Mr.Beecher's weekly newspaper "syndicate" letter was not only successful in itself, it made liberal money for the writer and for its two young publishers, but it served to introduce Edward Bok's proposed agency to the newspapers under the most favorable conditions.With one stroke, the attention of newspaper editors had been attracted, and Edward concluded to take quick advantage of it.He organized the Bok Syndicate Press, with offices in New York, and his brother, William J.
Bok, as partner and active manager.Edward's days were occupied, of course, with his duties in the Holt publishing house, where he was acquiring a first-hand knowledge of the business.
Edward's attention was now turned, for the first time, to women and their reading habits.He became interested in the fact that the American woman was not a newspaper reader.He tried to find out the psychology of this, and finally reached the conclusion, on looking over the newspapers, that the absence of any distinctive material for women was a factor.He talked the matter over with several prominent New York editors, who frankly acknowledged that they would like nothing better than to interest women, and make them readers of their papers.But they were equally frank in confessing that they were ignorant both of what women wanted, and, even if they knew, of where such material was to be had.Edward at once saw that here was an open field.It was a productive field, since, as woman was the purchasing power, it would benefit the newspaper enormously in its advertising if it could offer a feminine clientele.
There was a bright letter of New York gossip published in the New York Star, called "Bab's Babble." Edward had read it, and saw the possibility of syndicating this item as a woman's letter from New York.He instinctively realized that women all over the country would read it.He sought out the author, made arrangements with her and with former Governor Dorscheimer, owner of the paper, and the letter was sent out to a group of papers.It was an instantaneous success, and a syndicate of ninety newspapers was quickly organized.
Edward followed this up by engaging Ella Wheeler Wilcox, then at the height of her career, to write a weekly letter on women's topics.This he syndicated in conjunction with the other letter, and the editors invariably grouped the two letters.This, in turn, naturally led to the idea of supplying an entire page of matter of interest to women.The plan was proposed to a number of editors, who at once saw the possibilities in it and promised support.The young syndicator now laid under contribution all the famous women writers of the day; he chose the best of the men writers to write on women's topics; and it was not long before the syndicate was supplying a page of women's material.The newspapers played up the innovation, and thus was introduced into the newspaper press of the United States the "Woman's Page."The material supplied by the Bok Syndicate Press was of the best; the standard was kept high; the writers were selected from among the most popular authors of the day; and readability was the cardinal note.The women bought the newspapers containing the new page, the advertiser began to feel the presence of the new reader, and every newspaper that could not get the rights for the "Bok Page," as it came to be known, started a "Woman's Page" of it own.Naturally, the material so obtained was of an inferior character.No single newspaper could afford what the syndicate, with the expense divided among a hundred newspapers, could pay.Nor had the editors of these woman's pages either a standard or a policy.In desperation they engaged any person they could to "get a lot of woman's stuff." It was stuff, and of the trashiest kind.So that almost coincident with the birth of the idea began its abuse and disintegration; the result we see in the meaningless presentations which pass for "woman's pages" in the newspaper of to-day.
This is true even of the woman's material in the leading newspapers, and the reason is not difficult to find.The average editor has, as a rule, no time to study the changing conditions of women's interests; his time is and must be engrossed by the news and editorial pages.He usually delegates the Sunday "specials" to some editor who, again, has little time to study the ever-changing women's problems, particularly in these days, and he relies upon unintelligent advice, or he places his "woman's page" in the hands of some woman with the comfortable assurance that, being a woman, she ought to know what interests her sex.
But having given the subject little thought, he attaches minor importance to the woman's "stuff," regarding it rather in the light of something that he "must carry to catch the women"; and forthwith he either forgets it or refuses to give the editor of his woman's page even a reasonable allowance to spend on her material.The result is, of course, inevitable: pages of worthless material.There is, in fact, no part of the Sunday newspaper of to-day upon which so much good and now expensive white paper is wasted as upon the pages marked for the home, for women, and for children.
Edward Bok now became convinced, from his book-publishing association, that if the American women were not reading the newspapers, the American public, as a whole, was not reading the number of books that it should, considering the intelligence and wealth of the people, and the cheap prices at which books were sold.He concluded to see whether he could not induce the newspapers to give larger and more prominent space to the news of the book world.
