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Chain Building: The Consolidation of the American Newspaper Industry, 1953–1980

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Elizabeth MacIver Neiva
Elizabeth MacIver Neiva
Affiliation:
ELIZABETH MACIVER NEIVA is a postdoctoral research scholar at Columbia Law School. This article is taken from the author's dissertation, “Pressing Change: The Consolidation of the American Newspaper Industry, 1955–1985”, (Department of History, Harvard University, 1994).
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Abstract

This article uses the example of the postwar consolidation of the American newspaper industry to demonstrate that the process of industrial evolution is not simply the consequence of arbitrary market forces nor strictly the result of enterprising individuals' innovative schemes. Rather it is interaction of the two. Moreover, by examining the technological, laborrelated, and regulatory forces behind the industry's dramatic change in ownership structure, the article also illustrates the cumulative and sequential nature of industrial change.

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Articles
Information
Business History Review , Volume 70 , Issue 1 , Spring 1996 , pp. 1 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1996

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References

1 The Mass Media: Aspen Institute Guide to Communication Industry Trends (New York, 1978), 83Google Scholar. In 1953 there were only 95 newspaper chains, and they owned a total of 485 papers. The total number of newspapers printed in the United States changed very little over the next thirty years. There were 1,760 papers in 1955 and 1,676 in 1985. Helle, Steve, “The Impact of Estate Taxes on Independent Daily Newspapers: An Illinois Case Study,” DePaul Law Review 33 (Winter 1984), 332Google Scholar.

2 Biographies of noteworthy publishers of the postwar include Neuharth's, Allen H. autobiography, Confessions of an S.O.B. (New York, 1989)Google Scholar; David, Deborah, Katharine the Great: Katharine Graham and the Washington Post (New York, 1979)Google Scholar; and Whited, Charles, Knight: A Publisher in the Tumultuous Century (New York, 1988)Google Scholar. Important biographies of influential editors include Carter, Hodding, Where Main Street Meets the River (New York, 1953)Google Scholar; Kneebone, John T., Southern Liberal Journalists and the Issue of Race, 1920–1944 (New York, 1985)Google Scholar; and Buni, Andrew, Robert L. Vann of the Pittsburgh Courier: Politics and Black Journalism (Pittsburgh, Penn., 1974)Google Scholar; Cloud, Barbara, The Business of Newspapers on the Frontier (Las Vegas, Nev., 1992), xviGoogle Scholar.

3 Among the most valuable books on the economics of the American newspaper industry are Bogart, Leo, Press and Public: Who Reads What, When, Where, and Why in American Newspapers (Hillsdale, N.J., 1989)Google Scholar; Compaine, Benjamin, The Newspaper Industry in the 1980s: An Assessment of Economics and Technology (White Plains, N.Y., 1981)Google Scholar; Picard, Robert G., Media Economics: Concepts and Issues (Newbury Park, Calif., 1989)Google Scholar; and Udell, Jon G., The Economics of the American Newspaper (New York, 1978)Google Scholar.

4 Between 1923 and 1943, the number of cities with two or more competing dailies decreased from 502 to 137. By 1973, 98 percent of American newspapers were local monopolies. Compaine, The Newspaper Industry in the 1980s, 87; Emery, Edwin, The Press and America: An Interpretive History of the Mass Media, 3rd ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1972), 621Google Scholar.

5 Prescott Low, Former Chairman, Quincy Patriot Ledger Company, interview by author, Quincy, Massachusetts, 31 July 1992. Compaine, The Newspaper Industry in the 1980s, 87.

6 Brown, Howard J., “Some Comments on Arbitration in the Newspaper Industry,” Journalism Quarterly, 34 (Winter 1957): 25CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Katharine Graham, Chairman of the Board, The Washington Post Co., Inc., inteniew by author, Washington, D.C., 13 June 1991.

8 Robert U. Brown, “48 Revenue Up $260,000; $1,034 of It Kept for Profit: Higher Expense of 50,000-Circulation Daily Eats Up Quarter-Million Gain,” Editor & Publisher, 2 April 1949, 5. Pollard, James E., “Spiraling Costs Outrun Revenues,” Journalism Quarterly 26 (Sept. 1949): 274–275Google Scholar.

