ABSTRACT
Combatting Market Subordination and Declining Revenue:
Efforts and Incentives by Scripps Howard Executives to
Negotiate the First Joint Operating Agreements, 1933-1939
This paper examines the negotiations behind the first joint operating
agreement (JOA) in Albuquerque and the simultaneous attempt to establish
a
JOA in San Diego in 1933 by Scripps Howard executives. The purpose is
to
historically understand the motives and incentives for establishing
JOAs.
An examination of the E.W. Scripps papers archived at Ohio University
in
Athens, Ohio, the Roy Howard Archive in the Library of Congress,
reveal the
establishment of the JOA was for market preservation. Scripps Howard ex
ecutives helped to organize the first four JOAs, and made attempts to
negotiate two more. The agreements were made not necessarily because the
papers were failing, but because company officials desired to maintain
an
adequate return in the market.
ABSTRACT
Combatting Market Subordination and Declining Revenue:
Efforts and Incentives by Scripps Howard Executives to
Negotiate the First Joint Operating Agreements, 1933-1939
This paper examines the negotiations behind the first joint operating
agreement (JOA) in Albuquerque and in 1933 and subsequent JOAs by Scripps
Howard executives. The purpose is to historically understand the
motives
and incentives for establishing JOAs. Scripps Howard executives helped
to
organize the first four JOAs, and made attempts to negotiate two more.
The
agreements were made not necessarily because the papers were failing,
but
because company officials desired to maintain an adequate return in
the
market.
Combatting Market Subordination and Declining Revenue:
Efforts and Incentives by Scripps Howard Executives to
Negotiate the First Joint Operating Agreements, 1933-1939
Submitted to:
History Division of AEJMC
1995 Annual Convention
Submitted by:
Edward E. Adams
assistant professor
Angelo State University
Combatting Market Subordination and Declining Revenue:
Efforts and Incentives by Scripps Howard Executives to
Negotiate the First Joint Operating Agreements, 1933-1939
Joint operating agreements between newspapers currently exist in seventeen
markets in the United States.[1] These agreements have come under legal and
economic scrutiny as lawmakers and academicians have sought to reach
an
understanding for the establishment and continued existence of joint
operating agreements (JOAs).[2]
February 14, 1933, marked the formation of the first joint operating
agreement in newspapers. Although there were other joint agreements by
editors and owners, both private and public, the Albuquerque agreement
is
generally referenced as the first as defined by the Newspaper
Preservation
Act.[3]
Agreements for joint operation during the 1930s were also arranged in El
Paso (1936), Nashville (1937), and Evansville (1938). Other efforts to
form
joint agreements during 1933 in San Diego and Knoxville were unsuccess. In
all cases these early agreements involved current or former Scripps Howard
executives. The Scripps Howard organization was instrumental in refining
the concepts involved in the joint agreements. In all instances,
Scripps
Howard-owned papers were in a subordinate market position in
circulation
with competitors.
By 1933, the Scripps Howard chain had only two of its twenty-four papers
in a dominant position in markets.[4] Roy Howard, general manager of
Scripps
Howard, had realized as early as 1922 that all of the company
newspapers
were losing ground to competitors in circulation.[5] Scripps Howard
executives
began working on a plan to remain competitive editorially, and to
eliminate barriers for competing financially. The plan was first introduced
in Albuquerque and the El Paso. Subsequent markets adopted the plan now
known as JOAs.
Although joint operating agreements continue to develop, little
information is known on their origins. There is no mention of JOA's or
their significance in newspaper economic history in media history
textbooks, and there is only a brief mention or listing of early JOAs in
media economic studies.[6]
While most media historical research of the 1930s focuses on the print
press relationship with radio and press coverage of the Depression,
little
historical research has been done on media concentration or economic
performance during the decade.[7] Furthermore, most of the research on
this
time period originated from media economic studies performed during
the
1930s. The studies are dated, although they give some insight toward
the
trend of media concentration.[8]
Recent media economic and historical research has dealt with the factors
behind competition, but none of the studies address the implications
of
joint operating agreements. Many of these studies recommend more
historical
research on media economics.[9]
This paper examines the negotiation process of the early JOAs and
analyzes the attempts to form other JOAs to assess the historical
incentive
and motivations for forming JOAs.
Extensive study has been done on the economic incentives and legal
analysis of these joint agreements, but there has been no assessment of the
actual negotiations, or the desires and incentives of Scripps Howard
executives for these arrangements. The E.W. Scripps papers at Ohio
University and the Roy Howard papers at the Library of Congress were
utilized to examine the motivations and negotiations of Scripps executives
in forming JOAs.
The Great Depression
Newspaper failure during the Depression was not just a concern but
reality. The Scripps Howard chain formed three joint operating agreements,
and attempted two more as a safeguard against the Depression. Even
with
this measure Scripps Howard still lost or sold six papers between 1930
and
1939: the Los Angeles Record, Akron Times-Press, Toledo News-Bee,
Oklahoma
News, Youngstown Telegram, and the Baltimore Post.[10]
At the beginning of the Depression, newspaper circulation plummeted and
the loss affected revenue from circulation and advertising.
