1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: a show for those interested in the big and small 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: print moments of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: looking at the origin of an iconic newspaper catchphrase, one 6 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: that served as a statement of purpose to its readers 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: and as a declaration of war to its rivals. The 8 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: day was February ten, eight the New York Times slogan 9 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: all the news That's fit to print appeared on the 10 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: papers front page for the first time. The now famous 11 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: motto was coined by the papers new owner add Off 12 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: Simon Ox, who had acquired The Times from its former 13 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: publishers in the fall of eighteen ninety six. Ox wanted 14 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: to draw a distinction between the journalistic integrity of his 15 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: paper and the so called yellow journalism of his competition, 16 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: and he thought the new slogan would be just the 17 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,199 Speaker 1: way to do it. The newspaper that would later become 18 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: The New York Times was first published on September eighth, 19 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty one. Its founders, Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, 20 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: initially called it the New York Daily Times, but six 21 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: years later, they changed it to its current title. The 22 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: paper thrived for decades, but by eighteen ninety six it 23 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: had fallen on hard times and was on the verge 24 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: of bankruptcy. The Times was saved in the fall of 25 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: that year when its investors decided to appoint a new publisher, 26 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: a little known newspaper editor from Tennessee named ad Off Ox. 27 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: Although he had little formal education, Ox had learned the 28 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: newspaper business through him ends on experience, first as a newsboy, 29 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: then later as a reporter, and finally, at the age 30 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: of twenty, as a publisher of the Chattanooga Times. He 31 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: took control of the then failing Tennessee paper in eighteen 32 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: seventy eight, and through a few savvy business moves and 33 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: high standards of journalism, he quickly turned things around and 34 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: made the paper profitable again. In eighteen ninety six, he 35 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: heard about the New York Times financial troubles and decided 36 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: to see if he could bring that paper back to 37 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: life as well. Ox went to New York and offered 38 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: his services in exchange for a contract that would give 39 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: him a majority share of the paper stock if he 40 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,399 Speaker 1: succeeded in making it profitable. For three years in a row. 41 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 1: The investors agreed to the terms, and on August eighteen, 42 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six, at off, Ox got to work as 43 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: the new publisher of The New York Times. One of 44 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: his earliest moves his publisher was to create the slogan 45 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: all the news That's fit to print, But the first 46 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: place he put it wasn't on the masthead of the paper. Instead, 47 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: in early October of eighteen ninety six, Ox rented billboard 48 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: space on a windowless wall of the Cumberland Hotel just 49 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: above Madison Square. There he installed one of the New 50 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: York City's first electric advertising signs. It featured twenty seven 51 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: hundred individual colored lights which could be arranged into block 52 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: letters to spell out words. The message Ox chose to 53 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: display in bright red letters was quote New York Times, 54 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: all the news That's fit to print, Sunday magazine supplement. 55 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: Have you seen it? That was the first time anyone 56 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: saw the New York Times new motto, and for newspaper 57 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: readers of the era, there was no mistaking its meaning. 58 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: Ox was calling out his biggest competitors in the New 59 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: York market, Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph 60 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: Hurst's New York Journal. Those two papers vastly outsold The Times, 61 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: largely due to their reliance on yellow journalism, a style 62 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: of reporting their prioritized sensationalism over substance. Both papers featured 63 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: bright colors and flashy illustrations on their front pages and 64 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: devoted most of the coverage to exaggerated stories of crime, 65 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: political scandal, and melodramatic human interest stories. It was the 66 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: kind of stuff we'd call clickbait or fake news today. 67 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: Ox knew that he could never beat his larger, wealthier 68 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: rivals at their own tacky game, and he didn't want 69 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: to try either. Instead, he decided to set The Times 70 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: apart in the crowded market by rebranding it as the 71 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: antithesis of the yellow Press, a paper with high editorial standards, 72 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,919 Speaker 1: one that wouldn't stoop to low brow sensationalism, seeking to 73 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: run only news that was fit to print. However, Ox 74 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: was a keen promoter, and he knew that simply declaring 75 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 1: a new slogan wasn't as exciting or engaging as holding 76 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: a contest to choose one. So later that month, The 77 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: New York Times announced a one dollar prize to anyone 78 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: who submitted a phrase of ten words or less that 79 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: better captured the newspapers quote distinguishing characteristics. Hundreds of readers 80 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: wrote in with suggestions, most of which were pretty goofy 81 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: and terrible, like quote full of meat, clean and neat, 82 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: and the people's voice the good choice. As the weeks 83 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: went on and the bad suggestions poured in, the New 84 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: York Times made a slight amendment to the contest, announcing 85 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: that it wouldn't necessarily change its motto, but it would 86 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: still pay the hundred dollars for the best entry. Eventually, 87 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 1: the judge of the contest, editor Richard Gilder, narrowed the 88 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: field to just four finalists. They were as follows, always decent, 89 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: never dull, the news of the day, not the rubbish, 90 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: A decent newspaper for decent people, and all the world's news, 91 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: but not a school for scandal. Guilder decided that last 92 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,559 Speaker 1: clunky entry was the best of a decidedly weak group. 93 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: The New York Times paid the prize money to its author, 94 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: presumably satisfied that nobody was going to come up with 95 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: anything better than all the News That's fit to print. 96 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: From their ox slogan found its way onto billboards and 97 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: parade signs, as well as the pages of The New 98 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,799 Speaker 1: York Times, though still not on the masthead. For example, 99 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: in mid November, an unsigned editorial ran in The Times 100 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: heralding the motto as a principal worthy of support. The 101 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 1: unknown author, who definitely was an Oakes himself, declared quote, 102 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: there is an abundance of news in the world without 103 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: descending to that which is not fit to print, news 104 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: of wholesome human interest that is neither a contamination nor 105 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: a waste of time to read. It's unclear what compelled 106 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: Ox to move all the news that's fit to print 107 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: to the front page of his paper, but on February 108 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: tent he did just that. There was no announcement or explanation. 109 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: The motto simply appeared in the upper left corner of 110 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: the mast head, and it's remained there ever since. The 111 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: slogan began as a challenge to the Yellow Press, and 112 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: in the end Ox one his paper has long outlived 113 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: the two owned by Hearst and Pulitzer. He also won 114 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: that bet with the Times investors too. He returned the 115 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: paper to profitability for three consecutive years, and as a result, 116 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: in August of nineteen hundred, Ox received a controlling interest 117 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: in The New York Times and its parent company. His 118 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: descendants still run it to this day. For some people, 119 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: all the news that's fit to print is the battle 120 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: cry for honest journalism. For others, it's a pretentious, vague platitude. 121 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: After all, what's the standard that measures whether news is 122 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: or isn't fit to print? But maybe having a standard 123 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: to judge by, even if it's not objective, is still 124 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: better than having none at all At off. Ooks certainly 125 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: thought that was the case, and judging by the longevity 126 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 1: of his paper and the slogan that defines it, lots 127 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: of other people think that too. But no matter what 128 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: you think of the motto or its truthfulness, there's no 129 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: denying that it's catchy and infinitely better than full of meat, 130 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: clean and meat. I still can't get over that one. 131 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 1: I'm Gabelusier and hopefully you now know a little more 132 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like 133 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: to keep up with the show, you can follow us 134 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d i HC Show. 135 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: You can also rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, 136 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: or you can write to us directly at this day 137 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,839 Speaker 1: at i heart media dot com. Thanks as always to 138 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and a special thanks 139 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: to Joey pat our guest editor for this episode, and 140 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: of course thank you for listening. I'll see you back 141 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:48,959 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another day in History class. For 142 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 143 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or where ever you listen to your favorite shows.