WHY THE NEWSPAPER ?

Evening Star, Issue 19409, 18 November 1926, Page 13

WHY THE NEWSPAPER ?

INDUSTRY MADE BY NEWSPAPERS IS SUSTAINED BY THEM Americans do not waste time. They are great believers in combination. Doubtless if the newspapers confined themselves entirely to the publication of news and literary articles the Ameri" can public would seek its information as to the market detail in which it is interested in such other agencies as merchants and manufacturers might devise. The American merchant, however, long ago discovered that he could make a stronger appeal to the public and distribute his message, whatever it was, far more efficaciously by utilising the medium which was already satisfying the public’s demand for information, and therefore less and less did the purveyors of national products depend on methods of advertising which wore tried when the psychology of advertising as a science was in its infancy. And more and more have they come to recognise the merit of the daily newspaper as a means of establishing contacts with prospective purchasers of their wares. Speed is one of the characteristics of the daily newspaper; speed in the collection of news; speed in its preparation for publication, and speed in its distribution. The national advertisers have found that as an advertising medium this characteristic is very valuable to them. There is not the long wait for results which follow advertising in magazines, monthly and quarterly, but quick results follow expeditious publication, and quick returns follow the rapid transmission of the advertiser’s message. Another advantage which the newspaper possesses is that is is comprehensive in its scope and powerful in its appeal. Newspapers -cover the nation, and each newspaper having contacts with every home in its own locality is the most powerful advocate for the merchant in that locality. The national advertiser finds that by advertising in the daily newspaper he invests his money in a medium which distributes it in the locality to which he desires to make his appeal, and the money thus distributed is returned to him through patronage of the local agent or merchant who handles his products.