SOCIAL CHANGE IN A RURAL COMMUNITY AS REELECTED IN A RURAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER Ernest m. ±sanzet * * * * A THESIS Submitted to the Graduate School of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OE PHILOSOPHY Department of Sociology East Lansing, Michigan 19U1 ProQuest Number: 10008255 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10008255 Published by ProQuest LLC (2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the many persons who have aided him in the preparation of this manuscript. He desires to thank especially the members of his committee, Pro­ fessors Ernest B. Harper, Harald S. Patton, Charles R. Hoffer, and Eben Mumford (now retired), for reading the manuscript and giving many helpful suggestions. Professors John E. Thaden and Duane L. Gibson also read and criticized the manuscript and gave valuable assistance. Special gratitude is due the v/riter’s wife, Ellen Carey Banzet, who has assisted with the innumerable calculations that had to be made and in the preparation of the manuscript. The author is also indebted to Schuyler Marshall, editor of the Clinton County Republican-News, for his generosity in making available the complete files of his paper and for his patience and cooperation in answering many questions and offering suggestions. And finally, thanks is due to Erna Love, Martha Marshall, and Jeanne Marshall, who aided in the collection of the data. ±34308 CONTENTS CHAP TEH I. PAGE THE RURAL WEEKLY AS A SOURCE OP LATA FOR STUDYING SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE RURAL COMMUNITY......................... 1 The community defined; types of communities; impor­ tance of the rural primary community; problems of the rural community; the need for studying the problems of the rural community; the rural weekly as an interpreter of the life of the rural community; purpose of the study; application of the study. II. METHODOLOGY.................................................. 16 Early attempts at newspaper analysis; the growth of an objective methodology; the development of specializa­ tion in newspaper analysis; early analysis of rural papers; further development in the analysis of the rural weekly; point of departure in the present study; delimiting the study; the method of classifying newspaper content; method of determining the intimacy of the community*s common interests; advertising. III. FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE SELECTION OF A PARER............... 3S Selecting a paper; the community to be portrayed; Clinton County*s newspaper history; history of the Republican-News; position of the Clinton County Republic an-News among Michigan weeklies in 1929* IV. WHAT THE PAPER PRINTS....................................... 55 NEWS; news space analyzed on the basis of column inches; news space analyzed on the basis of percentages. ADVERTISING: total advertising. Summary. V. COUNTY NEWS AND ADVERTISING MATTER......................... NEWS: county news space analyzed on column inches; county news space analyzed percentages; local or county seat news in inches in the Clinton County seat weekly; terms of percentages of all county news. the basis of on the basis of terms of column local news in 76 Analysis of minor categories: economic news; family news; religions news; governmental news; educational news; recreational news; health news; personal items. ADVERTISING: county advertising; display advertising; non-display advertising. Summary. VI. EXTRA-COUHTY NEWS AND ADVERTISING 130 Distribution of extra-county news space; distribution of state news; national news; foreign news; stories, maga­ zine, and miscellaneous matter. Extra-county advertising. VII. EDITORIAL SPACE 156 Analysis of editorial space; editorial space given to government; qualitative analysis of editorials on politics; editorial space given to Clinton County; extra-county edi­ torial space. VIII. CONCLUSIONS 1 SS Community life in the pre-nine teen hundred period as reflected in the Republiean-News; social change in the 1900 to 1919 period as reflected in the Republican-News; social change In the post-war decade as reflected in the Republican-News. APPENDIX, 19S BIBLIOGRAPHY, 207 TABLES Page X. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. Number and percentage of incorporated places, classified according to population, in the United States, 1950 .... Population of Clinton County, Michigan and population of St. Johns, the county seat of Clinton County, by census years 1330-1930 ............... Principal newspapers of Clinton County, Michigan from 1842 to 193 2 .......................................... 4 43 47 Weekly mean number of pages, columns per page, inches per column, and column inches per issue of the Clinton County Republican-News in the twelve selected issues at five year intervals from 1881 to 1926 and for 1929........... 51 Distribution of Michigan weekly newspapers in 1929 accor­ ding to their circulations and to the populations of the towns in which they were published.................. 52 Weekly mean number of column inches given to total news and to each of the twelve major categories, in the twelve selected issues for each year, 1881—1930................. 57 Weekly mean percentages that news is of total paper space and that each of the twelve major categories is of the news space in the twelve selected issues for each year, 1881-1930................................. 63 Weekly mean number of column inches given to total adver­ tising and to each of the major types of advertising, and weekly mean percentage that advertising is of total paper space and that each major type is of all advertis­ ing, in the twelve selected issues for each year, 18811930........................................................ 71 IX. WFeekly mean number of column inches in the twelve selected issues for each year, given to Clinton County news and its distribution in terms of weekly mean number of column inches among ten of the major categories, 1881-1950....... 78 X. Weekly mean percentage that county news is of total news and that each of the ten major categories is of total county news in the twelve selected issues for each year, 1881-1930.................................................... 83 XI. Weekly mean number of column inches in the twelve selected issues for each year given to local news and its dis­ tribution in terms of weekly mean number of column inches among ten of the major categories, 1881-1930...... 88 Page XII. XIII. XIV. XV • XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV* Weekly mean percentage that local news is of total news and that each of ten of the major categories is of total local news in the twelve selected issues for each year, 1881-1930................ 92 Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to economics and its subcategories. • .......... 98 Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to family and its sub­ categories. • 101 Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to religion and its subcategories ....... 104 Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to government and its subcategories. ...... 106 Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to education and its subcategories......... 108 Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to recreation and its subcategories .............. m Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to health and its sub­ categories.. ...... 113 Distribution of county news space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to personal items and its subcategories 115 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to county advertising and its major c a t e g o r i e s 118 Distribution of county display advertising space exclusive of St. Johns and of county non-display advertising in­ cluding St. Johns by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to advertising and its major categories... 120 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to county display advertising and its subcategories ....... 123 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to county non-display advertising and its subcategories* ••*...... 127 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to extra-county news and to its four ma jor subdivisions......... ................... . 132 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly average number of column inches to state news and its subcategories.. 135 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly average percentages to state news and its s u b c a t e g o r i e s ...... ........... 139 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly average number of column inches to national news and its subcategories.. 141 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly average percentages to national news and its subcategories... 142 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly average number of column inches and percentages to foreign news and its subcategories...... 145 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly average number of column inches and percent­ ages to stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter..... 148 Distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of weekly averages to extra-county advertising.... 152 Weekly average amount of total editorial space in column inches and the percentages of the total allotted to the various ma jor categories by designated periods 158 Yfeekly average amount of total editorial space in column inches given to government and the percentages of the total given to the various minor categories by desig­ nated periods................... ................. 165 Weekly average amount of editorial space in column inches given to Clinton County, its percentage of all editorial space, arkL its percentage distribution to the various major categories by selected periods..................... 174 Weekly average amount of editorial space in column inches given to extra-county, its percentage of all editorial space, and its percentage distribution to the various major categories by selected periods 182 CHAPTER.I THE RURAL WEEKLY AS A SOURCE OE DATA EOR STUDYING- SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE RURAL COMMUNITY THE COMMUNITY DEFINED. gional concept" The term, community, is primarily a ure­ It is used to designate a group of people occupying a relatively definite geographic area within a larger society. The area of the community has a common center around which its various popu­ lation units tend to converge and a circumference which roughly defines its area and separates it from other communities. 2 The community's circumference, however, is rarely, if ever, a fixed line. It tends to oscillate hack and forth between adjacent communities over a marginal area which for certain services may lie within one or another of con­ tiguous community territories. is always quite definite. The community center, on the other hand, Its position is generally determined by fac­ tors of communication and transportation. The location usually chosen is the one most easily reached from various points of the surrounding area. From the outlying area come the raw materials for local use or trans-shipment while at the center are located stores, hanks, hotels, restaurants, theaters, lodge halls, libraries, churches, schools, news- 1 E. B. Reuter and C. W. Hart, INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY, p. 123. 2 Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Roderick D. McKenzie, THE CITY, p. 115. Jesse Frederick Steiner, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION, pp. 18-21. Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Roderick D. McKenzie, OP. CIT. p. 6 9 . 2 paper offices, telephone offices, hospitals, post offices, railroad and "bus stations, and factories which supply essential services to the territory enscribed within the community. Defined "broadly, then, the community is a group of people occupying a given territory tributary to and including a common service center. It is people communicating and associating with each other in all the ways that are necessary for the carrying on of a common life. 5 It is a constellation of institu6 tions. In short, then, the community is the unity through communica­ tion of a group of people living in a more or less well defined area in the participation of common interests and common objectives in such institutions and institutional relationships as homes, and schools, and churches, and in economic, governmental, recreational, health, and art aims and ideals. TYPES OP COMMUNITIES. Various qualifying uses of the term, com­ munity, have been made. These apply to groups and areas of varying sizes and characteristics. Por instance, regional community is the term used to denote the large urban complex with all of the surround­ ing politically independent towns and cities that are closely related to it, while the subcenters themselves are referred to as suburban com­ munities. Numerous other restrictive uses of the concept, community, Kimball Young, AN INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY, p. 5 . ^Charles A. Ellwood, PSYCHOLOGY OP HUMAN SOCIETY, pp. 12-13. g Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Roderick D. McKenzie, OP. CIT., p. 115. ^Roderick D. McKenzie, THE METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY, p. 6 . Stuart Alfred Qp.een and Lewis Prancis Thomas, THE CITY A STUDY IN URBANISM IN THE UNITED STATES, ch. lU. 3 have also heen made, such as commercial, industrial, and special, de8 pending upon its prevailing characteristics. The simplest type of com­ munity, however, is the primary community so designated because of its relatively small area and the intimacy and informality of its contacts. IMPORTANCE OP THE RURAL PRIMARY COMMUNITY. The primary community predominates in the rural sections of the United States. small town with its surrounding geographic area. 9 It is the It lacks complexity; consequently the inter-relationship of its institutions and the service function of its center are generally more readily observed. Furthermore, the extension of the services of its center into the countryside can be easily plotted and the relatively definite geographic area included with10 in its boundaries determined. The importance of the rural primary community will be made more evi­ dent by a glance at Table I which shows the number of incorporated places, classified according to population, in the United States for 1930* It will be observed from this table that there were 16,598 incor­ porated places in the United States in 193^. While some of these places are too small to be considered community centers and others are either 11 suburban to a regional center or are too large to be included among the rural primary type, yet the vast majority of those below five thousand or even ten thousand in population may be considered as belonging to the latter class, that is the rural type, of community centers. Fourteen thousand seven hundred sixty-five, or 8 8 . 9 per cent, of the total number 0 1 T., ^Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and Roderick D. McKenzie, OP. pp. 6 5 - 6 7 . ^Kimball Young, OP. CIT., p. 5. ^Thaden, John F., MThe Lansing Region and its Tributary Town-Country Communities,H Bulletin J 02t Agricultural Experiment Station, Michigan State College, East Lansing, April, 19^0. •^R. D. McKenzie, OP. CIT., p. 6 . 1+ TABLE I NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OP INCORPORATED PLACES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO POPULATION, IN THE UNITED STATES, 1930* Population of places Number of places Under 100...... Cumulative number of places Percentage Cumulative per­ of total number centage of total of places number of places 2 .6 2 .6 6 .8 5 U 15*3 2 3 .U 17.9 1+1.3 2 ,1 5 1 9 ,0 0 5 12.9 5^.2 750-999........ 1 ,0 0 0 -1 ,1+99.... 1 ,31+1 1 0 ,3 ^ 6 3.0 6 2 .2 1 ,6 11 11.957 1 ,5 0 0 -?, 1+99.... 1 ,^ 7 6 71.9 so. 9 2 ,5 0 0 - ^ 9 9 9 .... 1 .3 3 2 13,^33 iU , 7 6 5 9*7 9*0 3.0 3 3 .9 5*000-9,999.... 351 1 5 ,6 1 6 5.1 9 ^ .0 io,ooo-2i+,999*** 606 1 6 ,2 2 2 3.7 97.7 2 5 ,0 0 0 -9 9 ,9 9 9 ... 2 S3 1 6 ,5 0 5 99.^ and over 93 16,598 1.7 .6 1 0 0 - 21+9........ ^37 2 ,51+6 2 ,9 8 3 2 5 O-H9 9 ......... 3 ,371+ 5 OO- 7 U9 ......... 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 U 37 1 0 0 .0 ♦Data compiled "by John P. Thaden from Fifteenth United States Census, Vol. I, "Population, 11 1930* of incorporated places, it will be noted from Table I, have populations of less than five thousand and 1 5 *6 1 6 , or 9 ^ . 1 per cent, show populations below the ten thousand figure. These various incorporated towns with populations below tbn thousand, according to the United States census, 12 had a combined population of 19,793,199* the population of the tri­ butary areas of these incorporated places approximated that of their cen­ ters, a condition which John P. Thaden found to be true of community centers within the Lansing trade area, 13 then the total population of incorl^pifteenth United States Census, Vol. I, Population, p. 17^ J o h n F. Thaden, THE GREATER LANSING AREA, p. 26, Michigan State College Agricultural Experiment Station, East Lansing, Mich. , Bulletin 302, April I9 U0 . 5 porated places in the United States with populations in 193^ less than tan thousand plus their tributary areas approached forty million, most of which was rural in character. These data lend support to the conclusion that the rural primary community "bulks large in the total social life of the nation. PROBLEMS OP THE RURAL COMMUNITY* The rural community is faced with many problems; and while they are quite different from those of the urban community, they are, doubtless, even more vital to the welfare of the nation than those of the latter. Unlike the urban center, expansion and overcrowding have seldom been a part of the rural community1s more serious problems but rather the opposite. Prom early pioneer times, with few ex­ ceptions, until the beginning of the present century the average small agricultural community was characterized by a continuous increase in populb lation. Its various institutions were geared to constantly increasing demands for service. Moreover, there were few services rendered by the larger community center that were not also supplied by the smaller one; and, in addition, life in the smaller center was more intimate and personal and crime and pauperism, probably, less prevalent and less acute than in the city. But with the passing of the frontier, the development of a cre­ dit economy, the growth of large scale industry, the cheapening of trans­ portation, and the widening of the market the larger cities began an ex15 pansion which has continued until the present time. In contrast, the small rural community began a decline which, as yet, shows no signs of abatement. Incorporated towns with less than 2^00 population, for instance, 1*4Jesse Frederick Steiner, OP. CIT., p. 8. ^Roderick D. McKenzie, OP. CIT., pp. 28-29* have shown an increasing tendency to decline during successive decades from I8 9 O to 1 9 3 0 * ^ke percentages of such places showing declines for the decennial periods ending in 1 9 0 0 , 1 9 1 0 , 1 9 2 0 , and 1 9 3 ^ are order . l6 25*2, 3 1 * 3 0 .5. snd- ^5* 3» Moreover, the data show not only an in­ creasing percentage of incorporated centers declining in population hut also a tendency for the percentage of incorporated centers declining in population to increase after 1 9 0 0 in inverse ratio with the size of the centers. Thus it would seem that in the pre-nineteen hundred period rural life was concentrated around the small towns and villages more than at present. When the accompanying decline which took place from 1&90 to 193^ in the rural population surrounding the small centers is also considered, it is quite apparent that the small community is faced with a situation which represents a reversilal of earlier trends. Furthermore, its predica­ ment is douhly perplexing since the drainage of population to the larger centers has taken many of the youth and much of the aggressive leader­ ship from the smaller center leaving the latter less well equipped to meet 17 the demands thrust upon it. In such a dilemma many small communities, doubtless, tend to become seats of conservatism and to fall farther and farther behind in the struggle to meet the changing needs of the times. Moreover, rural communities are not isolated. the life of the larger communities. They are interrelated with They supply foodstuffs and labor to the larger centers and furnish a market for much of the latter1s finished 16 Figures for the census periods, 1 9 0 0 , 1910* and 1920, were compiled from John M. Gillette^ RURAL SOCIOLOGY (revised edition) pp. U 3 3 -UUO. Figures for the census period ending in 193^ are taken from unpublished data supplied by John F. Thaden. See also R. D. McKenzie, OF. CIT., p. 30. 17Niles Carpenter, THE SOCIOLOGY OF CITY LIFE, pp. 329 - 3 3 2 . 7 products; consequently any change in the functional or structural make-up of the smaller community is likely to modify the socializing process for the whole society. THE NEED FOR STUDYING THE PROBLEMS OP THE RURAL COMMUNITY. Numerous grave and perplexing problems which are an outgrowth of changed conditions, it has been pointed out, beset the rural community. These problems have led many individuals and organizations, both public and private, within the last quarter of a century, to attempt a reweaving of the rural commu­ nity1s institutions, an interest which has expressed itself in numerous surveys and analyses undertaken for the purpose of better understanding and directing community life. Most of the earlier surveys were confined to diagonoses of the ills of the larger urban centers where sources of data and resources in wealth and leadership are more adequate. More re­ cently, however, a greater appreciation of the vital importance of the rural community to the national life has been recognized and more attention IS is being paid to its interests and its problems* In addition to the IS Jesse Frederick Steiner, OP. CIT*, pp. 3 -^* The Purnell Act passed by Congress in 1 9 2 6 is an illustration of the recent recognition of the importance to the nation of the rural com­ munity's problems. This act provided for an increasing scale of payment from $2 0 , 0 0 0 for the year 1 9 2 6 to $6 0 ,0 0 0 for the year 1 9 3 ^ an<^ each suc­ ceeding year thereafter to be paid to the agricultural experiment stations of the various states and territories for the purpose of "conducting in­ vestigations or making experiments bearing directly on the production, manufacture, preparation, use, distribution, and marketing of agricultural products and including such scientific researches as have for their purpose the establishment and maintenance of a permanent and efficient agricul­ tural industry, and such economic and sociological investigations as have for their purpose the development and improvement of the rural home and rural life, and for printing and disseminating the results of said re­ searches*" "Federal Legislation Regulations, and Rulings Affecting Land Grant Colleges and Experiment Stations," p. 20, United States Department of Agriculture, Department circular 251* Feb. 1 9 30* g cross sectional study of the rural community's immediate problems, it should be noted further, an understanding of the past conditions that produced them is being more and more emphasized in the later surveys. But the rural community is often handicapped by a lack of adequate and objective data for taking a survey of the development of its community life. Sources of data, such as the records kept by labor unions, charity and welfare organizations, public health boards, recreational boards, boards of education, library boards, chambers of commerce and other busi­ ness organizations, lodges, and women's clubs, are likely to be less com­ plete than those of the urban center. Such data as do exist are generally not easily accessible and not readily comparable for they are seldom brought together in a central recording agency as is the case in the city. Like­ wise, state biennial reports, year books, census records, and historical material carry little or no detail about the smaller communities. Thus, handicapped, the rural community must look to other sources for data upon which to base a study of its changing life and to project reforms. THE RURAL WEEKLY AS AN INTERPRETER OP THE LIPE OP THE RURAL COMMUNITY. Edwar Bulwer-Lytton, commenting in 1S55 011 London Times as an index of British civilization said: If British not our tings; I I desired to leave to remote posterity some memorial of existing civilization, I would prefer, not our docks, not our railways, public buildings, not even the palace in whi£h we hold our sit­ would prefer a file of the Times newspaper. If it could be said in the middle of the last century that the daily newspaper was an accurate index of social life, such a claim should have more validity now. In the intervening years, numerous inventions and the 19Cluoted by Lucy Maynard Salmon, THE NEWSPAPER AND THE HISTORIAN, p. 46s, 9 perfections of older ones have added to its efficiency in portraying the life of its time. The various press associations, such as the Associated Press, The United Press, Havas, Reuters, and others, have speeded the col­ lection of news. Other inventions like the telegraph, cable, telephone, wireless, and radio have greatly facilitated news reception, while sten­ ography and the typewriter have reduced the number of errors and increased the speed of transmitting news into copy. Of equal or greater importance are the linotype, perfecting presses, color printing, and rotogravure processes which have expedited the transmission of copy and the photograph 20 into print. At the same time the railway, automobile, concrete highway, and urban and rural free delivery service have been responsible for the widespread diffusion of the daily newspaper to all classes of people. But in spite of its somewhat greater technological perfection and facility in disseminating the news, the modern daily newspaper, when compared with the rural weekly as an index of the life of its community, has some limitations. It is confined, for the most part, to the larger cities where life is less intimate and more impersonal than in the small towns. It must attempt to serve a clientele which is often characterized by vast differences in wealth and income and in political, religious, in­ tellectual, and artistic interests and ideals. Furthermore, because of the large number of people it serves, it cannot hope to include much de­ tail about the incidents, the interests, and the lives of its constituents. And, finally, a considerable amount of the daily paper's space does not pertain to its own community but to the world s,t large, for national end 20Willard G-rosvenor Bleyer, MAIN CURRENTS IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM, pp. 393-}+05. Lucy Maynard Salmon, OP. CIT., pp. 15-16. 10 international news have become an important part of its field. By way of contrast, the rural weekly is essentially the paper of the small community. Its readers are, for the most part, engaged in or large­ ly dependent upon farming and seldom, perhaps, do they number more than a few thousand or occupy a territory much larger than a county. Further­ more, their dependence largely upon a single industry, namely farming, precludes extremes in wealth and promotes a unity and a sense of democ­ racy not so generally common in the territory of the daily; moreover, the close proximity and essential homogenity of the residents of the small community enable them in the process of carrying on a common life to meet frequently in face to face relations which when recorded in the columns of the rural weekly makes possible an intimacy that is, as a rule, con­ spicuously lacking among those who peruse the more pretentious paper. Likewise, the editor of the rural weekly is more or less personally ac­ quainted with those who read his paper; consequently he cannot hide be­ hind the anonymity which is often prevalent in the news and editorials emanating from the more complex organization of the large city daily; hence he is conpelled to guard the accuracy of his statements more care21 fully than the city editor. In short, the rural weekly is limited to a comparatively small intimate homogeneous group. Its articles pertain to people that are relatively well acquainted with each other and with the editor. Its interests and the problems with which it deals are more likely to be the concern of the whole community. It is, doubtless, these facts that have lead Bing to say: 21Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, TEE PROFESSION OF JOURNALISM, pp. 1 ^9 150. 11 There is little doubt that in some ways the country weekly is the best paper printed. It comes nearer to fulfilling the purpose for which it was established— that of telling the news about its own community and of neighboring communities— than any other paper can possibly come. It has no other field to cover and can deal intensively with local and county news .2 2 Recording, as it does, the more significant news, incidents, and events that occur day by day and week by week within its community, the rural weekly becomes the most effective interpreter of its own community life. Family pleasures and sorrows, economic successes and failures, religious joys and tribulations, political achievements and disappoint­ ments, recreational victories and defeats, and health conquests and per­ ils are all portrayed in more or less intimate detail in the local paper. Its function as a mirror of the life of its community has been more clear­ ly expressed by America's foremost country editor, William Allen White, in the following terms: When you see Its array of countryside items; its interminable local stories; its tiresome editorials on the waterworks, the schools, the street railroad, the crops and the city printing, don't throw down the contemp­ tible little rag with the verdict that there is nothing in it. But know this, and know it well: if you could take the clay from your eyes and read the paper as it is written, you would find all of God's beautiful, sorrowing, struggling, aspiring world in it, and what you saw would make you touch the little paper with reverend h a n d s . ^ There are other institutions, such as lodges, schools, churches, and local governmental organizations, which keep brief accounts of specialized phases of community life; but no other institution chronicles the life of the whole community in all of its institutional aspects as effectively as the rural weekly. 22 Phil. It is true, of course, that many rural weeklies, part- C. Bing, THE COUNTRY WEEELY, p. 7 . 23"The Country Newspaper," Harper1s Magazine, May, I9 I6 , 132: p. S91. 12 icularly the smaller ones, fail to mirror their communities adequately; 2.b but considering the paucity and insufficiency of other records, the rural weekly, despite its many faults, furnishes the most accurate and permanent historical record of the continuous life of the small community. 25 This generalization is supported by John W. Riley's study of the leisure time activities of a Maine community of about seven thousand. In this investigation the social gatherings recorded in three complete diaries, the first of which was for the year 1857, were compared with the newspaper's accounts of these gatherings. In no case had the newspaper failed to mention a social gathering, outside of family groups, recorded in the diaries. The author also compared the newspaper's accounts cover­ ing a number of years with the activity records of thirty-five clubs. Activity curves based on the number of gatherings of the thirty-five clubs were plotted from the records of these organizations and compared with activity curves plotted from accounts of the activities of these organi­ zations in the newspaper. In each case the peaks of the curves occurred during the same period of time. Furthermore, the newspaper's record when compared with the questionnaire method proved far more accurate and de­ pendable than the latter. Of ninety-one questionnaire reports from the clubs' leading members only six checked completely with newspaper accounts 26 and the clubs' own records. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY. If the rural weekly portrays the sorrows, the struggles, and the aspirations of its community, as students of rural 2b Malcolm M. Willey, THE COUNTRY NEWSPAPER, Ch. IV. V. Atwood, THE COUNTRY NEWSPAPER, p. 6 7 . 26 John Winchell Riley, Jr., "The Country Weekly as a Sociological Source," AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW, Vol. 3 , No. I, pp. 3 9 -U6 . 13 journalism, rural editors, and rural sociologists have indicated, its analysis over a period of years should show a sort of moving picture of the changing interests and the changing character of the local life. study undertakes to make such an analysis. This It attempts to analyze, classi­ fy, and quantify the space of a rural weekly newspaper over a period of time sufficiently long to make possible a comparison of changes from year to year and from decide to decade in the amount of space given to various types of news and advertising matter. purposes. Such a comparison involves several It makes it possible to show: first, the rise of new community problems and the decline of old ones; second, the changing character of community interests; third, the expansion or decline of the community area and its function; fourth, the more important influences which have affect­ ed both the newspaper and the community. An increasing amount of news space given to such items as the farm bureau, home demonstration, county agent, *4—H Club, the need of hospital facilities, consolidated schools, boy and girl scout organizations, and good roads indicate the rise of new problems and of new methods of deeding with them, while a decrease in the amount of space given to such matters as patent medicine advertising and political and religious fundamentalism give evidence of the disappearance of old ones. Likewise, if baseball, golf links, moving pictures, parks, playgrounds, tourists trade, women's clubs and organizations, women's styles, children, and children's wearing apparel come in for a greater amount of emphasis in later issues, they reveal the existence of new and different community interests. 