edinburgh Gazette (1700); the Edinburgh Courant (1705), a tri-weekly, which suspended after fifty-five numbers; and the Scots Courant (1706), continued till 1718. In 1718 appeared the Edinburgh Evening Courant, and two years later the Caledonian Mercury, which continued for nearly a century and a half. The Scotsman (Edinburgh, 1817), a daily since 1855, the most substantial journal in Scotland, is also most favorably known in the United States. Among the numerous other good Scotch journals are the Glasgow Herald (1782), an independent daily with a weekly issue; the Glasgow Weekly Mail (1862); the Dundee Advertiser (1801), daily; the Dundee Weekly News (1855), having a circulation above 250,000; the Aberdeen Journal (1748), daily and weekly; and the North British Daily Mail (Glasgow, 1847).
Ireland. During the civil wars there were printed in London several sheets containing news from Ireland, as Warrented Tidings from Ireland (1641) and Mercurius Hibernicus (1644). The first real Irish newspaper was the Dublin News-Letter (1685). Fifteen years later came the first Dublin daily, Pue's Occurrences, which was continued for a half century. In 1728 appeared another daily, Falkener's Journal. Esdaile's News-Letter (1744), changed to Saunders's News-Letter (1754), a Dublin tri-weekly and then a daily, lasted till 1879. The official Dublin Gazette (1710?) still continues. The oldest provincial Irish newspapers still existing are the daily Belfast News Letter (1737), the semi-weekly Waterford Chronicle (1766), and the Limerick Chronicle (1766). Among the most flourishing Dublin newspapers are the famous Freeman's Journal (1763); the Weekly Nation (1847); the Evening Telegraph (1877); and Sport (1881). The Belfast Northern Whig (1824), with a large circulation in Ulster, is also well known outside of Ireland.
The British Colonies. In British North America the chief places from which newspapers (daily and weekly) are diffused are Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, and Halifax. Among the earliest journals were the Halifax Gazette (1751), which lasted hardly twenty years, and the Montreal Gazette (1765), now a daily and weekly. Toronto, though later in the field, takes the lead to-day with its five dailies and many weeklies, among which are the Globe (morning, evening, and weekly), the Daily Mail, and Evening News. Quebec and Ottawa support several dailies and weeklies in French.
India. The deportation clause in the early libel act, censorship, and a rigid license act restricted journalism in India, and a press law still leaves all newspapers published in the vernacular subject to administrative suppression. Anglo-Indian journalism began with the Indian World, Calcutta, edited by William Duane in 1794, deported by the East India Company. He was afterwards editor of the Aurora, Philadelphia, Pa. About thirty years later J. S. Buckingham was deported for a like reason. In 1800 nine newspapers were started and soon suspended. Early in the nineteenth century the English papers were the Englishman, started in 1821 as John Bull in the East, Hurakarn, Calcutta Star, and Friend of India. Much of Rudyard Kipling's early work appeared in the Lahore Civil and Military Gazette. In Calcutta nine dailies are published in English and seven in the vernacular. The Indian Daily Mirror (1863) is the first daily in English edited by natives. The Hindu of Madras is the oldest daily in that city. In all, five dailies in English are conducted by natives. There are in the Empire about 140 English and about 300 native newspapers. The largest circulation of the latter is 25,000, and most circulate a few hundreds. The vernacular press is for the most part bitterly opposed to the Government, and is generally edited by Bengalis.
Australasia and South Africa. Journalism in Australia began with the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (1803-04), of which but one complete file is in existence at the Sydney Government House. The history of journalism in Australia is scattered with failures from 1810 to 1860. But to-day the dailies and weeklies of large circulation are numerous. Though the press has been established in the small towns, the great journalistic centres are Melbourne and Sydney; and next to them, Adelaide and Brisbane. We may cite for Melbourne, the Argus, the Age, and the numerous journals devoted to building, mining, stock-raising, and shipping; for New South Wales, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Star, and the Daily Telegraph; for South Australia, the Register; for Queensland, the Brisbane Courier. The Australian papers are remarkable for the large number of pages in an issue, larger in proportion to population and circulation than in any other country, particularly in the case of weeklies.
New Zealand's first paper was the New Zealand Herald (1841), now consolidated with the Auckland News. It was published for a year, revived (1863) by W. C. Wilson, and merged in its present ownership (1864). It is one of two dailies in Auckland. The Times, Wellington, is a typical and leading daily. A Maori paper, Te Pakio Matirki, is published by a former chief, Tawhiao. The newspaper has followed the colonist to Cape Colony, Natal, and to other British possessions in Africa, and throughout the world. Cape Colony has several weeklies and three dailies, of which may be mentioned the Cape Argus and the Cape Times, both daily and weekly.