9 Davidson et al., “[R]evolution in Printing,” A Report for General Georges Doriot's Manufacturing Class, May 1953, 36, Manufacturing Files, box 39, Archives and Special Collections, Baker Library, Harvard Business School, Boston, Mass.

10 Individuals who set newspaper type were known interchangeably as printers, typesetters and compositors. Individuals who operated printing presses were known as pressmen.

11 Indiana's Bloor Schleppy supplied most non-union printers during the newspaper strikes of the 1950s and 1960s. These “strikebreakers” worked around the clock, often making more money in one week than a union printer made in three. They stayed at good hotels, and publishers paid the bills. “ANPA's Schleppy's Business Card: ‘Have Scabs, Will Travel’,” Typographical Journal, Nov. 1958, 171.

12 “Statement,” Quincy Patriot Ledger, 19 Feb. 1948, 1.

13 Prescott Low, interview by author, 6 April 1992.

14 Lines composed on the Varityper in particular had a tendency to “dance” if the intricate machine was not in near-perfect working order. Letter from Alan Marshall to the author, 15 Sept. 1995.

15 Prescott Low, interview by author, 6 April 1992.

16 Invented in 1886, the Linotype was a massive cumbersome contraption with 10,000 different parts. When a printer punched down on one of the 90 keys on the machine's keyboard, a single brass matrix with an indented character on it slid down a chute from the storage magazine into position next to the other matrices. Once a line of type was complete, the operator pulled a lever, which pushed the line of characters to the left in front of a spout. Molten lead then squirted against the indented letters, forming a full line of metal type in relief. The line then dropped into place beneath the already completed rows of type that formed a newspaper column. The machine was so complicated that it took more than four years to learn how to operate.

17 Bernard Higonnet, René Higonnet's son, interview by author, Cambridge, Mass., 21 April 1992.

18 Butters, J. Keith and Lintner, John, Effect of Federal Taxes on Growing Enterprises (Boston, Mass., 1945), 175Google Scholar; William J. Garth, son of William W. Garth, interview by author, Boston, Mass., 7 April 1992.

19 Bright, James R., Research, Development, and Technological Innovation (Homewood, Ill., 1964), 165Google Scholar; Louis Moyroud, inventor, interview by author, Boston, Mass., 20 May 1992.

20 One of the machine's most attractive features was the wide variety of fonts it put at the operator's fingertips. A newspaper wanting to produce the same variety of characters using a Linotype machine would have had to store over 4,000 pounds of brass matrices, worth $25,000, and requiring 90 cubic feet of storage space. Bright, Research, Development, and Technological Innovation, 163, 211. ITU Union Label and Public Relations Department, “Photocomposing Machines and the Brewer Keyboard,” May 1954, International Typographical Union Archives, Communications Workers of America Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

21 Dramatic changes also were taking place in press technology after World War II. A company called Vanguard had introduced a 16-page offset press that was based on the principle that water and oil are mutually repellent. Once attached to the press, thin metal plates (generally of photocomposed type) were coated with a mixture of oil-based ink and water. Only the exposed areas attracted ink. The characters were then transferred to a rubber blanket press cylinder, which in turn offset the ink onto the newsprint. Offset presses offered three main advantages: they produced higher-quality reproduction (especially for color), were neater, and could be combined with photocomposed plates more efficiently. Offset presses also had some disadvantages: they wasted newsprint, were slower, and required more maintenance. Compaine, The Newspaper Industry in the 1980s, 140.

22 Bright, Research, Development, and Technological Innovation, 158; Prescott Low, interview by author, 6 April 1992; Letter from William Baumrucker to Warren Seaman, 21 May 1986, William Baumrucker Papers, MC 215, Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge, Mass.

23 Bright, Research, Development, and Technological Innovation, 193; Bernard Higonnet, interview by author, 21 April 1992.

24 Marshall, Alan, Ruptures et Continuités dans un Changement de Systeme Technique: Le Replacement du Plomb par la Lumière dans la Composition Typographique (Rennes, France, 1992), 172Google Scholar; One of the most comprehensive early discussions of photocomposition appeared in the Report of the American Newspaper Publishers Association's Twentysecond Mechanical Conference in June 1950. This lengthy article featured a detailed description of the “Revolutionary Higonnet-Moyroud Photocomposition Machine.” American Newspaper Publishers Association, “Report of the Twenty-second Mechanical Conference, Part VII: Photocomposition,” Mechanical Bulletin 414, 14 July 1950, 213–230; Bright, Research, Development, and Technological Innovation, 215.