Advertisers
simply paid less for space in newspapers. Ad linage is a method often
used
by advertising and newspaper executives to measure the quantity ad
space
placed in newspapers. In a 1931-1932 comparison of October ad linage,
Scripps Howard newspapers in markets where JOAs were formed were heavy
losers to competitors in Albuquerque, El Paso, and Evansville. In
Albuquerque the Scripps Howard-owned Tribune experienced a loss of 26.6
percent in ad linage compared to a 15.3 percent loss by the competing
Albuquerque Journal; in El Paso the Scripps Howard-owned Herald Post lost
37.5 percent in ad linage compared to a loss of 6.9 percent by the
competing El Paso Times; and in Evansville, the Scripps Howard-owned Press
posted a loss in ad linage of 38.2 percent while the competing
Evansville
Courier lost 29.8 percent and the Evansville Journal lost 35.5 percent
in
ad linage. Thus, in all of these markets, Scripps Howard papers were
losing
advertising at a greater rate than competitors.[11]
The Depression was not the only cause for advertising loss. Radio took a
sizable chunk of advertising from newspapers. From 1929 to 1939,
newspaper
advertising revenue fell 45 percent, while radio advertising revenue
doubled. In 1929 newspapers carried 54 percent of the national advertising
available, whereas radio received 4 percent. By 1939 newspapers had 38
percent while radio was up to 27 percent of the national
advertising.[12]
By the beginning of the Depression, Scripps Howard had built a formidable
chain of newspapers (see Table 1).
Table 1
Scripps Howard Newspapers
1929
Cleveland Press Birmingham Post Memphis Press
Cincinnati Post Akron Times-Press Evansville Press
San Diego Sun Toledo News-Bee Columbus Citizen
Rocky Mountain News Knoxville News-Sentinel Houston Press
Terre Haute Press Dallas Dispatch Ft. Worth Press
Oklahoma News Washington Daily News El Paso Post
Youngstown Telegram Indianapolis Times Pittsburgh Press
Albuquerque Tribune New York Telegram
The chain would experience a dramatic change by the end of the Depression.
Many papers would be sold or closed, but many would be preserved through
joint agreements with competitors.
Albuquerque Joint Operation
The Albuquerque Tribune was purchased by Scripps Howard in September 1923
to offer embattled Owner/Editor Carl Magee some financial relief from
the
incessant lawsuits resulting from his exposure of Albert Fall and the
Teapot Dome scandal. The financial relief allowed Magee to continue his
fight against political corruption in New Mexico.[13]
When Scripps Howard purchased the paper it had almost twice the
circulation of the competing Albuquerque Journal. However, the Tribune did
not maintain a dominant position for long in the Albuquerque market
under
the Scripps Howard ownership. The editorial vigor of Magee that built
up
the paper also started to alienate audiences. In 1936 Scripps Howard
General Manager John Sorrells complained to Roy Howard, "[that] Magee's
continual editorial tirades would break down the Oklahoma market the
way it
destroyed Albuquerque." These complications, along with absentee
ownership, resulted in a decline in circulation for the Tribune.[14]
Within two years of the Scripps Howard purchase, the competing morning
Journal began an evening paper to compete directly with the Tribune. In
1926 the Tribune had a circulation of 10,409 compared to 4,900 at the
Journal. Seven years later the Tribune had increased to a circulation of
14,990, while the combined circulation of the Journal soared to
20,694. The
six-year-old evening Journal rose from nothing in 1927 and by 1933 the
paper threatened to overtake Scripps Howard's Albuquerque Tribune in
circulation (see Table 2).[15]
Table 2
Albuquerque Newspapers
Newspaper 1926 1929 1933 1936
Albuquerque Tribune 10,409 14,753 14,990 13,857
Albuquerque Journal 4,900 20,694* 24,801* 16,596
(morning) 13,422 13,757
(evening) 7,272 11,044
*denotes combined morning and evening circulation.
In 1926, after Scripps Howard purchased the Albuquerque Tribune, the paper
held a healthy advantage in circulation over the competing Journal. By
1929 the upstart evening Journal increased circulation while the
Tribune
experienced little growth between 1929 and 1933.
Although the morning and evening Journal had increasing circulation
numbers, the Depression caused a loss in revenue, causing a financial
squeeze for owner, Thomas M. Pepperday. Scripps Howard had many papers to
absorb revenue declines, but the Albuquerque Tribune was slated for
closure
if the downward trend continued.
There was no indication in the E.W. Scripps papers that the Albuquerque
Tribune was losing money. The Tribune was not among the papers listed
in
the financial papers of the E.W. Scripps papers of running at a
deficit.[16]
The Tribune's circulation and advertising losses could potentially be
a
drain on company resources, but correspondence between managers only
discussed the possibility of helping the Albuquerque Tribune reach an
adequate return level.[17] An article in Editor & Publisher suggests that
the
Tribune was not necessarily running in the red, but it did have, "two
years
of steadily declining revenues."[18]
On December 12, 1932, Journal owner Thomas Pepperday met in Chicago with
Scripps Howard's General Manager, William W. Hawkins, and Corporate
General
Counsel Thomas L. Sidlo. The Scripps Howard lieutenants proposed a
combined plan of operation that would benefit both newspapers in Albu
querque. Pepperday left the meeting hopeful that some agreement could be
reached between the competitors that would give both parties an
adequate
financial return in Albuquerque.[19]
Pepperday agreed with the Scripps Howard executives on the Albuquerque
situation,
It appears that we are agreed that neither of us are receiving an
adequate return out of this field because of operating our
businesses
under the present conditions.... I believe the proper solution of
the
problem lies in developing a plan that will enable each of us to
carry our respective desires and, at the same time, leave our
businesses intact and yet give all the advantages of working together
along more economical lines.[20]
The move toward cooperation was endorsed by Chairman Robert Scripps, who
liked the idea of increasing returns from the Tribune, "I think that
any
move that would put Albuquerque on a cooperative matter in circulation
and
advertising rates, would be profitable to both sides."[21]
By the beginning of January 1933, Pepperday was still seeking more
specifics on how the Scripps Howard chain would propose to form an
association and help return both papers to pre-depression profits.
