"All the news that's fit to print" - et cetera.I've long appreciated the message implied in the famous New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print." It seems to me an elegant expression of the high standards set by the Times and it suggests that other papers are probably publishing news that's not fit to print. It does what a slogan is supposed to do (at least according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. my Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary) - characterizes a stand or goal to be achieved as well as performing as a brief attention-getting phrase used in promotion. From time to time I've wondered about what sorts of slogans other papers use and if they suggested themes which could be categorized in a meaningful way. On a Sunday in June, 1996 I visited Hotaling's News Agency, which is located at 142 West 42nd Street in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Hotaling's claims to carry more than 200 out-of-town newspapers. My plan was to write down the slogans found on the front pages of those newspapers and to see if I could logically categorize them. Unfortunately, my data gathering objective became problematic because the newspapers are located behind a counter which is not accessible to the public. Fortunately Stephen Harris Stephen Harris may refer to:
I was able, in approximately two hours, to review the front pages from well over a hundred newspapers and, though many of them have no slogan, I was able to record over 50 from those that do. I have used 34 of these slogans in this article (I omitted using the others because they were duplicative). After scrutinizing my collected slogans I formulated seven categories which I believe indicate particular themes. I will briefly discuss each category and offer relevant examples at the end of each discussion. I have used slogans only from American newspapers (with one exception that can be found at the end of the article). I. Big is Better In a capitalist-oriented economy it is almost axiomatic ax·i·o·mat·ic also ax·i·o·mat·i·cal adj. Of, relating to, or resembling an axiom; self-evident: "It's axiomatic in politics that voters won't throw out a presidential incumbent unless they think his challenger will that bigger is better. The very fact your organization is large bespeaks a certain level of success. I believe some additional inferences contained in the newspaper slogans below are: because we're big we have more staff to bring you more news; lots of people obviously find something they like in our paper (fifty million Frenchmen can't be wrong); we' re influential; we're trustworthy (if we weren't we wouldn't have such a large readership). My favorite My Favorite is an independent synthpop band from Long Island, New York. They released two CDs: Love at Absolute Zero and Happiest Days of Our Lives. My Favorite broke up on September 14, 2005, when singer Andrea Vaughn left the band. slogan in this group is the one from the Cincinnati Enquirer En`quir´er n. 1. See Inquirer. Noun 1. enquirer - someone who asks a question asker, inquirer, querier, questioner . Do they really have 501,100 readers? Slogans * USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. - "No. 1 in the USA ... First in Daily Readers" * The Cincinnati Enquirer - "A Gannett Newspaper - 501,100 Readers Daily" * The Seattle Times - "Washington's Largest Newspaper" * Cleveland Plain-Dealer - "Ohio's Largest Newspaper" * The State (Columbia) - "South Carolina's Largest Newspaper" II. We Have Experience I could have included many other examples in this well represented category. Newspapers that have been around awhile are proud of their longevity. This is probably even truer today since the newspaper business is "downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing " and many papers are either going out of business or merging. It can be inferred that newspapers that have been around a long time are delivering a "tried and true" service. I found interesting the slogan distinction between The Augusta Chronicle and The Post and Courier. Slogans * The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) - "The South's Oldest Paper" * The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. ) - "The South's Oldest Daily Newspaper" * The Daily Oklahoman - "The State Newspaper Since 1907" * St. Paul Pioneer Press
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a newspaper based in St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. - "Minnesota's First Newspaper" * Mobile Registerm "Alabama's Oldest Newspaper" III. We're Best or Better This also proved to be a popular category. Proclaiming oneself a great newspaper or a leading paper is a subjective characterization that projects a positive image. Not surprisingly, I found no examples of slogans such as "We're a Pretty Good Newspaper" or "We do a Reasonable Job." My favorite example in this category is the slogan from the San Francisco Examiner The San Francisco Examiner is a U.S. daily newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since the late 19th Century. History 19th century The beginning of the Examiner is a topic of some controversy. , which not only claims to be the "Monarch of the Dailies" but also to have reigned supreme since 1887. Slogans * The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) - "One of America's Great Newspapers" * San Francisco Examiner - "Monarch of the