25 The full price of a Photon machine was approximately $48,000 in 1956. Bright, Research, Development, and Technological Innovation, 215. Marshall writes that the first prototype series of nine machines were sold almost exclusively to members of the GARF committee. He also explained that Garth wanted the first commercial Photon machines to be leased (in much the same way that Xerox and IBM leased their equipment for many years), as he wished to maintain maximum control over the new technology. But because the firm's finances were in such dire straights, it is unlikely he was able to lease many. Marshall, Ruptures et Continuités, 209.

26 Marshall writes that the correspondence between Low and Garth indicates that the Patriot Ledger had an immense amount of trouble integrating the Photon and that “tempers were often somewhat frayed.” Letter from Alan Marshall to the author, 15 Sept. 1995.

27 Denny Allen, Former Director of the Quincy Patriot Ledger's New Process Department, interview by author, Quincy, Mass., 10 April 1992; Jack Bueler, Former Photon mechanic, interview by author, Quincy, Mass., 9 July 1992.

28 Before the introduction of photocomposition, ad make-up men painstakingly pieced together all ads by hand. The process used to set advertisements was far more timeconsuming than the process used to set regular newspaper copy. According to production expert Cecil Kelly, setting ads was, “Just God-awful. It took forever to get the lead blocks [out of which the ads were fashioned] to fit the spaces left for them on the page. All the letters of the ad had to be arranged in precisely the right way and you also had to make sure that the ad was flush with the copy so that all the images on the page would print evenly. It was a slow and messy business that involved an awful lot of sawing and chiseling. Many make-up men had fewer than ten fingers.” Cecil Kelly, Vice President of Production, Multimedia, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, interview by author, 29 May 1991.

29 Flora Caron, Former Photon operator, telephone interview by author, 1 Aug. 1992.

30 Prescott Low, interview, 6 April 1992. On 1 July 1953 the average hourly wage for a daytime union printer was $2.82. Davidson et al., “[R]evolution in the Printing Industry,” A Report for General Georges Doriot's Manufacturing Class, May 1953, 26, Manufacturing Files, box 39, Archives and Special Collections, Baker Library, Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts. Ad make-up men generally made more money than printers (ie. $4.00 rather than $2.82) because their task was more complex.

31 “Fantastic Photon,” Newsweek, 20 Sept. 1954, 60. In 1955 alone, the American Newspaper Publishers Association's Mechanical Bulletin featured nine lengthy articles about photocomposition. In the same year, Editor & Publisher publicized the new technology in a variety of articles, among them: Ray Erwin, “Costs Can Be Cut By New Methods, ANPA Panel Says,” Editor & Publisher, 30 April 1955, 12–13, and George A. Brandenburg, “Definite Savings Foreseen with Photocomposition,” Editor & Publisher, 11 June 1955, 7, 92. Bright, Research, Development, and Technological Innovation, 215.

32 Jerome Walker, “Cold Type Gains Momentum from Pioneers' Enthusiasm,” Editor & Publisher, 31 Jan. 1959, 61; Among those that converted in the mid-1950s were the Allentown Call-Chronicle, the Philadelphia Bulletin, and the New York Daily News. Mr. Spendlove of the Philadelphia Bulletin studied photocomposition for two years before investing in any machines. He selected Photons because the machines did “in one operation what [others] took three operations to accomplish, thus [were] cheaper to operate.” Bright, Research, Development, and Technological Innovation, 216–217.

33 In place of a molten lead unit, the Fotosetter had a camera that recorded one character at a time on a piece of film. The other three machines were the Monophoto, the ATF-Hadego Photo-compositor, and the Brewer Keyboard. The Monophoto also produced perforated paper tape, which was used to operate a mechanical photographic unit. The Hadego was designed to produce hand-set display copy. The Brewer Keyboard, developed by the International Typographical Union's Unitypo laboratory, was a standard Linotype keyboard that could be fit over a tape perforator. It was designed for union typesetters so that they could code tape for use on punch-tape fed Linotypes without having to be retrained. International Typographical Union Label and Public Relations Department, “Photocomposing Machines and the Brewer Keyboard,” 1–34, International Typographical Union Archives, Washington, D.C.

