THE NEWSPAPER

THE HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF NEW AND SPECIALLY WRITTEN BOOKS

EDITORS:

Prof. GILBERT MURRAY, D.Litt., LL.D., F.B.A.

The Rt. Hon. H. A. L. FISHER, M.A., F.B.A., LL.D.

Prof. J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A., LL.D.

Prof. WILLIAM T. BREWSTER, M.A.

256 pages. In cloth binding.

HISTORY

3. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. By Hilaire Belloc, M.A. (Maps.)

4. A SHORT HISTORY OF WAR AND PEACE. By G. H. Perris.

13. MEDIÆVAL EUROPE. By H. W. C. Davis, M.A. (With Maps.)

14. THE PAPACY AND MODERN TIMES (1303–1870). By William Barry, D.D.

23. HISTORY OF OUR TIME (1885–1913). By G. P. Gooch, M.A.

25. THE CIVILISATION OF CHINA. By H. A. Giles, LL.D., Professor of Chinese at Cambridge.

29. THE DAWN OF HISTORY. By J. L. Myres, M.A., F.S.A.

33. THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By Prof. A. F. Pollard.

34. CANADA. By A. G. Bradley.

37. PEOPLES AND PROBLEMS OF INDIA. By Sir T. W. Holderness, G.C.B.

42. ROME. By W. Warde Fowler, M.A.

48. THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. By F. L. Paxson.

51. WARFARE IN ENGLAND. By Hilaire Belloc, M.A.

55. MASTER MARINERS. By J. R. Spears.

61. NAPOLEON. By the Rt. Hon. H. A. L. Fisher, M.A.

66. THE NAVY AND SEA POWER. By David Hannay.

71. GERMANY OF TO-DAY. By Charles Tower.

82. PREHISTORIC BRITAIN. By Robert Munro, M.A., M.D., LL.D., F.R.S.E. (Illustrated.)

97. THE ANCIENT EAST. By D. G. Hogarth, M.A. (Maps.)

98. WARS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND AMERICA. By Prof. T. C. Smith, M.A.

100. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. By Prof. R. S. Rait.

101. BELGIUM. By R. C. K. Ensor. (Maps.)

105. POLAND. By Prof. W. Alison Phillips. (With Maps.)

107. SERBIA. By L. F. Waring.

108. OUR FORERUNNERS. By M. C. Burkitt, M.A., F.S.A. (Illustrated.)

113. WALES. By W. Watkin Davies, M.A., F.R.Hist.S.

114. EGYPT. By Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, M.A., Litt.D., F.S.A.

118. THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. By Norman H. Baynes.

125. ENGLAND UNDER THE TUDORS AND STUARTS. By Keith Feiling, M.A.

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

15. MOHAMMEDANISM. By Prof. D. S. Margoliouth, M.A., D.Litt.

40. THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY. By the Hon. Bertrand Russell, F.R.S.

47. BUDDHISM. By Mrs Rhys Davids, M.A.

50. NONCONFORMITY: ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. By Principal W. B. Selbie, M.A.

54. ETHICS. By G. E. Moore, M.A.

56. THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Prof. B. W. Bacon, LL.D., D.D.

60. MISSIONS: THEIR RISE AND DEVELOPMENT. By Mrs Creighton.

68. COMPARATIVE RELIGION. By Prof. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt.

74. A HISTORY OF FREEDOM OF THOUGHT. By J. B. Bury, Litt.D., LL.D.

84. LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. By Prof. George Moore, D.D., LL.D.

90. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. By Canon E. W. Watson.

94. RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. By Canon R. H. Charles, D.D., D.Litt.

102. HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY. By Clement C. J. Webb.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

1. PARLIAMENT. Its History, Constitution, and Practice. By Sir Courtenay P. Ilbert, G.C.B., K.C.S.I.

6. IRISH NATIONALITY. By Mrs J. R. Green.

10. THE SOCIALIST MOVEMENT. By J. Ramsay MacDonald, M.P.

11. CONSERVATISM. By Lord Hugh Cecil, M.A., M.P.

21. LIBERALISM. By L. T. Hobhouse, M.A.

30. ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH LAW. By W. M. Geldart, M.A., B.C.L.