France. The now flourishing Gazette de France (daily) is the oldest of all French newspapers. As the Gazette it was established at Paris in 1631 under the patronage of Richelieu by Théophraste Renaudot (1584-1653). It first appeared weekly with a monthly supplement, and afterwards as a semi-weekly. Being thus a continuous record (except for a slight suspension) of foreign and domestic events for toward three centuries, it possesses very great historical value. In its arrangement of foreign news first and home news last, it also set an example which has generally prevailed in French journalism. Before the close of the seventeenth century it began to give space to commerce, theatrical announcements, and advertisements. The Gazette Burlesque (1650-65), the first journal of the kind, aimed to be the chronique scandaleuse of Paris. The two types thus established were continued in the Mercure Galant (1672), which, under different names, commonly the Mercure de France, was continued, with short interruptions, down to 1853. The rather insipid Journal de Paris (1777-1819) is said to have been the first Parisian daily. During the Revolution journals sprang up rapidly as organs of the various parties, but they soon expired. Two, however, have lived till the present time: the Journal des Débats (1789) and the Moniteur Universel (1789), the official organ under the first Napoleon, The Constitutionnel, in which Sainte-Beuve began the Causeries du lundi, dates from 1815. In 1836 were established two cheaper papers, the Presse and the Siècle, now popular dailies. The Figaro, the modern journal de scandale, established in 1854, became a daily in 1866. It has had considerable influence on the lighter newspaper in England and elsewhere. The Charivari (1832), a journal satirique, has likewise been imitated in many countries. The Patrie, political, commercial, and literary, was a daily from the first (1841). Of all Parisian newspapers, perhaps the Temps (a daily, 1861) has the most solid reputation abroad. The Parisian political press is further represented by the Soir (1870), the Matin (1884), and many others. The Petit Journal (1863), the first French paper selling at five centimes (half the usual price), at once gained a circulation of 100,000. After arrangements were made whereby it could be furnished throughout France at the same price, its daily issue rapidly increased till it reached a million. French newspapers contain less news than the English or the American. Space is thus found for the feuilleton, a literary essay, sketch, or short story, an indispensable feature of the French journal. Paris is famous for her weeklies devoted to art, fashion, literature, and the professions. Outside of Paris, the larger towns support several dailies.
Belgium. Antwerp has already been mentioned as one of the places from which were issued the news-letters of the sixteenth century. They were succeeded by the Nieuwe Tijdinghen of Antwerp (1605?), on which were founded the Posttijdingen (1637-44) and the Gazette van Antwerpen (down to 1827). To the period 1640-50 belong the Nieuwe Tijdinghen of Bruges, the Brusselsche Gazette, and Le Courier Véritable des Pays-Bas (Brussels), which, as the official Gazette de Bruxelles and the Gazette des Pays-Bas, continued till 1791. At that time the most outspoken political journal was the Annalen Politiques of Linguet (often suppressed). The Belgian press, held in firm restraint during the Spanish, Austrian, and French rule, became practically free on the independence of Belgium (1830). Antwerp with its seven dailies has been far outstripped by Brussels, which has now about twenty dailies. The chief are the Indépendance Belge, the Etoile Belge, and the Journal de Bruxelles. At Antwerp and at Ghent dailies are published in Flemish.
Holland. The papers of Holland were long noted for the accuracy of their commercial news. Since 1830 they have given more attention to politics. At present the principal Dutch dailies are the Allgemeene Handelsblad and Nieuws van den Dag, both of Amsterdam; the Amsterdamsche Courant; the Journal de la Haye; the Haagsche Courant; and the Staats Courant—published at The Hague. Other places of active journalism are Haarlem and Rotterdam. Weeklies, several of which are illustrated, are also common.
Switzerland. The Swiss papers are devoted mostly to local interests. They are, however, well managed, especially the dailies at Geneva, Berne, and Lausanne. For tourists there is published at Geneva the Swiss and Nice Times, in both French and English.
