Note 8—page 54.
The American newspapers are very numerous, but in consequence of their great number their circulation is comparatively small. There are few daily papers, whose circulation exceeds 2,000, and not one, which exceeds 4,000; that of most of the newspapers is not more than 400 or 500. The American newspapers have little resemblance to the French and English. They are chiefly mere advertising sheets; they do not direct public opinion, they follow it. This local character does not allow of their having much influence out of their particular district. In New York, only the city newspapers are read; in New Orleans, those of New Orleans are the only ones generally seen; whilst in France those of Paris, and in England those of London are read every where. The Globe and the National Intelligencer of Washington are, however, pretty generally circulated. Newspapers in the United States are not powers, they are mere instruments of publicity within the reach of all. They are consulted for the news, not for opinions. The profession of a writer does not stand so high in England as in France, and is less honourable in the United States, than in England. With the exception of a very few newspapers, at the head of which are the New York American edited by Charles King, and the Philadelphia National Gazette, edited by Robert Walsh, the American press occupies a low rank in the social scale.
Notwithstanding their large size, the American newspapers are low-priced; the cause is plain enough; the profits are derived chiefly from advertisements, and the expenses of editing are inconsiderable, as there is generally but one editor. There is no stamp duty; but the postage on them is higher than in France.[EH] The circulation of some of the French newspapers exceeds 10,000; and some cheap publications have lately had a circulation of 90,000 or 100,000.