38. THE SCHOOL: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EDUCATION. By J. J. Findlay, M.A., Ph.D.

81. PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE. By E. N. Bennett, M.A.

83. COMMON-SENSE IN LAW. By Prof. Sir P. Vinogradoff, D.C.L.

96. POLITICAL THOUGHT IN ENGLAND: FROM BACON TO HALIFAX. By G. P. Gooch, M.A.

104. POLITICAL THOUGHT IN ENGLAND: FROM SPENCER TO THE PRESENT DAY. By Ernest Barker, M.A.

106. POLITICAL THOUGHT IN ENGLAND: THE UTILITARIANS FROM BENTHAM TO J. S. MILL. By W. L. Davidson, M.A., LL.D.

121. POLITICAL THOUGHT IN ENGLAND: FROM LOCKE TO BENTHAM. By Harold J. Laski.

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

5. THE STOCK EXCHANGE. By F. W. Hirst, Editor of The Economist.

16. THE SCIENCE OF WEALTH. By J. A. Hobson, M.A.

24. THE EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRY. By D. H. Macgregor, M.A.

26. AGRICULTURE. By Prof. W. Somerville, F.L.S.

59. POLITICAL ECONOMY. By Sir S. J. Chapman, K.C.B.

69. THE NEWSPAPER. By G. Binney Dibblee, M.A. (Illustrated.) The best account extant of the organisation of the newspaper press, at home and abroad.

80. CO-PARTNERSHIP AND PROFIT-SHARING. By Aneurin Williams.

85. UNEMPLOYMENT. By Prof. A. C. Pigou, M.A.

109. COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY. By Marion I. Newbigin, D.Sc.

117. ADVERTISING. By Sir Charles Higham.

121. BANKING. By Walter Leaf, D.Litt.

GEOGRAPHY

7. MODERN GEOGRAPHY. By Marion I. Newbigin, D.Sc.

8. POLAR EXPLORATION. By Dr W. S. Bruce, F.R.S.E., Leader of the Scotia Expedition. (With Maps.)

12. THE OPENING-UP OF AFRICA. By Sir H. H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., F.Z.S. (With Maps.)

36. CLIMATE AND WEATHER. By Prof. H. N. Dickson, D.Sc.Oxon., M.A., F.R.S.E. (With Diagrams.)

53. THE MAKING OF THE EARTH. By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. (With 38 Maps and Figures.)

88. THE GROWTH OF EUROPE. By Prof. Grenville Cole. (Illustrated.)

91. THE ALPS. By Arnold Lunn. (Illustrated.)

92. CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. By Prof. W. R. Shepherd. (Maps.)

101. BELGIUM. By R. C. K. Ensor. (Maps.)

105. POLAND. By Prof. W. Alison Phillips. (With Maps.)

107. SERBIA. By L. F. Waring.

113. WALES. By W. Watkin Davies, M.A., F.R.Hist.S.

114. EGYPT. By Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, M.A., Litt.D., F.S.A.

118. THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. By Norman H. Baynes.

LITERATURE

2. SHAKESPEARE. By John Masefield.

25. THE CIVILISATION OF CHINA. By H. A. Giles, LL.D., Professor of Chinese at Cambridge.

27. ENGLISH LITERATURE: MODERN. By G. H. Mair, M.A.

35. LANDMARKS IN FRENCH LITERATURE. By G. L. Strachey.

43. ENGLISH LITERATURE: MEDIÆVAL. By Prof. W. P. Ker, M.A.

45. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. By L. Pearsall Smith, M.A.