Germany. The news sheets of the sixteenth century led to the newspapers that began to appear just after 1600. Frankfort-on-Main was among the first with the Frankfurter Journal (1615) and the Frankfurter Oberpostamtszeitung (1616), which, as the Frankfurter Postzeitung, lived till 1866. Periodical papers were soon established in other towns, as Strassburg, Nuremberg, Hildesheim, Augsburg, Munich, Hamburg, and Leipzig (1660). The Hamburgischer Correspondent (1714), still existing, is famed as being the first to have a regular foreign correspondent, a French refugee living in England (1725-35). The Allgemeine Zeitung, started at Augsburg in 1798 and published since 1883 at Munich, from the first a weighty political organ, now ranks among the foremost papers of Germany. The press in Germany was long under severe restrictions. The press laws of Germany are in theory liberal. In practice, however, by a rigid application of the law in regard to lèse-majesté, the courts have come to construe almost any criticism of current administration as an insult to the constituted authorities. Even a comment on the frequency of railroad accidents has been visited with court proceedings, and the editor of Kladderadatsch was imprisoned for two months for a cartoon which represented a group of great soldiers of the past reading the Emperor's speech to his guard, declaring that it was necessary to be a good Christian in order to be a good soldier. Berlin has over twenty-five dailies, among which are the Vossische Zeitung; the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung; the Neue Preussische Zeitung; National-Zeitung; the Tagliche Rundschau; Germania; and the Volkszeitung. The Cologne Gazette is noted for its foreign news. From all the great cities of Germany issue many weeklies, some of which are illustrated. The leading comic periodicals are Fliegende Blätter and Jugend, Munich, and Kladderadatsch, Berlin.
Austria-Hungary took an active part in the early history of journalism and has kept abreast with modern methods. Of the Vienna dailies, numbering about fifteen, the most important are the Neue Freie Presse; Neues Wiener Tageblatt; Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung; Deutsche Zeitung; the semi-official Fremdenblatt; and the official Wiener Zeitung, with its semi-official evening edition, Wiener Abendpost. Budapest has twenty-seven dailies, of which Pesti Napló (Pest Daily), Egyetértés (Union), and Pesti Hirlap (Pest Gazette) are the most prominent in Hungarian, and the Pester Lloyd and Neuer Pester Journal in German. Among the provincial papers the foremost in German are the Bohemia, in Prague; the Grazer Tagespost, the Triester Zeitung; in Czech, the Národni Listy (National News), in Prague; in Polish, the Czas (Times), in Cracow; and in Italian, the Independente, in Triest. As in France, considerable space is given by the press of Germany and Austria to literary reviews and short stories.
Scandinavia. The earliest Swedish paper seems to have been the Ordinarie Post-Tidende of Stockholm (1643-80). A little later came the Svensk Mercurius (1675-83) and the Relationes Curiosæ in Latin (1682-1701). In the eighteenth century were established two French papers: the Gazette Française (1742) and the Mercure de Suède (1772). The first political paper of importance in Sweden was the Argus, founded by Johannsen (1820). Ten years later were established the Fäderneslandet, the organ of the Royalists, and the Aftonbladet, the organ of the Reformers, now the leading dailies of Stockholm. The first Norwegian newspapers were the Christiania Intelligentssedler (1763) and the Adressecontors Efterretninger (Bergen, 1765). Christiania now has five and Bergen three dailies. In both Norway and Sweden semi-weeklies and tri-weeklies are common. The press of Denmark dates from the Danske Mercurius (1666). Down to 1830 the papers of Denmark were made up mostly of extracts from foreign journals; and those outside of Copenhagen are still very poor. Copenhagen now has thirteen dailies, morning and evening, of which the oldest is the Berlingske Tidende (1749). The Aftenposten enjoys the largest circulation. At Reikjavik in Iceland are published two small journals.
Italy. As has already been mentioned, Italy with her ancient Acta Diurna, and the Venetian gazettes of the sixteenth century, was the original home of the newspaper. The succeeding sheets fell into disfavor with the popes and were denounced in a bull issued by Gregory XIII. The Diario di Roma (1716) was the leading Italian newspaper for more than a century. Next followed the existing Gazzetta di Napoli. Up to 1848 the newspapers of Italy, subject to strict censorship, were small and politically insignificant. Press laws then became liberal, and as a result newspapers sprang up rapidly. Among the ten Roman dailies may be cited the Opinione (established at Turin in 1847 and afterwards removed to Rome); Diritto; Riforma; Fanfulla; and the Voce della Verità (in the interest of the Pope). Florence issues the Corriere Italiano and two other dailies; Genoa, the Caffaro and the Corriere Mercantile; Milan, six dailies, among them the influential Perseveranza; Turin, five; Venice, four; and Naples, six. There are also several illustrated and humorous weeklies.