Pepperday related to Howard, "I think an association in some form between
us can reasonable assure the people of this state, newspapers of real
independence of thought and at the same time make possible a financial
return comparable to pre-depression period."[22]
The Scripps Howard plan called for the elimination of the afternoon
Journal, leaving the Journal as the only morning paper while the Tribune
would be designated as the only evening paper. The Scripps Howard
organization had devoted considerable time, study, and thought to the
proposal. The Scripps Howard hierarchy felt it was time well spent
because
the "principle and precedent involved might prove of great consequence
if
it worked out successfully."[23]
By February the agreement was finalized. On February 14, 1933, Scripps
Howard management and Pepperday met at the Scripps Ranch in Miramar,
California, and a contractual agreement was arranged involving both
newspapers. The contract included the consolidation of the business and
mechanical departments of both newspapers under a new agency, the
Albuquerque Publishing Company. The editorial and news staffs of the two
papers shared the Tribune building, but were housed on separate
floors.[24]
Howard and Scripps did not hesitate on creating a profit sharing
combination. According to Editor & Publisher in an article some years
later, the arrangement worked like this:
Here is the second and still more striking phase of the
joint-operation plan. The funds remaining after payment of business
and mechanical costs must be divided between the two newspapers,
giving each a fund out of which to pay its editorial and individual
corporate expenses and presumably to allow the newspapers some
profit.[25]
Roy Howard wanted the Albuquerque JOA to be a precedent, so he set out to
avoid problems in the early weeks of operation. He particularly needed
the
editors of the Albuquerque Tribune and Albuquerque Journal to ensure
editorial independence and divergent viewpoints so the community did not
feel they were being deceived. In a letter to Pepperday, Howard
stated:
It seems to me inevitable that the community will suspect that there
is some element of a frame-up in this proposition.... With this
in
mind, I think it is especially important that both papers pursue
divergent editorial courses and be sure that they do not,
consciously
or unconsciously, justify the public in any belief that they are
indulging in mutual back scratching.[26]
This step was likely to occur since the companies were relatively quiet
about working together. The papers published a brief article to the
community that they would now be sharing office space. Only one article
appeared in Editor & Publisher explaining the move to the newspaper
industry. No other articles on the characteristics of the joint agreement
were shared with the public of newspapermen.[27]
Pepperday reiterated Howard's need for divergent editorial voices when he
attempted to distinguish the difference between this agreement and a
monopoly. According to Editor & Publisher,
Scripps Howard did not believe that a newspaper monopoly was either
desirable or possible. Mr. Pepperday held the same opinion. They
both
believed that there should be two distinct and independent
editorial
voices in the largest city in New Mexico.[28]
The idea of distinct and different voices would become a major point used
by newspaper chains to advocate the existence of joint operating
agreements
during the Senate Hearings of the Newspaper Preservation Act in 1970.[29]
While the Albuquerque agreement was being finalized, Robert Scripps was
working hard in San Diego, attempting to negotiate a similar
agreement. He
had hoped at first that two agreements would be reached at the same
time,
but later he hoped the Albuquerque precedent would push the
possibilities
of San Diego agreement forward.[30]
The San Diego JOA Attempt
In early February of 1933, before the finalization of the Albuquerque
agreement, Scripps and Hawkins visited with Colonel Ira B. Copley, owner
of
the San Diego Union and Evening Tribune. Scripps hoped to persuade him to
consider an agreement similar to the one being negotiated in
Albuquerque.[31]
Copley had purchased the two papers in 1928 from the estate of sugar
magnate John D. Spreckles.[32] The papers were competitors of the Scripps
Howard-owned San Diego Sun. With the new acquisition by Copley, Robert
Scripps hoped for a mutually beneficial agreement between the two
newspaper
organizations.
Scripps arranged a meeting with Copley to propose a joint venture. Copley
appeared interested in a proposition that they share business
operations
yet maintain editorial independence.[33]
Copley liked the overall proposal, but he hesitated on a joint circulation
plan. He asked the advice of his editor, James MacMullen, and his staff to
respond to the Scripps Howard circulation ideas. MacMullen responded to
Copley's request by elaborating on three circulation concerns:
COMMON NEWSBOYS. The probabilities are present that if this proposed
agreement is entered into, we believe it would retard the hustling
ability
of the boys on the corners as they would have no competition.
COMMON TRUCKS. On practically every edition one paper would be waiting for
the other, and subscribers would be waiting on their paper. It
would not be
a wise agreement to enter into.
CIRCULATION SOLICITORS. We believe we should keep our own solicitors. We
would be glad to pay a commission to the Sun solicitors on each
subscription obtained by them.[34]
MacMullen also rejected Scripps's idea of eliminating the publication of
radio programs and attempting to have broadcasters advertise their
programs.[35]
Even with these minor points of disagreement, Scripps was still excited at
the prospect of forming two agreements simultaneously in Albuquerque and
San Diego.[36]
As the Copley organization studied the proposed agreement, they concluded
the possibility for a joint operation with the Scripps-owned Sun did
not
exist. However, Copley still left the door open to negotiation, "If
there
are any items on which our men think we could in fairness enter into
an
agreement with the Sun, it would give us the great pleasure to take
them up
with you again."[37]
An outside negotiator, Ed Fletcher, after hearing of the Albuquerque
agreement, intervened and met with Copley and Scripps to revive the idea.
Scripps was interested, but Copley hedged on the possible arrangement.
Scripps's optimism faded as he saw the possibility for a joint agreement
wane,
I had of course thought of Albuquerque set-up as possible precedent
for San Diego. I cannot now bring myself to feel that the two
situations are in any way similar. In Albuquerque we secured competent
and previously locally successful business management. In San Diego I
have no confidence whatever in the competence of the business
management of the competition.[38]
Frustrated, Scripps did not pursue the idea of a San Diego agreement
further and expressed his disappointment to Howard about the inability to
organize the two joint operating agreements at the same time. An
embittered
Scripps rationalized the situation by saying, "Copley and his organization
have generally made a mess of everything they have touched in California,
and as I see it can eventually only accomplish a similar result in San
Diego."[39]
The lack of agreement would have little historical significance if it were
not for the fact the Scripps Howard executives anxiously engaged in trying
to duplicate these efforts in other cities.