27 Furthermore, if literature, magazine material, and national and international affairs are stressed more in the 27 Lucy Maynard Salmon, OP. CIT., Ch. 17. Ik earlier issues, while the local community and geographic areas formerly adjacent to it receive more space in the later ones, a condition of a relative lack of local libraries, magazines, and daily papers would seem to he indicated. On the other hand, an expansion of the local community and the presence of these various media of communication would seem to he reflected if the local community and its formerly contiguous geographic areas receive more space in the later issues. Moreover, if the newspaper mirrors the life of its community, it should reflect the impact on both itself and the other institutions of the community of such important in­ fluencing factors as the linotype machine, rural free delivery mail ser­ vice, and the automobile. The hypothesis of this study then, is that an analysis of the consecutive issues of a rural newspaper over a period of years will reflect social change within its community. APPLICATION OP THE STUDY. In the following chapter the development of the technique and methodology of newspaper analysis are reviewed and a method by which the rural weekly may be used as an index of change in its community is set forth. This method has a number of useful applications. In the first place, it provides the editor with a sort of measuring stick for comparing the effectiveness of his paper in mirroring the life of his community from year to year. Secondly, it may enable him to compare the efficiency of his paper in portraying the life of his community with that of other papers, or it may enable him to compare his paper with some sci­ entific norm that may be set up. Furthermore, it enables all of those individuals and organizations concerned with rural community problems, such as community organization, the reorganization and consolidation of the services of local governmental units, county home rule, and the county 15 manager plan, or those concerned with more specialized problems, such as the rural church, the consolidation of rural schools, the county unit system of education, county health and the county hospital, and the county unit welfare plan, to use the rural weekly as a source of data upon which a study of the changing problems, changing interests, and changing char­ acter of the rural community may be made and plans for its reorganization initiated. In succeeding chapters the methodology devised is applied to a rural weekly and the practicability of this methodology in reflecting social change in a community is demonstrated. CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY EARLY ATTEMPTS AT NEWSPAPER ANALYSIS. The scientific approach to the analysis of newspaper content like the application of science to other fields of knowledge has "been a growth. The earlier investigations are confined to a study of the daily paper. Many of them are characterized hy a vague methodology, too few categories for classifying newspaper content accurately, a desire to prove an hypothesis, or a period of in­ vestigation too limited in time to throw any light on the problem of the rural weekly as an index of change in the rural community. One of the earliest of the studies was that of J. G. Speed whose purpose was to show that the subject matter of the newspaper had degen­ erated between the years 1881 and 1893*"*" Sunday editions of four New York dailies. used, and these he does not define. His analysis was limited to Only thirteen categories were When his purpose and limited classi­ fying scheme are considered, the making of separate categories for 11gossip, "scandal," and "crime" and criminals" seems a bit confusing. Another of the earlier studies which reveals a lack of scientific 2 methodology in newspaper analysis is that of B. C. Mathews. He analyzed each issue of one New York daily for a period of three months in I9 O9 and classified the greater portion of the news under four major headings which ^"Do Newspapers Now Give the News?" THE EORUM, Vol. XV, pp. 705—711. 2"A Study of a New York Daily," THE INDEPENDENT, Vol. XLVIII, pp. 32-36. 17 are as follows: Demoralizing, Unwholesome, Trivial, and Worth While. These were further subdivided into 173 minor classes. The extreme sub­ jectivity of this study may be illustrated by the definitions of two of his major headings. These are: ’'Trivial” which he defines as "the light inconsequential matter such as is a loss of time for one to read if he has something to do that is worth doing" and "Demoralizing" which, accord­ ing to the author, "is used to embrace all such items as when read will leave one's character not quite as clean as it was before reading." 3 He admits that his classification may be perplexing but thinks that "among men of like habits of thought and of like standards of conduct and character these differences would be unimportant TEE GROWTH OF AN OBJECTIVE METHODOLOGY. Not all early newspaper studies are characterized by the same inadequacy of method as those just mentioned. Some progress in the direction of an objective methodology was achieved as early as 1900. In that year, Delos F. Wilcox brought out a study in which he carefully analyzed the news and advertising in one 5 issue each of 2*40 dailies. His classification consisted of four major headings with eight subdivisions for news and allied matter and one major heading with six subdivisions for advertising. While the time covered by the study and the number of categories included are too limited for any but tentative conclusions, the care with which the various categories were defined characterizes it as one of the first attempts at the scien­ tific analysis of newspaper content. hlSID., p. sH. IBID., p. SU. "The American Newspaper, A Study in Social Psychology," ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, Vol. XVI, 1900, pp. 56-92. IS Objectivity in methodology is further exemplified in the work of 6 Miss Frances Fenton in 1911. Her study marks the first scientific in­ vestigation of a specialized phase of newspaper subject matter. Her pur­ pose was to discover whether or not the newspaper in its portrayal of crime and other anti-social news supplied the offender, consciously or unconsciously, with both the impulse and the method for committing an offense. Her method consisted, first, of collecting from prison offi­ cials, judges, probation officers, and others direct evidence of the in­ fluence of the newspaper on criminals in the commission of crime, and secondly, an analysis of newspaper matter in order to compare the amounts of what she called "anti-social material” in various papers and its so­ cially constructive treatment in their editorials. Two hundred three issues of 57 American newspapers published at certain specified intervals during the fall of 1909 and the winter of I9 IO were analyzed. The pro­ portional amount of "anti-social” news was classified under seven head­ ings as follows: Regular news, Critical including book reviews "et ce­ tera,” Literary and illustrations, Editorial, Sporting News, Marketing and financial news, and Notices, Weather reports ”et cetera.” She cites num­ erous cases of crime, the commission of which was definitely influenced by the newspaper. The unit of measurement was the column inch. The care with which she defined her terms and the accuracy with which her method is executed marks it a creditable piece of scientific work. In the same year that Miss Fenton's study came out, Professor Tenney in cooperation with a group of graduate students at Columbia University "The Influence of Newspapers on Crime," JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Vol. XVI, pp. 342-371 and 5 3 8 to 564. was carrying on a careful and extended analysis of a number of New York dailies. 7 News items m these papers were measured in linear column inches and classified under the headings: Political, Economic, Cultural, Amusements, Crime and Accidents, and Personal and Social with numerous sub-headings under each. The classification used contained sufficient detail for completeness, and objectivity in methodology was attained by having students recheck each others work until a basis of mutual agree­ ment in definition and classification of items was reached. G-lenn R. Johnson, one of Tenney's group of students, in a master's essay introduced some refinements in Tenney's scheme of classification. 8 For instance, he used seven major headings instead of six and subdivid­ ed them into H 6 minor categories. It is doubtful, however, if his method of measuring news items, which consisted of a count of items on the as­ sumption that by the law of averages the number of items included would approximate the result that would be achieved by measurement in terms of Q column inches, added anything to the accuracy of Tenney's method. Without the knowledge of the work being done at Columbia University, T. R. Garth evolved a method of measuring and classifying newspaper con10 tent closely paralleling that of the Columbia group. His study includ­ ed 1 3 8 issues of various newspapers, 1 1 1 of which were issues of the Richmond Times Dispatch and the New York Times. The study of these two papers extended over a period of approximately twenty months, from July, 1913 to February, 1915. The analysis of the remaining papers covered a shorter period of time. Garth measured items, excluding headlines, in ^"The Scientific Analysis of the Press," THE INDEPENDENT, Vol. LXXIII, pp. S9k-S3S. ^Malcolm MacDonald Willey, THE COUNTRY NEWSPAPER, p. 28. 9ibid., p . h6. "A Statistical Study of the Content of Newspapers " SCHOOL AND SOCIETY, Vol. Ill, pp. lkO~lhk. 20 linear column inches and classified them under 3 ^ categories, more than half of which were essentially the same as a like number found in John­ son's list of HG minor headings. The high correlation between the Garth and the Columbia methods, which were developed independently, is evidence of the growth of a scientific methodology in newspaper analysis. further use of the method of measuring news in terms of column inches has been made by Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd in connection with 11 their study of "Middletown." They analyzed newspaper content as an aid in determining changes in the cultural attitudes of the community 12 folk of "Middletown." In their study of newspapers, every issue of a morning and an evening paper for the years 1 8 9 0 and 1 9 2 3 was read, and finally the daily issues of the two papers for the first week of March in both periods were analyzed. Checks for a second week in I8 9 O and in one week in I9 2 U were also made. The various news items were carefully defined and classified under 28 headings. 13 Of these 28, twenty are either identical or quite similar to those of Johnson and Garth. While the Lynds caution the reader that the brevity of their news1 I4. paper study makes it "suggestive only," the method used was accepted as sufficiently accurate for the conclusion that "Middletown's" newspapers of I8 9 O were more "chatty and informal" 15 than those of the later period. ^Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, MIDDLETOWN, A STUDY IN CON­ TEMPORARY AMERICAN CULTURE. 1 2 IBID., Ch. 27. 1 ^IBID., Appendix, pp. 533-53 ll}. IBID., Appendix, p. 5331 5 IBID., p. 1+74. 21 THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIALIZATION IN NEWSPAPER ANALYSIS. Following the Columbia studies and that of Garth, the method of measuring newspaper content in terms of linear column inches and classifying the various items measured under carefully defined headings has come into rather general use. Succeeding studies have also, perhaps, "become somewhat more speci­ alized, lines: In the main, investigations seem to have proceeded along three they include special phases of newspaper subject matter, special types of newspapers, and the rural weekly. A good example of the first l6 type is Frank Harris's study, "Presentation of Crime in Newspapers." Harris classified various types of crime news in three Minneapolis daily papers at fifteen year intervals, I 8 9 O, 1905 > a*1*! 1-9 2 0 , and compared the number of local arrests for each crime category with the number of times each was mentioned in the three papers. A comparison between the number of arrests for each category and the amount of space given to each was also made. An analysis of the special type of newspaper is exemplified in the following study: "Danish Assimilation in the United States as Manifested by the Change in Content of Danish Foreign Language Newspapers, 17 1913-1929" by C. A. Stub. EARLY ANALYSIS OF RURAL PAPERS.18 One of the first published studies 19 of strictly rural newspapers was made by C . C. Taylor in 1921. In this 1^Frank Harris, PRESENTATION OF CHIME IN NEWSPAPERS, pp. 11-27. 17 "Student Dissertations in Sociology," THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Vol. XXXVII, July, 1931. IS Perhaps the first study of a rural weekly was made by L . L. Bernard in 1 9 1 6 . This study, which included five hundred Missouri weeklies, was not published. See Jesse Frederick Steiner, "The Rural Press," THE AMERI­ CAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Vol. XXXIII, No. 3, November I9 2 7 , footnote p. 1+12 . ^ C . C. Taylor, "The Country Newspaper as a Town-Country Agency," PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOURTH NATIONAL COUNTRY LIFE CONFERENCE, 1921. 22 study, 2^3 Missouri weeklies for the single week of February 5 * 19^-9 were analyzed. These papers were classified from three points of view: first, according to the size of the towns in which they were circulated; second, according to the percentages of their country circulation; and third, ac­ cording to the population of the counties in which they were located. The subject matter of the papers was classified under the heads: News, Editorials, and Advertising, and the percentages of each devoted to the local community determined. Local space was further analyzed for per­ centages given to town and country. The object of the study was to de­ termine the extent to which country weeklies were serving the communities in which they were published and circulated. In a second study, made in 1922, Taylor applied the method of measuring column inches to the subject matter of agricultural journals. 20 His purpose in this study was to compare the agricultural journal with the agricultural college, through an analysis of the latter1s curricula, as agencies of education in agricultural communities. A number of agricul­ tural journals, representing various sections of the country, extending over a period of forty years, from 1SS0 to 1 9 2 0 , were analyzed and the subject matter classified according to the following scheme: NEWS: Tech­ nical Production, Fiction and Nature Study, Marketing, Home and Family, Cooperation other than Marketing, Citizenship and Politics, Education and School, Social News and Social Contacts, Agricultural Engineering, Health and Sanitation, Transportation and Communication, Recreation, Labor, Re­ ligion and Church, and Total News Space. 20 ADVERTISING: County to Country C. C. Taylor* "The Rural Press as an Educational Agency, ' 1 PRO­ CEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH NATIONAL COUNTRY LIFE CONFERENCE, 1922, pp. 6 0 - 6 7 . 23 Advertising, Town to Country Advertising, County to Town Advertising, Self Advertising, and Total Advertising space. This classification, it will "be observed, is much more detailed than that of his previous study. He concluded from his findings that the agricultural journal, as an agency of education in agricultural communities, leads the agricultural college by five to fifteen years. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE RURAL WEEKLY. Probably the most thorough and complete study of the rural weekly or of any news/- 21 paper up to the present time was made by M. M. Willey in 192b. Drawing on the previous studies and particularly those made at Columbia University, which, perhaps, have lead the field in newspaper analysis, he introduced a more scientific methodology, broadened and refined the categories of classification, and selected a time range more representative of seasonal variations in newspaper content. Thirty-five Connecticut weeklies publish­ ed in towns with populations ranging from 426 to 2 2 , 1 2 3 and with circula­ tions from 475 to 4,290 were included in his study. In order to obtain a representation of seasonal variations in newspaper content, the first four issues of each paper for each alternate month, beginning with Feb­ ruary and ending with December, for the year 1 9 2 2 were analyzed. News and magazine material— advertising was not included— were measured in terms of column inches, each item being measured to the nearest half inch. The gist of an item or what it was about, "the what" as Willey calls it, was the basis for its classification. under ten major headings were used. 21 OP. CIT. 22ibid., pp pp. 32-40. . 3 5 -3 7 . 22 Forty-nine different categories These categories are as follows: 24 Civic and Political News. Domestic Political News, Foreign Political News, Diplomatic Correspondence and International Relations, Administrative, Ju­ dicial and Legislative News, "Home Town Helps," and Community Development, and Other Political News. Economic News. Labor News, Industrial, Commercial, Financial News, Price and Supply of Necessities, and Other Economic News. Cultural News, Science, Invention and Discovery, Art Notes and Criticism, Amusement Notes and Announcements, Literary Criticism, Books and Publishers1 Notes, Educational News, Religious News, Social Ser­ vice and Philanthropic News, Health, Sanitation, and Safety, Other Cultural News. Sensational News. Crime and Criminal Procedure, Accidents, Public Welfare Investigations, Civil Suits, Suicide, Divorce, Other Crime and Catastrophies. Sport News. Sports, Outings and Celebrations, and Other Sports. Personal News. Biography, Interest in Persons, Interest in Things, So­ ciety and Fraternal News, Holidays and Commemorative Exercises, and Other Personal News. Opinion. Original Editorials, Reprinted Editorials, Communications to the Editor, and Cartoons. Human Interest Stories. Magazine Material. Stories and Magazine Material, the Men's page, the Women's page, and Photographs. Miscellaneous Matter. Filler, Routine Notices, the Weather, and Unclassifiable material. Willey also subdivided both news and magazine material into shop set and syndicated, and indicated in addition the amount of space given to local, county, state, national, and foreign news. His purpose was to show the extent to which the rural weekly is serving its community as an agency 25 of socialization "by publishing the local news and "interpreting the local 23 significance of wider events.” He concluded that the Connecticut week­ lies are lacking in both local and socially significant news and that they 2k are also inconsistent in the kind of news printed. 25 A more recent study of the rural weekly has been made by Irene Barnes. She introduces some refinements in the methodology of Professor Willey but in general follows him closely. For instance, the headline of an item was measured separately and divided by its body length. change in news play-up. This gave an index of Her purpose was to show the changes that have taken place over a period of years in the content of Minnesota rural week­ lies. One hundred mile zones extending out from the Twin Cities were laid out on the assumption that the country weekly had been influenced by the metropolitan press. The first established and still existing papers in each zone were selected. In pursuance of her purpose four issues of each paper for each decennial year from I8 6 0 to 1 9 2 0 and for I3 2 9 were analyzed. The issues chosen were those of the first week in February, the second in May, and the third In August, and the fourth in November. papers included in each ten year period was as follows: 1 8 7 0 , 1 ^- The number of 4 for I8 6 0 , 6 for for 1880, 1 9 for IS9 0 , and 29 for each of the succeeding decen­ nial years. She concludes that country weeklies in Minnesota, by includ­ ing more and more local news in their columns, are becoming local papery, non-competitive with the city daily, but are following the latter's lead in news play-up. ^IBID., p. Ik. 2k 25 IBID., p. 111. Irene Barnes "Changes in the Content of Minnesota Newspapers," PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Vol. XXV, No." 2, pp. 1 6 —1 6 2 . 26 Another recent analysis of the rural weekly is a study of the "In­ terests of Rural People as Portrayed in Weekly Newspapers" "by C. R. Hof26 fer. J-t was his purpose in this survey to discover the nature and types of interests, as they are reflected in the rural weekly, of rural, people in their local community affairs. He selected 35 Michigan weeklies dis­ tributed rather uniformly over the state and analyzed and classified the news and advertising in one issue for each of the 12 months from June 1930 to July 1931* He also selected the papers with reference to the size of the towns in which they were published, the modal number 1 6 being found in towns ranging in size from 1000 to 2000 in population. The space was measured in terms of column inches and classified under seven major head­ ings consisting of General News, State News, County News, Local News, Edi­ torial material, Advertising, and Serial and Short Stories. Numerous sub­ headings also were set up particularly for local news and for advertising. His analysis according to the methodology employed showed that approxi­ mately SO per cent of the news space of the 35 Michigan weeklies studied was given to personal and to neighborhood and other primary group affairs. This brief survey of some of the more important newspaper studies represents in general the history of the development of newspaper analysis. It shows a steady refineCment in methodology from the vague subjective ap­ proach of the earlier studies to the careful definition and classifica­ tion of newspaper content in terms of column inches by Professor Willey. Furthermore, this survey shows that the scheme of classifying newspaper content varies according to the purpose of the study and the type of paper ^ C . R. Hof fer, "Interests of Rural People as Portrayed in Weekly Newspapers," Special Pulletin 29$, Michigan State College, Agricultural Experiment Station. 27 studied. This is evident from the studies of Taylor and Harris. Perhaps another fact indicated by the survey is that with increased precision in methodology an increased interest in the newspaper as a source of data for the studying of social problems and processes has come about. How­ ever, previous studies have, as a rule, considered the newspaper as a stimulating force in community life and have analyzed it from that point of view. POINT OF DEPARTURE IN THE PRESENT STUDY. Since no intensive study of the newspaper has as yet been made for the purpose of analyzing in histor­ ical perspective its role in the portrayal of changes in community life, it is proposed in the present study to carry the interest in newspaper analysis somewhat further and apply the methodology developed previously to the study of a single newspaper for the purpose of showing the extent to which it reflects the changes that have taken place in a community over a period of years. The point of departure in this study has been to con­ sider the newspaper as a medium reflecting community life, that is to say, the enphasis is on the community, while the newspaper, like a bulletin board, is scanned for its reflection of the changes that have taken place within the community. DELIMITING- THE STUDY. In attenpting to analyze from the files of its newspaper the continuous readjustments of the community to a more industralized era, it has been necessary to mark off certain delimitations. In the first place, as it has been pointed out previously, the term, commun­ ity, is a relative concept; it may be applied to geographic areas and their populations of varying sizes and maintaining social organizations of vary­ ing degrees of complexity. In general, as the community grows larger, its social organization becomes more complex; consequently, its social life is 28 less likely to be intimately portrayed in the newspaper. In order, there­ fore, to secure a more accurate picture of changes in community life, as they are reflected in the newspaper, a relatively small community repre­ sented by a rural weekly has been selected. A second conditioning factor to be considered has been the length of time that should be included in such a study. Certainly, if the study is to be of any value, the time covered should be of sufficient length to include the introduction of most of the more modern inventions and dis­ coveries which are so largely responsible for the revolutionary changes in the social thought and social organization of recent times. A length of time adequate to meet these requirements should reach back into the pioneer period before the advent or extensive use of gas, electricity, water mains, telephones, movies, automobiles, and radios, to mention only a few of the more modern conveniences and appliances. A period of forty- nine years, which seems to satisfy these conditions, has been chosen. exact years included are 1881-1929. The This period represents, perhaps, the full sweep of the more modern achievements contributed by the industrial revolution to American life. Another problem to be considered is the amount of newspaper content to be included. In other words, in order to secure with some degree of accuracy a measure of the newspaper's reflection of the changes taking place within the community, it was necessary on the basis of the method­ ology employed to determine how much of the total space in the newspaper should be analyzed. Obviously, the community news should be most inport- ant, but news of more distant places should also give some clue to the common life of the community. Such news might indicate a desire to learn of incidents and events which take place beyond the county or it might 23 signify an alert interest in the relationships of wider events to local conditions. Even the amount of fiction, cartoons, jokes, and other mat­ ter might suggest a greater or lesser degree of apathy in the locality served "by the paper. Likewise, the amount and type of advertising might reflect certain aspects of change within the community. A scarcity of local advertising, for instance, might suggest that buyers and sellers had not been made aware of the value of advertising or that the integra­ tion of differentiated labor and the exchange of goods had not proceeded far. By way of contrast, much local advertising might indicate a rather general recognition of the local paper as a common medium of communication and thus imply a growth in specialization of function, extensive inter­ action, and confidence on the part of the members of the community. Such advertising matter if analyzed over a period of years should show the ap­ pearance of new and the disappearance of old varieties of goods and ser­ vices and reflect certain types of changes in the habits and attitudes of the people of the community. Thus it would seem that every type of subject matter in the newspaper reflects in some measure the common life of the community; consequently, in the interest of completeness, it has seemed advisable to include the total newspaper content in the analysis. With the problem of content decided, the further problem of the num­ ber and distribution of issues to be analyzed arises. Scientific general­ ization, as a rule, rests on a few facts selected in such a way as to be 27 representative of a much larger number of similar facts. The question in the present study is: what yearly intervals and how many issues in each should be selected in order to give an accurate representation of the 2?A. Wolf, ESSENTIALS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD, pp. 112-115. 30 total newspaper content throughout the forty-nine year period? In order to avoid seasonal variations and also variations in political and economic as well as other conditions which do not occur with yearly regularity, the first issue of each month for each year of the entire period was analyzed. This sample includes 2 3 per cent of all issues in each year and would seem to he sufficiently adequate, both in the percentage of issues selected and the range of their selection, to give a fair representation of the total newspaper content for the period under consideration. The next step was to work out a system of categories suitable to the purpose of the study. THE METHOD OF CLASSIFYING NEWSPAPER CONTENT. A community, it has been pointed out, is a local grouping of people interacting and associa­ ting according to well established ways of living together. Notwithstand­ ing many complexities, these various ways of living together seem to fall into a few general patterns of behavior. As the Lynds have expressed it, "There are after all, despite infinite variations in detail, not so many major kind of things that people do. Whether in an Arunta village in Cen­ tral Australia or in our own seemingly intricate institutional life of corporations, dividends, coming-out parties, prayer meetings, freshmen, and Congress, human behavior appears to consist in variations upon a few 29 major lines of activity." Perhaps the various standardized ways of liv­ ing together that people engage in, in the process of carrying on a com­ mon life, tend to group themselves around the following general types: making use of leisure time, achieving esthetic satisfactions, and making 28 The first issue of each month was selected arbitrarily. An other issue in the month would in all probability have given similar results. ^Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrel Lynd, MIDDLETOWN, p. H. 31 adjustments to the unknown powers of the universe. classification of the news, 30 In proceeding with a it has been assumed that these institu­ tional relationships cover the major activities of community life. On this assumption an attempt has been made to classify the longer items of the news under the following specific institutional headings: Economics, Family, Religion, Government, Education, Recreation, Health, and Art. This is the classification into which human behavior seems to fall. 31 In order to take care of items such as county correspondence and local, state, and national brevities which were generally one-half an inch or less in length, and also to take care of serial and other stories, pic­ tures and cartoons, and items difficult to classify, four additional major headings were added. These headings are: Personal items, Stories and fiction, Pictures and cartoons, and Miscellaneous. These twelve major categories, then, form the basis for the classification of all the space in the paper excepting advertising. The next problem after determining the major headings was to devise a number of minor headings sufficiently inclusive and at the same time sufficiently objective to give a fairly complete picture, comparable from year to year throughout the forty-nine year period, of some of the more important secondary activities in the institutional life of the community. In working out such a system of categories the method employed by Profes­ sor Willey of classifying news matter according to the gist of an item was followed. This method consists of analyzing an item in order to de­ termine what it is about and then allocating it to the proper category. 5°A. Wolf, ESSENTIALS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD, Ch. III. ^ Clark Wissler, MAN AND CULTURE, p. 7 I+. SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Ch. II. 32 Usually the gist or "the What," to use Willey's terminology, appears in the headlines of an item. 32 Where this is true, and it generally is true of papers of recent years, classification becomes an easy matter as the following brief headings will illustrate: "Fill Churches Easter Sunday," "forecasters are the Bunk," "Flans for Health Week Under Way," and "Judge Puts Two on Probation," 33 It is readily apparent that the items repre­ sented by these headings would fall quite objectively under the four major categories, Religion, Economics, Health, and Government, out-lined in the above scheme of classification. In earlier papers the problem of deter­ mining the gist of an item was somewhat more difficult because headlines were lacking. This was aiso true of occasional short items in more re­ cent papers. In such cases it was often necessary to read an article in some detail before determining its proper classification. In order to determine a number of minor categories that would be more or less representative of some of the more important secondary acti­ vities in the life of the community throughout the forty-nine year period, a preliminary study was necessary. For this purpose four issues, one re­ presenting each season in each ten year period, were selected for analysis. For instance, one represented the winter season of 1882, another represent­ ed the spring season of 1884, another, the fall of 1886 and so on for each decennial period. The various items of these twenty issues were analyzed; the gist or "what" of an item determined and its entry made under the pro­ per one of the fore-going twelve major headings. headings was constructed. Finally, a list of sub­ Then as the study proper proceeded, by adopting -^Malcolm MacDonald Willey, THE COUNTRY NEWSPAPER, p. 3 3 . ^CLINTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN-NEWS, Sec. 1, p. 1, April 9 , I9 3 I. 33 the method of analyzing each paper in part, twice or more, some further refinements in the list were made possible. For instance, the more easily classifiable items in each paper throughout the forty-nine year period were analyzed and classified first. To avoid duplication, the items thus analyzed were checked with a red pencil. Thus the more difficult items were left to be classified later after greater facility in classification had been gained through experience. This procedure made it possible to determine the items which occurred with more or less frequency than was at first anticipated and to add some new headings or to group others as needed. In this way the minor categories were determined. The final list of major and minor categories, which are defined at some length in the Appendix, is as follows: I. Economics 1. Agriculture 2. Heal Estate 3. Merchandising b. Industry 5. Commerce and Transportation 6. Prices of Products 7. Finance and Insurance S. Miscellaneous II. Family 9. Family Reunions 10. Births 11. Weddings 12. Divorce 13. Deaths and Suicides III. Religion lU. Church 15. Sermons and Sunday School 1 6 . Miscellaneous IV. Government 17. Administrative Functioning IS. Politics 1 9 . Legla hews and Civil Suits 20. Crime and Graft 21. War and Military 3^ 22. Civic Activities and Philanthropy^ 23. Taxation 24. Miscellaneous V. Education 25. Formal 2 6 . Eon-formal 27. Agricul ture 28. Science, Invention, and Discovery 2 9 . Historical Incidents and Events 30. Travelogue 31* Domestic Hints VI. Recreation 32. Sports 33. Community Festivities 34. Amusements and Entertainments 35. Social Events 3 6 . Fraternal Orders 37- Miscellaneous VII. Health 3 8 . Health and Safety Campaigns 39* Accidents and Injuries 40. Miscellaneous VIII. Art 41. 