The Spanish Peninsula. Though there were earlier sheets published at irregular intervals, the first Spanish newspaper seems to date only from the eighteenth century. Even for some time after 1800 Madrid had only its Diario. Indeed, the press in Spain had a hard career till the Revolution of 1854. Dailies in all the chief cities are now numerous. Madrid has about twenty, among which are the Imparcial and the Correspondencia de España. Among the Madrid illustrated weeklies are the Correspondencia Illustrada and the Illustracion Española y Americana. From the American standpoint, the news in Spanish papers is meagre. This is also true of the numerous dailies of Lisbon.
Russia. The earliest newspapers of Russia were issued under the direction of Peter the Great, first at Moscow and then at Saint Petersburg, to report the progress of the war with Sweden. The first gazette, the Vedomosti, appeared in Moscow in 1702. The issue of 1703, preserved in the Imperial Library at Saint Petersburg, was reprinted in 1855. Political journalism, however, has never been permitted in Russia except in defense of the Government policy. The flourishing period of the press has been at the time of national crises, as the French invasion of 1812, the Polish insurrection of 1830, and the Crimean War. The official organ is the Journal de Saint Pétersbourg. The Novoe Vremya (New Times), the Novosti (a news and stock gazette), and the Severnaya (Northern Bee) circulate widely from Saint Petersburg. The oldest Moscow daily is the Moskvskia Vedomosti (Moscow News), dating from 1766. Russian papers, necessarily occupying themselves mainly with scientific and literary subjects, make much of the feuilleton. The weekly Niva (Harvestfield) issues two large monthly supplements.
Turkey. The newspaper was introduced into Turkey by the French, the first being started in Pera in 1795 by Verninhac, French Ambassador. The Djeridei Havadis, established in 1843 by Alfred Churchill, an Englishman born in Turkey, is now the leading daily of Constantinople. Beirut is the centre of the Arab press of the Empire. There exist dailies in the capital, also in English, French, Italian, Armenian, and Greek. Owing to the repressive policy of the Government, the editorial is impossible. The contents of a Turkish paper include home and foreign news, a Court gazette, official appointments, advertisements, and a feuilleton. Religious weeklies, as the Avedafer in Armenian, have played an important part in mission enterprise.
Greece. During the War of Liberation, many papers appeared in Athens, but they disappeared in 1833 on the introduction of caution money, by King Otho. Then followed the period of the official organ. Now the Athenian press is represented by several journals in Greek, French, Italian, and English; the daily Akropolis, Ephemeris, and Nea Ephemeris; and the weekly Journal d'Athènes, and the Messager d'Athènes.
China. The Peking Gazette has already been described. It contains a court calendar, Imperial decrees, and memorials from officers of the State. The European journal has been brought to China by the English and the French. Shanghai and Hong Kong have several dailies in English and Chinese. The native press of China is the product of the past twenty-five years. The earliest was the Cheng-Pao of Shanghai, begun by an Englishman, Major, aided by Chinese literati, circulation, 1895, 12,000; the Hou-pao (1883); the Che-pao at Tien-tsin; and Kouang-pao at Canton. These have been succeeded by a vernacular press all over the Empire, which has a considerable influence. The Shih Wu-pao of Shanghai is one of several sheets started by a viceroy, in this case Chang Chih-tung, to counteract the vernacular press in private hands, and in August, 1898, the subject of an Imperial rescript.
Japan. Japanese journalism owes its initiative impulse and traditions to Fukazawa, who founded and for many years edited the Sizi Shimpo, the leading daily paper in the Empire, published at Tokio. Himself one of the ablest editors of the century, as prolific as Girardin, as full of moral earnestness as Greeley, and as able in directing public policy as Delane, his paper in the early stages of the Miji educated Japan. The first periodical, Manhio, appeared in 1863. The first daily, Mainichi Shimbon, was established in 1871 at Tokio. Among other Japanese papers worthy of mention are: Nichi Nichi Shimbon (1872), Count Ito's organ, Hochi Shimbon, Jisi Shimpo, Nippon, Kohumin Shimbon, Kohumin, and Noromo. The Miro Miro is a comic paper. In 1883 Japan had 113 newspapers and periodicals, of which one had 1900 circulation; in 1888, 550, and in 1900, 745, of which Tokio had 201, Osaka 56, and Kioto 51. The dailies number 150, of which 17 in 1888 had a combined circulation of 130,200.