34 Most Linotypes could set type in two styles since the machine's matrices were duplexed. There were two letters on each matrix (roman and italic or roman and bold were the two most common combinations). Mixer Linotypes commonly were equipped with two, four, and occasionally more magazines (each with duplexed matrices), so they could set even more styles.

35 Wright, B. E. and Lavine, John M., The Constant Dollar Newspaper: An Economic Analysis Covering the Last Two Decades (Chicago, Ill., 1982), 10Google Scholar. Between 1959 and 1980, total pages increased from 6,650 to 9,480; 11, Chart 12.

36 Jack Bueler, interview by author, 9 July 1992.

37 By 1975, 94 percent of the newspapers publishers who responded to an American Newspaper Publishers' Association survey reported using photocomposition to meet some or all of their typesetting needs. In 1970, the Mergenthaler Linotype Co., principal supplier of the hot metal line caster, stopped producing Linotypes in the United States. The firm sold none to newspapers after 1980. Compaine, The Newspaper Industry in the 1980s, 116.

38 “Settlements Bring End to St. Paul Newspaper Strike,” Typographical Journal, Feb. 1958, 51; Joe Bailey, “Newspapers Stop Publishing in Minneapolis and Detroit,” Typographical Journal, May 1962, 207.

39 Lipset, Seymour Martin, Trow, Martin, and Coleman, James, Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union (Glencoe, Ill., 1956), 26Google Scholar. In almost every developed country, printers were the first laborers to form trade unions to define and protect their collective interests. Leaders throughout history therefore did everything possible to keep them from organizing. In the sixteenth century, the King of France issued an edict forbidding printers “to have banquets as a group or to assemble together to form an occupational association.” Ibid., 27.

40 Improved printing presses, machine-made newsprint, and urban expansion resulted in higher newspaper circulations. In 1810, the average circulation was approximately 550; in 1830, it was 1,200. Lee, , The Daily Newspaper in America (New York, 1937), 64, 73Google Scholar.

41 The International Typographical Union, A Study of the History of the International Typographical Union, vol. 1, (Colorado Springs, Colo., 1967), 111, 157Google Scholar; Lipset et al., Union Democracy, 18; Lee, Daily Newspaper In America, 140, 142.

42 Cloud, The Business of Newspapers on the Frontier, 164, 165, 176.

43 Before pre-set ads (which printers referred to as “repro” and publishers called “bogus”) were printed, copies were made and stored on a hook in the composing room. Jimmy Wood, Former International Typographical Union Contract Negotiator, interview by author, Petersburg, Virg., 18 June 1991.

44 George N. Dale, “Featherbedding, Illegal Demands Plague Papers: Newspapers' Productivity Goes Backward with ‘Bogus’ Practice,” Editor & Publisher, 25 April 1959, 27.

45 “ITU Defense Policies and Activities: A Report to the Membership by the Executive Council,” Typographical Journal, July 1953, 1; Lipset, et al., Union Democracy, 18.

46 “New Composing Room Processes Shown at Boston,” Labor's Daily, 13 Aug. 1955, International Typographical Union Archives. In a 1958 article, an ITU executive reminded fellow union members that “Like a stray comet speeding from space toward our cell of the universe, so print shop automation seems—now distant but coming fast and for sure. To avoid rasping friction or disastrous collision we must take the long look, estimate its speed and direction, and steer our course to safety.” O. L. Crain, “Put Telescope on Distant But Quick-Coming Automation,” Typographical Journal, Dec. 1958, 203.

47 The union's executive president announced that “Every ITU contract covering composing room work must contain a recognition of the union's full and complete jurisdiction or there can be no contract whatever.” Harold H. Clark, “Contract Negotiations Involving the Question of Jurisdiction,” Typographical Journal, Sept. 1956, 144.

48 “Is Labor's Only Weapon a Monkey Wrench? Strike Leader Bertram Powers,” Time, 1 March 1963, 13–15.