52. GREAT WRITERS OF AMERICA. By Prof. J. Erskine and Prof. W. P. Trent.

64. DR JOHNSON AND HIS CIRCLE. By John Bailey, M.A.

65. THE LITERATURE OF GERMANY. By Prof. J. G. Robertson, M.A., Ph.D.

70. THE VICTORIAN AGE IN LITERATURE. By G. K. Chesterton.

73. THE WRITING OF ENGLISH. By W. T. Brewster, A.M., Professor of English in Columbia University.

76. EURIPIDES AND HIS AGE. By Gilbert Murray, D.Litt., LL.D.

77. SHELLEY, GODWIN, AND THEIR CIRCLE. By H. N. Brailsford.

87. CHAUCER AND HIS TIMES. By Grace E. Hadow.

89. WILLIAM MORRIS: HIS WORK AND INFLUENCE. By A. Clutton Brock.

95. ELIZABETHAN LITERATURE. By J. M. Robertson, M.P.

99. AN OUTLINE OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE. By Hon. Maurice Baring.

103. MILTON. By John Bailey, M.A.

111. PATRIOTISM IN LITERATURE. By John Drinkwater, M.A.

SCIENCE

9. THE EVOLUTION OF PLANTS. By Dr D. H. Scott, M.A., F.R.S. (Illustrated.)

17. HEALTH AND DISEASE. By W. Leslie Mackenzie, M.D.

18. INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICS. By A. N. Whitehead, Sc.D., F.R.S. (With Diagrams.)

19. THE ANIMAL WORLD. By Prof. F. W. Gamble, F.R.S. With Introduction by Sir Oliver Lodge. (Many Illustrations.)

20. EVOLUTION. By Prof. J. A. Thomson, M.A., and Prof. P. Geddes.

22. CRIME AND INSANITY. By Dr C. A. Mercier.

28. PSYCHICAL RESEARCH. By Sir W. F. Barrett, F.R.S.

31. ASTRONOMY. By A. R. Hinks, M.A., Chief Assistant, Cambridge Observatory.

32. INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE. By Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, M.A.

41. ANTHROPOLOGY. By R. R. Marett, M.A.

44. PRINCIPLES OF PHYSIOLOGY. By Prof. J. G. McKendrick, M.D.

46. MATTER AND ENERGY. By F. Soddy, M.A., F.R.S.

49. PSYCHOLOGY, THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOUR. By Prof. W. McDougall, F.R.S., M.B.

57. THE HUMAN BODY. By Prof. Sir A. Keith, M.D., LL.D. (Illustrated.)

58. ELECTRICITY. By Gisbert Kapp, D.Eng. (Illustrated.)

62. THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF LIFE. By Dr Benjamin Moore, Professor of Bio-Chemistry, University College, Liverpool.

67. CHEMISTRY. By Raphael Meldola, F.R.S.

72. PLANT LIFE. By Prof. J. B. Farmer, D.Sc., F.R.S. (Illustrated.)

78. THE OCEAN. A General Account of the Science of the Sea. By Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S. (Colour Plates and other Illustrations.)

79. NERVES. By Prof. D. Fraser Harris, M.D., D.Sc. (Illustrated.)

86. SEX. By Prof. Patrick Geddes and Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, LL.D.

110. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF HEREDITY. By Prof. E. W. MacBride, M.A., D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S. (Illustrated.)

115. BIOLOGY. By Prof. Patrick Geddes and Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, M.A., LL.D. (Illustrated.)

116. BACTERIOLOGY. By Prof. Carl H. Browning. (Illustrated.)

119. MICROSCOPY. By Robert M. Neill. (Illustrated.)

120. EUGENICS. By A. M. Carr-Saunders.

122. GAS AND GASES. By Prof. R. M. Caven. (Illustrated.)

126. TREES. By Dr Macgregor Skene.

127. MOTORS AND MOTORING. By E. T. Brown. (Illustrated.)

ART

39. ARCHITECTURE. By Prof. W. R. Lethaby. (Illustrated.)

63. PAINTERS AND PAINTING. By Sir Frederick Wedmore. (With 16 half-tone Illustrations.) From the Primitives to the Impressionists.

75. ANCIENT ART AND RITUAL. By Jane E. Harrison, LL.D., D.Litt.

93. THE RENAISSANCE. By Edith Sichel.

112. MUSIC. By Sir W. H. Hadow.

123. DRAMA. By Ashley Dukes.

Many other volumes in preparation.

LONDON: WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, LTD.