The United States. The newspaper has an importance in the United States attained nowhere else. A broad area under a common language with a homogeneous population, universal education, easy means of communication, the cheapest mail facilities known, newspaper tolls cheaper in proportion to average distance, though higher for short distances than elsewhere, and a constant interest in political and social affairs, complete freedom from censorship or restriction, except that provided by the libel laws, have given 5 per cent. of the population of the world 40 per cent. of its newspapers. Less accurate than the English newspaper, less well written than the French, less well equipped than the German, the American newspaper occupies a mean position between all three in the extent of its news service, in the freedom of its literary vehicle, and in its habit of treating all subjects from the point of the educator rather than the investigator. Journalism in the United States has shared the conditions due to material circumstances which affect all periodicals. They have already been described for England, where, a dense population occupying a limited area, questions of transportation play a limited part. The journalism of the Revolution, when for newspaper purposes no common communication existed between colonial centres, was limited in influence and circulation to the place and region in which each paper was published, and even the New York Journal, in which the Federalist appeared, had small influence outside of New York City. When the postal service was fully organized after the Revolution, but remained subject to special carriage until the organization of an adequate stage service along the Atlantic Coast in the third and fourth decades of the nineteenth century, the rates upon newspapers were so high that their circulation was the luxury of a few, and the small group of newspapers edited at the chief centres by men of a commanding personality, known to the public class of the period, had a most important influence, akin to that of the English journal of the same time, from the general knowledge among men of public affairs of the personality of their editors, and their ability to affect the dominant class of their place and region. The organization of a stage service, in particular between New York and Philadelphia, just prior to the development of railroads, and a reduction in newspaper mail rates gave a wide circulation to weeklies and began the political influence of such newspapers, usually the weekly edition of a daily, which lasted from 1840 to 1875. During this period, as with the New York Tribune, the real influence and weight of its editor rested, not upon its daily edition, which in this case was always out-topped in New York City in circulation by two or more papers, but upon its weekly, which circulated throughout all the North. Political and religions weeklies during this period were the most profitable of newspaper properties, and the most potent of political, religious, and social factors. Ten years after the close of the Civil War competition began in the telegraph service, both by cable and by land; tolls dropped, newspaper postage was reduced to a nominal figure, the price of paper per pound began to decrease, train service was improved, the early delivery of the morning paper became possible, owing to presses capable of printing a large edition rapidly before breakfast within a radius of 200 miles, and during the last quarter of the nineteenth century the daily became dominant. It had for more than half a century held an unchallenged field in all cities of over 100,000 population. The changes just recited extended the newspaper radius of all cities of half a million or over, and dailies which had been important at a remove of 100 or 200 miles over a great centre, in towns from 50,000 to 100,000, while they suffered no loss in their value as local means of communication and business properties, lost their weight in the daily newspaper field as organs of political and social importance, now that circulation which had been measured by the 10,000 down to 1885 was measured by the 100,000. From 1840, when the power press, the railroad, and the telegraph made the modern daily newspaper possible, down to 1875, a circulation of 50,000 in New York City was remarkable, and nearly all newspapers were well satisfied with half of this. From 1875 to 1885 these figures doubled. From 1885 to 1900, with a few exceptions, a newspaper could not be considered in any city of over half a million as of importance unless its daily circulation turned 100,000, and in any cities still larger 150,000 to twice these figures was not unknown. The effect of this enormous growth was to change radically both the condition and character of newspapers seeking a large circulation. Where a regulation subscription had been the general source of support, newsstand and street sales became responsible for the great bulk of the edition. Newspapers began sharply to differentiate between the newspaper in each city which sought a large but unstable circulation and the newspaper which aimed at a smaller but secure and more select group of readers. Where one newspaper to the home had been the rule, it became more and more common for the house and office to take from two to five. During the last decade of the nineteenth century, in the struggle for circulation and a general competition, the usual price of the daily newspaper in a large citv, which was 4 and 5 cents down to 1880, and from 2 to 3 cents down to 1890, dropped to 1 cent for most of the newspapers having a large circulation, for all in Philadelphia, for all but three English morning newspapers in New York in the general field, while in Boston and Chicago 2 and 3 cents was still maintained. At the same time, a corresponding fall took place in the rate charged for the small ‘want’ advertisement, and for the special advertising of business firms, a larger and larger share of which was monopolized by ‘department stores.’