42. U3 . 44. Music Drama Poetry Miscellaneous IX. Personal Items 45. County Seat Personals 46. County Correspondence 47* State Personals 48. National Personals X. Stories and Fiction 4 9 . Serial Stories, Short Stories, Jokes, and Bits of Wisdom XI . Miscellaneous 50. Filler, Weather, Calamities, and unclassifiahle items XII. Pictures and Cartoons 51. Comics and Cartoons 52. Photographs 53. Miscellaneous ^^Civic Activities and Philanthropy do not properly "belong under "Government" hut because such activities which are initiated by private interests are often taken over by governmental agencies after a general need for them has been demonstrated they have been arbitrarily included here under that heading. 35 Fifty-three subheadings, it will be observed, are included in the above list. These have been selected and defined with sufficient care to insure their objectivity. Furthermore, this number should be large enough to show rather completely the breadth of common interests that comes with­ in the range of a community's thinking over a period of years. The system of categories thus adopted, it will be noted, emphasizes the major insti­ tutional* relationships of community life. It brings out in greater detail than previous studies have the activities of the institutions of the Fam­ ily, Religion, Education, Recreation, Health, and Art. Moreover, it makes possible a more concise comparison from year to year of changes in the interests, both within and between different major institutional relation­ ships and also between the different types of relationships of the other major categories, METHOD OF DETERMINING THE INTIMACY OF THE COMMUNITY'S COMMON INTER­ ESTS. There remains, however, the problem of determining the intimacy of the community's common interests. In order to bring out this point, some further refinements in methodology were necessary. 35 Community life, it has been pointed out, is characterized by varying degrees of intimacy of common interests. Closeness of contact and asso­ ciation at the center compels an alert attention to the problems of mutu­ al adjustment. But with increasing distance, the number of contacts and common interests tend to diminish; hence the number of problems which re­ quire continuous mutual adjustment also tend to decline. In order, there­ fore, to show varying degrees of the things held in common as they radiate from the community center, it has been necessary to distinguish in the Willey, OP. CIT., Ch. IV. 36 newspaper content the local from the more remote news. This was accomp­ lished by a system of cross classification on the tabulation sheets. That is to say, an item was analyzed not only with reference to its in­ stitutional content but also with reference to its place of origin. In order to accomplish this purpose the following divisions of newspaper content according to place of origin--with the exception of Stories, Magazine, and Miscellaneous Matter which has no geographic reference— were used: Local, County, State, Nationa, Foreign, and Stories, Magazine, and Miscellaneous Matter. Thus finally the tabulation sheets especially prepared for classifying the news were completed. ADVERTISING. Advertising presented some difficulties. As it is con­ cerned largely with the sale of goods and services and is economic in character, it could not be classified in the same manner as the news; consequently, it seemed most logical and expedient, considering the pur­ pose of the study, to classify such newspaper matter according to its type and nature of content. This arrangement portrays in some measure the life of the community by indicating changes in local habits in such matters as the type of food consumed, styles of wearing appe.rel, and forms of transportation used and by reflecting a change in local attitudes from the acceptance of such products as patented health remedies to scientific medicine. In working out a system of categories for advertising, the same methodology employed in devising subheadings for news was followed. system of categories thus evolved is outlined below: I. Display 1. Patent Medicine and Appliance 2. Wearing Apparel 3. Food The 37 H. 5. 6. 7. S. 9. 10. 11. 12. Household Purnishings Drug and Department Stores Building Material and Equipment Transportation Rural Advertising Banking, Insurance, and Real Estate Amus emen ts "House Copy" Miscellaneous II. Non-Display 13. Legal Notices 14. Business and Professional Cards 1 5 . Business Locals 1 6 . Patent Medicine and Appliances 17. Miscellaneous These categories are defined in detail in the Appendix. Like the news the classification of advertising was made with reference "both to the nature of an item and to its source of origin. 36 In the process of classification, all items, "both news and advertis­ ing, were measured in terms of column inches. the nearest half inch. Each item was measured to News headlines were included as part of an item. Short items of half an inch or less in length used to end a column were not classified. BREVITIES and COUNTY CORRESPONDENCE, which usually con­ sisted of a series of short items of approximately one-half an inch or less in length, 37 were measured as a unit without detailed analysis. The next problem is the selection of a newspaper that fulfills the requirements of the purpose set forth above. The solution of this problem is the subject matter of the following chapter. 36 The terms, "Poreigri? and "General," were not included for the ob­ vious reason that they do not occur as sources of origin for advertising. 37 ^ Although some items, particularly in the later issues, occurring under "Local Personals" and "County Correspondence" were more than an inch in length, they were included with the shorter unanalyzed items of the same material. This was necessary if consistency were to be adhered to and the unity of the "Local Personals" and "County Correspondence" matter preserved. CHAPTER III EACTORS INVOLVED IN THE SELECTION OP A PAPER SELECTING A PAPER. In selecting a paper for study, several facts have had to he kept in mind. In the first place the rural weekly, though essentially the paper of the small community, shows some extreme varia­ tions in the number of its subscribers and in the size of the area it covers. Por example, the Kansas City Weekly Star circulates throughout several mid-western states and has a subscription list of ^3 3 . 1 5 7 while at the other extreme are papers like the Reporter of Hatch, New Mexico with a circulation of 12>5*^ Obviously, neither of these extremes is suit­ able to the purpose of this study. The former is not strictly represen­ tative of what is commonly considered the country newspaper. It is too large and too specialized to express all phases of the life of an inti­ mately unified rural group; and the latter, because it generally lacks sufficient financial remuneration to enlarge its service, is likely to be an ephemeral community institution or inadequate in its portrayal of com­ munity life. The bulk of country weeklies lies somewhere between the limits set by these two papers, and it is within this bulk that a paper fairly repre­ sentative of rural community life must be looked for. Atwood states in this regard that the great majority of country weeklies are published in towns of less than ten thousand population with the modal number being ^See N. W. Ayer and Son OP. CIT., pp. 521 and 633. 39 published, in towns of less than three thousand population, 2 and he shows that 8 6 per cent of the rural weeklies in New York in 1920 were published in towns with populations not exceeding the ten thousand figure. He also shows from figures compiled by Hopkins in 1922 that 9 6 per cent of Wis­ consin's country weeklies were published in towns of less than ten thou­ sand population and 89 per cent in towns of less than five thousand popu­ ­ lation.-' Wisconsin is probably representative of other midwest agricul­ tural states. If this be true, it would seem from these data that a coun­ try weekly published in a town with a population near the upper limit of the Wisconsin modal number would give a fair portrayal of the life of the average rural community. Furthermore, if the paper thus selected be lo­ cated in a county seat town, its opportunities for portraying all phases of the changing life of the community are increased: first, because it has the advantage of securing county advertising, the extra income from which enhances its possibilities of serving the community more adequate­ ly and reflecting community life.,, and secondly, because the county seat renders a greater number of services and usually to a larger community unit than does any other town in the county. It is the center from which the county Farm Bureau unit, county agricultural agent, county health nurse, county board of education, county superintendent of schools, county commissioners, county assessor, county court officials, and other county officials carry on county business and disseminate information about the county's problems and progress. Moreover, with the expansion of goods and transportation facilities, there is a tendency for the county seat, o M. V. Atwood, OP. CIT., p. ^4-* 3lBID., OP. CIT., p. 3 . Uo "because of the greater number of services it renders, to become more im­ portant as a county community center and, perhaps, the most attractive u and stable center for the country weekly* Bing says: The best place for a country weekly is in a town which does not stand by itself; a town where interurban and railroad connections with smaller towns are adequate and service frequent. Usually the county seat offers the most advantages. It is generally centrally located, it is the seat of the county government, and the court house news and general county news may be had with less effort than at other places in the county. Such a town, lying in the midst of a rich highly developed farming community where roads are good and the population stable, is the best field for a country weekly. ...5 But after the type of community to be analyzed through the medium of its press has been delimited, some other factors must be considered if the purpose of the study is to be met. Pirst, the paper which is to represent the community, obviously, must have been in existence suffi­ ciently long to include some of the more important technological and social inventions which have been most effective in influencing community life; secondly, the community chosen must have remained essentially rural through­ out this period. That is to say that if the survey is to be limited to a study ox the role of the rural newspaper in reflecting the changing life of its community, the population of the community and the population of its center must have remained fairly constant for the period studied. A community that has become highly urbanized would not suffice. A further consideration which merits consideration is the availabil­ ity of the community and the availability of the files of its newspaper to Willey, quoting figures from Ayer and Son's American Newspaper An­ nual and Directory for 1922, emphasized the fact that even though the total number of country weeklies declined to the extent of 2S6S from I9 1 5 to 1 9 2 2 , the number of county seats in which pspers were publish­ ed increased by 50* Willey, OP. CIT., p. 7. ^Bing,OP. CIT., pp. 10-11. kl the investigator. In other words, the files of its newspaper must "be in­ tact, and the location of the community it represents should he such that it may he reached without undue expense to the investigator, for as a rule the files of a newspaper cannot he taken from its office. THE COMMUNITY TO BE PORTRAYED. A Community which meets adequately all of the requirements set forth ahove is the Clinton County seat com­ munity, Clinton County, Michigan. Its county seat is St. Johns and its leading newspaper, which is published at the county seat, is the Clinton County Repuhlican-News. Clinton County is located in the center of the southern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Figure 1, page ^2. Its exact position is shown in the map, It is twenty-four miles square and contains within its borders nine towns and villages of which St. Johns, the county seat, 6 with a population of 3 3 2 9 according to the 1 9 3 0 census is the largest. The total population of Clinton County in 1930 was 2^,174.^ Of this number more than two-thirds lived on farms and slightly less than onethird in the nine towns and villages. No very marked change from the 1930 population figures either for the county as a whole or for the county seat has occurred during the previous half-century. This fact is borne out by Table II below which shows the population of Clinton County and the popu­ lation of St. Johns by census years since 1SS0. It will be observed from Table II that the total population of Clin­ ton County was decreased within the forty-nine year period by approxi­ mately four thousand. 6 This loss is, probably, not greatly different from See Fifteenth Census, Vol. I, p. 520. 7IBID., p. 520. 42 Figure I* Location of Clinton County Michigan O NTO NAG O N BARAGA Luce D IC K IN S O N M A C K IN A C delta ENOMINEE MM ET Legend MONTMORENCY A L P E N A ANTR IM Clinton County O ^KALKASKA CRAWFORD ALCONA GRAND TRAVERSE Ma n is t e e ROSCOMMON M ASON LAKE O CEANA M ECOSTA C LARE G LA D W IN IS A B E LLA M ID LA N D 1AR EN A C TU S C O LA MUSKEGON M ONTCALM G R A T IO T KENT O TTAW A IO N IA fl C L IN T O N S T CLAIR T5H IAW ASSEE O AKLAND ALLEGAN VAN BUREN BARRY I K A LA M A ZO O ST. JOSEPH EATO N IC A LH O U N BRANCH “ I IN G H A M TjACKSON H ILLSDA LE I L IV IN G S T O N W A S H TE N A W I LENAW EE I WAYNE MONROE ^3 TABLE II POPULATION OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN AND POPULATION OP ST. JOHNS, THE COUNTY SEAT OP CLINTON COUNTY, BY CENSUS YEARS 1830-19308 Census Years Population of Clinton County Population of St. Johns 28,100 2 ,3 7 0 3 ,1 2 7 1880 I8 9 O 26,509 1900 1910 1920 25,136 3.3S8 2 3 ,1 2 9 2 3 ,1 1 0 1930 24,174 3 ,1 5 4 3 ,9 2 5 3 ,9 2 9 what other rural counties have experienced. At the same time, it will he noted that St. Johns, the county seat, has gained 1,559 tion during the period covered by the study. popular- These changes are minor and do not affect the essential rurality of the community. the census reports substantiate this conclusion. Purther facts from Por instance, Clinton County has generally ranked high among Michigan's eighty-three counties in the value of strictly agricultural products. In 1SS0 and I8 3 O it stood 11th and 1 3 th respectively in the estimated value of farm products. In in oats, and 1 1 th in wheat, and in 1 9 1 0 , 9 12th in the value of all three of these cereals. In I9 2 O and 1930 it 1900 it stood 7 th in corn, ranked 8 th and 9 th respectively in the value of cereals, other grains and seed^, and hay and forage. 10 At the present time, three main transportation lines, all of which Tenth Census, Vol. I, p. 214; Eleventh Census, Vol. I, Part I, p.184; Twelfth Census, Vol. I, pp. 24 and 204; and Fifteenth Census, Vol. I, pp. 525 end 5 2 0 . 9 The agricultural statistics are not entirely comparable for each census period. ^ S e e agricultural statistics for 10th Census, pp. 120-121; 11th Census, pp. 213-214; 12th Census, pp. I0S-I69; 1 3 th Census, pp 752-753: l4th Census, pp. 438-445; and 1 5 th Census, Second Series, pp. 24-27. ill* pass through St. Johns, serve the county. They ere the Grand Trunk Rail­ way and two paved highways, U.S. 27 and M. 21. Two hundred and fifty miles of graveled roads connect every township in the county with these highways. The Grand Trunk crosses the north-central section of the county from east to west, U.S. 27, centrally north and south, and M. 21, northcentrally east and west. U.S. highway 26 and the Pere Marquette and Mich­ igan Central railway also touch the southern corners and the Toledo, Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Railway, the north-eastern corner of the coun­ try; but these, perhaps, are of little importance to the county as a whole 11 as a media of transportation and communication. A more detailed picture of the county is presented in the map, Fig­ ure 2, page ^5- this figure is shown not only the county's transporta­ tion lines but also the location of its various towns and villages together with their populations in 1 9 3 0 * CLINTON COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER HISTORY. 12 The first settler to take up permanent residence in Clinton County was George Campau. He located at Maple Rapids In the northern part of the county in 1832 and carried on a trading business with the Indians for a number of years. The second set­ tler, Captain David Scott, a veteran of the War of 1S12, arrived in I8 3 3 . He had come first from New York to Ann Arbor where he resided for a few years before coming to Clinton County. After several days of hardships and privations, so it is recorded, he made his way by ox team through the wilderness and arrived in Dewitt township on October I8 3 3 . He brought "^The Michigan Central Electric Railway also connected St. Johns, the county seat, with Lansing, the state cepitol, twenty-two miles south from I9 0 U to 1928. ■^See History of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties, Michigan, pp. 33&t U0 6 , and 3 U9 - 3 5 I. 45 Population of towns an(j villages, 1950: Incorporated O Unincorporated Q CLINTON COUNTY Lebanon ■ - Township "boundaries-----Highways Railroads |itifih h - Essex - a - Fowler (561) - y+ttBengal M jfU J *i-H^I^inghamr-^-M-H ®»St. Johns (3929) Riley Qyid±tft^yf, Ovid (1131) Victor Bath Eagle Bath (250) •Eagle Fgiure 2, Clinton County, Michigan, its townships, highways, railroads, and incorporated and unincorporated towns and villages with their 1930 populations. 1*6 his family, one horse, and seventeen cattle and located on a fourteen hundred acre tract of land in the northwest part of the township. Ex­ cept for a few Indian visitors the family spent the first winter alone. Soon afterwards, however, other settlers came and by I8 3 9 Captain Scott had built a store and two years later platted a village called Dewitt on a part of his land. This same site having been selected the year pre­ vious for the county seat gave added impetus to the growth of the new village and by I8 U2 , nine years after the arrival of the first settler, Dewitt found itself not only holding court and otherwise conducting the county's business but also in possession of the county's first newspaper. This paper was called the Clintonian. It was a four column weekly earn­ ing most of its revenue during its early years, according to historical records, from the printing of tax sales. After numerous transfers in ownership and changes in name it finally expired in 186*4 as the St. Johns Democrat in St, Johns whither it had moved following the removal of the county seat in 1 8 5 7 . vicissitudes of its career as well as those of other papers published in the county since 18*42 are shown in Table III, The second paper to be established in the county was also first pub­ lished at Dewitt. It was called the Dewitt Republican and made its first appearance on April 9» 1^5^. Like the Clintonian, it followed the county seat in December, 1857 to the latter's new location near the center of the county. At St. Johns the name Dewitt was replaced by Clinton, the paper becoming the Clinton Republican, a name to which it adhered for six­ ty-seven years, or until 192*4-. At this time the Clinton Republican com­ bined with the St. Johns News, a paper which had previously absorbed the Clinton Democrat, originally the Clinton Independent, which was first pub­ lished in 1866. After their combination Clinton County Republican-News *4-7 TABLE III PRINCIPAL NEWSPAPERS OE CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN PROM 18*42 to 1932* Name of Paper Original Name or Names Place of Publication Years Published Clintonian............. Clintonian Dewitt 18*42-18*1-9 Clinton Express........ Clintonian Dewitt 1850-1856 North Side Democrat..... Clinton Express St. Johns 1856-1859 St. Johns Democrat..... North Side Democrat St. Johns 1859-186*4 DeWitt Republican...... Dewitt Republican Dewitt 1 8 5 6 -1 8 5 7 Clinton Republican..... Dewitt Republican St. Johns 1857-192*4 Clinton County Republic an—News........ Clinton Republican add St. Johns News St. Johns 1 9 2 *4- Clinton Independent..... Clinton Independent St. Johns 1 8 6 6 -1 9 0 6 Clinton Democrat....... Clinton Independent St. Johns 1 9 0 6 -1 9 1 1 St. Johns News......... St. Johns News St. J ohns 1 S8 9 - 1 9 1 1 St. Johns News......... Clinton Democrat and St. Johns News St. J ohns 1 9 1 1 - 192*4 Ovid Register.......... Ovid Register Ovid 1866-1886 Clinton and Shiawassee Union..... Clinton and Shiawassee Union Ovid 1 8 7 9 -1 8 8 6 Ovid Register Union.... Ovid Register and Clinton and Shiawassee Union Ovid 1886- Home Chronicle.... . Home Chronicle Ovid 1878-1879 Map 1e Rap ids Messenger.. Maple Rapids Messenger Maple Rapids 1 8 7 *1 -1 8 7 8 Maple Rapids Dispatch... Maple Rapids Dispatch M apl e Rap ids 1 8 7 S—1 9 1 2 Maple Rapids American... Maple Rapids American Maple Rapids 1 9 2 3 -1 9 2 8 Maple Rapids Press..... Maple Rapids Press Maple Rapids 1930- Elsie Sun.............. Elsie Sun Elsie 1880- ♦IBID., pp. 3^9-351 history of Clinton County press up to 1880, and N. W. Ayer and Son’s Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals since 1880 . bs was the appellation selected to replace the names, Clinton Republican and St. Johns News, Numerous other papers, it will be observed from Table III, have been published "in the county since I 8 5 6 . second, from the point of view of age and one that is still in existence, is the Ovid Register-Union first published as the Ovid Register in 1S66 and twenty years later combined with the Clinton and Shiawassee Union also of Ovid under its present name. Fol­ lowing the Register-Union is the Elsie Sun established in I8 8 5 , a paper which is still published under the same name. Both the Register-Union and the Sun, while they have been published for many years, are small papers generally averaging about eight pages per issue, and each has a small cir­ culation. decline. Moreover, their circulations have shown a marked tendency to For instance, the Clinton and Shiawassee Union which was absorb­ ed by the Register in 1886 had 2,500 subscribers in 1880, and both the Reg­ ister-Union and the Sun had 1,200 each during the first few years of the present century, 13 but by 1928 each had less than one thousand, the fig15 ure for the Register-Union being 910 and that for the Sun, 800, One other paper completes the list of papers now published in Clinton County. It is the Maple Rapids Press established in 1930 and, perhaps, of little influence in reflecting changes in community life because of the recency of its es­ tablishment , ■^See Clinton County Republican-News ( anniversary edition), Thurs­ day, April 9, 1931, and Ayer and Son's OP, CIT,, Vol. 1902, pp. 3 9 6 and UlQ, and Vol. 1905* PP* 397 and UlO. lk No figures for the Register-Union are given by Ayer and Son for a later date, but the figure for the Elsie Sun is the same for the years I9 2 9 and 1930* 1^Ayer and Son, OP. CIT., Vol. 1928, pp. ^ 1 and 508. "I HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN NEWS. The Clinton County Republicsn-News is the oldest paper now published in Clinton County. It was established in I8 5 6 by Hascol and Hilton and made its first appearance on April 9 th of that year as the Dewitt Republican at Dewitt, Michigan which was then the county seat. It espoused the principles of the recently organized Repub­ lican party, a position to which it held steadfastly for more than twothirds of a century. It changed ownership a number of times before 1881, the date which marked the beginning of the period covered by this study. At that time it was in the possession of Fuller and Rose. The latter with­ drew from the business in 1882 and the former transferred his ownership on july 1, I8 8 9 to Coleman C. Vaughn whose proprietorship continued until 1 9 2 3 , a period of thirty-four years. This is not only the longest period of pro­ prietorship for the Clinton Republican, but it is the longest period that any paper in Clinton County has been under the administration of the same publisher. On April 1, 1923» Mr. Vaughn sold the Clinton Republican to Schuyler Marshall; and thirteen months later the Clinton Republican and the St. Johns News, both of St* Johns, were combined to form the Clinton County Republican-News under the editorship of Schuyler Marshall and C. S. Clark, Jr. At the same time the paper withdrew from partisan politics and became independent. It is only the forty-nine year period from 1881 to 1930 that we are concerned with here. During this period the Clinton Republican, now, of course, the Clinton County Republican-News has been under but three differ­ ent proprietorships: Fuller and Rose, Vaughn, and Marshall and Clark. Under "^See History of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties, Michigan, p. 350; and Clinton County Republican-News (75th anniversary edition) Thursday, April 9 , 1931, PP. 15, IS, and 21. 50 Mr. Fuller the paper consisted of eight pages, the four inside pages of which were made up of what has been called "patent insides.*' It employed three people and carried an annual pay roll of fifteen hundred dollars. When Mr. Vaughn took over the editorship, the patent inside feature was considerably lessened and after the installation of the first linotype machine, discon­ tinued entirely. The County Campbell Press used by Mr. Puller also gave way to a two revolution Scott Press and this was replaced later by a Goss Perfecting Press which is still in use and will print three thousand eight page papers per hour. A second linotype machine was brought in from the St. Johns News office and added to the equipment when the two papers were combined in I9 2 H. In 1929 > "the last year covered by this study, eight per­ sons besides the editors were employed by the Republican-News, and the annual pay roll amounted to approximately sixteen thousand dollars. Table IV will illustrate more accurately, perhaps, the growth of this paper during the period studied. Prom this table it will be noted that the weekly mean number of pages in the twelve selected issues for each year have increased from 8 in 1881 to 8 . 9 in 1901, 11.33 in 15 . 8 in 1921» a»cL 19.33 1929. Further­ more, the weekly mean number of columns per page have been expanded from 6 to approximately 8 and the weekly mean number of column inches per issue from 9 6 0 to more than 3,000. Thus the average number of pages per issue more than doubled and the average number of column inches per issue more than trebled during the forty-nine years. The paper's circulation, too, has shown a marked increase within the period studied. 1 ,1 0 0 For instance, it was in 1880, 2 , 6 0 0 in 1 9 0 1 ^^ and U , 3 9 2 in 1 9 2 9 .1S 1 7see History of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties, Michigan, p. 350. 1S Ayer and Son, OP. CIT., Vol. 1902, p. 1+13, and Vol. I929, p. U72. 51 TABLE IV WEEKLY M E M HUMBER OE PAGES, COLUMN PER PAGE, INCHES PER COLUMN, AND COLUMN INCHES PER ISSUE OF THE CLINTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN-NEWS IN THE TWELVE SELECTED ISSUES AT FIVE YEAR INTERVALS FROM 1SS1 to 1926 AND FOR I9 2 9 Years Pages per Paper Columns Page Inches per Column Column Inches per Paper 1SS1 8 6 20 960 1 SS6 8 6 20 960 1 S9 1 S.25 6 20 990 1S 96 s . 67 6 20 lOkO.k 1901 8 .9 2 6.75 20 120k, 2 1906 1 0 .6 7 7 21 1 5 6 s. 5 1911 1 1 .3 3 7 21 1 6 6 5 .5 1916 1 U .1 7 7 21 2063 1921 1 5 .8 3 7.5S 21 2519.2 1926 IS 8 20 2860 1929 1 9 .3 3 7.93 20 3065.7 POSITION OF THE CLINTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN-NEWS AMONG MICHIGAN WEEK­ LIES IN 1 9 2 9 . The position of the Clinton County Republican-News among the weekly newspapers of the state in 1929 will be made more clear by a glance at Table V which shows the distribution of Michigan weekly news­ papers according to their circulations and the population of the towns in which they are published. The Republican-News, which is indicated by three asterisks in the table, is found, it will be observed, within the circulation range 14-,0 0 0 -U , 9 9 9 and to the right of the population range 3 * 5 0 0 to U,999* exact circulation in I3 2 9 was ^,3 9 2 . Two hundred twenty-four, or 9^.9 52 TABLE V DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS IN I9 2 9 ACCORDING TO THEIR CIRCULATION AND TO THE POPULATIONS OF THE TOWNS IN WHICH THEY WERE PUBLISHED* Population of towns in which weeklies were published Number and distribution c}f weeklies according Circu­ to circulLation lation 5 0 0 1 , 0 0 0 1 , 5 0 0 2 ,0 0 0 3 , 0 0 0 1 *,0 0 0 5 . 0 0 0 Total no t re­ Under to to to to to to to report ported 500 999 1 ,1+99 1,999 2,999 3,999 *+,999 7 .0 0 0 ing Under 500.... 20 IS 2b 3 500-999...... 23 7 45 16 1 ,0 0 0 - 1 ,4 9 9 ... 8 2 20 19 1 ,5 0 0 - 1 ,9 9 9 ... 8 6 2 ,0 0 0 - 2 ,4 9 9 ... 3 2 ,5 0 0 - 3 ,^9 9 ... 5 3,500-^,999... 2 5 ,0 0 0 - 9 ,9 9 9 ... 5 1 0 ,0 0 0 - 2 4 ,9 9 9 . 5 Total...... 79 2 1 69 8 2 51 5 g 2 2 2 3 1 1 11 2 3 b b 1 lH 3 1 2 2 19 2 2 2 1 1 27 15 1 29 U5 100 53 1 ** b 22 2 13 2 b 6 2 236 per cent, of the 2 3 6 Michigan weeklies reporting circulations to the Ayers, it will "be noted from Table V, had circulations in 1 9 2 9 or less than 3,000 and 2 0 9 * or 8 8 . 5 P©** cent, were even below 2 , 0 0 0 in the number of their subscribers. Two hundred nine, or 8 8 . 5 per cent, of trhes’e week­ lies, it will be observed further, appear in towns with populations of ^Weekly newspapers representing ethnic and trade groups and weekly newspapers published in towns with populations of more than 2 5 * 0 0 0 are not included. Such papers are quite obviously not rural in character. Data coirpiled from Ayer and Son's Directory of Newspapers and Periodi­ cals. Vol. 1930, PP. UU5 to U 7 7 . "^The paper indicated here is the Ithaca Herald whose estimated cir­ culation in 1 9 2 9 was U,0 0 0 . ricjksk This paper is the Clinton County Republican-News whose sworn cir­ culation in 1929 was l+,392. 53 less than 3,500. No other town with a population of less than 5»000 in the state of Michigan reported a weekly paper with a circulation as large as that of the Clinton County Republican-News in 1929. Thus it is evi­ dent from these data that the Republican-News holds a leading place among the rural weeklies of the state. Further evidence of the important position held by the RepublicanNews is indicated by the numerous honors and awards conferred upon it and its editors for distinguished community service. For instance, Fuller, Vaughn, and Marshall, its editors during the period covered by this study, have each served as president of the Michigan Press Association. And in 1926, under the editorship of Marshall and Clark, first honors for the achievement of "The Greatest Community Service" were awarded the Republi­ can-News by the National Editorial Association on the completion at St. Johns of a county community hospital which it had sponsored. Again in 1927 for "The Best All Around Rural Weekly" it was awarded third honors by the same association. "Distinguished Rating," another compliment paid Clinton County's oldest existing weekly, was conferred in I9 2 8 bj^ the Na­ tional Community Newspeper Contest sponsored by the University of Illinois' Department of Journalism. Further recognition of its leadership, too, is evinced by numerous invitations extended to its editor-in-chief, Schuyler Marshall, to give special lectures before the Department of Journalism at the University of Michigan and his election in 1932 and 1933 to the presi­ dency of the University Press Club of Michigan. These instances of honors bestowed upon the Clinton County Republican-News are added evidence of the distinguished position it holds among the better rural weeklies not only of the state but also of the nation. 5*+ This briefly is the history of the paper selected for study. Its analysis according to the method set forth in Chapter II will he made in the following pages. CHAPTER IV WHAT THE PAPER PRINTS The mind grasps complex objects or situations as wholes. are not apparent at first. Details The forest, for instance, is seen before the trees, or the flower garden before the flowers. Likewise, in matters of science, problems are perceived more or less in their composite forms be­ fore details are observed. Likenesses and differences of the attributes of the phenomena under consideration are apprehended only after careful analysis and comparison, 1 Following this principle, It has seemed more logical in studying social change in the Clinton County seat community, as it is portrayed in the files of its newspaper over a period of years, to consider first the entire content of the paper. This procedure gives a picture of the whole range of interest without reference to its place of origin. It shows in detail, only the various types of behavior toward which the Clinton County Republican-News has directed the community's attention from year to year. It brings out the changing eiiphasis in the community's interests as they are portrayed in the files of its paper but does not, of course, distinguish the local from the more remote news. These phases of the problem will be taken up in later chapters as the analysis proceeds. NEWS NEWS SPACE ANALYZED ON THE BASIS OF COLUMN INCHES, Perhaps, the XA. Wolf, ESSENTIALS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, Ch. 11. 56 changing emphasis in the range of thought that enters into the common life of the Clinton County seat community over the forty-nine year period can "be most clearly illustrated by comparing first, the absolute amounts of space given to total news and that given to each of the twelve major categories for each year. These data are presented in Table VI. It will be observed from Table VI that the amount of total news space has more than doubled in the forty-nine year period. The average weekly range in column inches is from *4-74.8 in 1893 to 1210.7 in. 1923. ed change for the various years occurs before 1901. No mark­ After this date the trend is steadily upwards. In the relative proportion of the total news allotted to the various categories, several facts stand out. Economics, government, and education for instance, are the institutional relationships most often brought by the newspaper to the attention of the people of the community. for these three categories are: The mean 73*6» 93.4, and- 7 9 . 