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HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE

THE NEWSPAPER

BY

G. BINNEY DIBBLEE, M.A.

LATE FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD

London WILLIAMS & NORGATE

HENRY HOLT & Co., New York Canada: WM. BRIGGS, Toronto India: R. & T. WASHBOURNE, Ltd.

HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE

Editors:

HERBERT FISHER, M.A., F.B.A.

PROF. GILBERT MURRAY, D.LITT., LL.D., F.B.A.

PROF. J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A.

PROF. WILLIAM T. BREWSTER, M.A. (Columbia University, U.S.A.)

NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY

THE BRITISH TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE

The Newspaper Duty Stamps.

THE NEWSPAPER

BY G. BINNEY DIBBLEE, M.A. Late Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford

LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE

PRINTED BY THE LONDON AND NORWICH PRESS, LIMITED LONDON AND NORWICH

CHAPTER I THE FUNCTION OF A NEWSPAPER

So common an object as a newspaper is seldom the subject of serious reflection. If any one of us should stop to consider what it is and why it is made, it is odds that he would think chiefly of one aspect of it to the general exclusion of the others. The curious man might reflect in surprise on the vast amount of mere reading matter turned out regularly every morning with perhaps only half a dozen literal mistakes, on the variety of typesetting and the amount of printing, often more than sufficient to make a large sized book. The manufacturer would direct his imagination to the efficient machinery necessary to produce perhaps 3,000 copies a minute or to the practised organization, able to distribute them, as fast as they are printed. The business man would think chiefly of a newspaper, as a vehicle for prices and a10 medium for advertising. Cooks, butlers, clerks and governesses look upon it as a daily registry office. The solicitor sells houses and lands through it. Housewives through it sometimes buy their soaps and

more often their hats. Actors, singers, authors, artists and musicians each read their special column and wonder when the editor intends to engage some one really acquainted with the only subject worth reading. The politician will read its leading articles with smirking assent or explosive repudiation. Last of all comes the general reader and he asks nothing more of his newspaper than all the news of everywhere, collected at great cost, transcribed with finished skill and presented to him in just the way which pleases and flatters him most. All of them have on their lips the daily threat of giving up the paper, if they are not scrupulously satisfied.

In writing about “the newspaper” it seems to me most useful to the greatest number of readers to dwell much less on those sides of a newspaper, which are most familiar to all of us, however interesting in itself everything connected with the editorial conduct of a paper may be, than on the central entity behind them, which makes the public functions possible and actual. In other words I shall11 write chiefly of what most people seldom or never see and but little of all those aspects of any newspaper, which every reader is accustomed to judge for himself. To do otherwise would require an encyclopædia to hold the mere bulk of material and would also bring oneself flat against the serried ranks of fixed opinions. Every one is quite sure that he knows “what he wants” and “what he wants” is always “the best” for him. To lay down the law therefore on matters which are the subject of common opinion is a danger to be evaded whenever possible and I propose only to deal very slightly with what is generally known as “the press” and for the

larger part of my space shall try to explain the mechanism, which industriously collects, enshrines in print and tirelessly circulates all the material, whether news or literary, to every attainable corner of the country and also the organism, which by serving the business needs of its community, acquires the immense revenues, which alone make the continued existence of the other possible.

A newspaper is of all modern private institutions the most comprehensive in function and complicated in principle. Perhaps the only thing at all comparable to it in these12 respects is a ship. A ship, engaged on a voyage, almost equals the triple life of a newspaper, because it is for the time being a place of residence, a means of travel and a conveyor of traffic. But voyages are short and discontinuous with one another, while the existence of a newspaper is organically continuous from the issue of the first number to bankruptcy and very often even afterwards. In every case, the newspaper is a vehicle for the satisfaction of human wants and that in three diverse ways; but the odd thing is that none of these ways, although they actually in practice overlap, are essentially related to one another. The newspaper is primarily a collector and distributor of news and in this function has long ago beaten every possible rival out of the field. Secondarily it is a vehicle of opinion and in virtue of this capacity it often becomes the prey of the mighty or the victim