Boston was first in the field with Publick Occurrences (1690), a small quarto sheet, having one page blank. For containing “reflexions of a very high nature,” it was suppressed by the Governor of Massachusetts. Next came the Boston News-Letter (1704), first conducted by John Campbell, the postmaster. In 1719 it met a bitter rival in the Boston Gazette; but with its name changed to the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News-Letter, it grew to be the chief organ of British rule in America down to the evacuation of Boston. In 1721 James Franklin began the New England Courant. It suspended in 1727; and two years later Benjamin Franklin, who had been apprenticed to his brother James, established at Philadelphia the Pennsylvania Gazette, which he conducted as a weekly till 1765. The Pennsylvania Gazette was then merged in the North American. Numerous ventures at Boston led to the Boston Evening Post (1735), which was ably conducted as an independent journal down to 1775, when it expired. The new Boston Gazette (1755) became the voice of the people against England. To it John Adams contributed the Letters of Novanglus. The Massachusetts Spy (1770) was another brilliant paper on the Revolutionary side. On the day of the battle of Lexington, it was removed to Worcester, where, after one short suspension, it has continued till the present under the name of the Worcester Spy. In other colonies the newspaper had already appeared or was appearing. In 1725 the colonies had two newspapers, one in Boston and one in Philadelphia. At the outbreak of the Revolution the number had increased to 34. The years immediately following saw, amid many failures and successes, the establishment of two dailies: the Advertiser of Philadelphia (1784) and the Advertiser of New York ( 1785).
For America, as for the rest of the world, the period of immense expansion in journalism began about 1830, on the establishment of the great New York dailies. The Daily Sun (1833), the first penny paper in the United States, was among the pioneers. Reorganized by Charles A. Dana in 1868, it gained wide repute for concise news items and brilliant editorials. The Herald (1835), founded by James Gordon Bennett, has long been noted for its exclusive foreign news, often obtained at lavish expense. The Tribune (1841), for thirty years under the management of Horace Greeley, was distinguished for its vigorous editorials. It still remains one of the cleanest and most reliable among newspapers. The Times, founded in 1851 by Henry James Raymond, has always aimed at sane and conservative comment on contemporary questions. Among other New York dailies of high standing are the Evening Post (1801), an independent paper somewhat on the English type, and containing solid and trustworthy book reviews; the Commercial Advertiser (evening), which is most favorably known for its financial and literary comment; the Mail and Express (evening); and the Press, founded in the interests of the Republican Party. The latest phases of modern journalism are represented by the World and the Journal or American. Excellent dailies are also published in German, French, and Italian. New York has found indispensable a few dailies and numerous weeklies devoted to finance and each important branch of trade. Such are: the Financial News (daily); the Journal of Commerce (daily); Bradstreet's; the Iron Age, etc. Each department of knowledge and each profession also has its weekly. Of the many illustrated journals Harper's Weekly is the oldest. Among others are Collier's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Paper. In 1875 the Graphic was the only illustrated daily. Now a daily without illustration is rare. American humor finds expression in Puck, Judge, and Life; criticism in the Nation, in many other weeklies, and in the Saturday or Sunday editions of the dailies. The Times publishes a Saturday supplement composed wholly of book reviews and literary comment. Among religious journals, which often include literary criticism, are the Observer (Presbyterian); the Churchman (Episcopal); the Christian Advocate (Methodist); the Examiner (Baptist); the Independent and the Outlook (liberal); the Catholic Review; the Catholic American; and many Hebrew weeklies. Sport, art, science, the drama, fashion and society—each has its own periodicals. Public Opinion presents a résumé of current thought. New York still leads the American press. But what has been said of her journals is largely true of Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, Saint Louis, and San Francisco. And from certain other cities, sometimes small, are issued newspapers which have gained a national reputation. Such are the Springfield Republican, the Detroit Free Press, the Louisville Courier-Journal, and the New Orleans Picayune. The last years of the nineteenth century witnessed the rise of the Sunday issue of the great dailies. These immense Sunday magazines, sometimes running above a hundred pages, with colored illustrations, are now published in all the larger cities.