49 Goodman, David Lloyd, “Labor, Technology, and the Ideology of Progress: The Case of the New York Typographical Union, Local 6, 1962–1974,” (undergraduate thesis, Harvard University, 1983), 29, 36Google Scholar.

50 Robert U. Brown, “50,000-Daily's Profit Was Lowest Since 1945,” Editor & Publisher, 19 April 1958, 24; Ray Erwin, “Productivity Fails to Keep Up with Costs, [William] Dwight Says,” Editor & Publisher, 26 April 1958, 13.

51 In 1963, the publisher of the New York Daily News told Editor & Publisher that newspapers were finding it hard to “survive with the inroads on revenue by competing media.” Ibid., 57.

52 Letter from Richard E. Morrison to Don Anderson, 30 Jan. 1960, box 5, folder 2, Don Anderson Papers, University Archives, Mansfield Library, University of Montana, Missoula, Mont.

53 Lloyd Schermer, Former Chief Executive Officer, Lee Enterprises, interview by author, Davenport, Iowa, 30 Aug. 1991. Schermer insists he was not anti-union, however. He believed that individuals should be allowed to protect themselves when their employers exploit them, but he felt that unions make it difficult for individuals to realize their own full potential. Often unions tolerate incompetence, low productivity and stagnation. The solution, Schermer believed, was enlightened leadership through “one-on-one management.” Correspondence from Lloyd Schermer to the author, 30 July 1994.

54 Cross, Wilbur, Lee's Legacy of Leadership (Essex, Conn., 1990), 127Google Scholar; Lloyd Schermer, interview by author, 30 Aug. 1991.

55 Schermer said that his decision was based on “The best and most efficient arrangement for getting out the paper, including the physical location of the camera equipment,” Lloyd Schermer, interview by author, 30 Aug. 1991.

56 Manning clauses dictated the number of union employees assigned to each piece of production room equipment. Suspicious newspaper executives believed that the unions often allocated more workers than were necessary to operate their machinery. Unions argued the reverse. For publishers, part of the appeal of the new labor saving devices was that each machine generally could be operated by one person. Consequently, it became increasingly difficult for unions to demand manning clauses be added to their contracts.

57 “Notes from the Web Pressmen Meeting,” 24 Oct. 1967, Labor Files of the Missoulian, Missoula, Mont.

58 Cross. Lee's Legacy of Leadership, 127; Lloyd Schermer, interview by author, 21 Feb. 1992.

59 John Stromnus and Les Fassett, Former ITU members, interviews by author, Missoula, Mont., 29 March 1992. According to an ITU representative who participated in labor negotiations throughout the Pacific Northwest in the late 1960s, “Haines and Schermer played a critical role in the practice of transferring the camera to the pressmen rather than to us. We strongly opposed [it], but Haines' objective was to weaken us by pitting union against union.” Kenneth Prairie, Former Labor Negotiator for International Typographical Union's Western Region, interview by author, 6 March 1992.

60 Les Fassett, interview bv author, 29 March 1992.

61 Although the ITU was known for its relatively high percentage of female members, most union printers were male.

62 Jimmy Wood, interview by author, 18 June 1991.

63 John Talbot, Former editor, The Missoulian, interview by author, Missoula Mont., 28 March 1992; Lloyd Schermer, interview, 21 Feb. 1992.

64 Goodman, “Labor, Technology, and the Ideology of Progress,” 81.

65 Ibid.

66 Frank C. Breese III, Chief Administrative Officer, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., interview by author, New York, New York, 14 Mav 1991.

67 Sheldon Cohen, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Sendee, 1956–1958, 1963–1965, telephone interview with author, 4 Aug. 1995. Mr. Cohen added, “Appraisers are logical people who are trying to look objectively at the world. What happens is that the owners of these things don't look objectively at the world. I own it, I want to pass it to my son, why should my son have to pay an estate tax to get it? He [the owner] looks at it as his possession. The IRS, however, views those taxes as a means for some equalization of wealth nationwide, it chips off a little bit with each generation.” Cohen's comment that newspapers owned many television stations in the 1950s is not an exaggeration. Most publishers wanted control over their new competition, and many therefore applied for television licenses during this period. In 1955, 34 percent of the 439 television stations then on the air were affiliated with a newspaper company. Nixon, Raymond B. and Ward, Jean, “Trends in Newspaper Ownership and Inter-Media Competition,” Journalism Quarterly 38 (Winter 1961): 9, 12CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

68 Bernard Ridder, Director, Knight-Ridder, Inc., interview by author, Miami, Florida, 22 May 1991.

69 Hearings on H781 Before the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 45 (1979) (statement of John F. Wolfe, publisher, Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch).