While negotiations were in the works for joint agreements in Albuquerque
and San Diego, Scripps Howard General Business Manager William G.
Chandler
traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee to see if he could negotiate a
similar
agreement with the competing Knoxville Journal.[40]
The situation in Knoxville was considerably more complicated than Chandler
had anticipated. Not only was the Scripps Howard-owned Knoxville
News-Sentinel locked in a battle with the competing Knoxville Journal, but
the Knoxville papers were fighting the Chattanooga Times and the
Chattanooga News for country circulation. Frustrated with the situation,
the best he could negotiate was a four-way agreement between the two
Knoxville papers and the two Chattanooga papers to charge the same country
subscription rate in their common area between the two cities.
Chandler
outlined the agreement to all Scripps Howard business managers in hopes
that they might duplicate the effort,
I am outlining the Knoxville publisher agreements with newspapers in
Chattanooga, with overlapping suburban and country circulation,
and
suggest similar action on your part....The four papers will raise
and
maintain similar rates, for a ninety-day test period. Therefore,
the
News-Sentinel has everything to gain and nothing to lose by this
agreement.[41]
Although there was some moderate success at smaller agreements on
circulation, three years would pass before Scripps Howard executives would
establish another JOA. The Scripps Howard-owned El Paso Post-Herald
would
become the second agreement for the company and the second one
recognized
by the Newspaper Preservation Act.
The El Paso JOA
In 1923 Roy Howard considered the Scripps Howard-owned El Paso Post
hopeless and came close to closing it, but E.W. Scripps wanted to
experiment at selling the paper for a penny. The experiment worked well,
but the paper continued to flounder until 1931, when Scripps Howard
purchased the dominant paper, the El Paso Herald, from Dorrance Roderick.
Scripps Howard immediately merged the two papers and formed the El
Paso
Herald-Post.[42]
The newly formed Herald-Post became the leader in the newspaper
circulation wars in El Paso. After the sale of the Herald to Scripps
Howard, Roderick purchased the remaining competing paper, The El Paso
Times
, which had substantially lower circulation than the Herald-Post. At
the
time the Herald-Post merged, the Post had a circulation of 19,128, and
the
Herald was at 20,445. The El Paso Times circulation was 13,016. But
between
1931 and 1936 the Herald-Post dropped in circulation to 23,660, while the
Times rose to 18,905 (see table 3).[43]
Table 3
El Paso Newspapers
Paper 1929 1933 1936
El Paso Herald-Post 20,445* 25,910 23,660
19,128**
El Paso Times 13,016 16,958 18,905
*Denotes the Scripps Howard owned Post.
**Denotes the El Paso Herald.
Between 1929 and 1936 El Paso's population remained relatively unchanged.
Thus, the losses in circulation were not due to a substantial change
in
population, but were simply a decision by subscribers to choose the
competing paper.[44]
Tired of battling Roderick and seeing the declining circulation, Scripps
Howard General Manager William Hawkins proposed a meeting where the
two
should meet to discuss "a plan similar to the Albuquerque
agreement."[45]
In late July 1936, Hawkins met with El Paso Times owner Roderick to
propose the possibility of entering into a joint operating agreement.
There
is no correspondence in the Roy Howard papers on the agreement, but on
August 29, 1936, the rival papers started publishing from the same
plant.
As with the Albuquerque plan, the details in Editor & Publisher of the El
Paso arrangement reveals little information about the arrangement. A
formal
announcement by the Herald-Post management was reprinted in the trade
journal with the most in-depth details of the agreement:
Because of the determination to maintain and improve high standards in
newspaper to readers and advertisers at reasonable rates, the Herald
Post Publishing Company and the El Paso Times Company have concluded
an arrangement for the joint printing, sales, and distribution
activities of their newspapers.[46]
The remainder of the article focuses on the people in the two
organizations and their new positions because of the agreement. There
are
no specifics on how the joint printing, sales or distribution would be
accomplished by the two companies, nor is there any indication of how
the
profits would be shared. There is a mention of the Albuquerque plan,
but no
mention was made of that agreement also involving a Scripps Howard paper.[47]
By 1936, economic conditions were improving in some regions of the
country, but the Depression would linger on for three more years. Meanwhile
other publishers were examining the agreements in Albuquerque and El Paso
as an alternative to losing money or closing the paper.
The Nashville and Evansville Agreements
On December 5, 1937, James G. Stahlman, publisher of the Nashville Banner,
and Silliman Evans, publisher of the Nashville Tennessean, announced the
formation of the third JOA. The plan was identical in organization to
the
Albuquerque and El Paso agreements. A separate agency corporation was
formed to handle the advertising, circulation, and mechanical processes
of
the two newspapers and used the same name as the agency in El Paso,
the
Newspaper Printing Corporation.