of the long purse; but still it continues to draw from its other functions and powers a capacity for resistance to outside pressure, which guarantees to it more independence than sometimes appears on the surface. Lastly it serves as the great introducer of business from one trader to another. It has been estimated, that the annual amount spent on advertising in general13 is not less than £600,000,000 in civilized countries and it would be safe to say, that probably something like one half of this amount passes into the treasuries of journals and other periodicals, all or nearly all of which fulfil in one way or another the functions of a newspaper for their special circles of readers. It is the existence of this colossal revenue, more than double the annual budget of the United Kingdom, which makes possible the costly task of collecting and transmitting the news of the world from all places to all other places at once. It is a commonplace that the small amount paid by each reader for the purchase of his paper, whatever it may be,

would be very far from defraying the expenses of providing him with all that he will find in it.

Let us examine these functions of a newspaper separately. By far the most important and exacting task, which falls to its lot, is the provision of a daily—or weekly as the case may be—supply of news and that not of any news nor of enough news but of all the news. The distinction is of immense practical importance because it trebles the difficulty imposed on the conductors of a newspaper. The outsider, who as a general rule consults only a small part of the reading matter provided for him, sometimes14 finds in any issue very little that immediately interests him and a vast deal that does not. He therefore commonly receives the impression of a large amount of space regularly wasted. Very few readers are aware of the simple truth that, of what may be called pure news matter, almost every issue has had at least as much “copy” provided for it and rejected as appears in the paper. The practical task of the editors and sub-editors in making up their daily issues consists not in scraping together material for the printer but

in rejecting it. Of an evening paper with its successive editions this is even more true, many a report or “story” appearing in the early morning and being cut down or “killed” before nightfall. The great responsibility assumed by all editors, to which they are very seldom unfaithful, is the provision of all news, everything printable that has happened close to rail or wire or not kept secret by governments or private parties. There is only one excuse for leaving out any item of news and that is that more important news has claimed precedence of it and crowded it out.

It is evident therefore that the collection of news is strictly speaking extra-editorial or, to be more precise, it is under the general but not the immediate direction of the editor. It15 is an elaborate and almost automatic system, consisting partly of a world-wide organization for general news, which works for the common benefit of a large number of papers, and partly of a particular corps attached to each individual newspaper. It is the special function of this private organization to secure, if possible, exclusive news for its own paper and at any rate to emphasize and pay particular attention to that class of news, which each paper considers its own strong point. Yet while it is true that this duplicate and to some extent self-overlapping system fulfils the fundamental duty of every paper, which can be called in any sense a newspaper, it is not that side of newspaper life, which arouses the greatest amount of attention from outside, at any rate in this country, nor does it absorb the greatest amount of energy and talent within. The sensational part of journalism

is the control of opinion.

It is usual in speaking of the editorial side of a paper for nearly everyone, who is not within the narrow ring of professionals, to mean the latter function of the paper and not the mere collection and reproduction of news. This is true not only of periodicals and weeklies but also of the great morning dailies, which are by far the most influential part of that institution,16 which we casually refer to as “the press.” Here is where power is presumed to reside. Whether it be politics or art or finance, everyone, who wants anything important done to influence the general public, feels that it is here that the first and most valiant effort must be made. The press must be got at and persuaded or bullied into taking what is the only possible point of view, as each individual sees it for himself. And as there are always dozens and perhaps hundreds struggling more or less successfully to get to the one central point, where opinion is supposed to be controlled, the illusion is set up that here is where events are being guided,

whereas they are only being agitated. The efforts and influences generally balance themselves so evenly that the net result is generally independent of any single personality. What governs all these efforts in the end is the interest, which the general reader will take in the particular matter in question and by the general reader, I mean in this connection, those particular readers, who habitually look out for any special news or discussion on any named subject. The power, which a newspaper has of taking a subject from one plane of interest to another and thus widening the number of those to whom a special matter will appeal, is nearly always17 determined by an editorial estimate of the amount of interest it will arouse, which is not strictly speaking an analysis of its real importance but a prevision of the psychology of the majority of readers, who will judge it next day.