The Press: What People Read

Journalism from a business viewpoint means giving the public what it is interested in. What does the public like best to read ? It is seldom that even a partial answer can be set down definitely in black and white. The Chicago Daily Tribune, which leads Chicago newspapers in circulation, made known the following figures:

After the Dempsey-Gibbons fight on July 4, the Tribune sold 100,000 copies more than usual.

For several days after the Japanese earthquake, the Tribune sold 5,000 copies more than normal.

To those who run newspapers for profit, the moral was obvious. Speaking of its preparations for the Dempsey-Firpo fight on Sept. 14, the Tribune said:

" The circulation manager expects to sell at least 100,000 extras the following Saturday morning, although a Summer Saturday is not the best day in the week for newspaper selling. . . .

" This ["fight] will be news. It will be news to people who think that the League of Nations is composed of Toronto, Rochester, Newark, Jersey City, Baltimore, Reading, Buffalo and Syracuse and that it plays ball. It will be news to people who think that the Esch-Cummins act is in vaudeville and that Magnus Johnson pitches for the Washington ball club, that La Follette makes a hair tonic and that Borah is a wrestler."