All I know is what I read in the papers.”— Will Rogers.
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“Newspapers aren’t what they used to be,” I was challenged last week.
“You’re absolutely right,” I shot back. “But your implications are off target. Newspapers have changed to adapt surviving radio, television, and everything else that has come along since the newspaper you’re holding started publishing in 1877. And just wait until you see the new ‘Light and Champion Media’ digital first platform that’s coming.”
Preparing stories for the first edition of 2023 this week started me thinking about how newspapers really have changed in looks and content, and how news reporting has changed.
The oldest paper on file in the office is a Thursday, March 7, 1940, edition of The Champion. Laid beside last week’s edition, the most eye-catching element was full color compared to all black and white. Like they were when I spent my first week in a newspaper office at The Monitor in Naples in 1974.
Also noticeable was how newspapers use larger photos and liberal doses of white space. The Plaquemine Parish Post in South Louisiana sported that airy look when I went down to The Sabine News in Many, Louisiana, in about 1976.
The mid-70s also saw the use one color adding eye appeal to community newspapers. The first full-color photo in a paper I published was The Boerne Star in 1995. Heady stuff almost 30 years ago.
Eighty-three years ago, however, newspapers lacked photos of any kind. Life magazine’s use of printed pictures in 1936 had only recently revolutionized news reporting. Without pictures, stories in 1940 started at the upper left and ran down the page, then back to the top of the next column for the next story. And so on across the page.
“Bigger” stories, often state or national in those days, might get three or four columns of display at the top. For example, that top story in March of 1940 was headlined, “Jerry Sadler Gets In Race For Governor; Promises That He Will Wage Active Campaign.”
In local news, the top story was, “Fox Hunters Board Will Meet March 20 To Decide On Site For 1940 Meet.” East Texas Fox Hunters Association President Bibb Samford was quoted as saying the meeting at Boles Field would be followed by mulligan stew and a night fox hunt. Important was selecting Boles Field in Shelby County as the permanent headquarters for the East Texas Association.
Also news was expanded rural electrification. “25 Miles of More Line Added To East Texas. Subscribers from Tenaha to Huber Now Enjoy Service,” the headline proclaimed. “The latest addition to the service this cooperative is rendering in East Texas territory is a line from Tenaha to Bobo, Tennessee, New Prospect, and Huber, serving 51 subscribers.”
It was also reported that week that “Miss Richards Club Speaker – Tells Rotarians Of Home Economic Work In School.” As the story was written, “At Tuesday’s Rotary luncheon Miss Catherine Richards, of the home economics department of Center High School, gave an interesting and enlightening talk on the work of this department of Center High School. Dr. Spencer Warren was in charge of the program.”
Other front-page news included the “Everybody’s Banquet” at the Shelbyville High School Friday night. While the story failed to report what the banquet was all about, tickets were 50¢ a plate and promised to be “one of the most enjoyable of the season.” And if that wasn’t exciting enough, a box supper at the Stockman School was taking place Thursday night. Everyone was invited.
Seems journalists 84 years ago also took on the responsibility of reporting the prognosis of the ill and injured. Imagine reading today, this 1940 news item: “Information reached Center relatives Thursday afternoon that a former Center resident and prominent educator, injured in Austin some weeks ago, was sinking and hope for his recovery practically abandoned.”
Then there was the story of Mrs. J.M. O’Banion of Jasper visiting with relatives. “Sees Fire That Isn’t Fire But It Scares Her,” said the headline. Mrs. O’Banion reportedly awakened during the night to see what she thought were “flames eating through the floor under her dresser. Petrified for the moment,” the absence of odor or smoke led her to investigate, whereupon she discovered the source of light was not fire at all but a flashlight in a dresser drawer that “in some manner had snapped on.”
So, what will be front page news in the first edition of 2023? Not quite like 1940. All I offer is the note on which I ended my “newspapers aren’t what they used to be” conversation last week.
“Whether it’s print or online, newspapers will remain as the most trusted medium long after our obituaries are read — in a newspaper.”
—Contact Leon Aldridge at leonaldridge@gmail.com. Other Aldridge columns are archived at leonaldridge.com