WHAT NEWSPAPER SENSATIONS COST.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1899, Page 5 (Supplement)

WHAT NEWSPAPER SENSATIONS COST.

Immense sums of money are often paid for sensational . pieces of information ■which no other paper has got. The editor of the Pall Mall Gazette paid £500 for the news,that Mr Gladstone was about to resign, and the secret was well -worth its price. For weeks every paper in England and America was constantly referring to the news which the 'Pall Mall' had been the first to give to the world, and the circulation of the paper received a tremendous impetus. .. The 'Daily News' obtained a memorable 'exclusive' many years ago for a mere £50 and sundry other trifling expenses. Twenty-five years ago all England was thrilled by the story of the burning of the Cospatrick on the way from England to N«w Zealand. Three of the. crew survived, and the story of how they cast lots which of them should be killed for food forms one of the most horrible tales of the sea ever told. Only one man came back to England—the mate, who kept himself alive by cannibalism—and he was brought home by the steamship Nyanza. Thirty jpurnalists waited for the arrival of the vessel at Plymouth, and it was decided that the best thing to do in the circumstances was to let the ma|e tell his own story in the presence of all. But the arrangement did not satisfy the 'Daily News,' and Mr Archibald Forbes went down to Plymouth and awaited events at an obscure inn. Chartering a tug, he ordered the skipper to be in readiness at an unfrequented jetty. At last news came that the Nyanza had passed the Lizard Light, 25 miles out, and as soon as dusk had fallen over the harbour Mr Forbes set out in the tug to meet the ship. On coming up with the vessel Mr Forbes boldly jumped from the bridge of the tug and caught the mlzzen chains of the Nzanza. 'Where can I find Macdonald, the mato of the Cospatrick? Quick!' he exclaimed, as he was pulled on deck, and the next minute he was listening to the man's weira story. He gave Macdonald CO sovereigns down to tell his story to him alone, and when the ship arrived at Plymouth Mr Forbes handed the man over to a colleague, Who took him up to London by the next train, engaging the whole of a first class carriage! The chagrin of the 30 waiting journalists may be better imagined than described. 'The public have a right to know your story," one of them pleaded; but all they could get from the man was, 'They maun read it i' thu "Daily News." It'll be all there in the morning.'

Even if the news in itself is not very sensational, it is worth a great deal to have it exclusively. When the Prince of Wales went to Niagara to see Blondin cross the Falls on a tight rope, the 'New York Herald' monopolised all the wires, so as to get the news exclusively. A heavy sum was paid in wiring unnecessary matter so as to keep the line engaged; but at the end of two hours the Prince had not arrived. The 'Herald' was wasting dollars by the hundred, and the reporters telegraphed to New York asking what they should do to keep the wires, f 'Telegraph the Book of Genesis,' tame back the reply, and this was done at a cost of £150. Still the Prince did not come, and the reporters, afraid to spend so much money, again telegraphed to Mr Gordon Bennett, and the word came back with lightning speed: ,'Go on to Revelation.' Fortunately it was not nee essary to telegraph the whole Bible, as the Prince arrived, and the 'Herald' gave the news to the public. But the exploit must have cost considerably over £1000. Many years ago a man called on several editors in London at an early hour of the morning, declaring himself to be the sole survivor of a terrible shipwreck, and promising to give full details in return for the payment of a cab fare. His story Mas regarded as a hoax by most of those to whom he offered it; but the 'Daily Telegraph' investigated it, found it to be true, ana came out the next morning with a glowing account of it, runnning into several columns. And all for a cab fare! Newspaper booms do not always pay in cash down. A London evening paper spent £300 a week in securing special news about the recent war between America and Spain; but the result did not nearly cover expenses. In the first week the circulation went up to 100,000 extra copies a day, in the second week it fell off heavily, and in the third week the circulation resumed its normal. I£V.eJL, -T.hS value' of an 'exclusive' is well illustrated by the effect of the news of the fall of Omdurman. This was published simultaneously in all the evening papers, the result being that the gross receipts of an evening paper which spent £80 on a : single telegram were only, £40.. . ,