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the Human Sciences

Preliminary report on a proposed survey for a sociology of the press

Max Weber
History of the Human Sciences 1998 11: 111
DOI: 10.1177/095269519801100207
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HISTORY OF THE

HUMAN SCIENCES Vol.

@ 1998 SAGE Publications

(London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi)

11 No. 2
111-

[0952-6951(199805)11:2;111-120; 004773]

Preliminary report on a
proposed survey for a
sociology of the press
MAX WEBER

The following plan is a provisional outline of the issues to be dealt with by

the proposed press survey, whose details might later be subject to alteration.
The general arrangement of the survey outlined here is of course not binding
upon the executive commission responsible for planning and organizing the
survey - this commission has not yet been formed. This plan seeks only to
highlight as many as possible of those points to which the survey must direct
itself in one way or another.
A survey of the Press must in the last analysis be directed towards the great
cultural problems of the present:
I The mode of constitution of the psychic means of suggestion through
which modern society continually strives to assimilate and adapt individuals - the Press as one of the means of moulding the subjective individuality of modern man.
II The conditions created by public opinion, whose most important determinant today is the newspaper, for the development, maintenance, undermining and reforming of artistic, scientific, ethical, religious, political,
social and economic cultural components: the Press as a component of the
objective individuality of modern culture.
The ultimate aims of the investigation cannot therefore form its immediobjective. We have instead to begin from the fact that all cultural activity
on the part of the press today is bound up with the conditions governing the
existence of private enterprises, and must so remain; I believe that it is the
ate

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newspaper business which has

to be at the centre of investigation, its necessarily given conditions of existence and their consequences for the formation

and commercial prospects of the entire range of modern newspapers, whose

competitive activity can be observed on a daily basis. One thing is certain: the
newspaper business will not in general be inclined to permit investigation of
individual relationships to this competitive process, or provide exact statistical information on the composition of costs and revenue. (One large
concern has assured me that it will in all likelihood be possible to provide
certain relative figures, and these could quite safely also be made available by
the newspapers if the required assurances are given regarding discretion in
their use. Besides examining the accounts of newspaper publishers it will also
be necessary to gain the co-operation of persons experienced in the newspaper business.) We cannot aim at collecting precise data, but we can hope to
gather approximate figures, which are all we need so long as the most important feature of these data can be ascertained: the common relationships among
these figures and their relationship to corresponding foreign data.
First of all some preliminary questions will need to be answered, which
concern [(A) the newspaper business and (B) the general character of a news-

paper].
(A) The newspaper business
I

II

Newspaper owners, developments over the last few decades for a number
of large newspapers and for a few typical regions. Source: Commercial
Directory. - Influence of the owners, large shareholders, donors on the

tendency of the newspaper and the limits to same. For example,

specially created guarantees securing the tendency of the newspaper
with respect to their own interest. The purchase of other newspaper titles
for the purpose of altering their tendency and the reception of such
events on the part of the readership.
The amount of capital required and the turnover of capital in the newspaper business according to size and other criteria. Comparison with
foreign cases: is this the basis for the difference between the multiple
editions common in Germany and the single daily editions found
abroad? (Such differences exist and are of very considerable importance.)
It would be very useful if it were possible to examine the books of a
large newspaper which had gone out of business. Whether Cotta or
B3rklin might place at our disposal the books of the Allgemeine Zeitung,
or let us have at least the most important data?
Approximate current production costs of newspapers. Relative figures
would probably be available for a large newspaper, for the remaining principal types of newspaper we would have no choice but to rely upon financial reconstructions and estimates provided by experts well versed in the
-

III

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business. Here in any case it is not the accuracy of individual numbers that
matters, but rather the comparison of the relative significance of the individual items today with respect to earlier prevailing magnitudes, at home
and abroad, between the differing types of newspaper: the most important
thing is to place the greatest emphasis upon the changes that occur, the
developmental tendencies. The following have to be taken into account:

