CHAPTER VI

PRESENT DAY PAPERS

[Sidenote: 250 SECULAR WEEKLIES]

Today over 250 secular Negro newspapers are being published in the United States, with a total circulation of over one million five hundred thousand copies. These papers are published in 34 states and in the district of Columbia.

[Sidenote: PAPERS HAVE JOURNALISTIC APPEARANCE]

Papers published in the larger centers where the Negro population is large, such as New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, Washington, Detroit, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Atlanta have developed to a high degree. Their make-up on the whole is good; their news stories for the most part conform with accepted journalistic style; their leads are of the summary type; their headlines, although somewhat sensational, are usually well constructed; their news treatment is becoming more impersonal; on the whole they are a great improvement over the Negro papers of the past.

[Sidenote: DEFENDER HOUSED IN $200,000 PLANT]

Negro newspaper offices are being transformed from mere receiving stations for news to newspaper plants. During May, 1921, _The Chicago Defender_, one of the leading Negro newspapers, moved into a new building fitted up by its owner, Robert S. Abbott, at an expense of over $200,000. The new _Defender_ plant compares favorably with that of any paper of its size in the United States. Its equipment includes four linotype machines, each equipped with two magazines, geared to cast seven lines per minute. The press on which _The Defender_ is printed is a 32-page and color machine, made by the celebrated Goss Printing Press Company. It is driven by a 30 H.P. motor and six men are required for its operation. It prints, folds and counts the papers all in one operation at a speed of 35,000 copies per hour. The paper’s circulation is over 200,000.

[Sidenote: AFRO-AMERICAN EMPLOYS 21]

Another paper which is representative of the new order of things in Negro Journalism is _The Afro-American_ of Baltimore, Md. _The Afro-American_ was among the first Negro papers to own and operate its own plant. Today the plant consists of a three-story building, Goss Press, three linotype machines, etc. The paper has twenty-one active employees and over two hundred agents in the state. The sworn circulation of the paper for 1920-21 was twenty thousand and one hundred copies weekly.

[Sidenote: TRIBUNE OWNS $100,000 PLANT]

From a humble beginning in 1884, _The Philadelphia Tribune_ has grown until today it has its own hundred thousand dollar plant, fully equipped to do modern job and commercial work in addition to printing the paper. Christopher J. Perry remained sole owner of the paper from its founding to the time of his death. Today the paper is being published by his children, and is continuing along the conservative lines which have characterized the paper for more than 35 years.

[Sidenote: BETTER STAFFS AND NEWS]

In the past, the editorial page has been the one redeeming feature of the average Negro newspaper. Today the papers are beginning to have well-balanced staffs, reporters, city editors, cartoonists, etc. News stories are being better written, copy is being handled more carefully, accuracy is being insisted upon, and make-up in general is being improved.

[Sidenote: SECTIONAL DIFFERENCES IN DEVELOPMENT]

Papers printed in different parts of the country vary quite significantly in their make-up and quality. The best papers are probably published in the Middle West and the East. The Southern press is still in the rear, although signs are evident that it is beginning to wake up. At the present four Southern papers have a very high national rating. They are _The Afro-American_, _The Atlanta Independent_, _The Nashville Globe_ and _The Dallas Express_.

[Sidenote: PAPERS HAVING OVER 30,000]

Seven papers have over 30,000 subscribers. The list includes the following papers in the order named: _The Chicago Defender_, _The Negro World_, _The Indianapolis Ledger_, _The Atlanta Independent_, _The New York News_, _The Pittsburgh Courier_ and _The Birmingham Reporter_.

[Sidenote: TWELVE LEADING NEGRO WEEKLIES]

Any attempt to select the leading Negro newspapers of necessity must be more or less arbitrary, and dependent upon prejudices toward certain types of journalism. A probable list of the best twelve weeklies might include: _The Chicago Defender_, _The Afro-American_, _The Cleveland Advocate_, _The Philadelphia Tribune_, _The New York Age_, _The Pittsburgh Courier_, _The Chicago Whip_, _The St. Louis Argus_, _The Indianapolis Ledger_, _The Atlanta Independent_, _The Detroit Leader_ and _The Boston Guardian_.