NEWSPAPER SCHEMES

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20978, 5 October 1933, Page 5

NEWSPAPER SCHEMES

SIR EMSLEY CARR AND "UNFAIR METHODS" INSANE COMPETITION "We have given up selling newspapers—we give away mangles and ask people to accept the paper as a favour." Tliis statement was made by Sir Emsley Carr, the president, in his opening address at the annual conference of the Institute of Journalists held at Eastbourne (England) last month, in which he condemned the "insane competition" in the newspaper circulation "war." He expressed the conviction that nothing was to be gained by buying circulation in a bidding contest, but that much was to be lost. "I am not," declared Sir Emsley, "opposed to any legitimate form of enterprise, but is there anyone here who will adroit that a free distribution of washing machines, pyjamas, pillow cases, silk stockings, fountain pens, and even more elaborate gifts such as gold wristlet watches, to capture any and everybody, is consonant with the traditions of British journalism?" "What the future holds," he declared, "depends entirely upon the sanity of

those now engaged in a reckless battle for' circulation." , . , . The conference. adopted without discussion a motion calling upon the council to. instruct; a > committee to enciuire into cojnpetitiops, free insurance and gift schemes, with a view to taking steps to stop "these unfair business methods."