The relevance of these two papers forming a third JOA would be little,
except that a major chief negotiator for the agreement was Ward
Mayborn, a
former Scripps Howard executive. Mayborn had started Scripps Howard's
Evansville Press and was later promoted to the general management
division
of Scripps newspapers. This position involved him in major
decision-making
sessions and he was made regional director for Scripps over papers in
Memphis, Denver, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Houston, and
Albuquerque. Mayborn was described as a hatchet man for Scripps, "cutting
expenses by eliminating staff and by tightening management of papers
to
return them to profitability."[48]
Mayborn left the Scripps organization in 1922 to start his own paper in
Temple, Texas. The paper was profitable until the onset of the
Depression,
and Mayborn left it for a salaried position with Hearst newspapers. He
left
Hearst in 1936 and joined the Nashville Tenessean. Mayborn kept close to
the old timers from his days with Scripps during this time. Mayborn's
experience with Scripps and his continued relationships with the
organization's executives paid off as he convinced Tennessean owner
Silliman Evans that a joint operating plan was the answer to the paper's
problems:
Mayborn then convinced the Tennessean's owner to join with the owners of
the rival newspaper in Nashville. The Banner, to form a separate
entity,
the Nashville Printing Corporation, which would print both
newspapers while
leaving editorial and news departments separate. The plan ultimately put
the papers on a paying basis, and Mayborn in the general
manager's chair of
the newly-formed corporation.[49]
Mayborn's previous management experience and connections with the Scripps
organization proved invaluable to the owners of the Nashville papers.
The
third JOA as recognized by the Newspaper Preservation Act had been
formed.
Mayborn's former paper, the Evansville Press, would follow the
Nashville
agreement as the next joint agreement.[50]
Like many of the Scripps Howard newspapers, the Evansville Press
maintained an inferior position in the market to the Evansville Courier.
During the Depression, Evansville successfully attracted business and
the
city was growing, but the Press experienced little change in
circulation,
while the Courier grew larger.[51] Scripps Howard management actively
promoted
a JOA in Evansville and it was adopted on December 31, 1938.
Little publicity was given to this agreement and no correspondence on the
negotiations or formation of the agreement could be located in the Roy
Howard papers. However, it likely the agreement closely paralleled the
structure of previous JOA's organized by Scripps Howard.[52]
Conclusion
Scripps Howard and former Scripps Howard executives were successful in
forming the first four JOAs. Attempts were made by Scripps Howard
executives to form at least two other JOAs. It appears that Scripps Howard
was intricately involved in the initial formation of these agreements
and
then the propagation of the agreements to other markets. More
importantly,
the model they created became widely copied as more JOAs were
formed.[53]
The papers that formed JOAs were in a subordinated market position, but
this does not mean that the papers were not profitable. At no time in
the
correspondence or in trade journals is their any indication that the
papers
were not profitable. The Scripps Howard officials appeared to be more
concerned with gaining an adequate return on the papers.
These agreements evaded the attention of the United States Attorney
General's office until Citizen Publishing v. U.S. in 1969. It is likely
the
papers did so because of the lack of information published on these
agreements. This trend appears to continue even through today. Busterna
and
Picard posit an explanation for non-disclosure:
Publishers' desire to keep information from the public despite their
request for special treatment under the anti-trust laws has
existed
for most of the history of the Newspaper Preservation Act.
Publishers
have unsuccessfully opposed even publishing notices in their
newspapers that they were seeking approval of a JOA, and sought to
halt public disclosure of all business and financial data.[54]
Scripps Howard officials may not have had an inkling that the agreements
were violating the Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890, or they did not
want the
public sensing cooperation among the community papers. Whatever the
motivation, the company officials appeared to be secretive in their
negotiations and little effort was made to fully explain the implications
of the agreements formed.
The formation of these JOAs would completely change the mode of operation
for Scripps Howard. Joint operating agreements were effective in
preserving
newspapers for Scripps Howard during the depression of the 1930s. None of
the papers entering into a JOA failed during this time of financial
pressure.
A December 1936 Editor & Publisher article reporting on the Albuquerque
and El Paso JOA's stated:
There is a social significance, as well as a significance to newspaper
publishers in the experiment of joint operation of newspapers....The
chief value for other cities, if and as it may be applied
elsewhere,
is seen in places which publishers consider "over-newspapered" --
cities where two newspapers are struggling and neither is
flourishing....Does the El Paso-Albuquerque plan mean a new trend
which may be widely copied?[55]
These two JOAs set a precedent for those that followed, as seen by the
subsequent formation of JOAs in Nashville and Evansville. During the
1950s
Scripps Howard was involved in three more JOAs in Birmingham, Alabama,
Knoxville, Tennessee, and Columbus, Ohio. In the 1960s Scripps Howard
established a joint operating in Pittsburgh, and in the 1970s the company
formed a JOA in Cincinnati. By 1980, Scripps Howard had only two
remaining
major dailies not involved in a JOA -- the Rocky Mountain News and the
Memphis Commercial Appeal. Eight of the ten major dailies belonging to
Scripps Howard were involve a joint operating agreement.
The implementation of the 1933 Albuquerque agreement changed Scripps
Howard's approach for market preservation. The joint operating plan has
left a mark on the entire newspaper industry as it has been replicated
by
other companies in cities throughout the United States.
Endnotes
[1] John C. Busterna and Robert G. Picard, Joint Operating Agreem
ents: The
Newspaper Preservation Act and its Application (Nor
wood, NJ: Ablex
Publishing Company, 1993): 7-8. JOA cities li
sted and the year the
agreement was formed are Albuquerque (1
933), El Paso (1936), Nashville
(1937), Evansville (1938), Tu
cson (1940), Chattanooga (1942), Birmingham
(1950), Fort Wayn
e (1950), Salt Lake City (1952), Charleston (1958),
Honolulu
(1962), San Francisco (1965), Cincinnati (1977), Seattle (1983),
Las Vegas (1989), York, PA (1989), Detroit (1989).
[2] See The Faili
ng Newspaper Act, Committee on the Judiciary, S. 1312,
U.S.S.
(1967 & 1968); and Newspaper Preservation Act, Pub. L. 91-350, 84
Stat. 466, 15 U.S.C. sections 1801-1804 (1970).
[3] David Coulson, "
Antitrust Law and Newspapers," in Robert G. Picard, James P. Winter,
Maxwell E. McCombs, and Stephen Lacy (eds.), Press Concentration
and Monopoly: New
Perspectives on Newspaper Ownership and Ope
ration, (Norwood, NJ: Ablex
Publishing Company, 1988): 184-18
9).
