The New York Times

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The Scourge of Tweed. In the early 1870s the Republican-oriented New-York Times exposed the rampant graft and corruption of the New York municipal government under Democratic leader William Marcy “Boss” Tweed. In the 1880s it uncovered abuses in the postal system, got the scoop on financier Jay Gould’s corrupt attempts to control the Manhattan Elevated Railway, and published seething editorials against trusts and labor unions alike. The Times Finally abandoned its strictly pro-Republican stance during the presidential election of 1884 because the Republican candidate, James G. Blaine, had been associated with various corrupt acts. The paper then began to establish a reputation for political independence.

Outstripped by the World. In the 1880s the growing popularity of the New York world, particularly its colorful Sunday edition, outpaced the Times in advertising and circulation. The Times temporarily reduced its price from three cents to two cents in 1883, but the construction of a new building undertaken in 1888 reduced profits dramatically. The Panic of 1893 nearly destroyed the paper, as circulation fell from a high of thirty-six thousand to nine thousand. The paper clearly needed a new approach and sound new management. In 1896 the thirty-eight-year-old publisher of the Chattanooga Times, Adolph S. Ochs, was offered $50,000 to become manager of The New-York Times. Ochs submitted a counterproposal, offering to invest $75,000 of his own money on the condition that, if successful at reviving the paper, he would receive a majority of stock and, hence, win control of the paper and its company. He ran the paper at a profit for three consecutive years, and the stock was duly delivered to him.

An Alternative to Yellow Journalism. while taking his cue from Pulitzer in actively pursuing readers, Ochs maintained the dignity and respectability of the Times. He employed bold headlines and offered juicy stories but emphasized strict factuality and decency. decency. When searching for a new motto, he considered “It Does Not Soil the Breakfast Print.” Stressing the Paper’s utility to businessmen and society in general, Ochs set out to make the Times the newspaper of record. On 19 August 1896 he published a declaration of principle, which read in part: “It will be my earnest aim that the New-York Times give the news, all the news, in concise and attractive from, in language that is parliamentary in good society, and give it as early, if not earlier, than it can be learned through any other reliable medium; to give the new impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of any party, sect of New-York Times a forum for the consideration of all questions of public importance, and to that end to invite intelligent discussion from all shades of opinion.”

The Paper of Business. Businessmen and financiers found The New York Times indispensable (he hyphen was dropped in December 1896). Ochs printed the names of out-of-town buyers visiting New York, listed daily real-estate transactions, and published extensive market report. Readers also appreciated the broad and detailed coverage of government news plus the Sunday book reviews. Despite its increased popularity with the businessmen, however, the Times had a circulation of only twenty-five thousand in 1898. Ochs took another risk and cut the price of the paper from three cents to one penny. Within a year sales jumped to seventy-five thousand and by 1901 passed one hundred thousand. Ocha’s formula for straight news and useful information, not to mention his overall control carried the paper into the twentieth century as the leading source of information in the nation.

Source

Meyer Berger, The Story of The New York Times 1851-1951 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1951).