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Show GIVES HIS VIEWS ON THE MAKING OF NEWSPAPERS Don C. Seltz of the New York World, Tells of Clash lie tu ecu Kdltorn and lluslnoKs Office. Don C. Seltz, now business manager manag-er of tho Now York World but formerly form-erly an editor of that newspaper, tolls in a book ho has just written, called "Training for tho Newspaper Trade," of tho indlfferonco or even suspectod, by the layman, one tho part of "upstairs," as tho editorial department of a newspaper Is known, to tho wishes and desires ot tho business busi-ness department. Mr. Seiti'a book is Highly Informative Inform-ative on nil phases of nowspaper making mak-ing and full of hoperul thoughts and experiences for neophytes In tho profession pro-fession or trade of Journalism, as he terms it Ho writes: "Tho editors havo always beon contemptuous con-temptuous of tho business offlco, regarding re-garding It only as a place where salaries sal-aries aro paid, but with very little respect re-spect for tho struggle to gather In the wherewithal to pay them. In the early days of tho trade there was no business offlco organlxatlon; only a clerk or two and tho man who handed han-ded out and received the money for tho circulation. Sometimes tho editor edi-tor himself stood behind the counter coun-ter when tho rush was on. Mr. Pn-HUer Pn-HUer (lato owner of the New York World and tho Post-Dispatch) used to humble his business managers by remarking that when 'ho was active ho had no business office which was In a measure true. Hut tho growth of the business mado management necessary and, like most things nood-ed, nood-ed, It nrrlved and filled Its place. . "The New York nowspapors of tho mlddlo decade of tho nineteenth century cen-tury had no advertising departments, Indeed, did not control tho sale of their advertising but farmed It out. Tho lato Gordon L. Ford of Drooklyn ' made a fortune out of tho columns of tho Now York Trlbuno, which he controlled, and as late ot 1884 tho Drooklyn Eaglo sold much of Its space through an outside agent. The early editor was not thinking business, busi-ness, ho wanted to express himself, but when he did this powerfully, circulation cir-culation followed and on tho head of circulation came advertising. Advertising Department Slow. "Yet advertising in tho modern senao developed slowly. Tho news papers of tho fifties and sixties printed print-ed Uttlo advertising from retailers. Their columns were mtch used by tho wholesale merchants, shipping men with announcements of a pure- j ly commercial character, and a lib- I eral representation of tho evor-pres- ' ent medicine man, but tho retailer f was mostly absent. Tho lato A. T. Stewart, first and greatest of Now York's retail merchants, was quite content with an advertisement of 150 lino deep across two columns. "Ono thing that delayod tho development de-velopment of tho display advertiser was tho difficulty In printing any announcement an-nouncement that was in oxcess of a single column sot In small type. Tor years tho papers wero printed from typo presses whero tho matter had to bo mado up on "turtles" or sec- (Contlnued on page three) ' I GIVES HIS VIEWS O.V 1 THE MAKING OP I POOD NEWSlttPEHS (Continued from pago two) tlons of a syllnder. 'Each column was thorofore slightly curved, and to Insert a double column advertisement was a mechanical problem, Involving Involv-ing as It did the breaking of tho column col-umn rulo and', the use of typo abovo tho average size. "To1 meet this exigency, doublo prlco'was usually charged for display lines or taking out tho column rulo. Most, of tho papers mst tho domand for a larger display by using logo-typos, logo-typos, or letters mado out of standard stand-ard sizes of typo, that Is, a largo A would bo built up put of agato or lonparoll A'a and so moro easily ent thomsolves to tho curvaturo of ho 'turtle.' "With the ndvont of stereotyping y tho paitler-macho process, which emitted the casting of a curved rtate, the 'turtle' gavo way and tho troublesome) broken column ceased to bother, but tho habit of doublo c!l5es rmnlnod for many yoars; In V fcuntll tho typesetting machlno Put tho compositor on a wookly wage , Instead of tho price system, for ho, t toi was paid extra for broken col- l( uran or tabular work, ot which sot- ij ling logotypes was a part. Ij "Display advertising really dates Vfrom tho advent of tho penny oven- 1 jjing nowspapor, with Its wide clrcu- I flatlon and swift results. Morning 1 jpaper advertising was much like tho I ,copy prevailing even today In Eng- 1 land, that Is, Is was 'sign advortls- Ing, promoting tho storo, rather than tho goods. Tho evening paper intro- B,duced tho dally aalo and tho bargain 'counter. 1? I "The usual editorial view Is that there la something nefarious about the business office. It Is just as mysterious a placo to him as the editorial edi-torial room Is to the boys down stairs. Tho editor never can understand under-stand why tho business office sells a page which ho could use to better advantage for news or a feature. The buslnuss office folk cannot comprehend compre-hend why tho editors are always accumulating ac-cumulating libel suits, or printing things offenslvo to advertisers; why tefortet can novcr explain his expense ex-pense account, or why tho size of the paper was raised after the 'card' went up the card bolng tho business busi-ness offlco cBttma'te ot what the size should be on tho basis of tho business busi-ness In hand. It makes no allowance for tho unrullness of events, with which tho editor has to deal. "Nothing could bo moro fatal to a newspaper than suplno obodlonco on tho palft ot Upstairs." Mr. Soltz thus dlspola a popular do-luston do-luston that tho advertiser has an extensive ex-tensive Influenco on tho news columns col-umns and editorial pronouncements ot groat metropolitan papers. "Bccauso newspaper advertising Is very conspicuous and over-presont, It Is sometimes Intimated that tho advertiser ad-vertiser controls the columns of tho popular press. Nothing could bo farther from tho truth. "Advertising Is a oy-proiluct of tho nowspapor, useful In enabling It to sell Itself to a much lower cost than It It rolled for Income upon tho reader read-er alone. Its valuo to tho advortlser naturally grows In a ratio with tho paper's hold upon tho public. This fact, duly impressed, Is usually enough en-ough to convince tho sonslblo business busi-ness man that hla relationship, with the newspapers la decidedly formal and does not extend beyond the counting room, whoro he Is ontltlod to know what circulation ho gets for his monoy and to a rato as low as tho next man. This la a degreo of falr-noss falr-noss that prevails In good measure In tho newspaper trado. "Doing business as It does In tho open, tho rightly managed newspa-por newspa-por haB no place for secret negotiations, negoti-ations, robates or spoclal privileges, and tho paper succoods best that carries car-ries all Ita rates on Its rato cards. It la really and truly a common, carrlor and ought to oporato llko a railroad. It Is sold for a uniform price to all comers, und should havo but one prico for its advertising columns." |