Illinois newspaper directory. History of the Illinois press association

Illinois Newspaper Directory and Historythe New York World reported the battle of Majuba Hill in six lines. A similar eventtoday in the same distant quarter of the globe would occupy a page. During the Spanish-American war newspaper correspondents wrote and cabled reports of battles that werenot only news, but were splendid literary productions as well."In five or six thousand years the printer progressed from cuneiform characterson sun-baked bricks to squeezed impressions from type on a hand press. The editor ofthe brick and he of the hand-pressed sheet recorded events in much the same crude andabbreviated fashion. Do not misunderstand me. There were great editors in ante-bellumtimes, but they had no conception of handling news, which is now the main businessof the newspaper. The news editor has made greater progress in 5 years than in 5,000."The business end of newspaper making is also almost wholly a product of the pastforty or fifty years. Circulation building was impossible before the day of fast presses,dense population and rapid transit. The advertising branch of the business grew out ofcirculation building. Thirty years ago, about the time 'patent insides' were invented,there were comparatively few country editors who knew where the money was comingfrom to pay for the next week's C.O.D. package. In contrast with that condition,I recently learned from an authentic source, that the editor of one of the best countrynewspapers in Illinois—and, of course, a member of this Association—had been offereda salary of several thousand dollars a year to manage a banking institution in one of thelarge cities of the Mississippi valley. It is a generally accepted fact now that a successfulnewspaper publisher is a good business man."But all this development in printing, in editing and in business management hasnot, of a sudden, reached perfection and stopped short. The next twenty years maysee a greater revolution in newspaper making than the past forty. Progress is in the airand it infects every line of work. A young physician told me the other day that he wasgoing away for a month or two to take a post-graduate course; that to keep up with thetimes in medical science it is absolutely necessary to take such a course periodically."There are no post-graduate courses for the newspaper man, but an excellentsubstitute is provided in the annual meeting of the Press Association. Here he gets theadvantage of many experiences and the most advanced ideas, and he finds inspirationfor better efforts. The editor who attends these gatherings is better equipped for businessand is able to get out, and keep out, of the ruts."E. A. Snively of the Committee To Meet With the Illinois State Historical Society,Judge McCullough and General Orendorf spoke on the agreement of the representativesof the Illinois Press Association and of the Historical Society that all publishers of newspapersin Illinois should become members of the State Historical Society upon conditionthat the publishers send one copy of their regular publications to the Historical Societyto be kept as permanent history. It was moved that a circular containing all points ofthis resolution be sent to every member of the Association, requesting them to sendtheir publications to the Historical Society.The annual address was given by H. N. Wheeler, Quincy Journal. S. K. Strother,Taylorville Courier, spoke on the subject, "Type-setting Machines in a Country Office,"recommending the Mergenthaler machine. He answered questions on the subject.Horace Crihfield, Atlanta Argus, spoke on "Subscriptions—How to Secure," andCharles Warner, Hoopeston Chronicle, on "Collecting Agencies." W. L. Jones, LebanonJournal, read a paper on "Value of Premiums." He was followed by George Burt,Henry Republican, with a discussion of "Subscriptions—Personal Solicitation"; and byVictor H. Haven, Greenfield Argus, on "Clubbing" as a means of securing subscriptions.