NEWSPAPERS THAT PAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1920, 4 December 1890, Page 36

NEWSPAPERS THAT PAY.

Apropos of a paragraph as to the profits of the Graphic and the Illustrated London News, and of the announcement that Mr T. P. O'Connor has, agreed to accept £17,000 for his interest in the Star, some interesting and instructive figures may be given respecting papers that pay. It may be well to premise, however, that it is not our intention to divulge secrets. Most of our particulars have been gleaned from the ordinary channels of information — reports of trials, published balance sheets, and so forth — and in all cases they have been made public in some way or other. The Freeman's Journal, taking the average of the last three years before it became a limited liability concern, paid its proprietor £11,475 a year. This sum includes the profits of the newspapers published at the same office. When the business waa converted into a company, the applications for shares were enormously in excess of the number to be allotted. All the directors had at their disposal were 5500 ordinary shares and 10,000 preference shares, and they received proposals for over 465,000 shares. This is one of the most extraordinary instances known of capital being subscribed many times in excess of the shares to be allotted. At its last annual meeting the company paid on preferential shares 11 per cent., and on ordinary shares 6 per cent. Twelve and a-half is the latest dividend of the Yorkshire Post; the Western Morning News has almost invariably a higher dividend still for its shareholders, while the Financial News paid on its ordinary shares in July 1889 an interim dividend of 40 per cent. — a highly satisfactory result. The companies connected with the Birmingham Daily Gazette and the Northern Whig are likewise prosperous. It is worth noting, too, in thiH connection that a short time ago the £10 shares of the -Paris Figaro and of the Petit Journal were quoted at £56 8s and £57 4s respectively. The profit's of the Scotsman, probably the best paying newspaper out of London, have been estimated by- a capable authority at about £300,000 a year. In the opinion of some, however, the palm should be taken by the Manchester Guardian. The Glasgow Herald has been placed next to the Scotsman, and the Liverpool Mercury close behind, a good third. However, to descend from conjecture to plaih figures, it came out in a trial that the profits of the Glasgow Daily Mail and Glasgow Weekly Mail were £ 10,000 a year. Among society papers, the success o£ the World and Truth is pre-eminent. People who profess to be " in the know," as the vulgar

say, have placed the profits of Mr Labouchere's organ at as low as £3000 and as high a3 £12,000 a year. It is a fact, we believe, that a Christmas number of Trntb contained over £11,000 worth of advertisements. As to the World, after it had been going six months, a moiety, for which less than £400 was paid, was assessed by an official valuer at £3000.

Mr Archibald Forbes hag to tell, with a touch of sadness in his voice, how, when- Mr Yates wanted him to go halves in the World,, and put in £250, he, remembering his previous experiences (he had lost £11,000 on the Scotchman), refused to have anythingto do with it. "And now," he added, pathetically, " the World pays Yates £8000> a year."

When Sergeant Fox died, the Field was paying him more than , £20,000 a year, and the Queen £10,000. Altogether, from newspaper property alone, tis estimated annual! income was from £40,000 to £50,000. Hia. position, in this respect, must have been asComfortable as that of Mrs Leslie, the famous-. American lady journalist, who when left a. widow, found her husband's affairs in a veryv serious condition. Many would have considered them hopeless, and at once have given in. But by dint of hard work she paid' off all debts, and when the other day an interviewer, with the audacity of his- class, asked her the amount of her yearly income, she " mentioned a sum a long way up among the tens of thousands."

Naturally, the proprietors of the great dailies are envied by thousands of speculators. Said a capitalist to an old journalist : •• How much would it cost, do you think, to> form a newspaper like the Daily Telegraph ?' '" The answer, delivered in a cold, matter-of-fact tone, staggered him. " Oh, aboat hal? a million." Some such incident as thia is by no means rare. Indeed, it is common. Thegreat public can form no conception of thenumber of new daily papers that are floated (on paper), only to be abandoned when it is realised how much the venture will cost. Mr Lloyd himself states that £30,000 was spent on the Daily Chronicle before it " turned the corner."

Touching the?e profits, are they as largo as might be supposed? In journalis&ic circles a few years ago they were given thusr Daily Telegraph, £120,000 a year ; Standard. £60,000; Daily News, £30,000. At a latedate a well-informed London correspondent 1 said .he knew positively that the net incomederived from the Standard in a certain year reach £80,000, and that the profits of thoDaily Telegraph were £65,000. If correct, these figures are rather surprising, but a supplement, filled with advertisements, is not so profitable as the reader would suppose. Of course, the newspapers have profited recently by the wave of prosperity. Then, again, wo have had no war — " little "or otherwise— foi a few years, and that means something, for at such a time, contiary to popular opinion, newspapers lose rather than gain. As to the Times, it has recently been stated that the cheque which came to a certain shareholder for the year 1888 represented a profit of more than £120,000, while that for the following year represented one of barely £12,000. So far nothing has been said about London evening papers, and that for the best of all possible reasons. Up to a few years agonot a single nocturnal sheet — not even the Globe— paid, and though things are a little better now, it is rumoured that several e% en* jng papers are by no means prosperous. Of course one might be forgiven for thinking; they all paid. , A fitting companion to this article would be one on " Newspapers that Don't Pay," but that is an unsuitable subject for many reasons. , First and foremost, it is too vast. It is within the knowledge of the present writer that an evening paper swallowed up £40,000 in four months, and a local weekly £30,000 in three years, and that at the present time the loss on a certain morning paper is not less than £1000 a month.

— There are 72 places called St. Etienne in France.