Prominent Newspapers of the Pacific Coast
The Oregonian[1]
E. G. Jones
THE OREGONIAN occupies a unique position in the field of the Pacific Northwest, a territory that embraces within its limits Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Montana and British Columbia. While a number of other strong papers are published in this field, the Oregonian enjoys the distinction of being the only paper that claims a general circulation reaching to the outermost borders of this vast territory.
The special distinction accorded the Oregonian by newspaper men generally is that the recognition given the paper outside of its immediate field where its influence is supreme, is a recognition based on the merits of the Oregonian as a medium for the dissemination of legitimate news, and on the ability of its editorial utterances. The policy of the Oregonian has not encouraged a resort to those sensational features of journalism, features that have added so largely to the circulation of some of the best known metropolitan papers of the East. It is a matter of pardonable pride to the people of Portland that it has not been found necessary to recognize the sensational to insure the Oregonian that rapid increase of circulation in the field it now so fully covers, which has followed the efforts of the management to publish a paper of standing and ability; a paper that is a credit alike to the men who have made the Oregonian what it is, and to the city in which the Oregonian has grown and prospered.
The weakness of any business venture is likely to be found in ideals or fixed methods that appeal the strongest to its management; ideals based on the one element of strength that made possible its first signal success. Here are found the limitations of human endeavor that invariably lead to decadence if not downfall, where energy and ability have not the mainstay of reasonable conservatism and good sense as a prop for enthusiastic effort to maintain a success that is once attained. This applies with striking force to the art of publishing a successful newspaper.
An able writer, for instance, may make his influence felt in his work on some prominent paper during a critical issue in the country's affairs. It is a time when opinions count; a time when the vast body of men who make up the voting population, and who seldom think clearly on big subjects, are looking for effective leadership. Through the able efforts of such an editor, under propitious circumstances, attention may be drawn to his paper beyond its actual merits as a news medium. The wise publisher knows, however, that a paper which first attains a prominence which is the direct result of strength and clearness of editorial utterance, can not hope to maintain its position on the prestige of its editorial ability alone. During average times the readers of any paper ask for something more than opinions. It may be stated, even, that strength of editorial utterance can not safely overshadow the merits of a news service which a paper is able to offer. Nearly every prominent paper in the United States that was once prominent as a tribute to its editorial strength has fallen behind in the race for first place among big and successful newspapers. Judged by the
- ↑ Editor's Note.—This is the first of a series of articles, the intent of which is to tell the story of the newspapers of the Pacific Coast. The journals of San Francisco and Los Angeles, Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and Vancouver and Victoria, B. C, will be treated in turn, thereby providing a complete and reliable history of our great journalistic enterprises.