6 respectively. The average amount of space given weekly to economic interests increases from slightly more than two columns in the earlier years to a little more than 2 four in the later ones. No very definite similar trends for "government*’ and for ••education" are apparent. There is, however, a marked tendency toward an increase in the amount of space given to the former type of institutional relationship every fourth year. These years coincide with the national presidential campaigns and indicate, as it will be shown later, the important role played by politics in agitating the common life of the community. Next in order on the basis of the amount of space received are the 2 It will be recalled from Ch. Ill, p. 51 that the length of a column was generally twenty inches. 57 M *U 3• n • n • CT> cvj f —ir STLO0TI -i©IX0OST^ uoxq.OTj; pxre SQTiO^g sra©q.j XBu o s j :©^ LOVO LO 00 VD LO LCV rO I— « -=f* 60 CTiCVI 10 O CU 60 o CTt LO I— rH VJD VO O fO CT\VO • • • • * « • « * LT\^J- rH IO LTV CFV rH rH rH CM rH IO LOVO I— VJD VO tO iH rH rH i—I i —I rH rH rH r OTmouooa > » U E g « ?) © © ,y © a h . i i © © 0 O O © rH H © £} p O £j OJ H & ftjo o o +> h © 53 © r>H lOrHHCTVHCVJOiHCVJrO • • • • • • • • • • rH rovo ^=f ro ro rH |H to o VO rH rH to CVJ^}* rH CO rH i —1 i—I qv co co f— r— vo crv rH co cv o to • « • * oj • • • • » CO LO O LO r— tO to rH IO o i— ro to ov to crvto to • • • « • • • * « • rH vo co ^dr jzf r— rovocrv CVJ rH rH CVJ rH CVJ CVJ CVJ rH <—I H •H #O * W * C O * O« t Ot H•O « cvj crvr— co cn k v h i— rH to LO t— lOLOCVl^t to to o • • • • • • • * • • CDVOVO o w CV1 o O to crv r— ^ vo l o cvj vo t— lo H i—I tH <—I I—I C\J LT\^3- I— LTV CVJ CTV LO I— CO u o t St x s h (n r— J=fto rH VO rH tovo tor— to to at o h J-ro to to to i—t i—I I—II—t i—I I —Ii—I O -=f VD ,=J- LO CVJ CFV rH i—1 « • • • • • • • • O CO CO LOVO VO CT\ r— IO 1 1 H i—1 i— 1CVl i—I i— 1 rH LO rH » • * 103 d rH rH 3 N V 3 IO CVI CO VD 1 — rH co crv C\J to o LO 60 3 LD O V 3 H CVJ CVI r-H i—1 i—1 O d H O LO * * * • » » » « • * 3 CO 3 LO LO rH vD 60 CO 3 LO rH rH 1 — rH CVJ O V D H OV tH rH cn LO ro LOVD VD O 3 1 —1 rH rH rH rH rH 3• 1 — tO• iH• CU o • OV • rH • 3• c •vi • 3 3 co ovioifM— r— i—1 »H •co•co ro to i—1 3 lovd 1 — ro ro O r— vo 3 • » • • • * • • • • n - 3 O LO ro r— CVJvo i— co i—l i—1 rH i—1 to cu rH 60 e n r o m o ro rH • • • • • • • • • • d vd vo 1 — ro 60 ro r o 3 ro rH ro cu ro to CVJ cvj to cu 3 CU • ro rH 3 r— OV to ov c— ov io l o ro • • • • • « • • * * OOOtH60C>VOLOrOI— ro CVJ ro CV1 rH ro CVJ rH CVI CO tO• O • 60• H• 60 • 3" • rH • VD • •Is— •60 enrol— to o rovDvo cvi cn tH CVJ H CVJ CVI CO CVJ rH rH rH rH• 60• cn LO •0 • VD • rH • IOVO • • 60 • • v o d 3 d ov 60 avr— lo r— rH ro to ro r o 3 103 vo 3- LO • 3 cu, O • LO• rH « VD• VD o O VD 3 CO OVVD rH• OV rH 3 * O• CU • 60 » 60 * LO « • • •O cvj o rH dd 0 - 3 ro r— 1 0 3 r— 60 106060 CVJ O 1— LO 60 1—1 <—1 tOLOl— 0 H CO 6-(\J H lo LO rH LO 60 LOCVJ rH LO CO O 0 envo n- cn 60 ov ro rH o tH H H H VD • cn r— O crv cvj3" to lo crv O 60 ro » • * • • • • « • • v d cn rH O 3 cvj ro envo co vo n- cn i— 3 3 vo o i— rH i—i i—i i—i VD «H I T U O U O d V D d roevi envo LO CU 1— 60 60 LO 0 rH 10rH 0 ov 0 n-vo cn 0 cu rH rH 1 —1 rH rH 3* ro 60 60 •I— •ro • VO • • LO 60 3 60 CVI CVJ CVJ CVJ rH CVJ vd Locu 0 3 ro ro cn ov ov « • » * • • • • • • 3 ro rH ro 60 cu 60 c u r o o CVJ cu ro ro ro ro cu 3 lolo cvi #cn#l o#cvj • to Q GV LO r o 3 tH o ro ro3 3 1—« o• LO 1 0•3 •O » • I— m 3 CO 3 to LO CO LO LO LO rH tH 3 •VD• LO• rH• LO • rH • VD • rH r— c— cn ov r— o 3 60 r— VD o v o H r"1 rH rH COLOLO • « • to cj l o o ro to r"I rH f—• rH* rH• OV — ro • r• • 60 « •CTvCTvCO • • envo ro co v d rH rovo 3 io VD Jd" i—1 i—1 i—1 rH rH rH <—1 IO• ro• H• rH • 60 • f 0 3 rH O r— H rH rO CVI rH c (n m•r •- o• w• o * w • d» *o *n o v r o t o d r— o vD rH io ro 3 «h rotHi— o go o ov to ro ro cu ro cvi3 cu ro cvi ro m 3 co ro c n 3 l o co rH O • • • • * • • • • • r-— cn to 3 vo ro co to co co rOLOOVtO O CTVrH C— tH crv rH tH rH VD O 60 rH O LO I— 1— O r O O CVJ O rH 60 LO LOVO t— 60 i —1 rH «—1 i—1 t— rO OV C\l i —1 tO vd ov ro roo d 60 ro co o cvi3 lovd vd r— r— r— H O V D 60 M d O H OVOV iHCVJrHCVJCVJCVJrOroCOCVJ d LO tO rH 3" cvj 3 crv crv crvcu ov io r— n— co co O rH cvi r o 3 l o v d r-co gv o o o o o o o o o o co crv ov ov cn ov ov cn ov ov i—| rH i—1 rH tH rH rH rH rH rH cn CVI h— VD CVJ 0 3 * • • • * « • OV 60 60 3 r^- CVI VO vo 60 ov rH enr— to t—i cn O• 1—1 cu n - O Lor-cneo to l o cu ro • • • • • • * • • • CU rH 1 — fH C" H-VD I O H Isr o 3 ro ro r o 3 3 1 0 3 LO • 3 CU O •VD«-d• " rH H • rH • •IO H • LO • fO • • r— rovo 3 3 O 3 to 60vd cn 1 — 0 3 60 3 r o 3 3 ro 60 O rH ro ov 0 cn r— ov nH 1 —1 rH rH vD • ro 1 — rH tO rH LO IO LO IOVD 60 cn rH o crvvo r— cvj r— vd r o o evil— l o r— to ro to 6060606060 0V 60 60 I— 60 cn to to- ro 60 ov 1 —60 ro • • • • • • • • • • ro t"-cu o ' — O H ov r— cu 60 LO cu rH C— CU 3 LO O H 60 rH rH CU rH 1 —1 O rH 1 —1 1—1 H H H H H H H H H vD • 60 LO C— 60 rH r— 60 o rH cvj r o 3 lovd i— 60 cn i—1 rH rH rH rH rH rH rH i—1 rH cnovc nc n o v o v c n a v o v c n rH tH i—1 rH rH i—1 i—1 rH i—1 i—1 O rH CVJ 6 0 3 LOVO 1— 60 OV OJCUOJCUCUCUCUCUCUCU cncncnovcnovcnovcnov 1 —1 1 —1 1 — 1 rH 1 — 1< — 1( —1t — 1 tH rH VD Arith­ metic Mean h rH • 60 • VD • •rH •1 0•3 Cjvtor— O V O 1— 60 o 60 t o d ro tH 59 institutions of the family, religion, and recreation. The number of col­ umn inches allotted to each of these types of human relationships has approximately trebled within the forty-nine years. Each began the period with an average amount of space epproximating one-half to three-fourths of a column and ended with an average of more than two columns per weekly issue. The years denoting tendencies toward marked increases in weekly averages are: family, 1 9 0 1 ; religion, 1 8 9 6 and I9 II; recreation, IS93 and 1 9 2 1 . Judging from their reflection in the local paper, it would seem that the institutions of health and art have played less important roles in the life of the Clinton County seat community for their averages are only 1 3 .2 and 7 .^ respectively. "Health, 11 it will be recalled, comprises all news items pertaining to problems of health and well being, such for ex­ ample as keeping well, health laws and investigations, safety campaigns, sanitation, new methods of treating disease, accidents and injuries, health statistics, and similar matter. Excepting the years, 1881 and 1887, the weekly average amount of news space given to this category seldom approx­ imated three-fourths of a column in length previous to 1921. In that year an increase, ranging from one and one-half to two columns, appears and continues throughout the remainder of the period. The amount of space de­ voted to art, it should be noted, is the lowest for all institutional re­ lationships. The weekly mean for this category is less than one-fourth of a column for half of the years preceding 1 9 2 5 end approximately onehalf column for the remaining years of that period. After 1925, however, it rises to an average of nearly three-quarters of a column. The news matter classified under "personal items" includes county correspondence, local personal items, and items concerning persons of 6o some state and national importance. This type of news material, it will he observed from Table VI, received more of the total absolute amount of news space during the period studied than any other category. In fact, it accounts for slightly more than one-third of the total news space dur­ ing the forty-nine years. Its general weekly average is 290.3 column inches, or slightly more than two pages per issue, compared to a general weekly average of 9 3 *^ column inches or less than one-third as much given to government, the category with the second highest average. There is little change in the weekly average absolute amount of news space from year to year entered in this column until about 1900. Following the first nineteen years, however, which shows an average of 1*4-6 column inches per week, the weekly mean number of column inches increases through the three successive decades to figures of 3 0 0 * 3 9 9 * ^ 6 respectively. Stories and fiction category includes jokes, "tall stories," stories characterized by clever and witty remarks, stories involving plots and occurring in but a single issue, and serial stories. A general average of SI.5 column inches of space per week, which is the third largest for any category, it will be noted from Table VI, has been given to this type of newspaper matter. Three periods of marked variation in the weekly aver age absolute amount of space devoted to stories and fiction, Table VI shows, stand out. These periods include the years 1SS1 to 1£>97. 1898 to I9 1 9 , and 1 9 2 0 to 1 9 2 9 with weekly averages in column inches of space of 95*5* 6 *4-.9 , and 8 9 . 5 respectively. These data suggest a decline in the amount of space given to "stories and fiction" in the middle years cover­ ed by the study. However, this conclusion can only be tentative until the data are transcribed into percentages which has been done in the fol­ lowing table. 6l The category, miscellaneous, comprises many short items used to end a column— commonly called "filler*1— , items about the weather, calamities, and other material difficult to classify. 2 0 .5 A general weekly average of column inches has been allocated to this heading, "Pictures and cartoons" includes photographs of human beings, photo­ graphs and sketches of animals, and comics and cartoons. The outstanding fact about this category is the continuous increase in the absolute amount of space recorded under it from 1 8 8 5 to the close of the period covered by the investigation. Its range is from zero in the first four years of the period studied to a weekly average of 133*^ column inches in I9 2 S. It may be interesting to note further that the last seven years of this per­ iod show an average of from four and one-half to six and one-half columns per weekly issue. This means that during the last seven years of the 1920's the Clinton County Republican-News, in the process of focusing the attention of its readers on local and more distant problems of common interest, devoted from three-fourths to seven-eighths of a page each week to this type of news matter. The explanation for this vast increase in pictorial material is, doubtless, largely due to technological improve­ ments which make possible pictorial reproductions with greater east. In summarizing the data of Table VI, it may be stated, that, with the possible exception of "government" and "education," there is a tend­ ency, in some cases quite marked, toward an increase throughout the fortynine year period in the total absolute amount of space given to each of the major categories, NEWS SPACE ANALYZED ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES. Since the data of Table VI are expressed in absolute amounts, the marked increase in the total amount of space given to each of the major categories noted may be 62 more gpparent than real. For instance, it is possible for the absolute amounts of space given to a particular category to increase from year to year and at the same time show a declining percentage of the total news space. That is to say, it is possible for the total news space to in­ crease more rapidly than the space given to any particular category. In order, therefore, to show the true proportional relationship of each ca­ tegory to the total news from year to year, the data of Table VI have been restated in terms of percentages and presented again in Table VII. This table shows the weekly mean percentages that news is of total psper space and that each of the twelve major categories is of the news space * in the twelve selected issues for each year, 1661 to 1 9 3 0 * Although the absolute amount of news space shown in Table VII has increased more or less continuously throughout the period under investi­ gation, it is noticeable at once from the data of this table that the per­ centage of news space to total paper space has steadily declined. In the earlier years of the period studied, the data show, news matter made up approximately three-fifths of the total paper space, as compared to twofifths in the later years. This, of course, means a 50 per cent decline in news matter in proportion to total paper space in the forty-nine years. The percentage range of news to total space, stated inversely, is from 6 3 .3 in 1666 to 37.6 in 1926. Thus, in the later years, advertising, the subject matter making up the remainder of the peper, has approximately reversed positions with the news in amount of total paper space received. In percentage proportion of total news space, as in absolute amounts, Table VII shows that economics, government, and education still lead other institutions. Their forty-nine year averages are 9 . 7 per cent, 13.U per cent, and 11.1 per cent respectively. Roughly speaking, the figures would ^3 CU r-*^ CVI U • • • # sxiooq.oBo ptro sajrtqofd CO -ctoxq.oxvg; pue sa^joq-g la o IH O T? s smaqj Xsuosjraj t J = t" • CD -&H CD ® c P h n -H-> Eh co o CD £i CD +> 525 I O "ctl ** rP <4-H +> O CO CO CD * H Sf a CD O J-t EH CO CD Pt § CD a r*3 aCD « & < —i ft I O CM VO CM rH I O CO rH CVS CO •H •d I r — co rocr \r^-co om> • • • • • io c o * • • • » c r \ r o c ja v o f O I O CT'i r O CO d d CM L O O H H W I O rH CM CM H H H H H H H H d c t \ ct \ CT\ rH CTMO rH CM CTMO C V Jto d .- h cm v o rHOOr-HOCMOAOCMO S§ EH CO CO £3 rH © &) *J r3 l rH 01 EtD +£>0 i 4 *f~t S3 d — a) +> •H CO •rH +3 Sh © pq h 3 PH «1 & i —t f— o Q O C 0 0 1 A H 3 n C M C M tO C U C M C M C M C M C M O ft P- p— p— p— p— p—vo r —t — p— r — d CM VO F"- P— I O rH CO O CM m o h c o d co w v o H t o H rH t O LO H P - i n N I O CM r o t o CM CM t o CM rO IO cvj h CO CD «F3 O O CO EH IO rH d r — toco ro>-H CMd CT \ • iH CO CO 3 Pr H P < — Co CTi P—VO CTNro * » • • • « * • • B1 00 § Eh S h O ft © U O > 0) r D o v r o l— CO tO rH t o CM o vo t o t O d I CO [V ] © « « • • • • • • • C T > 0 fA C T \ f O d 3 - ^ - 0 H VO I— !— VO VO VO VO VO I ■ fcuO H-3 4-3 CD O Q S3 S3 •H © +» ai CO p ft *H fH ft W +> U © © Ph O • vo • d co co p — crvvo • • • • • * vo + CO rH VO t O Q VQ CO t— * 0 rod -d-^d-r rod t O CM I O rH rH t O t O O t o <-h avvo c tm o o r—d vo « » * • • • • » • * VO rH IO I— CT\H H H P-tO d d d d ro d d d d d o £ « J ■d -1-3 O VO EH C T \ O d VO o • d IO COd d VO CT\VO vo d to m o P - c M d v o o ro r o d d t o so ro • • • • toco d • • * cnco • • VO rH t O O t O C O t O O O C M CM CF\ CM IO I O CO rH CO CO CO d ro d d to t o d r o d d CO & © r H CM t o d IO V O P— 6 0 C Pi cococococococococo cococococococococo rH i—I rH i—I rH rH rH rH rH O rH CM r o d IO V O I"— CO CPt c^cr\cr\cr\cr\CPicPkCP\CPiCT'i cocococococococococo i—I rH rH i—I i—I «—I f—I i—I rH i—t 72 Kbt— vo i — un.=tto m m • • • * • • • • • # O Mnn cvj t^to h o v d H H CM CM CM CU CM CM C V J CM = tvo oo cnvo o cno • • • • • • • • • « cni " — c\ jr — cncnun o C\JrlHC\J(MHrlrlHH i — r — rH cncn cnun^j- o oo • • • • • • • • • • O 00 Kb KbO CM CnCM KbCM rH rH i —1 i —1 i —1 i —1 i —1 rH rH Kb • CM CM J-VD 60 150 KbVO ICbO = J *o ObVO CM 00 L C hOb Ob cnr — cm cm. z tr —^ un rlHHHHHHrl vo cm oo cnh rH cnr — vo i — rH cnooHrHoo^j-r— cncn Kbudo cm rH r — m cm rHrHrHHCMHCMrHrHH CM CM CM f — O Kb00 K-.H• * * • * • • • • • CM n—CM n-Jd* KVd*VD 00 cn uni — r —vo un cnvo »h «h cm rH rH rH i —1 rH rH rH CM CM CM CM • rH u t f rH to Kb-=a- KbmvD co m o m • • » * • • • • • » OJ- CO 1— VO rl w cn mvo to to r —f — r — S— r — r —r — r — VO LTV1— VO CM CM O H O IAOCMI— CM LOO H J- O n-oo oo 0— 0 - 0 0 000000 cn KbKbCnrH rH rH UbVO O CM • * • • • • • • • • cnvo VOVO OM— o t —f — 0— oo oo oo oo oo oo cnoo 00 00 r — • i — t — KbOO,=t* rH rH n--=t to Linto • • * • • • • • • • vo cncncm ir\ir\un»— cm i h cncnm-=t" r — Kb-=J- h h cu m Kb.=d-73r ^=Sr m un^j- un cnun rH^=ir unoo « — oo • • • • « * • • • • un cm o co cnn Q rHVO Ob CM Kb00 00 Kb1— , 3 *vovo unr — oo uni — rH rH cm un,=t on00 00 rH 00 Kb • * • « • • • • • • OOrHI— OUbOOCMOOUj- O n- avd-J-vo 0 vo cmvovo CM O rH O CM KbUbUb,=t- Ub rH 1—1 1—1 rH rH i —1 i —1 i —1 i —1 rH Kb * Kb i —1 VO vo cntr\cn un o f — cm • « * « • • • • • * un cm vo lcwo r — ooJKb3 r cm to un o oo cr\^3r oo oo cn cnto cn cm unvo uni — cm cn Kbir j=t ^3r unjd* unun Jlr f — Ub Kb-=f rH CM 1" — HVD CO KOJ O H H vo unubunubunvo vovovo 00 n- Kb m cn-=h k \to Kbun cm • » • • • • • • • • o n-o h h w n n n h Obf'—VO f — CM o (TMOVD CO J=t LTVLfbVOvo vovo IOVO r — oo cm Kbmunmun mvo * • • * « • • • • • cn Knj' j=t s=t cm unvo ann Kbvo o Kn cmvo cnvo r —o un r — oovo r — oo o i^-co m i —i i —i k-r — O rH CM Kb,=f UbVO r ~ — CO Ob o o o o o o o o o o cnobcn cn cn cn cn cn cn cn o rH cm K\j=t- unvo f — oo cn cn cncncn cn cncn cncncn rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH O rH C M KV=j- UbVO 1 — 00 Ob CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM cncncnobcncnobobcncn i —1rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH Arithnietic Mean oo i — vo oo cm cnunoo O 00 Obr — O rH 1— KbOb KbVO rH O CM O CM3 "00 00 cm Kbcm r f Ubr —r —vo i — rH rH rH rH i —1 rH rH rH rH rH -¥ Ob *=t S’ljSi rlr lrlrlrlrlrlH rlH H r lr lH H H H H H r l 00 73 ages during the World War period. These two series of changes mark off the column inches given to total advertising and to display advertising into three distinct periods: the first of which consists of twenty-one years; the second, seventeen; and the third, eleven. The weekly average of all advertising for each of these successive periods is 3%89k, 7 0 7 .1 , and 1 ^9 S.l column inches respectively, while for display advertising the figures are 29^.7* 555*1* 1310*9 respectively. In other words, the absolute amount of space given to all advertising and to display adver­ tising almost doubled between 1 9 0 1 and I9 I8 and then more than doubled again by 1 9 2 9 . The percentages that advertising is of total paper space and that display advertising is of all advertising show increases after the beginning of the World War. For instance, an average of 5 7 . per cent of all newspaper space went to advertising after 1 9 1 5 compared to ^3 *^ per cent for the previous years, and an average of 8 6 . 6 per cent of all advertising was display advertising after I9 1 U in contrast to 7 3 * 5 per cent for the years preceding. It is evident that a number of influ­ encing factors coincident, perhaps, with the changing interests and chang­ ing character of the community lie back of the immense growth in amount and type of advertising space pointed out here; consequently, a more de­ tailed analysis of this table is called for. SUMMARY The material covered in this chapter, it should be pointed out again, includes the entire content of the first issue of the RepublicanNews in each month for the years 1881 to I9 2 9 inclusive. It totals slight­ ly more than eight hundred ninety thousand column inches of newspaper space divided approximately evenly between news and advertising. Since the em­ 7^ phasis has "been on the entire content of the paper, no attempt has "been made, except in the case of county correspondence, to draw a distinction "between that part of the newspaper space which reflects the local commun­ ity life and the part which mirrors a recognition of interests common to a larger area. In short, the chapter includes an analysis of the whole range of interests upon which the Clinton County seat community1s atten­ tion has been focused, during the forty-nine years covered in the study, by its leading weekly.paper. In this analysis at least three facts stand out: In the first place, the type of news matter most often found in the Republican-News is "Per­ sonal Items.*' These are the relatively short items which includes local personals, county correspondence, and items concerning state and national people of .some importance. Thirty-six and seven-tenths per cent, or more than one hundred sixty-three thousand column inches of newspeper space, was given during the forty-nine years to this type of material. Another fact of importance is the large amount of space devoted to "government," "education," and "economics." Thirty-four and two-tenths per cent, or slightly more than one-third of the total news space, has been allocated to these three institutional categories. In absolute amount this space exceeds one hundred fifty-one thousand column inches. These four cate­ gories, "personal items," "government," "education," and "economics," ac­ count for 7 0 . 8 per cent, or slightly less than three-fourths, of the total news space; and if "stories and fiction" with 1 1 . 9 per cent more space be added, the sum of these five categories is 82.7 per cent, or approximate­ ly five-sixths, of the total leaving but little more than one-sixth to the remaining seven categories. A third outstanding fact in the present chapter is the tendency noted in almost every table for trends of increase 75 or decrease in the amounts of various kinds of news and advertising space to occur at the close of the second, third, and fourth periods, namely, 1900, 1910, and 1920. It is interesting to note in this connection that the installation of the first linotype machine in the office of the Re­ publican—News and the introduction of rural free delivery service in Clinton County coincide rather closely with the earlier date; and, of course, an intensive wave of prosperity followed by the widespread use of the automobile and the introduction of good roads characterize the later one. These data would seem to suggest that the Republican-News' reflec­ tion of changing interests in the local community is a part of a larger community process depending upon numerous ecological factors, such as social and technological improvements in the means of transportation and communicat ion.^ The problem now remains to isolate and analyze the news and adver­ tising which have their origin within the county in order to determine whether the hypothesis set forth here and the facts upon which it rests can be more definitely established. The first linotype machine was installed in the office of the Clin­ ton County Republican in 1901, and the first rural free delivery route was established December U, 1899» Rural free delivery service, however, did not become general throughout the country until March 15, 1903. 5 L. L. Bernard, AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Chapter IX, pp. I6 5 -I 6 7 . CHAPTER V. COUNTY NEWS AND ADVERTISING MATTER Every community, it has been pointed out, has an area more or less well defined and a center around which its various population units tend to converge. Life among the people of such an area, particularly if it is small, is more intimate, common interests more numerous, and contacts and associations more stimulating and personal than they are with people in any outside area. Furthermore, because of the greater ease of contact and communication, the associative process becomes intensified at the center. Thus it is evident that news about the activities of people living within a community is more representative of its common life than news of the activities of people without. It is not to be denied, of course, as it has been stated previously, that news from other communities plays a part in the local life. Such news, however, is generally much less likely to touch the common life at as many points as that which has its origin within the local area. In the present study since the newspaper selected for analysis is a rural county seat weekly and much of its news and advertising emphasis concerns the county, it seemed advisable to distinguish in the news those items which have their origin within the county outside its center from those inci­ dental to the world beyond the borders of the county; and further­ more, because of the intensification of community life at its center, it also seemed advisable in this case in order to determine whether the newspaper selected is more representative of the life of the 77 county or that of its county seat to consider the news pertaining to the latter separately. These are some of the problems that the present chapter will attempt to elucidate. NEWS COUNTY NEWS SPACE ANALYZED ON THE BASIS OP COLUMN INCHES. The weekly average number of column inches of news space in the twelve selected issues for each year given to county news, and the weekly average number of column inches of county news space given to each of the eight major institutional relationships and to "Personal items" end to "pictures and cartoons" are shown in Table IX. Several facts of importance to the study of the rural w e e k l y ^ reflection of the changing character of its community appear in Table IX- Most significant among these, perhaps, is the tremendous increase in the absolute amount of space devoted during the forty-nine years to county news. total news space. This is made more apparent by a comparison with the Thus while the total news space only doubled during the forty-nine years, county news increased approximately 600 per cent. The range is from 115.3 column inches in 1327 to 733*5 column inches in 1923 or, in other words, from less than one page per weekly issue devoted to news within the county to approximately five. Two periods of marked change in the amount of space given to county news stand out. The first appears at the turn of the century and the second follows the World War. Previous to the first period, that is to say 1300, the amount of space given per weekly issue to county news averages 155*^ column inches; between this date and the second period of marked change, it rises to an average of ^75*^ or more than three times the figure for the earlier period; and 73 H CM K A t— e * • • CM CO K A H sh o o ^j s q p u s {>» -E> P 3 O O S Q X T l^ O T J O V CVJ OA OJ O P i* • • • • • • rH ( ^ - p i* O A CU i—( r— lc a t— r — c o oa sure % i CQ © *H Et o fcuO © P O +> P cd •H O 1—1 O *-1 o <+H ''A> o «3 a © © © X ® T i o s . i e c£ 1— P i* P i %JY * • • rP p} El •H tj-| O rH W A p i* p i* CM K A CM CM rH rH CM • • * rocvi H P - W t\j H lA h > • • • • • » • * * vo f^vpf ka v o k a v d co tr o x q .B © jo 0 ^ ; • K A P f P i* rH r— • • • • • O A O ( HA CM pt * tH iH P i- K A P f i—1 rH i—I rH i—1 CO CO O A OA t o • » • • • o P H O O © +1 • « • o a M Is— ("-Pi* Pi* rH f— OJ LT\ r o KAPJ* rH OA r— rH • H o vo cm p j - j=y f— r H CM tO (HA • • • • • • • • • • • • O CM OA rH CU H VO O vo r— r— i— V O I— O V C M V D p CO LCA OA LCA h— V O S O P P f CO O K A K A LCA 1— K A K A O rH U A CM LCAp i" K A V O K -tO CM CO CO rH CO 1— O IC A C M P d -O J O A O O O V O rH < —1 i—1 i—1 rH rH rH rH rH K A P i* K A CM LCA O A P t* K A OA LCA rH rH rH i—1 i—1 rH rH rH rH rH 1— LCA CO CM h - r O M O • • • • • • » • * P t - CO K*A O A K— LCA f— CM LCA K— K— K A CM O A r H C O L fA C O C O tO C O O J H C M O J H fO rO rH rH rH i 1 r H rH rH i—1 rH tCM CO CM LCAP i* O A CM p i* rH KA V O V O V O CM K A CO O CM iH K A H H r H r lr H r H C M C M C M C M O O KA ( — LCA * * * * • • * » » » .1 P i* CM LCAV O . Jzs; Weekly mean number of column inches given to Clinton County news opuouoog; • O LCA rH LCA OA rH rH r H rH CM 6b CO • OA K A LCAVD CM K A i—1 rH rH t—I rH . —1 V O i—( i—I OA rH P f rH K A P f* • CM LCA K A V O CM L C A p f rH rH f— i—1 i—1 i—1 i—( rH rH rH rH a 3 © © P © • f— O A CM CM LfA CM V O K A CM CM CM bO bO K A LTV CM 2 ra ® t* * CM r—t UA O r— * cm rH * CO KA 0 © d * O A P l* V O O A V D • • • • « • • • • L O H 1— LCApi" V O I ^ H K > rH rH rH rH cm * o rH * rH • O A rH r o o lca c— o lc a • • • • » ♦ ka o cm k - Is— o r— rH r o rH rH q.-u8umj©AOf) * K A rH P t KA O © n o T ^ o tip jg ; CM CM CO K A rH (HA rH V O (HA r H H § P CO Years O O p t • rH r— o rH • • • O CO VO O I— H CM i—1 CM CVJ V O CM O A * • ( HA O O r H H H rH CTM— OJ CM CM CM OJ TO T®©H rH LCA LCA • • • K A LT A C O c o oa i— rH CM K A p f LCAVD f— CO OA cococococococococo c o c o c o c—o1ci—o1ci—| o ci o ci— o|c, o rH i 1 i—f ■ —| —| O rH CM K A P i* LCAVD f— CO OA O A O A O A O A O A O A OA O A OA cocococococococococo H r i r l r l r H H r l r l r l H 79 d d F— r o c \ j ^1" O J OJ LfA O A to C A O M f M n i A O K A OJ LTA 1— | LfA A O K - ,-H K A r H O A r H O J O J O J O J K A K A Jd" K A CO 60 d d O iH d d d— OJ K A K A 1— rH A O A D — 60 OJ AO Is— OJ O K A d d (H K A LfA A D OJ O A 60 K A LfA O A d d co o j dd r— k O rH O OJ OAJ=f rH rH 60 iH rH OJ O A A O AO r H i— 1 f— I— OJ f— • LfA T— • • LfA (— 1 O J ,— 1 60 d d OJ rH — oj o a oj LfA O OJ • • • O A K A o H i— 1 O J K A OJ LfA 1— O A O A rH OJ K A O A OJ d d O CM O] K A t O K A OJ K A OJ d d d d K— OJ r— LfA O J 6 0 O J • • • • 60 d d LfAdd i— 1 (— 1 O J OJ LCA LfA A O LfA I— O AO O A K A LfA O J OJ OJ O • « * « * * * • » * OJ d d Ol K - H O J O A LfA i—1 r H rH rH i —1 rH OAdd rH OJ 60 d— OJ K A r H i 1 rH OJ K A LfA 6 0 — O OJ OJ K A 60 A O KA O rH rH OAdd K A • • dd O O 60 d d d d KA KA KA 60 * AO OA KA 0 6 • H KA dd 0 • OJ 60 KA O • K— — KA OJ OJ O J ^J- • K A OJ 6 0 O dd K A A O KA O «H CVJ K A d d LCA A O !— 6 0 O A O O O O O O O O O O O A OA OA O A OA OA O A OA OA OA r H rH iH rH i 1 rH rH iH i 1 rH — dd • 1 OA KA LCAdd LfA LfA LfA t A O LfA LfA LfA O K - 60 K A H O • ■ • • • • • * » * OJ rH K A L A K A O J d d rH rH OJ rH d d A D OJ * * LfA LfA OJ K— KA KA Ol KA — O OJ 1 60 O K — 1— A O • • • • • • • • f— O A K A O A A O 60 A O rH O A O 60 O A 60 d d d d 60 OJ d d K A d d dd dd dd dd KA d d KA • K - A O i H O J r H K A K A r H d t r H i H O J rH rH d d A O 60 d d O AD dd AD K A LfA A O LfA O J d d A O Ol LfA A O O A O H O H OJ d C\J O J n o d * LfA 6 0 O A O d i— 1 O J i— I r H i— 1 r H O J r H LfA dd cvj O 60 h KA d d AO O dd i H LfA 6 0 O A A O o i d ' d ' - d oj o •— d O A I— i— 1 — 1 60 — 1 dd O A d d dd dd iH OJ dd d KA KA 60 K - LfA O J • • • LfA K — L— A D O J i— I O J • O — dd OJ OJ OJ A O LfAdd OJ rH OJ K A dd AO 60 rH O KA KA O 60 Q OJ A O O KAdd dd dd KA K A d d d KA KA O LfA O 6 0 O J 6 0 r— K — • • • • • • • • • • LfA f— K A K A i H LfA r H LfA 6 0 LfA O J 6 0 O A I— A O r H A D ^ rj- O d d OJ A O OJ OJ K A Ol CVl A O A O OAAO AO AO OJ CVJ O J 1 — F— L Ol rH rH O Q dd dd dd 1 O A Q A OJ K -, H 60 — — OAdd KAdd KA KAdd KA O d d 1 KA 1 LCA L f A d d K A LfA r H iH O O rH LfAdd d d LfA LfA A O OJ A O KA LfA K — C— K A rH K A OJ K — K— OJ OJ 1 H KA K A LfA A O K A K A AD AO AO K— O rH OA rH K A d d r 1 rH O A OA rH iH O O I OA rH rH O J OA i 1 Ol O J OA i— 1 K A d d LfA A O L 60 O A O J O I O J O J O J O J O J OA OA OA OA OA OA OA i I i 1 rH iH 1 rH rH — OJ rH OA iH — LfA A O iH i 1 OA OA iH (H — — 1 rH OA rH 60 rH OA rH OA iH OA i 1 — t rH — — — dd « — r OJ K- dd — r— — i— • 1—• 60 dd Is— • KA rH LfA r H O K A K A OJ OJ 60 6 0 H O J K A K A O J C\J d d O J K A LfA LfA i H rH rH OA i 1 AO KA KA OJ V D U A LfA LCA LfA KA OJ LfA O d d LfA LfA 6 0 ao r— -ad r— oj r— o r H k a • • • • • • • • * • O l — 6 0 O J A O d d LfA K — 6 0 KA O A K - A O — OJ OJ OJ OJ A O O J K A K A O l LfA A O K A K A d d LfAdd d d rH • AO r— OA • Ol KA O KA • Ol O OA • rH A O K — O A O A 1— • — r LCA OJ LCA • AO rH rH • OJ KA O A K A O A OJ dd 60 * dd KA oj Ol OA I OA « 60 KA oj CVIOAOJ O OJ O Ol • OJ KA oj rH O OJ OJ OJ K A OJ LfA A D K A O LfA A O • « • • • * 6 0 O A K - O J d d 1— i— 1 r H c— 1 r H r H O l K A O l r H O J O J LCA K A » • • • • • • d d rH O A 60 Odd a O KA VO s a jr a ^ o fd s © P 3> p 4 - i^ • • w • h • o • o « o « w * o o O copt* c • • • • • •vi•r— OJ OJ OJ rH ro 03 5 -© P> Pi> «»H P ^ I 8 SH S'S © p> trotq.^0joeH vo vo ka oa k-to r —r — ka • • * > • • • • • • p j - OJ ka OJ pf- C V Jpi"VO uoT'^eonpg; pj * OAC JLCApH O rH LCACO • • V • • > • • • • H tOVD J-Jt LTAKAGO OA rH C V J tO O O O ^1 o 43 C V Jpi* KA OA LCAr — KA O LTAO LCApi* LCAO KA LCAOJ COVO KAPi"VO C V JC V J VO VO VO LCALCAVO LTVVO VOVO VOpd" LCALCAOV O O LCAQAVO rH OJ rH KArH KAVO C V J C V J KA C X J p f* O V O CO K - K A O A LfA CO CO • • • • • • • • • • c o v o lca c o v o r— r — r— lca lca +3 oj Ph 'M -P> o d) CO CO I— O A OJ K A CVI O O I— CO CO LCA OA CO H K A P i- LCA LCA K A § ? • ■ ■ ' x +> CO © *©|H EH © E© p, © "cd O ? 4 > 4O P h CO a © ^uauixuaAOf) o xzo-tSTxaH a >» O O LfALfAKAPi" O • • • • • • • VO rH I —IVO I —I VO c v ico o cvj co oa i — pj- icvr*-^ * * » • * * * * • • r— K A K A O A V O LCA K — LfA f — OJ i—I i —I O p tp t O A O A CO h— V O CO K A rH CVJ OJ CVJ CVJ K A rH rH p i* O vo CO DAPt* KAr — r — o CVJpJ- OJ OJ KArH rH OJ KA O iCx*pra®J opmouoog; LTVO O rH OAPi" O C • • • • • • • «—» O LfABO KAPJ- CO LCAKAOJ * • * * • • • • • O Pi*OAVO VO I — VO K— oa rH C V J © g ^ 2 . S© S'S-8 B © © pi ^ « °3 -P © £ a z ~ t x s * ft o 5 M H K A O A O K A K A ♦ O A» r H• r • ♦ • * • • K A CO P i" LCA CTAPt" CO rH CO • • • • • « • • • • K A K A H P i" K A rH K A L C A p f K A • • • « • • •O LfA LfA CO ••• 03 55 © r H CVJ K A P i - L C A V D I— CO O A C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O 0 rH CVJ K A P i" LCAV O K — CO OA OA OA O A OA O A OA OA O A O A OA C O C O C O C O C O C O C O C O COCO 1Ii —(i —IrH i —IrH rH i —I< —(rH zk K A K - C T M O rH • • * » « rH o v o -=!• t-— i a h • « • • * • CVJ LTV r— CO LCAVO V O V D V O V O C\J O ^ CVI CVJ cvi • tO VO vo • rH 1— ka LCA KA • • CTVZfr CM rH -T f LCAVO * * • • • • • « n ^ O C \J O O w o O V O LCA K A V O rH KA-=J* -Z f V O VO CM f— CM K A -= t iH rH <—1 ^=f O (\ l H n • • • • • • • • f t * VO O KA O LfA K - H ^r f - N - K A O A l — O f— rH tO O • • • • • • • • • • K A J - K - tO tO ^1" LCA<=J* LCA O CM tO tO O OA r—1 VO K A 1— • • » • • • • • • • VO _M" t O K — OA f— t O t O J=t CM K A CM rH O A ^ f CM OA CM O K A r — r— CM O A t o t o CVI CVJ rH CM CM CM LCA K A CM K A -^t- rH - r f t o • •••••••ft* (H C M O V O ^ i - ^ t to K A K A rH LTA LCA LCA LCA LCAV O V O VO | OA o o o o o o o o o o OA O A OA O A OA OA O A OA OA OA i— l i — I t — I r H r H i — 1 rH rH rH i— 1 KA KA K A H r— CO K • • • • • • • • • • V O LCA O A ^ t tO CM K A K A LCA L fv ^ j- LTV LTV KA-=J- r ' . r t -o co roKj lcavo lcacm • • • • • • • • • f t OA • K --= fr H O A C M C M ^ t O r H t O * * * • • • » « » « CM KA-=t* LCA 1— v o ,=t■ LTV I— VO LTV rH I ^ I O O M — OA CM • • • • • • • • • « • -= r vo 1— rH O A V O K A rH VO VO tO CM • * • • • • • • * • CM CM C M K A K A K A C M rH KA KVrOrOr^KVCU r— CVI t o rH rH KA CM K A 1— O VO K A LCA • CM • rH i—i V O LTV f — LTV LTV LCAVO VO LTV LTV OA tO • • KA rH LCA LCA LCA rH O A V O VO VO r— VO t o K A t o • • • • • • • • • • H K A CM K A CM CM CM r H CM KA tO tO V O LTV CVI O rH CM K A ^ rt LCA VO t - C O LCA rH OJ L T M T \C \]V O to • • • • • • • • • • CM OA » CM r H »H i—1 i—1 r H K— OA CO t O 1— K— LCA oa kaco ka ka t o lca cm t o K A LCA CM O CM OA CM • • • • • « • • OA OA OAVO CM iH VO KA VO VO VO VO VO VO LCAVO • i—1 rH rH rH -=f* r— LTV rH LCA rH CM K A OA • • • • • • « • • • ka K A -rt- v o v o K A -= f C\l ka r H LTV CVI • • • • • • • « * • r—1 rH t O t O O O V O V O 1— r H t O rH • • • * • • • • • • rH LTV V O LCA K A . ^ OJ CVJ KA H O r l K A OA OA OA O O tO OA^J- CO 1— V D v o v o r— K—VO VO VO v o i—1 i—1 rH I I H t O tO rH f— OA • ••••♦•••ft 1 W • • CVI , z f f— — f— V O tO V O OA OA CO O K A rH LCA^J- CM K A I'-'A H • • • • « • • • IfA CM rH ^3~ vo to K A LC A ^t GO V O J- K A Jd* LCA KA CO CM I— ^ jzjr jrf- OA f*— CO O * CM CM tO LCA rH LCA CM r— tO O A OA OA LCAVO I— I— OA CM O• * • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • KA CM K A KA-Zf- K A K A KA LCA LCA K A CM K A O A K A K A r H rH • • • • • • • » ■ ■ ,=J" K A K A LCAVO J j -V D I— tO K - V O O LCA OA CO CM CO CO • • • • • * • • • • L C AL C ACO LCALCALCAVO, z l ~ 1— VO to rH c v jL C AOAVO rH VO VO » » * • * • • • • » CM O O LCA LCA CM K A LCA^J- CM V D V O V O VO V O V O V O V D vovo o VQvovo lcavo vo vo lcaLCAVO rH CM K vzJ- LCAVO K — tO OA i —1 i—1 i—1 i —1 i—1 i—1 ( —1 i —1 rH i—1 OA OA OA OA OA OA OA OA OA OA rH iH rH i —1 rH i—!rH i—1 i —1 i—1 O rH CM K A -= t LCAVO 1— CO OA C M C VJC M C M C M C M C M C M C M C M OA OA OA OA OA OA OA OA OA OA i—1 r—1 r—1 i—1 i—1 rH r—1 r—1 i—1 r—1 O rH vo KA-=t* -M* VO 1— V D V D CO tO rH r—1 r— lc a v o r— i— r— lca to r— • CM OA KA CO CM K A V O VO CVI OA O K A OA rH LCA CM 1— P— LCA • KA rH • J=t -- • r — i —I to Arith­ metic Mean t O r— V O r-4 rH • • • • « 85 on the other hand, each receives in the latter years of the period investigated twice as much of the total county news space as it received in the earlier years. 