The Making of the Newspaper. For a conception of the wonderful progress of the press, one must leave mere annals and enter the workshop. The newspaper such as Defoe edited was nothing more than a brief chronicle of news gathered haphazard, concluding with the advertisement of a quack doctor. Next came the reporter. The special correspondent here and there appeared in the seventeenth century, but he did not gain his place till the Crimean War, and in the United States not till the Civil War. Now every great daily has its hundred correspondents scattered about the globe. This has been rendered practicable by the cable. For saving expense, news agencies have been formed in Europe and America. Reuter's (1858) was the first for England. The Associated Press of the United States dates from 1849. Though these serve for the smaller papers, they are to the larger papers only hints to be followed up by their own agents. The telegraph, indispensable for gathering news, has been reënforced by the telephone, which is now finding its way into every village. These new sources for obtaining news have revolutionized the office. The editor who personally superintended the issue of his paper is of the past. There can never be another Greeley or Dana. The editor-in-chief of certain papers finds no time even to write a leader. The work of making the paper must be divided and subdivided. A ‘city editor’ directs the reporters in gathering news. A ‘news editor’ keeps in touch with outside correspondents through the telegraph and the telephone. What pours in from the press associations and a paper's own avenues must be thoroughly sifted by ‘copy editors,’ who now throw out far more than they put in. For important news articles there are usually special writers. ‘Exchange editors’ read other periodicals with scissors in hand, clipping what they think will interest the public. Comment on the news of the day is in the hands of a trained corps of editorial writers. All these and other departments receive their general instructions from the editor-in-chief, whose place has shifted from the old editorial desk to the telephone. There are, moreover, editors for finance, commerce, and sport, and critics for music, the theatre, and literature. Many papers also now employ a woman, with a corps of assistants, to gather the news especially interesting to women. Finally, there is the ‘night editor,’ who makes up the paper, arranging all the articles and the headlines. The Sunday issue is under the direction of a special editor, who has his own staff of correspondents. For providing the Sunday newspapers with stories by popular novelists, syndicates were formed just after 1890. The syndicate purchases the manuscript from the author and sells the right of simultaneous publication to one newspaper in each of the great cities, thus making a handsome profit. The proceeds from the transaction have tempted Stevenson, Kipling, and many other well-known novelists. Much miscellaneous manuscript now passes through syndicates. The counting room of the newspaper we can enter only to remark that an expert is required to look after the advertisements. The income from advertisements, once insignificant, is now so great that even the wealthiest daily could not long survive a serious quarrel with its patrons.
Great as all these developments are, the marvelous changes await one who enters the mechanical department. Down to 1814 all papers were printed on hand-presses. Then the cylinder press of Koening, run by steam and printing about a thousand copies an hour, was introduced by the London Times. In the hands of Sir Rowland Hill, Richard M. Hoe, and other later inventors, the so-called ‘web-perfecting press’ has reached a stage in its development where it will print, fold, paste, and count more than 100,000 copies of eight-page papers an hour. The most recent presses will also print a sheet in six distinct colors. These improvements have been accompanied by quicker means of stereotyping. Plates may be made and clamped on the press within twelve minutes. In the last decade of the nineteenth century hand typesetting gave way to the linotype machine, which, besides reducing the expense of composition by one-half in New York and by one-third in certain other cities, brought the interval between the reception of the latest news and its publication down to less than half an hour. Between 1875 and 1900 paper suitable for print decreased in cost from 12 to 2 cents a pound. New processes in photography have also made easy the rapid reproduction of pictures. The interval between a snapshot and the printed picture is less than two hours. Electricity is displacing steam. The automobile has been pressed into service for getting newspapers on the street; and for wider circulation special trains are employed.
No observer can fail to notice that under the new régime, where the editor-in-chief counts for less, the press of the United States is becoming less personal and more and more independent. True, nearly all American papers are the voice of some party, but they are not its slaves. Certainly public questions are now discussed with a sanity and calmness rare in earlier years.
Statistics. According to estimates at the close of the year 1900, the total number of newspapers published in the world was about 50,000 (an increase of 10,000 during the previous ten years), distributed as follows: United States and Canada, 21,789; Germany, 7000; Great Britain, 9000; France, 4300; Japan, 2000; Italy, 1500; Austria-Hungary. 1200; Asia, exclusive of Japan, 1000; Spain, 850; Russia, 800; Australia, 800; Greece, 600; Switzerland, 450; Holland, 300; Belgium, 300; all others, 1000. Of the 21,789 estimated for the United States and Canada, only 924 were published in Canada. According to frequency of issue, they ran thus: weekly, 15,375; monthly, 2939; daily, 2279; semimonthly, 296; semi-weekly, 470; quarterly, 180; bi-weekly, 76; bi-monthly, 68; triweekly, 52. The number for each State and Territory in the United States was as follows: Alabama, 231; Alaska, 9; Arizona, 54; Arkansas, 257; California, 698; Colorado, 326; Connecticut, 190; Delaware, 42; District of Columbia, 82; Florida, 159; Georgia, 362; Hawaii, 26; Idaho, 70; Illinois, 1706; Indian Territory, 84; Indiana, 859; Iowa, 1073; Kansas, 703; Kentucky, 314; Louisiana, 192; Maine, 154; Maryland, 211; Massachusetts, 618; Michigan, 790; Minnesota, 653; Mississippi, 222; Missouri, 1033; Montana, 92; Nebraska, 617; Nevada, 30; New Hampshire, 105; New Jersey, 384; New Mexico, 52; New York, 2032; North Carolina, 255; North Dakota, 155; Ohio, 1217; Oklahoma, 125; Oregon, 192; Pennsylvania, 1403; Porto Rico, 7; Rhode Island, 59; South Carolina, 128; South Dakota, 267; Tennessee, 289; Texas, 794; Utah, 77; Vermont, 75; Virginia, 240; Washington, 221; West Virginia, 189; Wisconsin, 642; Wyoming, 41.