(a) Paper, printing, distribution, other material costs. In connection with

these: the organization of newspaper delivery and distribution agency in
comparison with postal charges; degree of importance of public sales
through individual sellers and kiosks compared with those through subscription, at home and abroad.
(b) Need for editors and their costs. Comparison with abroad, differentiated

according to type of newspaper. Mode of remuneration to correspondents, other costs associated with the compilation of material for the
critical section of the paper. Level of fees payable to occasional
contributors - as far as possible with temporal and geographical comparisons.
(c) The cost of domestic news services in comparison with those abroad.
IV The gathering of material
1 From external sources, above all:

services, the position of the large telegraphic agencies. Commercial analysis of Associated Press, Havas, Reuters, Wolff (a study of this
last firm, directed by Prof. Gothein, will shortly appear). Comparison of
these firms one with another according to their commercial principles,
and also according to their relative importance within the news agency
business and its development. Reuters and Associated Press would be
especially important, the latter the sole agency still owned by existing
(American) newspapers, which therefore is a powerful instrument of
monopoly on the part of these newspapers. It would be necessary to
investigate the commercial principles according to which newspapers
subscribe to these agencies, or the (approximate) conditions governing
the subscriptions, the news classifications used for this purpose (e.g. as
important or sensational), and the changes in these categories. Finally:
the tendency towards cartelization.
(b) Analyse and investigate the commercial aspects of those agencies producing feature sections and supplements. Do the same with all other
routine products for the press, especially:
(c) reports connected with political parties and other political institutions;
once more initially their commercial basis, according to costs, mode of
supply of material, style of management and political influence. Further,

(a)

News

especially:

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(d)

access to

administrative and official material, the levels at which and

they become available, comparison of the same with

forms in which

(e)

abroad.
And finally, to be treated separately: origin, costs, character of commercial news. The comparison with abroad - Paris not less than America and
London - would naturally also determine the degree of independence
from business influence, and it would be interesting to emphasize by
what path and for what reasons the present improved degree of press
integrity (where it in fact exists) has been attained, as against that of the

past.
The influence exercised by commercial conditions on the material content of
the newspaper can be grouped into the following
on from the preceding points:
2 Internal services and the distribution

set

of problems,

following

of material

(a) The former and the present role of the leading article, comparison with
abroad (America, England, France), developmental tendencies and their

Types of news broadsheet in contrast to critical publications, the

rise of the first by style and degree.
Multiple daily editions of the great newspapers. Commercial reason for
the difference with the practice of publishing a single edition abroad. The
cause.

(b)

influence of this difference on costs and other commercial conditions of

newspapers. The form in which material is distributed among the several
daily editions. Separate postal and town editions. Reasons for the advance
of evening papers here in Germany, condition abroad in this regard.
(c) Americanism in the press, in respect of layout, arrangement, the relative importance of individual sections and the organization of headlines.
Influence on the character of the newspaper and the way in which the
newspaper is read. Exact analysis of the commercial characteristics of
American newspapers by contrast with that of ours, penetration of these
characteristics here, reason for this (or why not)?
The
(d)
way in which material is distributed among the staff. Means for the
preservation of editorial unity in the newspaper (centralization - its form
and degree - or the collegial system, editorial conferences, etc.), the influence of this upon, and connection to, the anonymity of articles. Relation
of editorial and journalistic work and recent variations in this relationship. The need for attractive names among the workers on a newspaper
and the limits to this determined by the interests of the newspaper.
3 Small ads

service,

means

of attracting them

Reasons for the origin and style of advertising. Analysis of the legal and commercial situation of the large agencies specializing in small ads. Emergence,

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risk and effects of

credit. Possibilities for the measurement of

of
advertising impact. (Amount knowledge on the part of the newspaper of
its readership: effect of postal secrecy.) Psychological limits to the effect of
small advertisements and other forms of promotion on the one hand, of commercial advertising on the other, in the latter case according to variety of purposes. Development of newspapers specializing in small ads, or the
publication of a small ad edition alongside a political edition. Analysis of the
general and local gazette according to technical and economic conditions
(espec. also variation in the composition of those contributing announcements and advertisements). Degree to which these are on the increase. Comparisons of the nature of small advertisements at home and abroad (for
example, differences related to the degree in which the publication appears in
a single edition, which alters the nature of advertisement
quite significantly).
Conflicts of interest and the balance of interest between newspapers and
advertising businesses. (Leased or wholly-owned advertising newspapers and
their position. The creation of advertising marts.) The importance of the
material dependence of newspapers upon advertising revenue in the determination of newspaper prices and their general character. (Alleged and genuine
risk for the integrity of the newspaper on the one hand; and on the other:
facilitation of better-quality news services and other substantive aspects of
the newspaper.) The relation of advertisement and the actual text of the paper
(paid text, covert advertising, forms of the same). Attempts on the part of
advertisers (major advertisers or, occasionally, commercial associations) to
influence the editorial part of the newspaper, to gain influence over artistic or
other forms of criticism, or to exclude the advertisements of competitors.