70 In some situations, estate tax rates could climb as high as 90 percent. Mary A. Anderson, “Ranks of Independent Newspapers Continue to Fade,” Presstime, Aug. 1987, 21; Carl Gross, Director, Cox Enterprises, interview by author, Atlanta, Ga., 4 June 1991.

71 Letter from Irving W. Hart to Kent Cooper, 13 July 1936, box 3, folder 21, Paul Miller Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Edmon Low Library, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla.

72 The general manager wrote Miller: “Every time I see you, I more than ever want to congratulate the AP because of your connection with it. You are going places, fellow, and I am going right along with you.” Letter from Kent Cooper to Paul Miller, 25 March 1940, box 3, folder 23, Paul Miller Papers. The bond that formed between Miller and Cooper was so tight that Miller named his youngest son Kenper, which was Cooper's cable address. Paul Miller, diary entry, 1, box 3, folder 33.

73 In notes for an editorial, Gannett's assistant wrote, “It was a long and thoughtful search by both Frank Gannett and me to find a man equipped to someday become the president of Gannett Newspapers. It had to be a rare type to succeed Frank. But most important it had to be a man who would accept the traditions of Gannett Newspapers, marry them, and perpetuate them.” Handwritten speech by Frank Tripp, box 4, folder 26, Paul Miller Papers.

74 Mrs. Paul Miller, interview by author, Pittsford, N.Y., 29 June 1992. Frank Gannett had one adopted son who did not follow his father into the family business. Before Miller, who was then 40, had accepted the job he was made aware that Frank Gannett, who was 71, had diabetes. Mrs. Paul Miller, interview, 29 June 1992.

75 Ibid. Every day, Gannett's chauffeur drove him to the office, where he spent a few hours reading the company's many papers and delegating tasks.

76 Miller's headlong effort to build the nation's largest newspaper chain came at the expense of his family. His wife commented, “His job always came first. Family was definitely second. He of course made sure that the family was all right and he wanted the [four] children to have the best educations, but he wasn't the kind to take his kids around on weekends; he just didn't have time.” Mrs. Paul Miller, interview, 29 June 1992.

77 Miller had begun playing golf with the owner of the Courier-Post when he lived in Philadelphia during the late 1930s. The two had continued golfing together even after Miller moved to Rochester. When the family decided to look for a buyer, Miller was contacted first. Ms. Mary Golding, Paul Miller's former secretary, interview by author, Pittsford, N.Y., 29 June 1992.

78 “Camden Daily to Gannett; $5,000,000,” Editor & Publisher, 5 Sept. 1959, 58; Paul Miller, “The Annual Report of the President,” The Gannetteer, Nov. 1964, 5.

79 Paul Miller, “Confidential Memo to Ganco Directors,” 3 April 1964, 1, box 17, folder 20, Paul Miller Papers; Brian Donnelly, Vice President of the Newspaper Division, Gannett Company, Inc., telephone interview by author, 24 June 1992. The formula for book value is assets minus liabilities. It represents the value of owners' equity as determined by generally accepted accounting principles. Chapter 500 of the Internal Revenue Manual defines “fair market value” as: “The price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts.” Dertouzos, James N. and Thorpe, Kenneth E., Newspaper Groups: Economies of Scale, Tax Laws, and Merger Incentives (Santa Monica, Calif., 1982), 56Google Scholar.

80 “Gannett Buys Westchester Group of Nine Daily Papers,” Editor & Publisher, 4 April 1964, 11. “Newspaper Statistics,” Editor & Publisher Market Guide (New York, 1964, 1972)Google Scholar; Paul Miller, “The Annual Report of the President,” 7.