3 *1 The figures for the ^family" average per cent for the first nineteen years, U . 5 per cent for the next twenty years, and 5 per cent for the last ten years; and for "relig­ ion" 2 . 2 per cent for the first nineteen years, 3 . 3 per cent for the next twenty, and k.l per cent for the last ten years, gain is also registered for the health category. A significant During the first thirty-nine years, it averages less than 1 per cent and then in the last decade rises to 2,7 per cent* primarily in health campaigns. The gain in this later period is It was during this time, as pre­ viously noted, that the Republican-News sponsored the building of a community hospital in St, Johns, "Government", "education", and "recreation" each declines in the middle years and rises again within the last decade. Stated in terms of averages for the various periods, the data are for "government" 8 .^ per cent for the first twenty-nine years, 5*2 Per cent for the next ten years, and 6 , 8 per cent for the final ten year period; for "education" 6 . 8 per cent for the first nineteen years, 5 per cent for the next twenty years, and 6 per cent, which is a slight gain over the preceding period, for the last decade; for "recreation" 5 . 3 per cent for the first twenty-nine years, 3 per cent for the next ten, and b per cent for the last ten or 1 9 2 0 to 1 9 ^ 9 period. Art and pictures and cartoons are quite insignificant in the county news. The mean for the forty-nine years is less than 1 per cent of all county news. "Art" declines from an average of 1 ,U per cent before I9 OO to 0.6 per cent afterwards. Three-fourths of the 86 space given to art through—out the forty-nine years is classified under "music" and "drama" with approximately one-fifth more listed as poetry. All of the space under "pictures and cartoons" pertains to photographs. Perhaps, one of the most outstanding facts to he noted in Table X is the high percentage of space listed under the category, personal items, which includes county correspondence and local brevities. Previous to 1900 the percentage of all county news classified under this heading averages 6l.^f from 1899 to I9 2 0 it increases to an average of 68.2 per cent and drops in the last ten years covered by the study to an average of 6 2 . 3 which is approximately its first nine­ teen year average. Briefly, the data of Table X corroborate those of Table IX. They show a marked increase in the proportional amount of news space as well as in absolute amount given in Clinton County after I9 OO. Furthermore, they show that such types of institutional behavior as those that come under "family", "religion", "health" and, perhaps, "education" have been pushed to the fore in the county during the last three decades covered by the study, while those that pertain to "economics" and "government" have declined. But before it can be more definitely affirmed that changes in the type of news emphasized and in the proportion of news space given to the county following 1 9 0 0 reflect changes in the interests and in the character of the Clinton County seat community, it is necessary to determine to what extent county news represents the entire county and to what extent it re­ presents the town of St. Johns, which is the county seat in which the Republican-News is published. This phase of the problem is taken up 27 in Table XI and Table XII. LOCAL OR COUNTY SEAT NEWS IN TERMS OP COLUMN INCHES IN THE CLINTON COUNTY SEAT WEEKLY, As in the previous table, two periods of marked change also stand out in the tables for local news. These, Table XI shows, occur around I9 OO and I9 2 0 . A third period, while somewhat less distinct, also appears about I9 IO. With the exception of "economics11 and "personal items" no major category averages as much as 6 column inches previous to the I9 OO period. During the next two decades, averages for all of the categories except "personal items", "art", and "pictures and cartoons" increase from two to five times and within the last decade covered by the study averages for all b\it "economics", "family", "art", and "personal items" approxi­ mately double or treble again. Averages for the final designated period, excepting, of course, "art" and "personal items" , the two extremes, range from 9 to 2^- column inches per weekly issue. The most space given to any single category goes to "personal items". This category includes short news items which pertain to the "goings" and "comings" of the local folk. Such items are usually classified in the newspaper under the heading, SOCIAL AND PERSONAL. A general average of U9 .I column inches of the local news space per weekly issue is thus classified. "Economics" with a general average of 1 U . 9 column inches per weekly issue comes second in the amount of space received. Then follow "religion" with 10.2 column inches and "re­ creation" and "education" with 9*^ respectively, gories account for the major portion of local news space. Tnese cate­ In fact, slightly more than four—fifths of the total local space is classified under these five headings with less than one—fifth under the re- p u n 1 2 .1 s u o o ^ je o ^5 s 8 .m q .o x d ; O bO bo s t n a q .1 O J - te n o s a a d KA.J=f CVJ OJ H O O A OA rH Q K M A K A .=i* - 3 * ^ r--^ o a cvi » * • • • CVJ CVJ CVJ H CVJ -=} rH r— CVJ CVJ K A • *1 1 1 ® « H X X O *p ^ 8 J [O 0 ^ : u o -fq -B o tL p s CO X q .ti9 u r u ^ Q A O f) E-t ttO T ^ ifx s H jC X T ^ iC c o oo r^ O J J L rA ^ " r— • co • H o o • rH A O LfA AO • • « OA K A LCA K A K A -= f r — bO O A bO 6 0 OJ O 6 0 • • • • • • • • r H K A t—1 AO CVJ r H rH • • K A rH • • • rH L— • CVJ bO K A O A rH KA LCA LCA LCA O AO i—1 t— O LD J rH bO K A K A rH CVJ OA K A CVJ rH CO * * • • • * « • • OA CVJ CVJ K A CVJ ^J- r H OA O A A O CVJ » • • 60 H rH AO LCA CVJ rH LCAAO CO H • • • • • • • I— CVJ CVJ A O rH CVI O A J'— LCA K A bO J— rH LCA CVJ 1— rH Is*A (H LfA LCA « H * AO OA r— bo A O rH OA « K A -= t AO rH CVJ O A bO « * • • • K A A O K A CVI K A CVJ CVI bO K A U A KA r— CVJ CVJ LCA K A LCA K A • • • • * • ♦ N - H H H bO • r— K— AO ,=}* 1— LfA^J- K - LCA CVI • » • • • • • » » * CVJ CVJ .=1- AO CVJ CVJ OA O rH O OA rH 1— rH CVI K A ,= f KA LCA AO ^J- LCA O -=J- K A LCA bO LCA LCA K A A O LCAAO J rH number of column inches given to local news o O A CVJ bO A D K— • * • • • • • CVJ K A bO bO CVJ AO LCA LCA^J- K A ,=f* CVI ^=t LCA • rH m CU CVJ rH rH o x ro o x io o a LfA O bO CVJ 1— • • • • • CVJ CVJ A O bO 6 0 r — LCA LCA LCAAO CVJ bO O A ^ ± « • • • TO H AO LCA LCAA D 1— • q§j & f—3 ‘ H OV OK AC MG OV D3 C \J H H K M C A C MrH3" G OV OC ML T AC J A1 —G — C MK AC MC MC Mr-( C M V D rH 3" K A1 —r—C MKAO O A1 —K A U T AL C AK A V OK ALC A 3- K A1 —1 — t 1 — I C MC M L C AL C AL C A iH rH C MrH C MG OC Mr—O AC MG O3" r— V O rH • O A 3 M O M OA3 C MC MOa 3 50 * • • • • • * • # * H r) C \l ( AH rH rH 1 —C MC ML C AK A V OL fAOA G OC M • • • • • • • • • C MH C MC M 3 C M« HC M O A • rH V OO AK AO AL C AC MG OL —K A V O * * • > * * * * • • CMKAiHrHiHKArHrHrH 1 —V D 60 H r—O 60 C OO AIA G O3 K ArOK* O AK- O V OC M • * • • • • • • • ■ V OG O00 O AC MrH O ArHV OH rH rH i— 1 (— 1 O AL C A V OO 3 t— O C MO 50 L fA 3* O C M1 i 1 rH rH i 1i— 1rH i 1 h— r—r— k-vd r— K AC MC OL T AK AK A V O r— L C A 3 i—1 c m rH I—•CO H rH L •VO • CM • F"— • r• • *CA•OA•KA — — — ■— — C OO O rH L T ArH C O — — — O A • 3 rH L C AO AG OO AG O3 rH ♦ L C AIs —C MO O A 3" rH r— • O A 0\ K AK AC MG OK- C M rH • 3 LC A 3 L C AOA3 O A V OO AL C A (HiHHHCMCMCMCMrHH OKAOACMCM C MO G OO rH • • • • • • • • • • 00 K A V OG Or—L fAC MC MO KiHrHiHrHrHrHKArH C M3 rH • • • •— • 5•0 C •M* « • —I i — C MV OO C MO O A C M K A L C A O O • * • • • • • • • • 3 K AC ML C A V OO G OC J AK AO rHHCMCMCMCMHiHCMCM C J AO K- L C AO L fAO KA3 K A i rH rH rH 1C MrH rH i— 1 IfAK AG O3 C MO V OL C A1 —O • • • • • • • • # • K AKA3 3 iH3 O A V O rH O A rH i— 1 V OO V OC M50 H C MrH O V O • « • • • • • • • • G OO AL C Ab —K ArH O AO AL C A G O < — 1i— 1 V OC OrH C MrH K -3 C MC Of— • • • » • • • • • * O AK AOA3 J- C V JH C OO A V O rH i— 1rH rH rH C MrH i— I iH K — O AK — O AG OK AK — O A1 —V O • • • • • • • • • • O rH G Ot" — V OO OV DK AC M C MC MrH i— 1i— 1C MC M■ — 1i— 1rH K — L C AO ArH3 ‘ h — C MO A1 —V C 3* V OO C OC MrH O L C AK AC O • • • • • • • • • • rH K-rH K ArH K AO AK ALTA3 O AC OrH O ArH O C MC M 3 C M i— 1 iH rH i— 1i— 1i— 1< — 1 r— V O OLD OGO O O ArH3 • • « • • • • • * • !—G OC MOAzt O ArH L C A V OV O rH O C MK AK AK AL C AC MO C M rH rH i— t rH i— 1i— 1(— 1f— 1rH i— 1 G OC ML fAL C A G OG — V O 0\ O C M » » • • • • • • • • ] 3 iH G OO V DL fAK AC M5 s OK A . 3* V OV OG OO AO G OO V OV O, rH rH r — 1rH rH C Mi— 1C M» H i— 1| C M • O rH V D • L fA t O A • 3 O AG OK Ab OK AiH K AC MG OC M rH rH C MC MC MK AC MC MrH C M tH K A • C \J 1 —\ rH rH C MKA3 L C A V Of'— C OO A O AO AO AO AO AO AO AO AO AO A rH rH i— 1rH r — t i— 1rH i— 1i— 1rH O rH C MKA3 L C A V OK — G OO A i— 1rH i— 1i— 1i— 1i— 1i H i 1r 1i t O AO AO AO AO AO AO AO AO AO A i— 1rH (— 1rH i— 1i— 1< H i— 1rH rH O rH C MKA3 L C A V Of—G OO A C MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC M O AO AO AO AO AO AO AO AO AO A rlHHiHHHrHHHH Arith­ metic Mean t o o o o o o o o o o O A vo• i— K AK AF —K AL C A V OL C AK A L C AC M • • • • • • • • • » V O rH K AL C AC MG OK-f—rH i— i— f i— 1i— 1 3 C M 3* C MK AG O3 V OC MC M 3 C M1 — rHCMrHiHrHCMCMCMCMrH O AC MOAO A V O 60-^ 50 OAK* • * • • • • • • • K AK — C ML C A V OK AT — V O rH O A i— 1 50V DO A L C A I 3- L C A W KAO KOAKH C MC OH i 1i 1 i 1rH 1r— l O O '* • rH L C AK AL C AG OKMt 3 L C AL fArH V DV OL C AL C A V OV OL C AL C AK AL fA f—C O o K A K A K A C V JJ- 50 rH KA3 C MK — C V IC O3 K AC M V O LTA3 L C AL C AL C AL C A V OL fA 3" L C A C M V O3 co vo C M< H 1 —C MO a\K-bO C MK AC ML C A O O AC MV OK AC OK AC J A—V O r— V O1 —L C A V DK A V O V OL C AL C AL C AO G O50 K ArH O A 3 90 maining categories. Perhaps, considered separately, the various major categories throw little light on the problem of change in the Clinton County seat community, "but when talcen in their entirety and compared with other county news, they "become more significant. For instance, for the years "before I3 OO, the general average number of column inches of space devoted to local news was 7 0 .3 , for the two decades follow­ ing, it rose to H 9 . 6 and in the last ten years to 177.5. These figures compare with averages of 8 5 .5 , 3 5 6 , and 5 0 6 . 5 for all other county news for these same periods. Thus while local news space hardly doubled during the third and fourth designated periods and increased to slightly less than two and one-half times its first nineteen year average in the final ten year period, other county news quadrupled and more than quintupled during the same periods. In other words, county news excluding St. Johns, the county seat, increased after 1299 ^ore than twice as rapidly as local news. But, perhaps, a more interesting angle of the problem of the changing character reflecting the expansion is revealed by a comparison, for the various periods, of the number of column inches devoted per thousand people to St. Johns, the county community center, and the number of column inches per thousand people allocated to the rest of the county. These data have been arrived at by dividing the number of column inches of news space for the various periods noted in the table by averages, excepting the last period which includes but one decennium and requires no average, of the United Stales census figures cn population for St. Johns and for Clinton County, exclusive of St. Johns, for the same periods. According to this method of computation, 91 the city of St* Johns was receiving on the average 2 2 . 1 column inches per week per thousand people from IS9 9 to 1 9 2 0 , and U 5 .I column inches per week per thousand people for the 1 9 2 0 to I9 3 O period. The remainder of the county, on the other hand, received during the earlier period an average of U . 2 column inches per week per thousand people, 18,7 column inches per week per thousand people during the third and fourth designated periods* that is I 899 to 1 9 2 0 , and 2 U . 9 column inches per week per thousand people for the last period. Thus local news was more than five times greater per thousand people than other county news in the pre-nineteen hundred period and slightly less than twice as great for the years I9 OO to 1920 and 1920 to I9 3 O, In other words, following the turn of the century, the county heyond the limits of its county seat was re­ ceiving slightly more than one inch of news space per given unit of population to every two received by its center. These facts bear evidence of an increasing dependence of the population of the county area beyond the county seat on the latter center for local news after 1899, Moreover, they point to periods closely coincident with the introduction of rural free delivery service and the installation of the linotype machine in the offices of the Republican-News and also with the widespread use of the automobile and the appearance of good roads at the beginning of this expansion and its later augmentation. It remains now to see whether the transposition of column inches into percentages produce similarly significant results. This has been done in Table XII, LOCAL ITEWS IN TEEMS--OF PERCENTAGES OP ALL COUNTY NEWS. It will be observed at the outset from Table XII that the I9 OO date of 92 d • r f t rH suooq.jBo pxrs seauq.OTj a-iy m • 9 ro^-p» © o -p> cd ft .a o +» CQ © *H © +SP > © d *H © Jh a o © to f ot ft to •aox^eJtosH irv • C V I d CTVC V JLTVVO K"VCO 1 — P— « • * * * • • • • rH H CU ITVC V JVO C V IC V J * OJ vo • CT\KV00 OVf * —C V JCUVD CU • • • • • • • • « C V J«H,d LTV f ' — KVf — f — rH • d iH CFVrH ♦ ♦ • • rH rH OJ ChH bO O OALTNCVJOO COVO to rH O^VO C F \ i —1 rH !lu©mucceAO-o co to i — r-ovo cv jvo c u • » » • • • • * • rftrod- cr\H to i —I LTVto CO CO OJ OVCO Q\d d rH KVVD CO C V JC V J CT\d 1 —d rH 1 — C V JCUVD irvCTvVO • » • • • * • O C V JCU C V J rH rH * rH O CO CO C V JCT\P— rHvo h- o iH I^VKMAI— t^KV O rH COVD OVCTVLCVCOLTVVO rH * » • ( • * • • • CU LTVrH C V Jd rH d d d r — r — o vo t — icvr^\ rH C V JrH C V JC V JLTVr * ' VC V J ovto irvirvcrvo r^i^-irv CP.to crvcrvCO rH O CTvVO rH rH rH d n n l o h ovo o d kv VD C V Jr<~\irM— CTVC V JLTVC V JOV i —1i —1i —1i —1i —Ji —1i —1C V J CO O COVO I s —C V JCv C V JC T V C V JC V IVD toVD l_T\d CO KV cc~\dd d tr\d d d lt\ d- 60 KV o O VD LTVP— KVrH * * » • * • • • » * d Wd H H H d d C V IOV d d d VD LDvd d IDID KV rH C V J LTVVD N W OV tototototototototo tocococotococototo HHrlrlrHrHrlrHrl O rH CU K'Vd LDtVD P— CO D " V crvovcrvavcrvcxvCTvcrvcrvav cocococotototocococo rH rH rH rH rH iH rH rH rH rH uot Stx ©h 0 vd no ir\r — vo c \ jlcvco m a ^ c r ic r \a > c r > H H H H H H H H H H O F— C D r— CO * • • • • o vo cdvd d i—t CM C D t ^ - ( D d CM D - d oooo a * a a O CTMSO 0 0 t—t o d oo a a J - H t—1 iH m r o o r-^ -d ^ • hdvo d * a w a cm d d inn a a cmd o a r o d a a l c d rH r— H ltd v d d a a * oo o v d - rH 0 0 rH h d o i—1 i—1 i—1 i—1 rH i—1 K \r ^ M T \H a rH CM I— LTD CM LCD 0 0 OO d V D • * * » • • * * * • 1^- H H C O C O t n I— V O LCD h d ^t j - r o a j a j t A j o j a j c j c M o HD VO d * — lcd oo r— vo • VD rH rH V O V D LCD CM * • • • * cm c o n n H H o d * * r — 00 d a rH HD C D rH CM 1— 0 0 # LCD O a * * * a F— VO 1— d V O CM H O M T M n • a a a a a r— O LCD CM CM d rH CM rH i—1 t—t rH F " -d a a VO QD O a a H D H D CM o rH 1 —1 rH rH IO W a h a a a O O M tH t—1 00 d rH C D • a a a C D 0 0 HD H D rH t—1 a cm oo d a a a h O H CD rH rH —\ a w a o a fo a 1— V O V O VO d i—1 CM CM 1— LCD O a a a a a F"a r D O C D CD-=t* CM i—1 r—1 <—f rH C D CD CD 0 0 rH VO VO rH • • • • • • • • • • K V H D V O r H CM V O D O D t—1 O *=3" V D LCD CM VO CD-=t* -=1“ HD CM 0 0 • a a a a a a a a a H D r H - ^ f LCD rH U D C M t H rH HD rH t —f rH rH rH rH rH rH rH rH CM C M d d H D CM VO CO P HD CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM 0 0 F— CD H D rH rH 0 0 V D CM • a a a a a a a a a r— CM HDHd- 1— 0 0 0 0 CD VO CM CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM O ■—I CD 1—I O rH CM U D V O 1— OO CD CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM C D CD CD C D OD CD CD CD CD CD t— 1 r— 1 i— i i—1 r— 1 r H t— 1 r H t— 1 r H d a t D ^ - r D O M — OD rH CO rH a rH rH OD t— 1 a CM rH OD i— 1 a a H D d rH rH OD OD ■— 1 rH a a LCDVQ rH i— 1 GD OD rH rH a a F'— 0 0 rH t— I O V O 'i «H rH * CD rH OD rH HD a VO -d - a r— rH a - d" rH a HD r—1 CM a -d- HD Arith­ metic Mean -4 - t o t o h • • • • H r-ro s o LCD I^ - V D V O C D 0 0 V D 0 0 V O 0 0 9H marked change does not occur in the column of total local space per­ centages and is much less pronounced in the major categories than in the previous table. Only six out of the ten categories show any tendency toward an increased or decreased percentage near the year 1920. These are 11government", "education", "recreation", "health", "personal items", and "pictures and cartoons". The dates of marked change for these categories range between I9 1 7 to I9 2 H, but, as in the previous table, the I9 OO period stands out. Prior to 1900, for example, an average of U 6 .U per cent of all county news space was local, contrasted with an average of 2 6 . 6 per cent after this period. A marked contrast exists also between the percentages of space given to the various major categories in the two major time divisions, namely before and after I9 OO. personal items column. This is particularly evident in the In the earlier period 60.7 per cent, or slightly more than three-fifths of all local news, was classified under this heading which, it will be recalled, consists of social and personal items most of which are less than one-half an inch in length. "Economics" takes another 12.5 P er cent average of the news space prior to I9 OO and "government", "education", and "recreation" each approximately half as much more leaving about 1 0 per cent to the other five categories. Following 1 S9 9 , "Personal items" declines to an average of H 5 . 9 per cent of all local news for the first score of years and then to 3 2 .3 per cent for the remaining ten years. Most of the other categor­ ies, of course, gain correspondingly in the period after 1S99. which droos from an average of 2 .^- per cent to 1 . 5 only exception. "Art" cent is the "Economics", the general average of which is 1 3 . 1 95 per cent, it will "be observed, is also the most popular subject in the longer items of the ^ocal news. Four other categories each shows a general average of approximately one-half or more as much space as "economics”. These categories are religion, government, education, and recreation with general averages of 7 .U, 6 .3 , 7 . 2 7 .7 per cent respectively. With few exceptions they show ten­ dencies to increase throughout succeeding years. increase is quite marked. In some cases the "Religion” , for instance, averages 2*7 per cent for the years before I3 OO compared to 11. 3 per cent for the two decades following I9 0 9 . "Government”, "education", and "recrea­ tion", while less marked in their increases, receive from one-third to two-thirds more space than they did in the pre-nine teen hundred period; and if their last six to twelve years be compared with their pre-nineteen hundred averages, their space percentages for the latter years approximately double. gain in the last few years. "Health", too makes a great For instance, its final seven years average U . 7 per cent which is slightly more than its pre-nineteen hundred average. "Family" like most other categories also increases in percentage after 1900. The figure for the earlier period is 2.5 in contrast to 5 . 8 afterwards. Pictures and cartoons like art are rather insignificant in the local news. to I8 9 6 ; They do not appear previous then the data show they average but little more than 1 per cent for the next eighteen years and rise to 2 . 5 per cent for the last twelve years covered by the study. But, perhaps, the most significant fact brought out in Table XII relative to the role of the Republican-News in reflecting changes in the common life of the Clinton County seat community is the fact, already stated., concerning 96 the marked decline of local news in proportion to all county news after 1899* Previous to this period, as it was pointed out above, news space was divided approximately evenly between the county seat and its surrounding territory, while following this data, three times as much space was given to the county community lying beyond the borders of its center as was given to the center itself. ANALYSIS OF MINOR CATEGORIES. It should be kept in mind that the data presented up to this point have dealt with weekly averages for each of the separate years for the major categories only. categories are complex. These They include numerous minor types of human activity which are not shown in their more composite forms* In order, therefore, to make a more careful analysis and to arrive at a more accurate interpretation of the data the figures for each major category have been broken down into minor categories, according to the scheme of classification outlined in Chapter II, and presented in abbreviated form in a series of tables showing the distribution of the space of each major category under each of its minor ones; and to facilitate comparison further, the weekly mean number of column inches given to each majof category and its percentage of the total county news space is also included in each table of the series. The data in the tables for the various minor categories have been grouped, with the exception of the first period which in­ cludes but nine years, into ten year periods. These five periods include the years 1851-1889, 1S90-1S99. I9 OO-I9 0 9 , 1910-1919. 1 9 2 0 —I9 2 9 and approximates the periods in which marked variations in absolute or proportional amounts of space have been observed. arrangement has two advantages: This In the first place, it simplifies 97 the tables considerably, and secondly, the years covered in the five periods include the major influences that have affected the content of the paper. For instance, the first period coincides quite accurately with the period of editorship of Fuller and Rowe; the second includes the first decade of editorship under Coleman C. Vaughn and the Spanish American War; the third takes in the installation of the linotype machine in 1 9 0 2 and the introduction of rural free deliv­ ery in 1 9 0 3 ; the fourth includes the coming into general use of the automobile and the occurrence of the World War; the fifth includes the after war prosperity ,fboom" and the union of the Clinton County Republican and the St. Johns News under the editorship of Marshall and Clark. ECONOMIC NEWS. All county news items given to “economics” and its minor categories are summarized in Table XIII. The amount of news space given to economic items originating within the county, it will be noted, increases progressively through success­ ive designated periods from I 3 . 6 column inches per weekly issue in the first period to H3 . 3 in the fifth. While all periods after the first show increases over the preceding one, the most marked rise occurs in the 1 9 0 0 and the 1910 periods. Previous to the earlier date the average was lU . 3 column inches as compared to 2 5 . 9 for the years between the two dates and U0 . 6 afterwards. But while the number of column inches of countv news space given to economics rises with the passing years, the percentage that such space is of all county news shows a somewhat op­ posite tendency. The pre-nineteen hundred percentage of county news space going to “economics” , for instance, averages 9 . 5 as against 6 . 5 for the years following this date. Perhaps most of the higher percent- Or TABLE XIII DISTRIBUTION OF COUNTY NEWS SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TERMS OF WEEKLY AVERAGES TO ECONOMICS AND ITS SUBCATEGORIES 27.4 7.7 L------ _j 15.0 5.6 9.2 7.8 9.0 25.2 45.2 21.0 25.5 21.4 6.6 16.1 25.1 19.9 17.9 1.7 5.2 6.4 2.2 6.3 5.5 2.4 7.4 8.7 15.6 .5 1.2 •2 5.5 2.7 11.2 22.6 9.2 26.8 16.9 4.0 7.6 1.6 o ttD cd W) xi CDtH ccT a E rH a CD +9 a cd O PJ CD d p CD O cd d ft O ft cd 1— l r— 1 *H Years P 1— 1 O O rH C dD cd ft & Sf d 0 C3 D £= •rH Food CO CD 4O3 «P rl CO cd i f CO +g= P CDt E C SD •ft CD d ' d d t ft l-l -rH O ^ a d rp O 43 CO rJ a' § s CD*H *d CD CO d rH ctO-*-= p d *H "P f P d M 0) d PI s W fS pdq 3 C1O d 0 •rH -H d •rH cd +9 d O fO t C d S EH CD !> cd rH cd d tuo dd Banking , insurance, and rea1 estate Space givei to dissplay advert 3.sing CO d CD +» e C D Vi >8 ft O O C D CO d S < CO d 0 CD d cd rH 1— 1 CD O CO ■F~f s 1 8 8 1 -1 8 8 9 118*3 6 0 . 6 •3 U8 .1+ 1*5 9.3 1 5 . 0 13*5 1 .5 2 .1+ 1 .1 1 8 9 0 -1 8 9 9 1 7 ^ .7 6 8 *3 .2 2 3 .8 2*9 6.5 17-3 31-9 3 .1 1.5 3.3 1 9 0 0 -1 9 0 9 3 3 2 .5 75.0 .5 21.8 7-8 8.1 22.8 1 6 . 1 2 .5 7.H 2.7 1.8 1910-1919 5 7 2 .1+ 80.1 .2 19.1 7-1 6.7 13.0 1 3 . 6 9.6 10.0 10.9 2.8 1+.0 3.0 1920-1929 1201.2 86.9 .6 17.^ 9.*+ 6.5 lU.2 General average .1+ 2 5 * 6 5.8 7 .1+ 16.5 1 6 .X 1+87.2 Jh.h 2 .1 3.6 1 . 3 •5 6.7 2 . 3 *+.2 9 .2 8-3 3 ^ 2 .5 2.1 7.ff 6.2 5.3 2.1 U. 3 2.6 5.3 2 1 . 1 In percentage of all county advertising, display advertising also shows a marked relative increase. For instance, it begins with an aver­ age of 6 0 . 6 per cent of all advertising and closes with an average of 86*9 per cent, a gain of from 5 to 8 per cent being recorded for each suc­ cessive period. In other words, the percentage accorded to display adver­ tising rises from three-fifths to about seven-eighths of all county ad­ vertising space during the forty-nine years. Display advertising, as its name implies, is a type of advertising so arranged and displayed as to attract the attention of the buyer more readily. The marked relative in- 12U crease in such advertising is, therefore, simply another indication of the expanded range of contacts between the people of Clinton County. Eighty— five and three—tenths per cent, or approximately seven—eighths, of all the space given to display advertising has been classified under eight of its thirteen minor categories. These categories arei wearing apparel, building materials and equipment, transportation, food, house­ hold furnishings, drug and department store, rural advertising, and bank­ ing, insurance and real estate. Furthermore, U2.1 per cent has been clas­ sified under the first two of these categories. "Wearing apparel" makes a sharp drop from 1+8.U per cent of all county display advertising, the highest for any category in the first period, to slightly less than half as much for the next four periods. In fact no period after the first varies more than 8 per cent from the general weekly average. Thirty-one and nine-tenths per cent, which is the highest percentage recorded for any category in the second period, occurs under "drug and department store." It is probable that this percentage, which is approximately twice its general average, is a reflection of the severe economic depression of the 1 8 9 0 *8 . This interpretation seems to be supported by the fact that "house— copy" nearly doubles its general average in this period and that such eco­ nomic activities as those that come under "amusements," "household fur­ nishings," and "rural advertising" which could more easily be dispensed with or for which there was, perhaps, the least demand during the depres­ sion did actually decline. It is, of course, probable, too, that in the second period some space that was formerly given to wearing appaiel ad­ vertisements has been included in general advertising of the type which is found under department store ads. "Building materials and equipment presents the highest percentage of all county display space m the third 125 period. This figure, 22.8 per cent, which is about one-half higher than its general average, may possibly be explained as a sort of boom in the building industry during the period of rising prices that followed the previous period of depression. No marked rise in percentage stands out for the fourth period, but in the fifth "transportation" comes to the fore with 21.1 per cent. In the previous period it averages 9*6 P©r cent and less than 3 Pe** cent for the three earlier ones. The sharp increase in the later periods, especially the fifth, is unquestionably a reflection of the growth of the automobile industry, the garage, and the filling sta­ tion all of which are indicative of an expansion of human contacts and are, therefore, intimately related to the concept of an expansion of community life around the county seat. "Banking, insurance, and real estate" also shows a marked increase in the last two periods. For example, the first three period average for this category is 2 . 3 per cent compared to 9*6 per cent for the two later ones. This increase is, doubtless, due to the great wave of prosperity that swept the country from 1 9 1 0 to 1 9 3 ^* Two other categories show increases in later years. and "rural advertising." These are "food" Each presents an average of about 2 per cent be­ fore the beginning of 1900 and between 8 and 9 per cent afterwards. This means that more than five columns, or nearly one whole page, of county advertising space per weekly issue was given to eacn of these categories in the fifth period. These categories reflect, perhaps, both an increased prosperity and a greater specialization of function and consequently a greater interdependence among local groups. The increase in food ads, for instance, may imply a change in food habits and a greater use of factory prepared foods which are purchased through local stores. And since "rural advertising" includes much advertising matter that pertains to the 126 sale of farm animals, farm crops, and public sales as well as farm mach­ inery, its increase in the later years probably connotes a more extensive use of and confidence in the local paper as a medium for bringing county buyers and sellers together. NON—DISPLAY ADVERTISING-. As its name implies, non—display adver­ tising comprises all advertising that is not attractively arranged and displayed so as to secure the immediate attention of the buyer. In other words, it embraces all other advertising matter not included under dis­ play; consequently, since display advertising shows an increased percent­ age of all county advertising throughout succeeding periods, it is to be expected that non-display advertising would show a decline. course, is the case. Such, of But while there is a relative decline in the per­ centage of advertising classified as non-display, in absolute amount a slight rise is recorded. The data showing these trends are presented in Table XXIV. The gain in column inches noted in this table under county non-dis­ play advertising rises from 7^*7 in first period to 180.2 in the fifth. The latter figure is one and one-third times greater than the first, how­ ever the earlier figure represents 39*^ Pe1, c©P-t, or approximately twofifths, of all county advertising whereas the later one represents but 13.1 per cent, or about one-eighth, of such advertising. The decline por­ trayed by these figures is simply the reverse of the trend for display advertising; consequently, it should tend to corroborate on the negative side, perhaps, the hypothesis offered in explanation for the rising per­ centage of the previous category. That is to say, if an increase of the more attractive display advertising reflects an expansion of the area of human contacts and a change of community interests, then a decline in the 127 TABLE XXIV DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TERMS OF WEEKLY AVERAGES TO COUNTY NON-DISPLAY ADVERTISING AND ITS SUBCATEGORIES Space given to non—display advertising Years Column inches Percentage of all county advertising Weekly average percentage that each type of non-display advertising is of all non-display advertising Legal notices Profession­ al cards Business locals Miscella­ neous 1 8 8 1 -1 8 8 9 76.7 39.