[4] According to the ABC Audit service annual circulation report repri
nted in Editor &
Publisher 1933 Annual Yearbook, January 28,
1933, the only Scripps howard
papers in a dominant market pos
ition was the Cincinnati Post and the El
Paso Herald-Post.
[
5] See letter from Roy W. Howard to Robert P. Scripps, September 1, 1922,
series 3.1,
box 56, folder 1, E.W. Scripps Papers, and lett
er from Roy Howard to Robert P. Scripps,
August 23, 1923, s
eries 3.1, box 56, folder 2, E.W. Scripps Papers, Archive Collection,
Alden Library, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio., hereafter referre
d to as E.W. Scripps
papers.
[6] See Edwin Emery and Mich
ael Emery, The Press in America, An Interpretative
History of
the Mass Media, (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,
Inc., 1984), and William D. Sloan, James G. Stovall, and James D. Startt,
The Media in America, (Worthington, Ohio: Publishing Horizon
s, Inc., 1989),
and Jean Folkerts and Dwight Teeter, Voices of a Nation (
New York:
Macmillan Publishing Company, 1989). These media hi
story textbooks have no
mention of the existence of joint ope
rating agreements or the unique place
JOA's hold in media eco
nomic history. See also J. Herbert Altschull Agents
of Power
(New York: Longman Inc., 1984), and Birthney Ardoin, "A
Compa
rative Analysis of Newspapers Under Joint Printing Agreements," (Ph.D.
di
ss., Ohio University, 1971) 7-10, and Birthney Ardoin, "A Comparative
Analysis of Newspapers Under Joint Printing Contracts," Journalism
Quarterly 50 (Summer 1973): 340-349, and Edward E. Adams, "A
Comparative
Analysis of Local Editorial Issues in Competitiv
e, Joint Monopoly, and
Joint Operating Agreement Newspapers,
paper presented to Communication
Research Conference," Athens
, Ohio, April 2, 1992, and Ben H. Bagdikian,
Media Monopoly (
Boston: Beacon Press Books, 1983), and Walter S. Baer,
Henry
Geller, Joseph A. Grundfest, and Karen B. Possner, Concentration of
Mass Media Ownership: Assessing the State of Current Knowledge, (San
ta
Monica, California: Rand Corporation, 1984), and Gail Lund
Barwis, "The
Newspaper Preservation Act: A Retrospective Ana
lysis," Newspaper Research
Journal 1 (Summer 1980): 27-38, an
d John C. Busterna, "Commentary:
Improving Editorial and Econ
omic Competition with a Modified Newspaper
Preservation Act,"
Newspaper Research Journal 8 (Summer 1987): 71-81, and
Benja
min M. Compaine, Christopher H. Sterling, Thomas Guback, J. Kendrick
Noble Jr., Who Owns the Media? Concentration of Ownership in the Ma
ss
Communications Industry (White Plains, New York: Knowledge
Industry, 1982),
and George A. Donohue, Clarice N. Olien, and Phillip J.
Tichenor,
"Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type a
nd Ownership," Journalism
Quarterly 57 (Winter 1985):488-499, 507, and St
ephen Lacy, "The Effects of
Ownership and Competition on Daily Newspaper
Content" (Ph.D. Diss., The
University of Texas at Austin, 198
6), and Stephen Lacy, "Content of Joint
Operating Agreements,
" Press Concentration and Monopoly, eds. Robert G.
Picard, Ma
xwell E. McCombs, Stephen Lacy, and James P. Winter, (Norwood,
New Jersey: Ablex Publishing, 1988), 148-151, and Alf Pratte, "Terms of
Endearment: Owner Ethics, JOA's, and Editorial Independence,"
Journal of
Mass Media Ethics 2 (Fall/Winter 1987): 30-40, and
Royal H. Ray,
"Concentration of Ownership and Control in the
American Daily Newspaper
Industry" (Ph.D. Diss., Columbia Un
iversity, 1950), and Committee on the
Judiciary, Newspaper Pr
eservation Act: Hearings before the Antitrust
Subcommittee on
House Resolution 279 and Related Bills, 91st Cong., 1st
Sess
., 10, 24, 25 September and 1 October 1969, and Committee on the
Judiciary. Hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary on S. 2314, A
Bill
to amend the Newspaper Preservation Act, 99th Cong., 2nd Sess., 10 J
une
1986. Most of the studies mention the Albuquerque agreeme
nt as the first
joint operating agreement. Many of the studie
s give definitions or
descriptions of joint operating agreeme
nts. The best history of joint
operating agreements is found
in the hearings of the Congressional
Committee on the Judicia
ry. It is primarily a listing of where and when
joint operati
ng agreements formed.
[7] See Margaret A. Blanchard, "Press Criticism and
National Reform Movements: The
Progressive Movement and th
e New Deal," Journalism History 5 (1978), and James
Boylan, "
Publicity for the Great Depression: Newspaper Default and Literary
Report
age," in Mass Media Between the Wars: Perceptions of Cultural
Tensions, 1918-1941, eds. Catherine L. Covert and John D. Stevens
(Syracuse, 1984), and Robert W. Desmond, Crisis and Conflict: World N
ews
Reporting Between Two Wars 1920-1940, (Iowa City, 1982),
and Russell J.
