Newspapers in the 1950s

NEWSPAPERS IN THE 1950s

A Turbulent Decade

The 1950s was a turbulent decade for the newspaper industry. In the aftermath of World War II, the economic realities of a radically changed world hit newspapers especially hard. Between 1950 and 1958, 180 daily newspapers either suspended publication, merged, or converted to weekly papers. Many papers also suffered crushing strikes, as labor attempted to raise wages and keep employment levels high.

Return to Normal

After World War II the economy returned to normal for the first time since the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. As a result, long-stagnant prices and wages began to rise. Newsprint, the paper on which the newspapers were printed and the basic commodity of the industry, rose from a price of $44 a ton in 1938 to $88 a ton in 1947 and $134 a ton in 1958. Labor unions demanded increased wages, keeping personnel costs high. Revenues, on the other hand, grew slowly if at all.

New Competition

In the 1950s newspapers competed with a new information, entertainment, and advertising medium: television. Not only did television have the advantage of novelty, but it also made fewer demands on the intelligence and literacy of the audience. Television's share of the advertising market grew from 1 percent in 1949 to 30 percent in 1957, while the newspaper share slumped during the same period from 36 percent to 33 percent.

Strikes

Newspaper strikes became more common, with a huge strike in New York City over wages in 1953. Strikes also stopped presses in Maine and Connecticut that year. Detroit and Cleveland newspapers were shut down in late 1955 and early 1956. There were strike-related shutdowns at papers in Saint Louis, Kansas City, Boston, San Jose, and Reno in 1959.

One Paper's Story

A prime example of the effect of these trends is found in the story of the New York Herald Tribune. In 1946 the Herald Tribune made a record profit of over $1 million. But while the paper sold for 5 ¢ a copy, it cost 9¢ a copy to produce; the difference had to come from advertising revenues. By 1950 profits had decreased to the breakeven point. The editorial staff struggled to increase the circulation of the paper by adopting the techniques and subject matter of the populist tabloid newspapers. Celebrity news, less international news, gossip columns, cash prize puzzles, a television magazine, and a Sunday magazine became the selling points of what previously had been known simply as a newspaper of high quality with good writing and reporting. Profits returned, but the competitive pressures did not lessen. The competition in the New York market—the city still had six major daily papers in 1957, in addition to strong suburban papers and many ethnic and niche publications—held the price of the newspaper to a nickel. By 1958 the paper was losing massive amounts of money, and it was sold to new ownership.

Effects of Change

In New York City the newspaper industry deferred the drastic effects of the competition of the 1950s until the 1960s; by 1967 only three daily papers remained. But the effects of rising costs and stagnant revenues were felt all over the country. The Oakland (California) Post-Enquirer closed in 1950, as did the San Diego (California) Journal. The two Atlanta newspapers merged in 1950 to form the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ; the same year the two Birmingham, Alabama, newspapers merged into the Birmingham Post-Herald. Twenty daily papers shut down in 1954, the largest number since 1941. Among them were the Washington Times-Herald, sold to the Washington Post, and the Brooklyn Eagle, closed after 114 years of publishing.

Fewer Newspapers

Newspapers underwent radical change during the 1950s. While competition increased among the different media, many cities saw less competition among newspapers alone. Newspapers, in the face of the television juggernaut, became less reporters of news and more sources of entertainment and information.

Sources:

Richard Kluger, The Paper: The Life and Times of the New York Herald Tribune (New York: Knopf, 1986);

Joseph Kraft, "The New York Herald Tribune: What goes on here," Harpers, 219 (August 1959): 39-45;

Newsweek, 35 (26 June 1950): 69-70;

Newsweek, 36 (17 July 1953): 55-56;

Newsweek, 42 (14 December 1953): 29-32;

U.S. News and World Report, 35 (25 December 1953): 70-72.