^ 55-0 1 3 .6 2 9 .0 2 .k 1890-1899 81.1 31.7 6 U. 5 1 0 .0 2k. 2 1.3 1 9 0 0 -1 9 0 9 1 1 1 .1 2 5 .0 7 3 .5 6.7 1 2 .8 7.0 1 9 1 0 -1 9 1 9 1U2.5 19.9 7 3 .2 H.U 7.2 15.2 1920-1929 180.2 13.1 6 3 .7 U.O 6 .8 25.5 General average 1 1 9 .2 25* 5 66.2 7.6 15.7 10* less attractive type of advertising would suggest the same thing* Most of the space, two-thirds in fact, devoted to county non-display advertising is given to "legal notices,’1 25 P©r cent more goes to ’’busi­ ness locals” and to ’’miscellaneous, ” and 7*6 per cent to "business cards',' the remaining category. "Legal notices" shows an increase from 55 P©** cent in the first period to 73*3 For the third and the fourth periods combined and then declines to 63*7 P©r ©©^t in the fifth. Thus it fails to keep pace with the growth of the absolute amount of space given to nondisplay advertising* "Miscellaneous," it will be noted, increases from about 2 per cent in the first two periods to 25-5 ^ mainly unclassified the fifth. advertising matter. This category includes Both "business locals" and "pro­ 123 fessional cards" decline markedly throughout the first four periods and then remain fairly constant in the fourth and the fifth. The decline in "professional cards," as suggested in the previous chapter, probably, indicates a tendency for many Clinton County residents to go to other centers, especially Lansing, the state capitol located 22 miles south, for many professional services, and the decline in "business locals" rep­ resents a tendency for advertisers to use display advertising which is more effective in making contacts with buyers. SUMMARY. The data presented in this chapter seem to indicate that the pre-nineteen hundred period was characterized by an intense localism. It was in this period, it will be recalled, that the Clinton and Shiawas­ see Union of Ovid had its largest circulation, namely about 2500. In the absence of extensive communication facilities during this time, rural life, probably, centered more around the small villages and the neighbor­ hoods with their post offices and stores than around the county seat as a community center; but after the introduction of rural free delivery and the installation of the linotype machine in the office of the Clinton County Republican-News about 1900, the marginal county weeklies found themselves unable to compete successfully with the metropolitan dailies and the more advantageously situated county seat weekly; as a result the smaller towns and villages of Clinton County have become increasingly oriented toward the county seat for local news and advertising services. Moreover, this process seems to have become intensified during the second and especially the third decades of the present century following the introduction of the automobile, good roads, and other technological changes in the means of communication and transportation. Further corroboration of this hypothesis depends upon an analysis of the news and advertising whose source of origin lies beyond the county, in the following chapter. CHAPTER VI EXTRA-COUNTY NEWS AND ADVERTISING Horace Greeley, the famous newspaper man, once wrote in the following terms to a friend, who was considering the editorship of a country weekly! Begin with the clear conception that the subject of deepest interest to an average human being is himself; next to that he is most concerned about his neighbors* Asia and the Congo stand a long way after these in hi s regard. ... It is the news and advertising matter which has its source of origin within the county that has been considered in the previous chapter, while "Asia and the Congo," figuratively speaking, make up the subject matter of the present chapter. In general, news material from such remote areas, as Greeley has so aptly described, reflects little of the changing prob­ lems and the changing interests of the local community. Common contacts and associations and common interests, except those which critically af­ fect or are thought to affect the welfare of the individual, decline as the distance from the county boundary increases; consequently the impor­ tance of news and advertising matter as media reflecting the rise or de­ cline of community problems or the changing character of community life tends to decrease as the area of incidence recedes in space. And converse­ ly, the news and advertising space whose source of origin lies nearest to the county is, generally speaking, of greater significance as a fac­ tor reflecting change in the functional relationships of the community than that which is farther away. It is for this reason that extra-county news has been analyzed and separated into categories which represent in ^•Quoted by Bing, OP. CIT. , pp. 17~18* 131 a measure their nearness to the county. DISTRIBUTION OF EXTRA-COUNTY NEWS SPACE. The headings chosen for extra-county news, as has been explained in Ch£$>ter II are: State, Na­ tional., Foreign, and Stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter. The latter heading, of course, does not represent any geographic location at all; but since it includes fiction, jokes, magazine material, and mis­ cellaneous news matter, it is, perhaps, less important than the geographic categories in reflecting social change in the Clinton Oounty seat commun­ ity; consequently it seems to fall logically in the order here accorded it. The distribution of space by designated periods under these headings as well as the total of all extra—county news space is presented in Table XXV. Both in absolute amount and in percentage of all news, it will be noted, extra-county news space declines throughout the first four periods. In absolute amount, the decline is continuous through successive periods from *1 1 1 .9 column inches in the first period to 3 1 3 * 5 the fourth, while for percentage of all news the decline is from 7 7 - 1 to 3 & * 6 for the same periods. In the fifth period, however, a sharp rise to *4-27*^+ column in­ ches occurs; but owing to the increased amount of total news space, this is only 2 per cent more of the total news space than was recorded for the previous period. The general trend represented by these two series of figures, particularly the percentages data, is, of course, the reverse of the trend shown in Table X, page for county news; and its signifi­ cance in portraying the changing interests and changing character of the Clinton County seat community is its continuous decline in news space up to 1910 going to what Greeley designated "Asia and the Congo" or, more specifically, to news matter whose source of origin lies outside of the 132 TABLE XXV DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TERMS OF WEEKLY AVERAGES TO EXTRA-COUNTY NEWS AND TO ITS FOUR MAJOR SUBDIVISIONS Distribution of space to each major subdivision of extra-eounty news State National Column inches Percentage of all extra county news Column inches 77.1 6 8 .7 16.7 1 3 ^ .7 32.7 30.1 7.3 178.3 ^3 . 3 1890-1899 3H8 . 9 6 5 .9 6 2 .0 17 . 8 1 1 1 .3 31.9 2 6 .7 7.6 1^9.1 te.7 1900-1909 3 2 7 .5 H5 . 2 6 8 .5 20.9 1 2 2 .7 37.5 15.2 *+.7 1 2 1 .0 36.9 1 9 1 0 -1 9 1 9 3 1 3 .5 3 6 .6 5 ^ .7 1 7 .5 11U .3 36.5 17.3 5.5 1 2 7 .0 **0.5 3 8 .6 9 3 .7 2 1 .9 1 6 1 .5 37.8 8 .6 2 .0 l 6 3 .it 3 8 . 2 52.1 6 9 .5 1 9 .0 128.8 35.3 19.^ 5.* iif-7.1 1 9 2 0 -1 9 2 9 General average county. 36 U .9 Iof all extra county news Percentage of all extra county news U1 1 . 9 Percent­ Column age of inches all news 1Percentage Column inches 1 8 8 1 -1 8 8 9 Years 1 Percentage of all extra county news , Foreign Column inches Total ex tr ar-coun ty news space Stories, magazine and miscella­ neous matter lto. 0 After the beginning of 1910 the percentage of space given to extra­ county news remains fairly constant. For instance, after this date only 37.6 per cent of the news space was classified as extra-county as against 77.1 per cent during the eighties and 7 1 . 2 per cent during the eighties and nineties combined. Stated conversely, this means that slightly less than 25 per cent of the total news space of the Clinton Republican-News was given to the county during the first period and less than 3 0 per cent for the two periods which include the years between 1880 and I9 OO. Contrasted with these figures are 5^.8 per cent for the ten years preceding the beginning of I9 IO and 6 2 .U per cent for the twenty years afterwards. These contrasting trends 133 of county and extra-county news are, of course, simply opposite views of the same social phenomena; and their explanation, as was pointed out in the preceding chapter, is, doubtless, to be found in the changes that have taken place between 1 9 0 0 and 1 9 3 0 in the social and technological media of communication and transportation. The distribution of extra-county news space under its four major sub­ divisions shows a general average of 14-7.1 column inches, which is the highest in absolute amount for any heading, classified under "stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter." Then follow "national" with 128.8 column inches, “state" with 6 9 .5 , and "foreign" with 19.4. Expressed as percentages the figures for these headings are in the order given: per cent, 35*3 P er cent, 1 9 per cent, and 5.4 per cent. 40 - Each major head­ ing shows a noticeable change in percentage with the beginning of the 1 9 0 0 period. Each also shows a slight change during the World War decade."State" and "national," for instance, decline slightly during this period while "foreign" and "stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter" show equally slight increases. But with reference to the whole period after the begin­ ning of 1 9 0 0 , "state" and "national" increase, while "foreign" and "stor­ ies, magazine, and miscellaneous matter" decline. For example, "state" and "national" average for the earlier period, that is before the begin­ ning of 1 9 0 0 , 1 7 . 3 per cent and 32*4 per cent respectively as compared to 2 0 .1 per cent and 3 7 . 3 per cent afterwards, while for "foreign" and "stor­ ies, magazine, and miscellaneous matter" the respective averages for the earlier period are 7 . 5 per cent and 43 per cent as against 4.1 and 3 8 . 5 for the later periods. Thus it will be observed that "foreign" and "stor­ ies, magazine, and miscellaneous matter" took 50*5 per cent of all extracounty news space before 1 9 0 0 in contrast to 42.6 per cent for the thirty 134 years afterwards. These figures represent a decline for the later de­ cades of the period studied of approximately 1 6 per cent in foreign and stories, magazine, and miscellaneous news combined. In summarizing the data of Table XXV, two facts stand out: first, the marked decline in the amount of space given to extrar-county news in the later decades; and, secondly, the decline in the type of extra—county news matter most distant from the Clinton County seat community. These facts reflect indirectly the increasing use and popularity of the daily paper and the weekly news magazine, on the one hand, as sources of nation­ al and world news and, on the other, the increasing concentration of at­ tention by the Republican-News on its own local field which is tending more and more, as it was pointed out in the previous chapter, to cover the county. An analysis of the major subdivisions of extra-county news may throw some further light on this interpretation. Such an analysis will be made in the following pages. DISTRIBUTION OF STATE NEWS. The distribution of space by designated periods given in terms of column inches to state nev/sand to its various major categories is presented in Table XXVI. An examination of this table shows that a general average for the forty-nine years of 2 3 . 3 column inches, or one-third in absolute amount, of all the space allotted to the state of Michigan has been classified under "government." Furthermore, little variation from this figure occurs in the various periods, the range being from 18 .9 column inches in the fourth or World War period to 29.7 column inches in the fifth period. Most of the space thus classified under "government" is given to two of its minor categories. These are "administration" and "politics." These ^Tables for minor categories have been omitted because the space given to most of the major categories under extra-county news is so small as to render further subdivision meaningless* 135 TABLE XXVI DISTRIBUTION OP SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TEEMS OP WEEKLY AVERAGE NUMBER OP COLUMN INCHES TO STATE NEWS Education 1 8 8 1 -1 8 8 9 68.7 3.8 1 .1* 25.5 i*.i* 2 .1 .8 3 0 .2 0 .6 1890-1899 6 2 .0 6 .1 3A 2 0 .5 KG 1 .6 1.7 2 1 .0 3.1 1900-1909 6 8 .5 1 1 .2 3.8 2 1 .9 k.k ^.9 2 .6 1 6 .2 3.5 I9 IO-I9 1 9 5^*7 1 0 .8 1*.2 18.9 3.9 b mo 2 .0 8.6 2.3 1920-1929 93.7 2 8 .1* 1*.8 29.7 1 0 .1* 5.^ l* . 6 6 .1* 1*.0 General average 69.5 I2 mb 3.6 23.3 5.6 3.6 2 .1* •rH ■ +» +3.9 .9 1S90-1S99 17 . 8 9.8 5.5 3 3 .1 7.^ 2 .6 2.7 33.S 5.1 1900-1909 20.9 1 6 .k 5.6 3 2 .0 6.4 7.2 3.8 23.7 4.9 1 9 1 0 -1 9 1 9 17.5 19.7 7.7 3^.6 7.1 7.3 3.6 15.7 k .2 1 9 2 0 -1 9 2 9 2 1 .9 30.3 5.1 31.7 1 1 .1 5.S 4.9 6 .s 4.3 General average 19.0 5.2 33.6 5.2 3.3 2 k. h 3.9 Years 1 6 .6 7.7 Two factors are observable in Table XXVII. In the first place, most of the changes that take place in the percentages of the various types of news occur, as has been noted in previous tables, in the third and the fifth periods which begin in 1900 and 1920. And secondly, with few exceptions, the same general trends that appear in the various types of news matter in the previous table occur, perhaps, more distinctly in this one. "Economics," for instance, increases more consistently through successive periods whole "personal items" declines in a relatively more marked manner also. The former category shows averages for its three periods of most marked change, that is the first two designated periods, the second two, and the fifth, of 7-7 per cent, IS per cent, and 30.3 per cent respectively, contrasted with an even more consistent decline through i4o succeeding periods for "personal items" ranging from 43 . 9 P er cent in the first period to 6 . 8 in the fifth. "Government" although its range is from 3 7 * 1 per cent, which appears in the first period, to 31*7 in "the fifth, exhibits no trend. The lat­ ter figure while the lowest in percentage is the highest in absolute amount. The three categories, economics, personal items, and government, average in order: 1 6 .6 per cent, 24.4 per cent, and 3 3 . 6 per cent and together receive approximately three-fourths of all of the space given to state news. "Education," also, as it was pointed out in the previous table for absolute amounts, shows a marked rise in percentage in the fifth period, the average percentage for the first four periods being approximately 6 , 6 in contrast to 1 1 . 1 for the fifth. "Eamily," "recreation," and "health" tend, with some exceptions, to show increases throughout successive periods. The average percentages for these three categories are 3*2, 5*2, and 3-3 respectively. The re­ maining categories average 3*9 P er cent. NATIONAL NEWS. Erom the point of view of geographic location, na­ tional news follows state news in distance from the Clinton County seat community. The amount and distribution of such space is summarized in Table XXVIII. The total amount of news space classified as national, as it has been stated previously, averages 128.8 column inches, or about six and onefourth columns per week. The three middle periods, namely IS9 0 to 1920, average from about four and one-half to slightly more than five columns per week, while the first and the fifth periods average around six and three-fourths columns and eight columns, respectively. Almost the entire amount of national news space, it will be noted, lhl TABLE XXVIII DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TERMS OF WEEKLY AVERAGE NUMBER OF COLUMN INCHES TO NATIONAL NEWS Weekly average number of column inches given to each major category TO o TO E •H E o eJ * 3 U 0) I> o c!> 3 o •rH -JJ a o +5 TO TO •rH Cti *H TO TO TO Cl £1 o +o> TO T3 *h •H J=! c.d. Total column inches W 1SS1-1SS9 I3U.7 19.8 3.U U6 . 7 21. U 3*U 3 3 .2 i.U 1 8 9 0 -1 8 9 9 17*5 US. 8 2.5 1.8 39.3 lU.6 4.5 1 3 .U 8 .3 1 0 .6 1 9 0 0 -1 9 0 9 111.3 122.7 39*3 12.5 1.1 6 .2 1 0 .1 3 .0 1 9 1 0 -1 9 1 9 IIU. 3 3 2 .1+ 1.7 2 9 .1 12.2 1 .0 1 5 .2 1 7 .2 5*5 1 9 2 0 -1 9 2 9 1 6 1 .5 1 9 .2 1.7 1 6 .9 10.9 3 .3 1 U. 1 89.2 5*9 General average 128. 8 2 7 .7 2 *2 3^.1 lU.2 2 .7 1 6 .1 25.7 6.1 Years o o rH •rH £ cd to % P3 falls under five of the eleven major headings. TO u o TO O TO TO E Jh To TO H-* P h *h P h cd O 5.3 These are "government" with a general average of 3 ^ * 1 column inches; "economics," 2 7 -7 ; "pic­ tures and cartoons," 2 5 *7 ; "personal items," l6 .1 ; and "education," lU. 2 . The other six categories combined take but 8 . 1 column inches or slightly less than one-half column per week. Two categories, government and edu­ cation, decline in absolute amount through successive periods while one, "pictures and cartoons," increases and two others, "economics" and "per­ sonal items" are variable. But, perhaps, the figures for these categories become more significant when they are expressed in percentages of all na­ tional news space. This has been done in Table XXIX. Variations in Table XXIX, it will be noted, are less pronounced than in Table XXVIII but with the exception of the percentage that national news is of all extra-county news space, which shows a slight increase 11+2 TABLE XXIX DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TERMS OF WEEKLY AVERAGE PERCENTAGES TO NATIONAL NEWS Pictures and Cartoons All others > 0 Personal items u a) Education Family +3 a 0) E Recreation } Economics Years Percent­ age of all extra­ county news space Weekly average percentage of space given to each major category 24.6 1 .0 H.O 1 2 .1 7*>+ 8 .2 9*6 2 .U 13*3 8.7 15*0 1+.8 55*2 3*6 12.5 17*7 1 8 0 1 -1 8 8 9 32.7 1U. 7 2.5 3^*7 15*5 1 8 9 0 -1 8 9 9 3U9 1 5 .7 2 .2 35*7 1 3 .1 2.5 Ko 1900-1909 37-5 1.5 3 2 .0 1 0 .2 *9 5*1 1910-1919 36.5 39-8 28. 3 37.S 11.9 25*5 10.5 10.7 1 9 2 0 -1 9 2 9 1*5 1.1 *9 2. 2 General average 35.3 22. 2 - 1.7 27.5 1 1 .2 2.1 6.7 after the beginning of 1900, the trends are essentially the same. The five major categories with the highest percentages total 9 1 . 1 per cent of all national news space leaving less than 8 per cent to the remaining categories. With the exception of ’'recreation11 which shows an increase in the fifth period, an increase accounted for mainly by national sports, the general tendency for "family” and ’'recreation" is towards a declining percentage of the total national news space throughout successive periods. Two of thefive categories containing the major percentages also show declines throughout succeissive periods. These categories are government and edu­ cation; and a third major category, personal items, declines, but somewhat irregularly. In the case of "government" the decline is essentially con- tinuous throughout later periods. The only exception occurs in the second period which averages 3 5 . 7 per cent, or one per cent higher than the first 1*3 period. From this point on, the decline is continuous to 10.5 per cent in the fifth period. Most of the decrease occurring in this category is due to a decline in news space classified under the subcategories, ad­ ministration and politics. ''Education, " the other major category showing a decline, decreases from a weekly average of 15.9 per cent in the first period to 6.7 per cent in the fifth. The subcategories under which most of the decline occurs are "agricultural" and "historical." With the de­ velopment of communication and the advancement of formal education such a decline is probably what would be expected. "Personal items," the third major category showing a tendency to decline, averages 2k .6 per cent for the first period, roughly, 1 3 per cent each for the second and the fourth periods, and an approximate average of 7 per cent for the third and fifth periods. The exception to an essentially continuous decline in this cate­ gory is the third period which averages but 5*1 per cent. The marked drop to 5 * 1 per cent in this sort of news items in the third period is accompanied by an equally marked rise in economic news during this same period. Economic news, it will be observed, shows no definite trend but rises abruptly from an average of 15*2 per cent for the first two periods to 3 9 . 8 per cent in the third period, and then declines slightly to 28.3 per cent in the fourth period, and to 11.9 in the fifth. The marked in­ crease in the amount of space noted under this category during the third and the fourth periods consists largely of agricultural news. In fact, slightly more than 80 per cent of the space thus classified during these two decades has been allocated to the subcategory called "agriculture." It was during the years 1900 to 1915 that the Republican-News ran a weekly column or two which was somewhat of the nature of the service sup­ plied by the agricultural Journal. It was this news matter to which at- 144 tention was called in Chapter IV, page 65 , that accounts for the in­ crease in the amount of space given to total economic news. "Pictures and cartoons," the remaining major category, in contrast to all other categories of national news space shows an increase through successive periods. But its most striking increase occurs during the last decade, that is to say, during the period I9 2 0 to 1 9 2 9 . In this period the average weekly percentage was 55.2 compared to 1 5 per cent for the fourth period and less than 6 per cent each for the three previous periods. The space under "pictures and cartoons" for the last period is recorded mostly under the two subcategories, comics and cartoons and pho­ tographs, *4-2.U per cent being classified under the former and 52.7 per cent under the latter. Because of the small amount of space classified under them, "reli­ gion," "health," "art," and "miscellaneous" have been grouped together under the heading "all others." Their combined weekly average for the M>9 years is but 1+.9 per cent of all national news. FOKEIG-H I£EWS. Foreign news, it has been pointed out, is the news the source of origin for which is a foreign country. The scarcity of this type of news matter in the Republic an-News renders it less signifi­ cant to the problem under consideration than either national or state news. Perhaps, its primary importance is to be found in its decline throughout successive periods. in Table XXX. The data for foreign news is presented This table shows the amount of decline in column inches for all foreign news and both the column inches and the percentages of all foreign news classified under those major categories receiving the highest amounts of space for each period."^ 3Owing to the fact that only about one-fourth of all foreign news has been given to the eight categories, family, health, recreation, religion, art, pictures and cartoons, personal items, and miscellaneous, they have been grouped together under "all others." 1^5 TABLE XXX DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TERMS OF WEEKLY AVERAGES TO FOREIGN NEWS Percentage of all foreign news Column Percentage of all foreign news 10*8 35.9 5.9 1 9 .6 3.2 1 0 .6 1 0 .2 33.9 I89O-IS99 2 6 .7 7.6 11.4 ^2 .7 8 .2 30.7 2 .0 7.5 5.1 19.1 1900-1909 15.2 4*7 5.2 3 ^ .2 6 .6 43.4 .7 4.6 2 .8 18.4 I9IO-I919 17.3 5.5 5.1 29-5 5.7 32.9 .7 4*0 5.8 33.5 1920-1929 General average 8.6 2*0 3.7 ^ 3.0 1 .2 i4.o l.l 1 2 .8 2.5 29 .1 19.4 5.4 7.2 37-1 5.5 28.3 1.5 7.8 5 .1 2 6 .7 inches Column 7.3 inches Percentage of all foreign news 30.1 inches 1881-1889 inches Years Total col­ umn inches Column ALl others Percentage of all foreign j news Economics Column Education Government Per­ cent­ age of all extras county news space Foreign news, it will Be observed, at the outset, shows a very defi­ nite tendency to decline throughout later periods* The only exception is the fourth period, the World War period, when a slight rise from a weekly average of 15 *2 column inches in the third period to 1 7 .3 in the fourth takes place. Such an increase is to he expected in view of the un­ usual world situation at that time. But the periods of most marked change occur at the beginning of 1900 and 1920. In the first instance, that is the years prior to 1900, the weekly average is 28*3 column inches as com­ pared to 16.2 for the following twenty years and to S.6 for the decade after the war. Most of the space given to foreign news falls under three major cate­ gories* In fact, 6 5 .4 per cent of such news space falls under two major categories, 7.8 per cent under the third, and approximately 27 per cent 146 under all other categories combined. In the three categories containing the major percentages only"economics" shows this category the trend is downward* any trend. Changes in percentages from period to period, of course, do occur, hut they are irregular. one—tenth per cent, or 7*2 In the case of Thirty—seven and column inchesper week, which is the highest weekly average found under any single major category, is recorded for education. Almost all of this space is distributed, though unevenly, under two subcategories. These are "historical" and "travelogue." The former receives a general weekly average of 2 5 .6 per cent, or about onefourth of all foreign educational news space, while the latter receives a general weekly average of 68.8 per cent, or more than two-thirds of such space. Travelogues, in contrast to all other types of foreign news, is, doubtless, of more direct and immediate interest to the residents of Clin­ ton County because many items included under it are articles written by residents, former residents, or relatives of residents of Clinton County who described their travels in foreign countries. The second category in percentage of foreign news space received is "government" which shows a general average of 28*3 per cent, or 5*5 col­ umn inches per week. More than one—half of this total space, 51-7 P © r cent to be exact, pertains to the war and military operations of foreign governments and 21 p©r cent additional concerns their administrative ac­ tivities. Thus approximately three-fourths of all government news space is taken up with these two types of activities. But few items, the data indicate, occurs under foreign economic news because a general average of only 7.8 per cent, or 1.5 column inches, of space per week has been given this type of news. Rarer still do items occur under other categories as an average of but five column inches of il+7 space per week has been classified, under the eight remaining headings. Only one of these, "personal items," averaged as much as one column inch per week. STORIES, MAGAZINE, .AND MISCELLANEOUS MATTER. Attention has been called earlier in this chapter to the nature of the news matter that has been classified under this heading. There it was pointed out that "stor­ ies, magazine, and miscellaneous matter" has no specific geographic refer­ ence. In fact, little, if any, of the material included under it is news in the literal sense of the term as it was defined in Chapter II. This does not mean, of course, that all other non-advertising matter is in the strictest sense, news. Some items under other general headings, especi­ ally national and foreign, doubtless, lack the particular interest qual­ ity that would characterize them as news to the people of the Clinton County seat community; but such items did have a geographic location, a characteristic lacking in the case of the items classified under stories, magazine and miscellaneous matter. This material consists mostly of serial and short stories, hints to women about housework, wise sayings called "bits of wisdom," Sunday School lessons, moralizing stories, and other somewhat similar matter such as is found in various types of magazines. In fact it is largely the type of news matter which Willey in his study of Rural Weeklies in Connecticut calls "magazine material." The distrih bution of this type of newspaper matter under the various major categories is shown in Table XXXI. "Stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter," the data of Table ^Because of the small percentage of space classified under "family," "recreation," "health," "art," and "pictures and cartoons" they have been grouped together under "all others." w s S -e ^ u e o u e c j Kb • Ob yy • LCb CVJ a CVJ Ob a CVJ GO CVJ 1—i LCb • LCb r-J TO opi COO *rH Q) 33 S3 s a -q o u x uum xoQ m Pt PH O EH Eh K? <*! CO p! o> 0 •pH*rH n o 0 i—1 f e PH ^ PI P. - PI S P i *-H 3 3 £=; cb h M co S * P I CO Pi >-4 I— 1 pq p ! o P i Erl O CO Ph O CO EH P i CO O Pi cb o m 1— 1 &q EH ^ p> « i P=1 I—I Ph Eh CO 1— 1 PI p i Pi p) 0 s a ip tiT tn u n x o Q a ^ q .u a o u a j -rH bJO ♦rH t—1 o Cf 0 •rH r— • CVJ VO PlH O O O GO Ob • LCb LCb © ^ e q .u a o u e j to *Pt H coF h VO VO 1— 1 i rH GO GO rH 1 O Ob GO 1— 1 • Kb CVJ • yy LCb * 0 yy LCb Ob GO CM 1—1 • -d* a Kb VO 1—1 Ob 0 Ob 1— 1 Ob ■— 1 Ob rH Ob CM Ob iH I 1 O rH Ob O CM Ob rH ■ —1 0 0 Ob rH 0 GO • Ob 1—1 • GO CM • Kb • LCb • • r— CVJ t—1 • t—1 GO 1 O rH • 1---- yy rH General average 3 3 1^9 XXXI show, averages for the forty-nine years 1^7.1 column inches, or slightly more than seven and one-fourth columns per week. Of this space approximately five and one—half columns have heen classified under the two categories, stories and fiction and education. The former accounts for 81.5 column inches, slightly over four columns, or 55 per cent of all stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter while the latter takes 28.U column inches or I9 .8 per cent. dency to decrease after 1909. “Stories and fiction" shows a ten­ For instance, the two periods previous to this date averaged 9 5 .1 column inches, or 5 ^ .6 per cent of all stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter, as compared to 7 3 .0 column inches, or 53.0 per cent for each of the three decades afterwards. It is this cate­ gory that included the serial story, the short story which is complete in one issue, jokes, humorous and witty stories called "Bits of Wisdom" in the early issues, and other similar newspaper matter. "Education," the second major category in the amount of news space received, is composed largely of newspaper matter that has "been classi­ fied under the subcategory called "Domestic Hints." Under this heading are included such items as women's and men's styles, dress patterns, ing recipes, care of children, and similar material. cook­ A general average of 6 1 .5 per cent of all educational news is of this type; and with the ex­ ception of the World War decade when a slight decline is recorded, there is a continuous increase in such news matter from U5 .3 cent of all educational news in the first period to 81 per cent in the fifth period*. The increase in this type of educational matter, probably, indicates a growing interest in the latest styles and fashions and in new menus and new methods of preparing food. In short, it indicates a declining isola­ tion of the Clinton County seat community and an increase in contacts with 150 the outside world. ^hree other minor categories receive approximately all of the re­ maining space classified under "education." They are: "non-formal, " which includes such items as comments about books, book and magazine re­ views, and discussions of literary subjects, with lU. 5 per cent; "agri­ culture" with 11.9 per cent; and "science and invention" with 6 .5 per cent. "Non— formal" declines continuously throughout successive periods while the other two minor categories are irregular. The small amount of space given to these three categories, probably* renders them insignificant to the problem under consideration. Three major categories under "stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter" remain to be analyzed. "government. " These are: "economics," "religion," and Their weekly averages show ranges, it will be observed from Table XXXI, from U .3 column inches to 5*^- column inches which is from 3 per cent to 3 *5 Per cent of all stories, magazines, and miscellaneous mat­ ter. Nearly half, bj.h per cent to be exact, of the 5*^ column inches of space given to "economics" is classified under one minor category, namely, "agriculture" while the remainder is distributed more evenly under eight other minor categories. No definite trend, it will be noted, is evident for "economics" either in column inches or in percentages. "Religion," on the other hand, increases continuously from 2.U per cent of all stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter in the first period to 5 per cent in the third, declines to .2 per cent in the fourth or World War period, and then rises again to 3 .5 per cent in the fifth period. Of the weekly aver­ age of b.b column inches allotted to "religion," 97.^ per cent has been classified under the syndicated sermons and Sunday School lessons and miscellaneous subcategories in the approximate proportion of three to two 151 respectively. Only one subcategory under "government" stands out suffi­ ciently to receive any mention. 2 6 .5 This category is "politics." It receives per cent, or slightly more than one-fourth, of the total weekly aver­ age of U. 3 column inches given to its major category. No other minor cate­ gory under "government" receives more than one-half as much space as "poli­ tics. " A general average of lH. 3 column inches or 10 per cent of the space given to stories, magazine, and miscellaneous matter has been classified under "miscellaneous." cult to classify. This category includes material which was diffi­ Much of it consists of items commonly called "filler" which are used to end a column. The miscellaneuus or unclassifiable mat­ ter, it will be observed from Table XXXI, increases continuously from 5*3 per cent in the first period to 1 5 .2 in the fourth and then declines to 13.7 the fifth. An increase of such news paper material is, probably, to be expected in view of the fact that the total news space showed a con­ tinuous increase after 1909* The heading in Table XXXI termed "all others," it has been pointed out, includes six major headings. These six categories receive a weekly average of but 8 . 7 column inches, or 5*5 Per cent, of all stories, maga­ zine, and miscellaneous matter; consequently, their small amount of space renders them insignificant to the problem being studied and makes a more detailed analysis unnecessary. EXTRA.-COUNTY ADVERTISING. This heading, as its name implies, includes all advertising geographically incident to the area outside Clinton County. More, specifically, it includes all state and nationally advertised goods and services which do not have their source of origin within the county. Because of the small amount of such advertising matter and its minor im— 152 portance as an index of change in the Clinton County seat community and also because extra-county non-display advertising appears under but two minor categories, namely, Hpatent medicine and appliances11 and 11miscella— neous,11 it has seemed expedient to summarize all extra— county advertising both display and non-display in a single table. This has been done in Table XXXII. TABLE XXXII DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE BY DESIGNATED PERIODS GIVEN IN TERMS OF WEEKLY AVERAGES TO EXTRA-COUNTY ADVERTISING Department and drug store Transportation Rural adver­ tising 3-9 3.2 H .7 1.1 1.6 H.l 3-7 1.7 5.2 19.9 8.7 1 8 .6 2.1+ 16.5 9*5 •3 10.1+ 1.2 3 .^ 1.1+ 7 .^ 2.2 11.3 2.2 1U.3 7 .3 3.^ 1.6 U .3 6.0 9.1 10.7 6.0 1.0 8. 5 5.2 7.2 1+.6 5.7 1^.7 6.9 2I+.9 5.2 8.1 26.2 i39-5 3 .8 9 .1 *+•3 U .5 6. 2 10.1+ 2.5 8.6 1.8 9 *U 18H. 5 1+7.8 58.0 2.2 1890-1899 161. 1+ 38. 6 1900-1909 11+8.2 2*+. 2 5^.9 .8 Ug.3 2. U 1910-1919 122.0 ll+. 6 1920-1929 128.1 S. 3 General average 1U8. 