Hammargren, "The Origin of Press-Radio Conflic
t," Journalism Quarterly 13
(1936): 91-93, and Gweneth Jackaw
ay, "The Press-Radio War, 1925-1937: A
Fight to Protect the P
rofessional Boundaries of Journalism," paper
presented at the
History Division of the Association for Education in
Journal
ism and Mass Communication, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August, 1990,
and George E. Lott, Jr., "The Press-Radio War of the 1930's," Journal
of
Broadcasting 14 (1970): 275-286, and Robert W. McChesney,
"Toward a
Reinterpretation of the American Press-Radio War of
the 1930's," paper
presented at the History Division of the
Association for Education in
Journalism and Mass Communicatio
n, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August, 1990,
and Betty Houchin Wi
nfield, "The New Deal Publicity Operation: Foundation
for the
Modern Presidency," Journalism Quarterly 61 (1984).
[8] See Willard G. B
leyer, "Freedom of the Press and the New Deal," Journalism
Qu
arterly 11 (1934): 20-24, provides early information on the trend toward
combinations. See also Oswald Garrison Villiard, The Disappeari
ng Daily
(New York: Alfred Knopf, 1944), discusses the trend
toward press
concentration. See also William Weinfeld, "The G
rowth of Daily Chains in
the United States: 1923, 1926-1935,"
Journalism Quarterly, 13 (1936),
357-363, discusses the tren
d toward newspaper chain ownership.
[9] See Carol Smith and Carolyn Stewar
t Dyer, "Taking Stock, Placing Orders: A
Historiographic Es
say on the Business History of the Newspaper," Journalism
Mon
ographs 132, (April 1992); and
Gerald J. Baldasty and Myron K. Jordan, "E.
W. Scripps and the Newspaper
Business: The Market Niche Strat
egy of Competition," paper presented to the
Management and Economics Divi
sion, Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communication, Min
neapolis, Minnesota, August, 1990; and Gerald
J. Baldasty, "M
arketing the News: E.W. Scripps and the Seattle Star," paper
presented to
the West Coast AEJMC Journalism Historians Conference,
Berke
ley, California, March, 1990; and Gerald J. Baldasty, "The Scripps
Concern and Advertising: Strategies for Preserving Press Independence
,"
paper presented to the AEJMC Western Journalism Historians
Conference,
Berkeley, California, February 28, 1992; and Tim
A. Pilgrim, "How
Newspapers Came to Carry the Shining Shield
of Natural Monopoly," paper
presented to the History Divisio
n, Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communica
tion, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August, 1990; and Carol
Smith,
"Explaining Concentration of Ownership in the Newspaper Industry:
Crossroads for Journalism History and Media Economics," paper presente
d to
the History Division, Association for Education in Journ
alism and Mass
Communication, Boston, Massachusetts, August,
1991.
[10] See "Oklahoma News Suspended in Oklahoma City," Editor & Publi
sher, March 4,
1939, and previous graph of closures listed in
this paper.
[11] "Monthly Ad Linage Report," Editor & Publisher, November
26, 1932. This
report represented the last one available on
ad linage prior to
negotiations on the Albuquerque JOA.
[12
] Edwin Emery, The Press in America, An Interpretative History of the
Mass Media, (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 19
72): 594.
[13] See Carl C. Magee Papers, Special Collections Division, Uni
versity of New Mexico
Library, Albuquerque, New Mexico. See
also Susan Ann Roberts, "The Political Trials of
Carl C. M
agee," New Mexico Historical Review, 4 (1975): 291-310. See also
Proceedings of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Problems of
Journalism (Reston, Virginia: Published by ASNE, 1927): 133-14
7, for
details on the legal battles of Carl Magee with New Me
xico political
figures. See also Vance Trimble, "Scripps Howa
rd Newspapers," in the
Scripps Howard Handbook, (Cincinnati,
Ohio 1981): 218, 384, and Oliver
Knight, "Appendix B," I Prot
est, Selected disquisitions of E.W. Scripps,
(Madison Wiscons
in: University of Wisconsin Press 1966), for information on
the acquisiti
on of the Albuquerque Tribune by Scripps Howard Newspapers.
[14] Letter f
rom John Sorrells to Roy Howard, not dated, file 1936, Roy W. Howard Archiv
e,
Ernie Pyle Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana, subseries 3.
1, box 56, folder
1, E.W. Scripps Papers, Archive Collectio
n, Alden Library, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
Howard att
ributes the decline of Scripps Howard newspapers primarily to the bureaucra
tic
administration of the company.
[15] This graph shows t
he circulation of Albuquerque Tribune after the purchase
of t
he paper by Scripps Howard. It compares the Tribune to the competing
Albuquerque Journal. Information was attempted to be collected in e
ven
intervals of years. This was not always possible because
of availability of
collections. The year 1933 marks the date just prior t
o formation of the
joint operating agreement. The source is t
he Audit Bureau of Circulation
annual circulation report repr
inted in Editor & Publisher Annual Yearbook,
1926, 1929, 1933
, and 1936.
[16] "Expenditures List," Roy W. Howard papers, Box 72, Albuqu
erque File, Manuscripts
Division, Library of Congress, Wash
ington D.C.
[17] Thomas M. Pepperday to Roy W. Howard, December 22, 1932,
Roy W. Howard papers, Box
72, Albuquerque File, Manuscripts
Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
[18] Robert S. Mann, "Riva
l Dailies Printing in Same Plant," Editor & Publisher,
Februa
ry 25, 1933, p. 20.
[19] See letter from Thomas M. Pepperday to Roy W. How
ard, December 22, 1932, Roy W.
Howard papers, Box 72, Albuq
uerque File, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress,
Was
hington D.C., and "Rival Dailies Printing in Same Plant," Editor & Publishe
r,
February 25, 1933.
[20] Thomas M. Pepperday to Roy Howard
, December 22, 1932, Roy W. Howard papers, Box 72,
Albuquer
que File, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
[21]
Robert P. Scripps to William W. Hawkins, December 29, 1932, Roy W. Howard p
apers, Box
72, Albuquerque File, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congres
s, Washington D.C.