81 Editor & Publisher Market Guide (1945, 1958), 51, 89; Al Neuharth, Confessions of an S.O.B., 49, 59; Miller loved golf. One son recalled that “In order to make his tee time, he would literally rip off his tie and play with his dress shirt opened at the collar.” Paul Talford Miller, interview by author, 29 June 1992. Gannett paid Miller's dues at six clubs, including Augusta National in Georgia and Burning Tree in Washington. Miller had roughly a ten handicap and saved countless scorecards from games with famous and influential people, Carl Sandburg, Richard Nixon, and Bob Hope among them. He only saved cards from rounds that he won, however. Box 3, folder 4, Paul Miller Papers.

82 Neuharth, Confessions of an S.O.B., 47, 49.

83 After watching a rocket launch at the site in 1959, Neuharth realized: “It didn't take an MBA or a genius to figure out the future was here.” Ibid., 54; The county's population had been 23,000 in 1950. It was roughly 70,000 in 1960 and was expected to grow to 250,000 by 1965. Frank Murray, “The Birth of a Daily: Everything's ‘Go’ in Florida,” Editor & Publisher, 19 March 1966, 9; “Al Neuharth's Responses Following Paul Miller's Speech to the New York Society of Security Analysts,” 26 Feb. 1968, Personal Files of Mrs. Pavil Miller, Pittsford, N.Y.

84 “Al Neuharth's Responses Following Paul Miller's Speech,” 26 Feb. 1968. Miller thought that a new paper, as Gannett's first venture outside the Northeast, would attract considerable publicity. “Ten Year Summary,” Gannett Annual Report, 1970, 23; Neuharth, Confessions of an S.O.B., 63.

85 “Fla. Daily Joins Gannett Group,” Rochester Times-Union, 1 June 1965; “2nd Florida Paper Joins Gannett Co.,” Rochester Times-Union, 2 Oct. 1965, box 6, folder 15, Paul Miller Papers.

86 “Gannett Starts $I Million Program for Florida Daily,” Editor & Publisher, 10 July 1965, 5; Neuharth, Confessions of an S.O.B., 65.

87 “Paul Miller's Statement at the New York Society of Security Analysts,” 26 Feb. 1968, 10, box 9, folder 9, Paul Miller Papers; Gannett Annual Report, 1967, 23.

88 The two papers had a combined circulation of over 100,000. “Gannett To Add 2 Papers,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 12 April 1967, box 6, folder 28, Paul Miller Papers.

89 In 1965, Gannett's long-term debt (including current installments) was over $19 million. In 1963, long-term debt had been $7.6 million. Gannett Annual Report, 1970, 23; Between 1966 and 1967, Gannett's total assets increased from $95,283,905 to $113,395,692, but the company's net income only increased from $7,020,000 to $7,440,445. Gannett Annual Report, 1967, 17.

90 “Transcript of Questions Paul Miller asked of Cy Williams,” 19 Sept. 1966, 2, box 22, folder 12, Paul Miller Papers. Also in: Dertouzos, and Thorpe, , Newspaper Groups: Economies of Scale, Tax Laws, and Merger Incentives (Santa Monica, Calif., 1982), 63–64Google Scholar.

91 “Transcript of Questions Paul Miller Asked of Cy Williams,” 19 Sept. 1966, 2; Kuczun, Sam, “Ownership of Newspapers Increasingly Becoming Public,” Journalism Quarterly 55 (Summer 1978): 342–343CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

92 In the early 1960s, only eleven newspaper companies had issued stocks or bonds in which the public could invest. Of these, some had covenants that required all sales be made back to the firm's treasury. Only one corporation which sold shares in 1964, Times Mirror, was listed on the New York Stock-Exchange. Kuczun, “Ownership of Newspapers Increasingly Becoming Public,” 343.

93 The CFO told Miller that Otis Chandler of Times Mirror was quoted as having said, “The only problem we've had has been explaining the newspaper business to [analysts].” “Transcript of Questions Paul Miller asked of Cy Williams,” 19 Sept. 1966, 2.

94 Miller's wife commented, “PM's ultimate goal was to take Gannett public.” Mrs. Paul Miller, interview, 28 June 1992. Joe Junod, “Growth Marks Gannett After 20 Public Years,” Gannetteer, Oct. 1987, 18. Personal files of Ms. Mary Golding, Pittsford, N.Y.