2 Amusements Miscellaneous Building materi­ al and equipment Banking,insuran­ ce & real estate Household furnishings 7 .6 1881-1889 Food 3-7 8.8 Per­ cent­ Total age col­ of all adver­ umn inches tising Wearing apparel Years Patent medicines and appliances ; Percentage that each type of advertising is of all extra-county advertising 7.0 - — In absolute amount of space and in percentage of all advertising space. Table XXXII, it will be observed, shows the reverse trend of Table XXI, page 118. This table, it will be recalled, presents in increasing amounts the space given to county advertising, while Table XXXII, the pre­ sent table, shows among other things the decreasing amount of space given to extra— county advertising. Extra-county advertising, it will be noted from XXXII, decreases in absolute amount from lgl+. 5 column inches in the first period to 122 in the fourth period and then rises slightly to 128.1 in the fifth period. In percentage of all advertising, however, the decline is continuous and quite marked throughout successive periods. For instance, extra—county advertising averages 1+7 .8 per cent of all advertising in the first period, then declines to 38.6 per cent in the second period, to 21+.2 per cent in the third, to lU. 6 in the fourth, and to 8 .3 in the fifth. Stated in fractions this means that approximately one-half of all advertising had its source or origin outside the county in the first period, two-fifths in the second period, one— fourth in the third period, one-sixth in the fourth period, and one-twelfth in the fifth period. Such a marked decline in extra-county advertising corroborates on the negative side the conclusions reached in Chapter V under Tables XXI and XXII, namely, that Clinton County is becoming increasingly aware of the Republican-News as its most common medium of communication and by inference an expansion in the character of the Clinton County seat community. The most outstanding of the minor categories under extra-county advertising is "patent medicines and appliances. " A general average of 39.5 of all extra-county advertising for the forty-nine years is classi­ fied under this heading. other minor category. This is approximately four times that for any "Patent medicine and appliances," as its name im­ plies, includes patent medicines, trusses, and other health appliances. In Table XXXII it includes both the display and non-display ads. The non­ display ads are those written like a news article but which subtly extol the virtues of a particular remedy. Perhaps, two facts worth noting stand out relative to "patent medicines and appliances." In the first d a c e it 15*+ shows a continuous decline throughout successive periods from 58 per cent in the first period to 18*6 in the fifth. In terms of column inches, this is a decline ranging down from 10U to 23. This means that in the first period a weekly average of more than five columns of a six column page or nearly one page of an eight page paper was given over to patent medicine advertising* The second fact to be noted about "patent medicine and ap­ pliances" is the large amount of space given to such advertising during the first three periods and the marked decline afterwards. These first three periods, 1881 to 1910, for instance, average 53*7 Per cent of all extra-county advertising as compared to 19L 2 per cent for the two decades that follow. In column inches again, this is a weekly average for the three earlier periods of approximately 89 as against 2b for the two later ones. This inverse proportion or declining percentage of space given to extra-county patent medicine advertising implies indirectly, perhaps, first, a decline in the fetishistic notions about the healing qualities of such preparations and, secondly, a greater interest in scientific medicine. This last conclusion is corroborated by the marked increase in the amount of health news given in the last designated period to the promotion of the con­ struction of a local hospital. A few other minor categories are sufficiently important to be mentioned. Among these are "transportation" which shows a general average of 10.b per cent and stands second in amount of extra-county advertising space received. A variation of less than 2 per cent from its general average is recorded for this category during the-first three periods, that is from 1881 to 1 9 1 0 ; but during the fourth or World War period, it drops to 6 per cent and then rises in the fifth period to lb. 7 per cent. This latter percentage reflects to a large extent the advertising of the new medium of transportation and 155 communication, namely, the automobile and its accessories, while the three earlier ones represent advertising, particularly excursions, by the railroad companies. The third minor category in the amount of extra-county advertising space received is "food." It shows a general weekly average of 9*1 per cent per week and varies from this average less than two per cent in only two periods. These periods are the first and the fourth with averages of 3 -7 P©r cent and l6. 5 per cent respectively. The high percentage of space given to the latter period may reflect the emphasis that was placed on food in winning the World War. Some of the space included in the food sub­ category was concerned with the food served by restaurants and hotels in some of the larger cities, particularly Detroit. Following "food" comes the category called "banking, insurance, and real estate" with a general average of 8.6 per cent. The high general average percentage for this category, it will be noted in Table XXXII, is largely due to the marked increase in the percentage of such advertising matter in the two final periods. For example, the first three periods, which cover the years 1881 to 1910* average less than 3 per cent per week, while the fourth or World War decade averages 11*3 per cent, and the fifth or post-war decade averages 2U. 9 per cent. The type of advertising in­ cluded in this category is confined mostly to insurance and real estate. Some of the advertising space pertaining to real estate was concerned with the sale of Western lands. The four minor categories, "patent medicines and appliances," "trans­ portation," "food," and "banking, insurance, and real estate" account for two-thirds of all extra-county advertising, while "miscellaneous" which includes both display and non-display matter accounts for 9.U per cent 156 more, leaving slightly over 20 per cent to the other seven minor categor­ ies combined, none of which averages as much as 6 per cent and most of which average but 3 or per cent of all extra-county advertising. Thus because of their small amount of space, these categories are not sufficiently im­ portant to the problem of the rural weekly* s reflection of change in the community to justify their detailed analysis. Summarized briefly, the data of Chapter VI is the inverse of the data of Chapter V. They show, for instance, marked declines in the pro­ portional amounts of news and advertising space given to the territory beyond the county where marked increases were shown for the latter area in the previous chapter. Moreover, they point inversely, with the decline in extra— county news and advertising spa.ce, to an increasing emphasis in the Clinton County Republicaaa-News on the county as a social unit and news area and corroborate on the negative side the findings of the prev­ ious chapter. One further problem to be considered is the "Editorials. *' They re­ flect the editor's attitudes towards all those incidents and events and particularly those changes and innovations in human behavior which are thought to have a bearing on the common life of the community. An analy­ sis of such news matter should throw some further light on the problem of the rural weekly's reflection of the changing interests and character of its community. Such an analysis will be made in the following chapter. CHAPTER VII EDITORIAL SPACE The present age, it has been pointed out* is the age of the rail­ road, the telegraph, the telephone, the automobile, the radio, the newspaper, and the cinema. It is an age characterized by the swift­ ness and the diffusion of new ideas, beliefs, and opinions, an age typified by a more enlarged and animated human nature and a more un­ stable and changing social order. The old dogmatisms and securities of a less mobile world are capitulating before the impact of an expanding communication. Diversity and insecurity have come to take the place of the general optimism and stability that permeated the religious, political, economic, and family life of an earlier generation; and as a consequence old social, standard and values are being discarded in the search for new ones. In this process of transition, the newspaper's editor searches out for closer analysis and evaluation those incidents and tendencies which he considers have an important bearing on the common welfare. These items appear under the title of EDITORIALS on the special page by that name. They, of course, include a wide range of human behavior and serve the function of interpreting for the reader the editor's attitude toward the innovations in human conduct and the changing social life of the day. And in the small community where contacts are more intimate and personal, they probably tend to repre­ sent the views of a large number of its constituency; consequently a detailed analysis of the editorials of a paper like the Clinton County 158 Eepub 1 ican-News should supplement and clarify the generalizations, already arrived at through an analysis of its general news and advertis— ing, which indicate numerous changes in the interests and the character of its community life. It is this supplemental aspect of the subject that is the concern of the present chapter* ANALYSIS OB EDITORIAL SPACE. A separate analysis and classificat­ ion of all editorial space in the first issue of the Republican-News in each month for the forty—nine years, 1881 to 1929 inclusive, has been made. In this analysis the same scheme of classification has been used that was followed in classifying the total news space. The total weekly average amount of editorial space in column inches and the percentages of the total given to the various major categories by designated periods is shown in Table X30CIII. TABLE 20X111 WEEKLY AVERAGE AMOUNT OP TOTAL EDITORIAL SPACE IN COLUMN INCHES AND THE PERCENTAGES OP THE TOTAL ALLOTTED TO THE VARIOUS MAJOR CATEGORIES BY DESIGNATED PERIODS Recreation Health Miscel­ laneous 3.5 2.0 66.5 7.4 1.4 .8 2.4 rH H Religion 15.9 Economics Weekly average column Years inches 1881-1889 12.3 Education Percentage of the total given to each major cateerorv Pi © U £ «§ 1890-1899 12.8 13.4 1.4 --- 70.9 11.0 .9 .3 2.0 1900-1909 9.0 17.0 1.9 1.0 68.8 5.2 1.2 1.0 3.9 1910-1919 9.2 13.1 1.9 .3 78.2 2.6 .4 1.6 1.9 1920-1929 31.4 18.4 1.6 2.1 38.1 23.0 5.5 5.4 5.8 General average 15.0 15.5 2.0 1.1 64.4 9.9 1.9 1.8 3.2 159 Prom Table XXXIII it will be observed that 15.0 column inches is the general weekly average amount of space devoted to editorials. This, however, is considerably higher than the weekly average shown for any of the first four periods which, of course, include the years 1881 to 1920. In other words, the high general average, when compared to the major portion of the years covered by the study, is due, in large part, to the notaJble increase in the amount of space given to editorials during the last period, that is from 1919 to 1929 inclusive. This is more evident when the various periods are compared. The first two periods, 1881 to 1900, for instance, average 12.5 column inches per week; the second two periods, 1900 to 1920, average 9.1 column inches; while the fifth period increases to 31.4 column inches, a fig­ ure more than three times the average of the two previous periods and more than two and one-half times that of the first two periods. This marked increase in editorial space was due to a. change in editorial policy. After the purchase of the Clinton Republican by Schuyler Marshall in April, 1923, and its combination in 1924 with the St. Johns News to form the Clinton County Republican-News, the amount of the editorial space was doubled. The low weekly average of 9.1 column inches for the third and the fourth periods is due, in part, to the fact that during these periods the editor in election years often included in the editorial column before election a list of Republican candidates for the various offices and after election a list of the winners. This type of news matter, when no comment was made about it as was often the case, was not included as editorial space; consequently the total weekly average was lowered. The most significant fact concerning the distribution of editorial space is the high percentage classified under "government11. A general lbO weekly* average of 64*4 per cent or nearly two-thirds of all edi­ torial space has been classified under this heading. The highest per­ centages given to "government", it will he noted, occur in the first four periods* These periods average 70*9 per cent in contrast to 38*1 for the fifth period* With the exception of the 1910, which shows a decline of 2*1 per cent, the third period,1900 to general trendfor the first four periods is upward from 66.5 per cent in the first period to 78.2 in the fourth. Since "government" receives approximately two- thirds of all editorial space, it has seemed advisable to present the data for this category in a separate table and to analyze them in some detail. done in Table XXXIV which This has been follows the analysis of the other major categories for editorial space. Next to "government" in the proportion of editorial space received are "economics" with a general average of 15.5 per cent and "education" with 9.S per cent. "Economics" shows no trend and does not vary in its various designated periods more than 3.2 per cent from its general aver­ age. "Education", likewise, evinces no trend but shows more marked vari­ ation in percentages from period to period than the former category. Its lowest and highest percentages, 2 . 6 and 23.0, occur in the fourth and the fifth periods respectively. These three major categories, that is government, economics, and education, account for 89.8 per cent or more than seven—eighths of all the space classified under EDITORIALS. No single remaining category receives a general weekly average of as much as 4 per cent. Two other major categories, however, because of their somewhat marked increases in percentages in the fifth, or 1920 to 1929, period deserve mention. These are* "recreation" ana "health" with weekly averages for the fifth period of 5.5 per cent and 5.4 per l 6l cent respectively* The former pertains primarily to national and local sports, community festivities, and amusements and entertainment, while the latter is concerned almost wholly with the county community hospital which was sponsored by the editors of the Eepublican-ITews. "Economics'1 with a general weekly average of 2*3 column inches, or 15*5 per cent, of all editorial space, it has been pointed out, is the second m&jor category in the amount of total editorial space received* Slightly more than one—half, 52*7 per cent, of this space occurs under three minor categories, namely, commerce and transportation, merchandis­ ing, and industry with percentages of 21*1, 16 and 15*6 respectively. Of the remaining space allocated to "economics" 16.1 per cent lias "been classified under four minor categories, agriculture, real estate, prices of products, and finance and insurance, while 31.2 per cent has been given to miscellaneous economics. This latter category includes such items as those which concern general economic conditions, reviews of business or economic conditions, labor conditions, labor's situation after the World War, changes in cost of living, and similar matter* Commerce and transportation pertains to foreign and domestic trade, transportation companies, their activities, rates, and officials, high­ ways, automobiles and like materials; merchandising comprises editor­ ial items about the buying and selling activities of merchants, bio­ graphical matter about merchants and their businesses and their connect­ ions with commercial and business organizations; and industry, it will be recalled, covers all editorial items pertaining to non-agricultural products and their production and consumption including statistics and forecasts about such products and their consumption. 162 Of the space allotted to "miscellaneous11 under "economics", 60 per cent is found in the last, or 1920-1929 period. In fact, 44.8 per cent of all the space given to "economics" occurs in the last decade as compared to 55.2 per cent for the previous 39 years. In other words, the proportionate amount of editorial space given to economics during the 1920 to 1929 period more than trebled its prev­ ious 39 years average. This, it will he remembered, is the reverse of the proportional amount of space given to government in the last tenyear period. These contrasting trends in the amount of editorial space given to economics and government in the last period represent a change in editorial policy and, perhaps, also a change in the attitudes of the people of the Clinton County seat community. to 1929 period, It was during the 1920 it will be recalled, that the Clinton County Republican changed hands, combined with the St. Johns Hews, and adopted a policy of independence in political matters. It was also after the adoption of a non-partisan policy that the amount of editorial space given to government, which was largely concerned with politics as it will be shown in Table 3Q0CIV, declined and the amount given to economics increas­ ed. It is possible, too, that as the result of the expansion of human contacts which followed the introduction or more extensive use of such modern media of communication and transportation as rural free delivery, the linotype machine, the daily newspaper, the telephone, and the auto­ mobile, and as a result also of the general economic conditions of the 192 0 *s, which were characterized by depression among the farming classes on the one hand and prosperity among certain industrial classes on the other, that the people of the Clinton County seat community were less 163 interested in politics, especially since many of the earlier political issues had changed and were more concerned with economic problems than had been the case previously, “Education* with a general weekly average of 1*5 column inches or 9*9 per cent of all editorial space, stands third in the amount of total editorial space received. Of importance with reference to “education* is the fact that 51,5 per cent, or more than one—half of its total space, is given to the subcategory called *non—formal* of which approximately four-fifths occurs in the last ten-year period* Nineteen and four- tenths per cent more of the space allotted to education has been allo­ cated to * travelogue*, This means that 70*9 per cent, or slightly more than two-thirds of all editorial space devoted to education, has been classified under these two minor categories. *Non-formal*includes all comments about lectures, chautauquas, discussions of literary subjects, and discussions of books and magazines. It also includes all comments about speeches, lecttires, and debates which are of an educational nature; and furthermore it includes all comments, suggestions, and advice to his readers by the editor on subjects which cannot be definitely classi­ fied tinder other headings. ”Travelogue* , the second minor category under “education” , includes letters, articles, and comments about other places, cities, and countries, or the habits and customs of other peoples. Most of the remaining educational space has been classified under two minor categories. They are, “formal* which pertains to comments about formal school education and its officials with 10*7 per cent, and “agriculture* with 9*7 per cent. The latter category, as previously pointed out, includes comments on agricultural extension, home 16U demonstrations, 4 H Club work, county agents, and similar material* More than 95 per cent of the space occurring under "agriculture** is found in the 1920 to 1929 period* Perhaps, the most important fact regarding "education" is that 70 per cent of all the editorial space classified under it appears in this last period, thus leaving but 30 per cent for the previous 39 years combined. In other words, the amount of space devoted to education averages eight times more for the fifth or 1920 to 1929 period than it did for the previous 39 years* It is important also to note that 65 per cent or about two-thirds of the space appearing in the fifth period is found under "non-formal" • When the total editorial space given to "education" during the thirty-nine years, 1881 to 1919 inclusive, is compared with "politics", the weekly average percentage for the former is 6*9 per cent as against 61 per cent for the latter* When, however, the amount of space given to these two categories are contrasted for the ten-year period, 1920 to 1929 inclusive, the figures are 23 per cent for "education" and 17.3 per cent for "politics". These facts, like those for "economics" in the previous category, seem to have a bearing on the problem of the rural weekly fs reflection of the changing character and the changing interests of its community* They show for the Clinton County seat community an increase in emphasis on interests that are, probably, more conducive to the stimulation of cooperation. This is particularly true of non— formal education; furthermore they show, by way of contrast, a marked decline in emphasis on politics which, especially in the earlier periods, as will be pointed out later in this chapter, tended to arouse conflict and division. EDITORIAL SPACE GIVEN TO GOVERNMENT. Because approximately two- thirds of the total editorial space, as stated previously, is given to 165 "government** , It lias seemed advisable for a fuller comprehension of the editor's attitude toward the various aspects of government to analyze this category separately. This has been done in Table XXXIV. This table shows the distribution of editorial space in column inches given to "government" by designated periods and the percentage of governmental space given to ea,ch minor category. TABLES XXXIV WEEKLY AVERAGE AMOUNT OP TOTAL EDITORIAL SPACE IN COLUMN INCHES GIVEN TO GOVERNMENT AND THE PERCENTAGES OP THE TOTAL GIVEN TO THE VARIOUS MINOR CATEGORIES BY DESIGNATED PERIODS Percentage of total given to ea,ch minor category m 43 q o •P 0$ Sh Years . 1881-1889 Weekly average column inches 8*2 •CQ 4* *rl CO CQ O •3° % Q> S •d h q 3 W -P» •H *H u u •rl q o -P» rH •h .a o p, EH •rl td S rH 1.0 ---- ---- ■p to q o d •rl rH t> -H 9.3 81.9 .7 3.3 S3 3.8 1 a> O co ® o ID q 1890-1899 9.1 11.3 73.2 1.5 2.5 4.1 .3 3.1 3.9 1900-1909 6.2 10.9 73.0 5.0 2.0 5.4 .7 2.9 ---- 1910-1919 7.1 12.9 59.5 5.6 .4 17.7 2.3 1.0 .6 1920-1929 General average 11* 9 15.6 45.3 2.0 16.1 1.1 10.0 9.4 .4 8.5 ..1^1 66*3 3.0 4.9 6.5 3.3 1.0 .... J3WL- The most significant fact to be observed in Table XXXIV is the high percentage of space given to "politics". "Politics", of course, includes editorials on such topics as political parties, political party activi­ ties, campaigns, discussions, plans, policies, platforms, conventions, candidates, and other similar matter. A general weekly average of 5.6 column inches, or 66.3 per cent of all space devoted to government, it will be noted, is of this type. A continuous decline in the percentage 166 of space given to this sub-category, however, takes place throughout the series of designated periods. the first period to 45.3 per The range is from 81*9 per cent in cent in the fifth. Themostmarked decline, it will he observed, occurs after 1900 when the percentage of govern­ mental space given to Hpoliticstt drops from a general weekly average of 76*2 per cent for the first three periods to 52*4 per cent for the final ones. But when the percentage that llpoliticsB is of all editor­ ial space is considered, the greatest break appears after the fifth period. 1919 or in Thus, for example, when the totaleditorial space given to politics is computed for the various periods, the following percentages are obtained: first period, 1881-1889, 54.4; second period, 1890-1899, 51*9; third period, 1900-1909, 50,1; fourth period, 19101919, 46.6; fifth period, 1920-1929, 17.2* And when the general weekly average for the first four periods combined is computed, the percentage is 50*7 in contrast to 17.2 per cent for the fifth period. words, In other slightly more than one-half of all editorial space in the twelve selected issues for each of the years 1881 to 1920 wan concerned with politics as against one-sixth for the years 1920 to 1929, inclusive. It is also interesting to note that 63.2 per cent of all the space given to politics occurred during the even or campaign years while only 36.3 per cent occurred during the odd or non-campaign years. 1 m, , This means that 67*2 per cent of all editorial space included in the cam­ paign years between 1881 and 1920 pertained to politics. ^ Since there were 24 campaign years and 25 non-campaign years in the period covered by the study, the first non-campaign year, namely 1881, was omitted in order that the two series of years, campaign and non-campaign years would be equal and comparable. 167 The editorial data on politics presented thus far is quanti­ tative and objective; but such data do not give any indications of variations or changes in the editors* attitudes or emotional reactions toward the socio-economic and political issues of the day which might throw some light on the affective nature of the changes that have taken place in the common life of the Clinton County seat community* It is necessaryt therefore, in order to obtain more complete knowledge of this problem to make a qualitative analysis of the editorial data devoted to politics* QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF EDITORIALS ON POLITICS. The 1880*s, it will be recalled, was a period but approximately two decades after the Civil War; and much of the suffering and hardships of that internecine struggle and the great social and economic problems arising out of it were, doubtless, still vivid in the imaginations and uppermost in the minds of those who experienced them. The bitterness of feeling created by the war and the differences of opinion relative to the solution of common post-war problems constantly crop out in the editorials of those early years sublimated, perhaps, under the expression of Republican party principles as against those of the Democratic party which, of course, was primarily the political party of the seceding states. The third party, the tariff, and the greenback or cheap money question were major issues around which much of this bitter discussion raged during the first two decades of the period studied. This is illustrated by the following representative excerpts from editorials appearing in the eighties and the nineties* instance, the editor states! In an editorial of May 4, 1882* for 168 Some^long-eared sensationalist writes from Flint to the Chicago Times as follows: *The contest for the governorship is between Jerome, the present incumbent, and John Palmer of Detroit, and the friends of the two are inclined to make a bitter fight but the chances are in favor of Jerome1. For downright willful stupid lying the above beats anything outside the average greenback edi— t o n a l on the alleged contraction of the currency. In similar vein the editor comments in an editorial of February 7, 1884, concerning the third party sentiment and particularly those who supported it as follows! Merritt Moore of Ionia has told a reporter of the Detroit Times that he is confident that the new Union Prohibition party will carry Michigan next fall. As Mr. Moore has never been charged with being a fool, we can only judge that this is a case of deliberate lying, as neither Mr. Moore nor any other well informed man believes that the new party will carry Michigan next fall. The Greenback party started out with the same idle and lying boast. The Clinton County Republican, it will be recalled, passed into the hands of Coleman C. Vaughn in 1889, but its attitude towards the opposing party and its principles remained the same. out in an editorial of August 2, 1891. This is brought At that time the Democratic party had won the state election, and after the legislature had been In session for three months the editor summarizes its achievements thus! The present legislature controlled by the Democratic party, is probably the most worthless aggregation that ever disgraced the state of Michigan. It has been in session three months and the only thing accomplished has been the unseating of two legally elected Republican senators. Instead of a short session, as promised, thousands of dollars have been left undone. Briefly stated the present legislature is notoriously incompetent and dishonest. On March 2, 1893, two days before Grover Cleveland was inaugurated president of the United States, the editor of the Republican comments in no uncertain terms on the sad plight of the victors of 1865, and some of them he holds responsible for their humiliating situation as the following editorial illustrates! 169 Probably two hundred Clinton County* veterans of the war voted for Grover Cleveland last fall and they undoubtedly will be interested in the fact that Cleveland*s cabinet contains three ex—rebels, one of whom will dole out pensions to them. Verily, the solid South has regained by the ballot what it lost by the sword. The victor of 1865 is now a humble suppliant at the feet of a once vanquished foe, asking as a boon from the conquered the pension which he once proudly demanded as a right from the government he saved. By 1894, the memorable economic depression which had its beginning in 1893 held the country in its grip. This condition of affairs, of course, consumed much of the interest and the attention of the Republican editor; and since the Democratic party was in power it was held largely responsible for the country* s distress. Such an attitude is expressed in the following brief extract from an editorial of January 4, 1894. We look in vain for a fulfillment of the promises of prosperity to follow the entrusting of power to the democracy. We look in vain for editorials in Democratic journals congratulating the country upon the first fruits of a return to *good cld democratic days*. The Republican would be glad to announce to its readers the prospect of immediate improvement in the sad plight which business and labor finds itself at the beginning of the new year; but there is no such prospect in sight. The record of the next few weeks will be one of business disaster. More men will be idle, there will be no improvement until the tariff question is settled. And if the Wilson bill becomes a lavr, times will be harder still. More confident, perhaps, in the righteousness of Republican prin­ ciples but still sarcastic towards the opposing political, party is the attitude of the Clinton County Republican expressed in the following editorial of January 4, 1900. The Democratic party has been shouting for reform ever since the party was inaugurated, with the trifling exception of the years when that party has been entrusted with power. And who would think of expecting the party of Bryan to bring anything but disaster to the country? Attention has been called in previous chapters to the marked change in the character of the news and advertising following the turn of the 170 century. A change in the tone of the Repub l i c a n ^ editorials is also noticeable after this date* While still partisan in dealing with political issues, editorials were characterized by less bitterness anfl invective than was the case before 1900. This is evident from extracts of editorials appearing during the third and the fourth periods of the years covered by the study. For instance the editor writes on August 4, 1910: The primary law was designed to do away with the oft-repeated cry that bosses and rings made the nominations. Under the present system every enrolled voter can take a part in the nomination of his party and have all day to do it in.... The Republicans have three candidates for governor, Messrs. Kelley, Osborn, and Musselman, everyone of them posses­ sing good qualifications for governor. The change in the tone of the editorials will be noted again in the following editorial under the date of January 2, 1913, after a Democrat had been elected president: Champ Clark, Democratic speaker of the house, says 1912 was one of the most prosperous years America has ever known. He might have added that it was under a Republican administration and a Republican protect­ ive tariff, which he pledged to pull down. Hope as much can be said for the last years of Wilson* s administration when he is through. While the same old issue, the tariff, crops out during the Wilson administration, yet Republican editorials are much more moderate in tone than they were during the eighties and nineties as the following excerpt from an editorial for February 3, 1916, illustrates: President Wilson has announced that he is in favor of a non­ partisan tariff board or commission to collect information on tariff matters.... It will be remembered that we had such a non-partisan tariff board under President Taft, doing good work collecting information for the use of congress and the president, but as soon as a Democratic congress and president were elected, the congress put the board out of business by failing to make any appropriation for expenses. The tariff question comes up again in the editorials, particularly dnrHng the depression of 1921, and is dealt with in a tone similar to 171 recent previous discussions of the subject* However, after the change in ownership ana editorial policy of the Republican in 1923 and 1924, political issues change and editorial opinion seems less harsh and more impersonal than in previous periods as the following editorial of May 7, 1925 illustrates: Along with the reconstruction period which followed the war, Michigan *s political situation has been revamped. The issue is no longer obscure or uncertain. Wayne*s disposition to dominate has been too many times evident to leave any doubt as to what the attitude of that county will be in the future. The belief of Wayne citizens, encouraged by the attitude of Detroit newspapers, that Michigan is a minor part of Wayne County is pretty well founded in the metropolis. That future Wayne governors will willingly surrender any of the power built up and enjoyed by Gov. Groesbeck is very unlikely* But even more impersonal with reference to political matters is an editorial of February 7, 1929 in which the editor states: On March 4th there is a primary election for the purpose of choos­ ing candidates for district