The fullest analysis ever made of the commercial side of newspapers for any one country appeared in the United States Census Report for 1900. It varies considerably from the figures compiled by advertising agencies in the number of periodicals, because the latter contain numerous transitory publications of small consequence. The growth of the periodical press in the United States during the last half-century is best shown by the following table:
All classes | Daily | ||||
Number | Total circulation per issue |
Aggregate number of copies issued during the year |
Number | Total circulation per issue | |
1900 | 18,226 | 114,299,334 | 8,168,148,749 | 2,226 | 15,102,156 |
1890 | 14,901 | 69,138,934 | 4,681,113,530 | 1,610 | 8,387,188 |
1880 | 11,314 | 31,779,686 | 2,067,848,209 | 971 | 3,566,395 |
1870 | 5,871 | 20,842,475 | 1,508,548,250 | 574 | 2,601,547 |
1860 | 4,051 | 13,663,409 | 927,951,548 | 387 | 1,478,435 |
1850 | 2,526 | 5,142,177 | 426,409,978 | 254 | 758,454 |
Complete figures exist in regard to the business of publication only during the past twenty years. These are summarized as follows:
YEAR | Number of publications | Aggregate circulation per issue |
Aggregate number of copies issued during the census year | ||
Total | Reporting | Not Reporting | |||
1900 | 21,272 | 18,226 | 3,046 | 114,299,334 | 8,168,148,749 |
1890 | 17,616 | 14,901 | 2,715 | 69,138,934 | 4,681,113,530 |
1880 | 11,314 | 11,314 | ........ | 31,779,686 | 2,067,848,209 |
YEAR | Wage-earners | Pounds of paper used |
Value of newspaper products | |||
Average number |
Total wages | Total | Advertising | Subscriptions and sales | ||
1900 | 94,604 | $50,333,051 | 1,233,142,248 | $175,789,610 | $95,861,127 | $79,928,483 |
1890 | 75,437 | 40,074,937 | 552,876,161 | 143,586,448 | 71,243,361 | 72,343,087 |
1880 | 71,615 | 28,559,336 | 189,145,048 | 89,009,074 | 39,136,306 | 49,872,768 |
Bibliography. The works on the newspaper are all considerably out of date. For a general view of the history of the press down to its recent marvelous development, the best single book is Hudson's Journalism in the United States from 1690 to 1872 (New York, 1873). Hudson gives much information in regard to foreign journalism. The American Weekly Mercury for 1719-21, the first American newspaper in the middle colonies, was reprinted by the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania in 1898. For England, consult Grant, The Newspaper Press (London, 1871-72); Pebody, English Journalism (ib., 1882), a brief account; Jackson, The Pictorial Press (ib., 1885); Andrews, History of British Journalism (ib., 1859); Fox Bourne, English Newspapers (ib., 1887); and the catalogue of the British Museum. Full statistics are given for each year in Sell's Dictionary of the World's Press (London). Ayers and Rowell's Newspaper Directories give statistics for the United States and Canada. United States Census Reports are most trustworthy. For the Continent, see Hatin, Histoire politique et littéraire de la presse en France (8 vols., Paris, 1859-61); and Les Gazettes de Hollande et la presse clandestine aux XVIIème et XVIIIème siècles (Paris, 1865); Warzée, Essai historique et critique des journaux belges (Ghent, 1845); Larousse, Grand Dictionnaire Universel (15 vols., 1866-76; supplements 1878-90), which describes under separate heads the most important journals; Salomon, Geschichte des deutschen Zeitungswesens, vol. i. (Leipzig, 1900); and the German encyclopædias, especially Brockhaus's Konversations-Lexikon (Leipzig). See also Journalism; College; Periodical; and Printing.