95 “Remarks by Paul Miller at Shields & Co. Meeting,” 13 Feb. 1969, 1–2, box 9, folder 11, Paul Miller Papers.

96 Wall Street Journal, 9 Jan. 1968, 27; In a speech to analysts in New York City, Miller commented, “Few securities analysts were familiar with the newspaper business—except that some newspapers had a helluva lot of trouble in New York City.” “Transcript of Paul Miller's speech,” 17 Dec, 1970, box 9, folder 16; “Transcript of Remarks by Paul Miller at Newspaper Analysts' Meeting, New York City,” 25 April 1972, 2, box 9, folder 20; Wall Street Journal, 1 July 1969, 58, “Gannett Splits Stock 3 for 2; Dividend Up,” Rochester Times-Union, 31 July 1969, 12D, box 6, folder 34, Paul Miller Papers.

97 Bagdikian, Ben H., “The Myth of Newspaper Poverty,” Columbia Journalism Review 11 (March/April 1973): 24Google Scholar; Dertouzos and Thorpe, “Newspaper Groups: Economies of Scale, Tax Laws, and Merger Incentives,” 63.

98 Bishop, Robert L. “The Rush to Chain Ownership,” Columbia Journalism Review 11 (Nov/Dec. 1972): 17Google Scholar.

99 Swayze, Elizabeth, “The Last Families: A Study of Metropolitan Newspaper Ownership, 1950–1967” (Ph.D. diss, Northwestern University, 1969), 47Google Scholar.

100 Compaine, Benjamin, Papers and Profits, (New York, 1971), 114Google Scholar.

101 Katharine Graham, interview by author, 13 June 1991.

102 “Seven Year Summary,” Gannett Annual Report, 1973, 17; Gannett Annual Report, 1978; “Gannett's Financial Leverage in Newspapers,” Business Week, 27 May 1972, 62.

103 The newspapers that sold public shares between 1967 and 1973 were: The New York Times Company (Dec. 1968), Post Corporation (Dec. 1968), Lee Enterprises (March 1969), Knight Newspapers (April 1969), Ridder Newspapers (Nov. 1969), The Multimedia, Inc. (April 1971), Media General, Inc. (June 1971), The Washington Post Company (June 1971), Booth Newspapers (Sept. 1971), Harte-Hanks (March 1972), Speidel (Nov. 1972), and Affiliated [The Boston Globe] (Aug. 1973). Kuczun, “Ownership of Newspapers Increasingly Becoming Public,” 343.

104 “Gannett's Financial Leverage in Newspapers,” 62; Harte-Hanks 10-K, 1972.

105 Miscellaneous Tax Bills: Hearings on HR12395 Before the Subcommittee on Miscellaneous Revenue Measures of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, 6 Oct. 1978, (statement of Samuel L. Devine, Representative from Ohio).

106 Most executives focused their acquisition efforts on papers in growing markets, which, in the 1970s, were located primarily in the South and in California. Monopoly papers in these markets attracted the greatest attention.

107 Alvah H. Chapman, Former Chairman, Knight-Ridder, Inc., interview by author, Miami, Florida, 21 May 1991.

108 Helle, “The Impact of Estate Taxes on Independent Daily Newspapers,” 343.

109 In 1984, Fred Shappert, the principal owner of the Belvidere (Illinois) Daily Republican, who then was in his eighties, was typical of those who did not intend to part with their properties. When asked if he would ever consider a bid for his paper, he announced that “Hell or high water wouldn't make me sell.” Ibid., 343.

110 David Gilman, “The American Newspaper: Profit in the Printed Word.” Dun & Bradstreet Reports Magazine (March/April 1979): 23.

111 Helle, “The Impact of Estate Taxes on Independent Daily Newspapers,” 338.

112 Bagdikian, “The Myth of Newspaper Poverty,” 24.

113 Udall urged that independent publishers be permitted to make payments into a trust out of which their future estate taxes could be paid. Miscellaneous Tax Bills: Hearings on HR12395 Before the Committee on Miscellaneous Revenue Measures of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, 6 Oct. 1978, Statement of Representative Morris Udall, 14.