Dailies Since 1887" * Orlando Sentinel - "The Best Newspaper in Florida" * The Miami Herald - "The Foremost Newspaper in Florida" * The Dallas Morning News - "Texas' Leading Newspaper" * Richmond Times Dispatch - "Virginia's News Leader" IV. We're Friendly The slogans in this category indicate that these papers are sensitive to people. They don't just provide "cold" facts but they demonstrate and understand that human beings will be interacting with news stories. They acknowledge the interaction with their slogan. The Athens Daily News even greets you (emphatically) before you begin to read the news of the day. Slogans * Bergen County Record (New Jersey) - "Friend of the People it Serves" * Philadelphia Daily News The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that began publishing on March 31, 1925, under founding editor Lee Ellmaker. In its early years, it was dominated by crime stories, sports and sensationalism. By 1930, daily circulation of the morning paper exceeded 200,000. - "The People Paper" * Athens Daily News (Georgia) - "Good Morning!" * The Vindicator (Youngstown, Ohio) - "The People's Paper" V. We Represent You These papers declare they represent the interests of their region. They are not modest in their declarations (they are "the" voice, not "a" voice of the area). One might ask, if the papers listed below speak authoritatively for their regions, then whom do their competitors speak for? I suppose that's a question that the papers listed below would like you to think about. Slogans * The Seattle Post Intelligencer in·tel·li·genc·er n. 1. One who conveys news or information. 2. A secret agent, an informer, or a spy. - "The Voice of the Northwest Since 1863" * Santa Barbara News-Press The Santa Barbara News-Press is a broadsheet newspaper based in Santa Barbara, California. History The News-Press asserts it is the oldest daily newspaper in Southern California, publishing since 1855. - "The Voice of Santa Barbara Since 1885" * The Denver Post - "Voice of the Rocky Mountain Empire" * New York Daily News New York Daily News Morning daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson and his cousin Robert McCormick as a subsidiary of the Tribune Co. of Chicago. The first successful tabloid-format newspaper in the U.S. - "New York's Hometown Newspaper" VI. We're Vigilant Since newspapers can influence opinion there is always a danger that outside or inside forces will try to manipulate the news process for personal gain. The message in this group of slogans seems to be that such attempts will not succeed with our papers. Indeed, the slogan from The Chattanooga Times very specifically warns that they can't be intimidated or bought. Slogans * The Salt Lake Tribune - "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871" * Omaha World-Herald - "An Independent Newspaper Owned by Employees" * Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep". Some still refer to it locally as "The Friendly" -- a slogan from an ad campaign in the '70s. - "On Guard for 165 Years" * The Chattanooga Times (Tennessee) - "To give the news impartially, without fear or favor" VII. Grand Sentiments This group contain a hodgepodge of slogans that proclaim what I have termed "grand sentiments." You might say this is my et cetera ET CETERA. A Latin phrase, which has been adopted into English; it signifies. "and the others, and so of the rest," it is commonly abbreviated, &c. 2. Formerly the pleader was required to be very particular in making his defence. (q.v. category. The slogans range from religious opinion (The Star and the News) to clearly secular (North Jersey Herald News). One can note hubris Hubris An arrogance due to excessive pride and an insolence toward others. A classic character flaw of a trader or investor. (The New York Times) and possibly humor (The New York Post The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily.[3] Since 1976, it has been owned by Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and is one of the 10 ). The Des Moines Register would like everyone to know that this paper is essential reading for the entire state. Slogans * The Star and the News (Indianapolis) - "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty" * North Jersey Herald News (Passaic) - "Let facts be submitted to a candid world - Declaration of Independence" * The New York Times - "All the News That's Fit to Print" * The New York Post (National Edition) - "All the News You Need" * The Des Moines Register - "The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon" Hotaling's claims to also carry more than 150 foreign newspapers. Although this article deals with American slogans, I briefly glanced at some of the foreign ones before I left the store. The best "grand sentiment" that I saw came from The Sunday Advocate (Barbados) - "For the cause that lacks assistance; 'Gainst the wrongs that need resistance; for the future in the distance. And the good that I can do." Someday I may go back to Hotaling's and do some research and discussion of foreign newspaper slogans. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , since I live in a slogan-rich newspaper town like New York City, I will continue to read "New York's Hometown Paper," keep getting "All the News That's Fit to Print," and be happy in the knowledge that I can buy a paper that gives you "All the News You Need." |
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