The Scripps Newspapers Go to War, 1914-18

1. The Concern: June 27, 1914

13 1 The Concern: June 27, 1914 To understand a typical newspaper owned by Edward Willis Scripps before the war, one need only look at the June 27, 1914, edition of his chain’s greatest newspaper, the Cleveland Press.1 More than half of the front page was filled with sports, tragic accidents, and lighthearted anecdotes. The rest was devoted to a front-page editorial on political advertising and reports of local battles with the Cleveland establishment. The Scripps newspapers were designed to draw readers—in particular the working class—with a sugar coating of entertainment while administering a dose of medicine: progressive ideals of government reform and social justice.2 Probably three-fourths of the newspaper’s news content consisted of copy from UP and the NEA syndicated service, both Scripps-owned and established to secure unique features and spot news. The name “NEA” never appeared, though, on the page. The NEA wanted its newspaper clients to use any copy as if it were produced locally because syndicated features had a bad reputation among readers.3 By sharing costs and content of UP and the NEA, Scripps editors could ensure a steady stream of lowcost , high-quality news.4 A 1999 study of Scripps newspaper content in the early 1900s found that Scripps papers ran less local news than their competitors.5 Local news was not completely absent, though. Two notable stories showed the propensity of Scripps papers to attack big business and special interests. “Threatened to Enjoin West-Side Gas Hunt” told of Cleveland 14 the scripps newspapers go to war homeowners trying to stop developers from drilling for gas in their area. “Defends Home Rule Bill for Schools Here” reported how conservatives were attacking a state plan to give local school districts more control. Scripps’s editors knew, though, that readers would only stand so much preaching. “We are not conducting either a church or a school,” Scripps attorney and stockholder J. C. Harper wrote to the NEA in 1912, asking for more features.6 Harper was a dedicated fighter for progressive causes but said there was “a disposition . . . to get behind too many propositions and thus scatter our fire.”7 The largest story in the June 24 Cleveland Press was devoted to UP reporter William Philip Simms’s column-length story from Paris, with graphics, on the upcoming heavyweight boxing match between former champion Jack Johnson and Frank Moran.8 Many short articles had a good share of the page. One local entertaining minutia, “Girl Teaches Masher Lesson,” told in thirteen sentences how a local woman induced two friends to beat up a “masher” (a man making unwanted sexual advances ). A five-sentence story, “Court Shouts to Reach Boilermaker,” told whimsically how a deafened Cleveland boilermaker asked a judge to speak louder so he could hear the proceedings. Hard, sensational news pieces were kept short, too. “Lake Steamer Hits Stone Pier” told of a shipping accident in Wisconsin in four sentences . “Corpses Are Sought in Ashes of Salem” described a fire in Massachusetts in fifteen sentences. But it was not all hard news. “We need less seriousness and more humor and laughs and generally interesting and informative knowledge,” Jim Scripps, the head of the Concern, said in 1912.9 The Scripps recipe for a newspaper always included a good share of jokes, short fiction, and sports and leisure articles. As one historian noted, “content was crafted to reach working-class readers.”10 Indeed, these lurid or entertaining stories made it easier for the newsboys to sell the one-cent Press on street corners to weary streetcar riders on their way home. It was the easy-to-read articles about society and progressive politics , however, that gave the Scripps newspapers their heart and soul. A Scripps newspaper was designed for what Scripps and his editors termed the “ninety-five percent”—the average working man and woman. “I am one of the few newspapermen who happen to know that this country is populated by ninety-five percent of plain people, and the patronage of even plain and poor people is worth more to a newspaper owner than the patronage of the wealthy five percent.”11 Because of catering to the ninety-five percent, circulation and advertising followed. By fighting for the underdogs and controlling publishing costs, Scripps could make his newspapers profitable even if he alienated a few advertisers; retailers The Concern 15 would come back...