judge. There are three Republicans and one Democratic candidates. Considerable stress is being put on a gentleman*s agreement to alternate the judgeship between Gratiot and Clinton Counties by some of the candidates*... What the citizens of Gratiot County and the citizens of Clinton County should be most inter­ ested in is procuring the services of the man who is best qualified for the place* Summarizing the qualitative analysis of editorials on ^politics**, it may be concluded that three editorial attitudes are expressed by the editors. The first, occurring in the eighties and nineties of the last century, was characterized by a caustic, intolerant, politically partisan opinion about the problems growing out of the Civil War; the second, observable in the third and the fourth periods, while still partisan and moralistic in tone, was less sarcastic and personal in its evaluation of post Civil War and other socio-political and economic problems of the day; and the third, comprising largely the final period covered by the study, is represented by a liberal non-partisan attitude towards new problems 172 some of which, perhaps, grew out of the World War and the complexities of modern social life and others out of a more definite and well recog­ nized local community life. This will he brought out more clearly later in the topic on "Editorial space given to Clinton County** • "Admini str at ion", the second minor category in the amount of governmental space received, shows a general average of 12*1 per cent, or 1*0 column inches* This category includes all editorial matter which pertains to the execution of governmental functions and to the officials of governmental agencies whether they be municipal, county, state, na-tional, or international* The following quotation from an editorial of January 4, 1923 will indicate more clearly, perhaps, some of the items contained under this heading: The State Administration Board passed upon the tentative budgets of state institutions last week and recommended a budget of some $34,000,000 for the next two years. This is four millions or more less than the expense for the last two years and shows a responsiveness on the part of the board to the demands for lower taxes. With the exception of the third period v/hen, it will be noted from Table XSClV, a decline of less than one-half of one per cent occurs, "admini stration” shows increasing percentages throughout successive per­ iods. The range is from 9*3 per cent in the first period to 15.6 per cent in the fifth. Ho other minor category receives more than 6 per cent of all governmental space. But, perhaps, four other minor categories deserve mention because of their marked increase in percentages during later periods. These are: wcrime and graft11 with a percentage of 16.1 in the fifth period, "war and military" with a percentage of 17.7 in the fourth or World War period, "civics and philanthropy" with 10 per cent in the fifth period, and "taxation" with 9.4 per cent also in the fifth period. Considerable space under "war and military" during the 173 I fourth period, it should "be mentioned, was devoted to the cruelty of the Germans in dropping bombs on hospitals, the advances made by one army or another, prisoners taken, and similar material. EDITORIAL SPACE GIVEN TO CLINTON COUNTY. Up to this point nothing has been said about the distribution of editorial space on a geographic basis. The proportional amount of space given to Clinton County through­ out the successive selected periods, for instance, should throw some further light on the changing interests and changing problems in the Clinton County seat community* Such a distribution is presented in Table XXXV. It should be noted at the outset that no trend is evident in Table XXXV either in the total weekly average number of column inches of editorial space given to Clinton County or in the percentage that county editorial space is of all Furthermore, editorial space throughout successive periods. it should be noted that both in the percentage of total editorial space given to the county and in its weekly average absolute amount the highest figures occur in the first and the last periods, that is to say that during the ninth decade of the last century and the third decade of the present one. For instance, during the eighties of the past century a weekly average of 3*1 column inches of editorial space, which amounted to 24.8 per cent or approximately one-fourth of all editorial space, was devoted to Clinton County; then during the next three successive decades the weekly amount of space in column inches drops to 1.3, 0.3, and 0.4 respectively; and in percentages, to 9.8, 2.7 and 4.9 in order* But during the final, or 1920 to 1929 period, it rises to a weekly average of 10.2 column inches or 32*7 per cent which is approximately one-third of all editorial space. While showing no 17b TABLE XXXV WEEKLY AVERAGE AMOUNT OF EDITORIAL SPACE IN COLUMN INCHES GIVEN TO CLINTON COUNTY, ITS PERCENTAGE OF ALL EDITOR­ IAL SPACE, AND ITS PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION TO THE VARIOUS MAJOR CATEGORIES BY SELECTED PERIODS Percentage of space given to each major category Years 1881-1889 Percent­ 03 Weekly age of o •H aver­ all 6 o age editor­ o column ial o P3 inches -SBafig__ 3*1 34.8 53.4 8.1

6.9 31.0 5.7 15.1 3.1 .9 20.0 8.0 4.0 26.5 o u o © s i 35.0 10.8 11.4 8.9 9.6 3.9 3.9 6*6 trend and seeming unrelated to the problem of change in the Clinton County seat community, the marked variation in these figures can be, at least partially explained and related to the question under consideration. To illustrate: For the first nine years of the period studied, it will be recalled, the Clinton County Republican was under the editor­ ship of Fuller and Roe. During this period they ran considerable material of a somewhat historical and biographical nature in their editorial columns about various local merchants and business men. The following editorial of July 2, 1885 is an example. These facts occur to us while looking through the establishment of 0. G. Wickes and Sons, on Clinton Avenue, where everything in the way of family supplies is kept. Also corn, oats and feed. The Star Grocery was established 20 years ago by H. N. Griswold opposite the St. Johns House.... In November, 1884, 0. G. Wickes and Sons became the 175 owners. ^ The senior member of the firm- 0. G. Wickes- has been identified with the grocery business here during a period of 12 years, and Charles, his son, was employed as a clerk in the store for 12 years before becoming a member of the firm. Frank is also well known in this community. The firm are thoroughly acquainted with the details of the grocery trade. The goods are largely bought in job lots for cash, thereby, saving the profits of middlemen, and the firm offer the same to their customers at correspondingly low prices. It is this type of editorial matter, which shows no indication of a recognition of common county interests beyond the mere locality of St. Johns, that accounts for the large amount of space given to the county during the eighties. It is also this type of editorial matter which, in large measure, accounts for the high percentage of space, 53.4 per cent, given to 11economics” in the same period. The second period is characterized by a number of changes, chief among which are a change in editorship and the severe economic depres­ sion of the nineties. Probably, therefore, the difference in the inter­ ests of the new editor, Coleman C. Vaughn, and the social disorganizat­ ion resulting from the depression of that period account for the marked decline - a decline of approximately 60 per cent over the first period in the amount of space given to the county or more accurately the county seat. It is a social psychological principle that in times of crises the individual turns to the strongest group or organization within his purview for aid and comfort; and if, in his judgment, such group or organization fails him, it receives his bitterest criticism. The depression of the nineties was such a crisis; and the national govern­ ment, particularly, was the organization, doubtless, which drew the editor1s attention away from local and county affairs. The third and the fourth periods, as was pointed out above, show smaller amounts of space than any of the other periods both in per­ centages and in column inches devoted to county editorials. It was 176 during these years, as previously indicated, that the editor sometimes before elections included in his editorial columns, without comment, lists of Republican candidates for office and after election lists of those who had been successful, This type of editorial matter, because it lacked comment, was not included. It is this fact which partially, at least, explains the small amount of editorial space given to the county during these two periods. Another fact which, doubtless, served to draw the editor* s attention away from the local community during the fourth period was the World War to which attention has already been called. Some of the problems discussed in the editorials during the fifth period, it was pointed out above, seemed to reflect a concen­ tration on and a recognition of the county as the local unit of common interests. This is particularly evident from an analysis of the amount and distribution of editorial space given to Clinton County during that period. To recapitulate, the weekly average amount of space given to county editorials in the fifth period was 32.7 per cent of the total or 10.2 column inches. The major portion of this space occurs under three minor categories, namely, "economics1*, ’*government*1, and "education" in the ratio of an annual average of 20 per cent for each of the two former headings and 25 per cent for the latter. '•Education1* never in the earlier periods reached a figure as high as 10 per cent which is in marked contrast to the 25 per cent for the final period of the study. Two other categories which stand out in the fifth period above their earlier period averages in the weekly amount of county editorial space received are "recreation" and "health" with percentages of 10.8 and 11*4 respectively. The latter category, it will be observed from 177 Table XXXV* received no space at all during the first three periods while to the former only a negligible amount was allotted, less in fact than one column inch per annum for all the preceding periods. But more important than a quantitative analysis of the distribution of editorial space as an index of the change that has taken place in the Clinton County seat community is an analysis of the content of the editorials* Such an analysis seems to indicate three types of emphasis in the county editorials: first, that which pertains to the pro Diems that are of interest to the locality of the county seat and its environs; secondly, that which is of primary concern to other villages within the county; and finally, that which stresses the county as a unit of social life* A considerable amount of county editorial space, as might be expected, belongs to the first of these three divisions* This is illustrated by a few brief excerpts from editorials taken from the fifth, or 1919 to 1929 period. For instance, in an editorial of September 6, 1923, classified under •Merchandising11, a sub-category of "economics”, the editor exhorts local residents to show more consideration for the parking conven­ iences of farmers who trade in St. Johns. What would you think and how would you feel if you were a farmer living near St. Johns and one who always traded here, to come to this city Saturday evening and to be unable week after week to find a place on or near the business street to park your car. — And then how would you feel if some acquaintance of yours who lives in the city told you that he always hurried home from work Saturdays to bring his car down town and park it on Clinton Avenue so that his family may have a convenient place to sit and watch the crowds. In both the preceding editorial and the following one, which has been classified under “civics and philanthropy”, a sub-heading of “government*1, there is implied a conscious effort on the pant of the 172 editor to encourage non-county seat residents of the county to participate more freely in the life of the county seat. Such a generalization with reference to the latter editorial can only "be made, perhaps, when it is explained that the city park about which the editor speaks has been made available to other county residents for picnics, family reunions, and similar functions. The editor writes under date of February 5, 1925 in the following complimentary manner of the local taxpayers who made the park possible: Bight years ago this spring there was presented to the taxpayers of St. Johns the proposition of buying a tract of land upon which was growing beautiful trees, the last remaining grove in or near the city.. Those wise to the sentiments of St. Johns taxpayers predicted that the people would turn it down, in spite of the fact that the price was very reasonable. But the people of the city did not turn it down* They voted to buy it and today the city owns this tract and timber* l,Educationw like other major categories includes a considerable amount of county editorial space which is concerned with the immediate locality of St. Johns. This is illustrated by an editorial of October 4, 1923 in which the editor points to the need of a new school building in St. Johns. Bach year the number of students in the school has increased. Each year the need for a new building has become more and more acute. Bach year it was thought that conditions might be better another year. AT 1 of these hopes have proven false. It is no longer advisable that we build a school. It is mandatory. Formal education in the city of St. Johns is stressed again in an editorial of June 22, 1927. In this editorial the editor mentions the fact that fifty young people were graduating from the St. Johns High School that week. Ke comments on the personal interest that the com­ munity has in their success. The second emphasis in county editorial news, namely the emphasis on problems that pertain to other villages or localities within Clinton 179 County is illustrated by an editorial under the date of March 5, 1925* This editorial, which has also "been classified under "education", reflects the editor*s interest in promoting the welfare of other localities within the county as well as that of the county seat, as the following "brief excerpt shows! While it is not at all likely that neighboring districts would look upon the proposal with favor, right now would "be a good time for adjacent country districts to join with the village of Ovid and build a consolidated school* It is only a matter of time when the little district school will be abandoned wherever it is possible. We fully realize that many will scoff at this statement and we are acquainted with all of the arguments against it* More important to the problem of the Republican-News1 reflection of the changing interests and changing character of its community is the third emphasis in the county editorials, namely, that which stresses the county as a social unit* This is brought out in a sub­ category, "commerce and transportation" under which occurs approxi­ mately 30 per cent of all county editorial space devoted to economics. Some of the material under this sub-heading seemed to indicate a general recognition throughout the county of the county seat as the center of community life within the county, a condition which was not observable in the news and editorials in the eighties and nineties of the past century. For instance, the editor writes in an editorial of jtugust S# 1923 s The mart who lives in Clinton County finds little or no difficulty in getting in and out of St. Johns. He knows from experience which is the best road to get him into town and the best way out. However, this is not true of the thousands of tourists who are travelling the state this time of the y e a r . Speeding through the county these people are guided by signs. The state has the trunlclines fairly well provided with signs, but St. Johns as a city has few if any signs through the county. Another editorial dated October 4, 1928, classified under the same heading is entitled! "The M.21 Opening", that is the opening of 180 Michigan Highway number 21. This item stressed the fact that the opening of M. 21 made possible good all weather highway connections between the northern part of the county and the county seat. Later a special edition featuring the new highway and its relationship to the £0unty Beat with pictures of the new concrete pavement and pictures of the old mud holes that preceded it* was issued* But the fact which stands out as most indicative of an enlargement of the community is a series of editorials sponsoring the Clinton County hospital. These editorials together with news items dealing with the advantages to be obtained from a local hospital were largely responsible for the erection of such an institution in 1927. For this accomplish­ ment the editors of the Bepublican-Hews were awarded highest honors by the Hational Editorial Association of America for achieving the greatest community service of the year. The editors began their campaign by pointing out the benefits to the people of Clinton County to be derived from a hospital. Thus, for instance, in an editorial of June 4, 1925 the editors call attention to the fact that: Statistics show that from 8$ to 12$ of the people who are operated upon for appendicitis in homes die. The records also show that between 1$> and 2$ of the operations for the same ailment in hospitals result fatally. There was a day when hospitals were looked upon with suspicion lay a great many people* These institutions were supposed to be the temples of gruesome butchery. People know different today. Clinton County people are awakening to the benefits of a hospital as an instru­ ment in the hands of a competent surgeon or physician.... There is another feature to the hospital question which should interest every man, woman, and child in this county. It can be explained by a state­ ment made by Dr* Cabot, Dean of the Medical Department of the University of Michigan. Dr. Cabot says that today the very brightest and best medical students are refusing to go into communities where hospitals are not available..... numerous other editorials in support of the hospital. appeared from time to time as the campaign proceeded. Editorial interest in the hospital did not lag even aftei' the project was completed. Then the 181 emphasis was placed on the careful management and economical adminis­ tration of the institution in order that it might more successfully serve the needs of the county. EXTRA-COUNTY EDITORIAL SPACE. The remaining editorial material which includes all editorial matter with a geographic reference beyond the county contributes little, if anything, in addition to what has already been covered under total and county editorials to the problem of the rural \ireekly as an index of community change; therefore only a brief analysis of this type of editorial matter will be made. The small additional contribution of extra-county editorial space to the problem under consideration is due, of course, to the small amount of editorial space given to the county particularly during the years 1890 to 1920; consequently the data for extra-county editorial space is not signifi­ cantly different from that for all editorial space which was shown in Table 300CIII. This is evident from an analysis of the distribution of extra-county editorial space which is presented in Table 353X71. A glance at Table XXXVI shows that a general weekly average of 85.2 per cent of all editorial space has been given to extra-county editorials. The figures for this type of material rises from a weekly average of 75.1 per cent in the first period to a weekly average of 94.2 for the next three periods and then drops to 67.3 per cent for the final, or 1919 to 1929 period. Further examination of Table X3QC7I shows also that the space under "extra county editorials" have, like the data for all editorials, been classified largely under "government". In fact, a weekly average of 76.5 per cent of all extra county editorial space has been so classified for the first four periods as against 46.8 per cent for the final period. When compared with the data for all editorial space, the weekly averages for these same series of years are 70.9 and 182 TABLE XXXVI WEEKLY AVERAGE AMOUNT OF EDITORIAL SPACE IN COLUMN INCHES GIVEN TO EXTRA-COUNTY, ITS PERCENTAGES OF ALL EDITOR­ IAL SPACE, AND ITS PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION TO THE VARIOUS MAJOR CATEGORIES BY SELECTED PERIODS ■■b■ 1 1890-1899 11.5 90.2 11.9 1.4 1900-1909 8.0 97.3 16.6 1.2 1910-1919 8.7 95.1 11.0 1920-1929 General average 21.1 67.3 11.9 85.2 38.1 respectively. Miscel­ laneous Health r Recreation i ^Education t Percentage of space given to each major Ciatee-orv Percent­ •p n S3 age of o •H Weekly all s >> o •rHt u average edi tor* « t II. Family News 9. FAMILY REUNIONS. News items about family reunions are in­ cluded under this heading. 10. BIRTHS. This includes news about births and stork showers. 11. WEDDINGS. News about weddings, wedding announcements, wedding showers, wedding anniversaries, and elopements are listed under this category. 12* DIVORCES. Here are placed news items about divorces, deser­ tions, bigamy, alimony settlements, annulments, and marital disagreements. 13. DEATHS* News about deaths, obituary notices, and suicides, are referred to in this categoiy. III. Religious News IV. 14. CHURCH. Included under this heading are news, notes, or announcements of church activities such as prayer meetings, Sunday School, missionary societies, Ladies Aid, men's and women's religious organizations, Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., and notes about ministers in their official capacities. 15. SERMONS AND SUNDAY SCHOOL. Under this heading are recorded religious moralizing stories and syndicated sermons and Sunday School lessons. 16. MISCELLANEOUS. This includes religious news of a general nature, religious beliefs and philosophies, religious discus­ sions and controversies, news about noted religious leaders and their activities, and also the broader activities of de­ nominational organizations. Governmental News 17. ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONING. Recorded here are all news items whether local, state, national, or international pertaining to administrative, judicial, or legislative governmental func­ tioning. It includes, of course, news items about official governmental boards, committees, bureaus, departments, and the activities of the officials of such governmental bodies when acting in their official capacities* 18. POLITICS. Here are classified all news items, the underlying purpose of which is political, namely, to secure office for an individual or a party or to retain an office already held. This includes, of course, political campaigns, political party activities, discussions, plans, policies, platforms, conven­ tions, and candidates. 200 19* LEGAL NEWS AND CIVIL SUITS. This category includes all news a out litigation which does not involve criminal liability. It includes property suits and property settlements and suits rought against the local, state, or national government. It does not, however, include divorce proceedings. Such proceed­ ings have been included under FAMILY* 20. CRIME AND GRAFT. This category includes all news items pertain­ ing to the enforcement of or violation of local, state, or federal laws which involve fines, probations, and jail or peni­ tentiary sentences. 21. WAR AND MILITARY. All news items in which the emphasis is on war, preparation for war, the prosecution of war, army and navy activities, stories about war, discussions of battles, and comments about war by military officers are placed under this heading. 22. CIVIC ACTIVITIES AND PHILANTHROPY • Under this heading are grouped such items as ,rClean and paint up11 activities, Red Cross work, social service and charity organization activities, benefit programs, community fund drives, and philanthropic projects. 23. TAXATION. This class comprises news items of a non-administrative or non-political nature about taxes and tax rates. 24. MISCELLANEOUS. This heading includes governmental news that cannot be clearly classified under any of the above headings. For example, news items which review the accomplishments of the local, state, or national government in such a way that the emphasis cuts across several of the minor headings is placed here. V. Educational News 25. FORMAL. All news that pertains to schools, such as grade school, high school, college, or other schools and news about school officials acting in their official capacity, school policies, school books, school meetings, parent teachers' associations, school boards, and other school or­ ganizations and associations are classified under this ing. 26. NON-FORMAL. This includes news items about lecture courses, lectures, chautauquas, discussions of literary subjects, magazine articles, reviews of magazine articles and of books, comments about books, and literary clubs. 27. AGRICULTURE. Here are classified news articles about agricul­ tural extension, home demonstration and 4—H Club work, county agents, Grange, farmers' clubs, special articles on agricultur­ al methods, care of farm animals, and care of machinery. 801 28. SCIENCE, IHVEMTIOH, AND DISCOVERY. All items dealing with iscussions of* scientific subjects, scientific findings, in­ ventions, and discoveries are listed here* 29. HISTORICAL INCIDENTS AND EVENTS* Under this heading is in— all news of a historical nature, such as articles about the histoiy of the locality, state, nation, and other nations, or items about historical epochs, biographical sketches, and such items as are entitled “Back Through the Years”. SO* TRAVELOGUE* All letters or articles describing other places, cities, countries, or the habits and customs of other people are referred to this heading. 31* DOMESTIC HINTS* All items concerned with women*s or men* s styles, dress patterns, cooking recipes, care of children, beauty hints, and the like are recorded here* VI* Recreational News. 32* SPORTS* Included under this heading are all types of athletic games, contests, and tournaments, such for example as baseball, football, basket ball, track, boxing, wrestling, golf, etc. 33. COMMUNITY FESTIVITIES. Under this heading are listed news items about holidays, picnics, patriotic and commemorative exercises and celebrations, county fairs, circuses, horse races, public dances, and the like. 34. AMUSEMENTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS. This heading comprises all items which pertain to vaudeville shows, medicine shows, and motion pictures. It also includes items about the personnel or the actors participating in such forms of amusements. 35. SOCIAL EVENTS. This category includes all social events that are not public in nature, such as card parties, dinner parties, private dances or other parties. 36. FRATERNAL ORDERS. Under this heading is placed all news con­ cerning secret and fraternal organizations such as the Masons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen, and similar fraternal orders. It also includes items about such organizations as the D.A.R., G.A.R., K.K.K., World War Veterans, and their officers when acting in their official capacities* 57. MISCELLANEOUS. News items pertaining to fishing, hunting, vacations, tourists activities and the like are referred to this category. VII. Health 38. HEALTH AND SAFETY CAMPAIGNS. Under this heading is classified news about health, keeping well, health investigations, health laws, safety and sanitation, and hospital and safety campaigns. It also includes methods of healing diseases* aofc, 39* ACCIDENTS AMD INJURIES. Here are tabulated all items empha-' sizing accidents and injuries* 40* MISCELLANEOUS* Mews pertaining to disease, epidemics, doctor*s calls, dentists* services, and health statistics is placed here* VIII.Art IX. X. 41* MUSIC.^ Under this heading are classified news, announcements, or criticisms of music, musicians, musical recitals or perform­ ances* 42* DRAMA* Under this category are placed news, announcements, reviews, or criticisms of readings, plays, dramatic recitals or performances, both amateur and professional, and also news about those participating in such performances. 43* POETRY* Listed here are poems and news or criticism of poems or poets. 44* MISCELLANEOUS * This heading covers news, announcements, or criticisms of painting, sculpturing, or architecture as well as some news of those engaged in such activities. Personal Items 45* COUNTY SEAT PERSONALS. This category includes many short items, generally of less than one-half inch in length, which have their origin in the county seat. They pertain to the activities of the people in St. Johns. 46* COUNTY CORRESPONDENCE. As its name implies, this heading in­ cludes all items sent in by the county correspondents of the Republican-News from Various neighborhoods and villages within the county. 47. STATE PERSONALS. Included under this heading are short personal items which pertain to the activities of prominent people liv­ ing in the State of Michigan outside of Clinton County. 48. NATIONAL PERSONALS. This category includes short personal items which pertain to the activities of prominent people living in the United States outside the State of Michigan* Stories and Fiction. 49. SERIAL STORIES, SHORT STORIES, JOKES, AND BITS OF WISDOM. Referred to this category are sundicated serial stories, short stories, news matters portraying unreal, humorous or ludicrous situations and conditions, and anecdotes. £03 XX . Miscellaneous 50. XII. FILLER, WEATHER, AND UNCLASSIFIABLE MATERIAL. Pictures and cartoons. 51. COMICS AND CARTOONS. This heading includes graphic sketches, caricatures, comics and cartoons. 52. PHOTOGRAPHS. The space devoted to photographs of human beings is tabulated under this category. 53. MISCELLANEOUS. This class comprises all other non—news and non-advertising space, such for example as sketches or actual photographs of chickens, hogs, cattle, and the like. B. I• ADVERTISING Display Advertising 1. PATENT MEDICINE AND APPLIANCES. This heading includes display advertisements which emphasizes patent medicines, health appliances, or noted doctors. 2. WEARING APPAREL. Here are tabulated advertisements of all kinds of wearing apparel and also cleaning establishment ads. 3. FOOD. This division comprises grocery store, butcher shop, hotel, restaurant, and ice cream and soft drink parlor ad­ vertisements • 4. HOUSEHOLD FURNISHINGS. This category contains all advertise­ ments about furniture, carpets, bedding, musical instruments, pictures, books, dishes, and cooking utensils. In fact, it includes everything used in the home except food, clothing, stoves and furnaces, the last two being listed under HARDWARE. 5. DRUG AND DEPARTMENT STORE. This category includes all general advertising by drug and department stores. Drug and department stores often called attention to all their merchandise in a few general sentences; and since drug stores, particularly in the later years, sold many articles which are also handled by department stores, it seemed advisable to classify such adver­ tising matter under a special heading. However, when a depart­ ment advertisement emphasized a single article, like fooa or clothing, or when a drug store advertised a patent medicine, such advertising material was referred to the proper category. 6. BUILDING MATERIAL AND EQUIPMENT. Lumber, doors, windows, screens, glass, guns, coal, coke, furnaces, stoves, wall paper, paint, water softeners, coffins, or monument advertisements are brought together under this heading. 204 * TRANSPORTATION* This heading includes railroads, interurban, livery stable, bus, automobile sales and services, and fill­ ing station and oil company advertisements* 8* RURAL ADVERTISING* Advertising matter pertaining to farm animals, public sales, auctioneers, trees, vines, grains, insecticides, carriages, wagons, and farm machinery are re­ ferred to this category* 9* BANKING, INSURANCE, AND REAL ESTATE* This category covers all display advertising space devoted to banks, insurance (including fire, life, health and accident insurance), and real estate sales and transfers* 10* AMUSEMENTS* Under this heading are placed advertisements of circuses, cards and card games, pool halls, pool tables, movies, fishing and camping equipment* 11* "HOUSE COPY11* This section includes the Republicsn-News own advertising copy* 12. MISCELLANEOUS. All display advertising matter which could not be definitely classified under other headings was referred to this category. II* Non-Display IS* LEGAL NOTICES. This heading includes all proceedings which are required by law to be advertised, such for example as sheriff sales, chancery sales, tax sales, mortgage sales, proceedings of common council or board of supervisors, notice of teachers* examinations, city board meetings, and road contracts. 14. BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL CARDS. Attorneys* undertakers*, physicians1, surgeons*, and dentists* professional cards giv­ ing information as to their location, office hours, etc., are classified under this category. 15. BUSINESS LOCALS. In the earlier issues of the Republican-News much advertising by local merchants was run in short items of a few lines under the heading, "Business Locals". This heading had been adopted here to cover such advertising- matter. It also includes some items such as notices of local meetings and political announcements which were sometimes run among the "Business Locals"• 16. PATENT MEDICINE: AND APPLIANCES. This heading includes mainly health items written in an interesting and convincing manner as if they were bits of news but ending writh a subtle recom­ mendation of some particular cure-all nostrum. Often such items would hardly be recognized as advertising matter if it were not for the closing "adv." designation which is required by law. 205 17* MISCELLANEOUS. This category, of course, embraces all other advertising matter. It is principally represented, partic­ ularly in the later years, by that class of advertising com­ monly called "Want Ads", "For Sale", "Lost and Found", "For Rent", "Cards of Thanks", "Money to Loan", "Help Wanted", etc. Much of the earlier advertising under this heading con­ sisted ©f real estate listed for sale or transfer, and excur­ sions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, If. 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