[22] Letter from Thomas M. Pepperday to Roy W. Howard,
January 1, 1933, Box 75,
Albuquerque File, Roy W. Howard pa
pers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
[23] "Rival Dailies Printi
ng in Same Plant," Editor & Publisher, February 25,
1933.
[2
4] "Rival Dailies Printing in Same Plant," Editor & Publisher, February 25,
1933.
[25] Robert S. Mann, "Joint Publishing Plan Cuts Cost
s; Preserves Editorial Independence,"
Editor and Publisher, December 12,
1936, pp. 5,31.
[26] Roy Howard to Thomas Pepperday, Feb 22, 1933, Box 76,
Albuquerque Tribune file, Roy
W. Howard papers, Manuscript
s Division, Library of Congress.
[27] Robert S. Mann, "Rival Dailies Prin
ting in Same Plant," Editor & Publisher,
February 25, 1933, p
. 20.
[28] Robert S. Mann, "Rival Dailies Printing in Same Plant," Editor
& Publisher,
February 25, 1933, p. 20.
[29] Newspaper Preser
vation Act, Pub. L. 91-350, 84 Stat. 466, 15 U.S.C. sections
1801-1804 (1970).
[30] See letter from Robert P. Scripps to Roy W. Howar
d, February 27, 1933, Box 84, San
Diego File, Roy W. Howard
Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, and "Joint
Publishing Plan Cuts Costs; Preserves Editorial Independence, Editor & P
ublisher,
December 12, 1936.
[31] Letter from Colonel Ira Co
pley to Robert Scripps, February, 1933, Box 84, Robert
Scri
pps File, Roy W. Howard papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
[32] The Copley Press (San Diego, California: The Arts and Crafts Press,
1953): 203.
[33] Robert P. Scripps to Roy W. Howard, Feb 27, 1
933, box 84, Robert Scripps file, Roy W.
Howard papers, Manuscript Divisi
on, Library of Congress.
[34] James MacMullen to Colonel Ira C. Copley, Fe
b 11, 1933, box 84, Robert Scripps file,
Roy W. Howard pape
rs, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
[35] James MacMullen to Colo
nel Ira C. Copley, Feb 11, 1933, box 84, Robert Scripps file,
Roy W. Howard papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
[36] Ro
bert Scripps to Roy Howard, Feb 11, 1933, Box 76, Albuquerque Tribune file,
Roy W.
Howard papers, Manuscripts Division, Library of Con
gress.
[37] Ira C. Copley to Robert P. Scripps, February 13, 1933, box 8
4, Robert Scripps file,
Roy W. Howard papers, Manuscript Di
vision, Library of Congress.
[38] Robert P. Scripps to Roy W. Howard, Feb
27, 1933, box 84, Robert Scripps file, Roy W.
Howard papers, Manuscript D
ivision, Library of Congress.
[39] Robert P. Scripps to Roy W. Howard, Feb
ruary 27, 1933, box 84, Robert Scripps file,
Roy W. Howard
papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
[40] William G. Chandler
to Roy Howard, January 22, 1933, New York file, Roy W. Howard
papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
[41] William G. Chan
dler to Business Managers of Scripps Howard, February 1, 1933, New
York file, Roy W. Howard papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Co
ngress.
[42] See letter from Roy W. Howard to Robert P. Scripps, August 24
, 1923, series 3.1, box
56, folder 2, E.W. Scripps Papers,
Archive Collection, Alden Library, Ohio University,
Athens,
Ohio, and Scripps Howard Handbook, p. 251.
[43] This graph represents th
e amount of circulation lost by the Scripps Howard El Paso
He
rald-Post to the competing El Paso Times. See Audit Bureau of Circulation
for 1929, 1933, and 1936. All are listed in the Editor & Publisher Annual
Yearbook, 1929, 1933, and 1936.
[44] In 1930 the population
of El Paso was listed at 131,387. By 1940 the population was
reported at 131,067. See Metropolitan and Urban Growth in the United Stat
es: 1900-1960,
Pennsylvania State University Reports Number
58, 1968.
[45] William Hawkins to Roy Howard, April 12, 1936, New York fi
le, Roy W. Howard papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of C
ongress.
[46] "Rival Papers Print in Same Plant," Editor & Publisher, Sept
ember 5, 1936,
p. 9.
[47] "Rival Papers Print in Same Plant
," Editor & Publisher, September 5, 1936,
p. 9.
[48] Odie B.
Faulk and Laura E. Faulk, Frank W. Mayborn: A Man Who Made A
Difference (Waco, Texas: University of Mary Hardin Baylor, 1989): 17.
[49
] Faulk, "Frank W. Mayborn," 130.
[50] "Publishing Costs are Shared by Two
Nashville Dailies," Editor & Publisher,
December 11, 1937.
[51] In 1930 the population of Evansville was listed at 139,615. By 1940 th
e population
was reported at 157,806. See Metropolitan and
Urban Growth in the United States:
1900-1960, Pennsylvania
State University Reports Number 58, 1968.
[52] See Editor & Publisher Ann
ual Yearbook, 1933, 1936, and 1939, for
circulation figures,
and Scripps Howard Handbook, p. 255, for information
on the f
ormation of the joint operating agreement.
[53] See Busterna and Picard,
"Joint Operating Agreements," 2. "The first known joint
new
spaper operation began in 1933 when the Albuquerque Journal and the Albuque
rque
Tribune joined all but their editorial operations -- an
arrangement that
continues to this day -- and established a m
odel that many joint operations
would follow."
[54] Busterna and Picard,
"Joint Operating Agreements," 9.
[55] See "Rival Papers Print in Same Pla
nt," Editor & Publisher September 5, 1936;
and "Joint Publish
ing Plan Cuts Costs; Preserves Editorial Independence,"
Edito
r & Publisher December 12, 1936, 29-30.
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