When you think about great publishers of newspapers, you often think of men, however there are a few women which rise to the occasion and dominate. One such lady was Cissy Patterson who life was written about by Amanda Smith in the book Newspaper Titan – The Infamous Life and Monumental Times of Cissy Patterson published by Alfred Knopf, NY, 2011. In the book half of Cissy’s life it read as one of the ladies who was born to marry and have sons to continue the family business. The family business was newspapers and her grandfather had founded the Chicago Tribune which was the most widely read newspaper in the Midwest. Her grandfather was Joseph Medill who linked the paper to the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln. His daughter married Robert Patterson who became the editor and part owner of the newspaper group.

If you read the New York Daily News this is part of Tribune group because the son and brother of Cissy founded the paper in 1919 as a paper similar to the ones he saw in the London, UK when he was in WW 1. The paper repaid its debt in 1920 and circulation rose to over 2.2 million by 1946. In the print business, if someone sees somebody doing well they launch a competitor for example Liberty was the competitor to Colliers and the Saturday Evening Post although losing money will soon lead to closures.

In the book, Cissy became the editor of Washington papers –  and help propel them to the number one in paid circulation. This was at a time when Cissy was the only women publisher of a major newspaper in the US. Part of the role of the publisher is to balance the interests of those who are the largest advertisers which tend to mean the wealthier people in the area and the desire to print what people enjoy reading – something about their lives. In the case of Cissy her wealth put her in the 1% as such much of her life in Washington revolves around the White House and Congress.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in the days before the wide spread of the internet, to own a newspaper was to influence public opinion and to gain access to those in power. It maybe the same today, but the easy relationships to large advertisers have changed, which is why the newspaper business is a tough business indeed, although there is healthy role for newspapers.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.