The Circulation Mania Proprietors and directors of several London papers
might with advantage take to heart Sir Herbert Austin's wholesome -words on the mania for swollen circulations, attained by quite other methods than developing the intrinsic merits of the paper itself. Sir Herbert, as one of the great advertisers of the country, cannot be disregarded when he declares that the sane advertiser profoundly mistrusts circulations based on such expedients as canvassing, insurance and competitions, or when, speaking still as a typical advertiser, he records his opinion that the paper that wins its way by good make-up, good editorials, and good reading matter generally, that gets into the home on sheer merit and is read there, not merely skimmed, is the paper it is worth while to advertise in. Such doctrine, coming from such a source, is doubly welcome. Too long' the cry that big circulations were vital because of the. advertiser has been accepted as gospel in Fleet Street, and. .the paper which stood for sober views and sober news has had to adapt itself or go under. A reaction sooner or later was inevitable, and it may fall to Sir Herbert Austin to start it. He will be rendering one of the greatest of public services if he can create the conviction that a quality circulation may . be better business, qUite apart from its other values, than a quantity circulation.
•
Previous page