advertising

Newspaper revenue Trends in the development of the print run and the
of advertising space (page limits and the charge for advertising space
in comparison with foreign practices, which are sometimes very different).
Commercial limits of advertising from the viewpoint of the advertiser and
likely tendencies for its replacement by other advertising media (notices,
loose supplements, billboards, their relation to each other, as well as
announcements in newspapers and specialized magazines, more recently:
advertising newspapers, the mass production of handwritten advertising
letters, etc.). Taking runs from different years for typical large and a variety
of small newspapers, calculation of (1) the space available in each, (2) the
nature of the needs which the small ad serves, so that developmental tenden-

extent

cies can be established and at the same time an assessment made of the relative profitability of the individual categories making up announcements in
the newspaper. For special consideration here are: banking notices, simple
business and sales adverts, small ads for jobs, accommodation for rent, and
marriages. Differences in number of advertisers in each category according
to general business conditions. Differences in the stability of profits from, for

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example, small ads compared with full-page adverts. Changes in the significance of individual advertising categories for the newspapers and the gains
for the advertisers. Relation of the newspaper publisher with others, especially jobbing printers, producers of address books, etc.
Competition and monopoly in the press sector Combined newspaper
ownership. Purchase of newspaper by other newspapers, with or without
merging of titles, sharing of production facilities between newspapers and
related forms and means of competition. De facto monopoly position of
established newspapers: greatest in America (because of Associated Press).
Degree and form of suppression of competition through monopoly in
Germany. Accumulation of capital. The formation of newspaper cartels in
England, America and Germany (concerns in the north or in the south, their
development and their impact). To be examined in detail: the activity of the
Association of German Newspaper Publishers (the struggle to establish fixed
advertising tariffs and for agreed discount rates, against covert advertising,
the creation of paper purchasing offices, the attempt to arrive at standardized
editorial contracts, the struggle for the purification of newspaper contents,
etc.) in the elaboration of its goals and the stability of its organization.
Diminished importance of monopolistic position where retail trade prevails?
To what degree does the prevalence of retail trade mean: more frequent
changes in the papers read by the public, better opportunities for newly
founded papers and for papers which are improving their quality? The competition of newspaper types and the outcome. What is the extent of purely
commercial factors, as compared with political or other factors? Which types
prevail? Internal tendency towards regional monopolization of political
information on the part of large newspapers. To what extent do those newspapers published in large cities, especially in the major cities, dominate the
VI

country
VII

as a

whole?

Newspapers and journalism The qualitative demands made

modern

upon

and selection through the conditions and

of
the
business.
Social background, previous education,
practices
newspaper
means of recruitment, conditions of appointment and payment, the career
of journalists (if possible by questionnaire), the specific character and
development of the socio-economic position of journalists, changes from and
to other kinds of occupation, the nature of the journalists life chances (that
prevailing today compared with earlier, domestically compared with that
abroad) both within and outside his occupation. Conflicts of interest and
their settlement between the newspaper business and journalism. The
organizational development of professional bodies, the nature and evolution
of their responsibilities (in finding employment for their members, the

journalists, adaptation

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establishment of pension and related funds, the tribunals of the Association

of German Editors, which regulate professional conduct and settle disputes).
The degree to which individual journalists are able to influence changes in
the spirit of a newspaper.
VIII Other

employees of the newspaper Moves to form professional

organizations and the chances for the same.
Substantive commercial, formal and quantitative discussions of the newspaper business should wherever possible be made in a strictly calculable form
(through cutting newspapers up, sorting the elements by content and measuring with dividers), in this way providing a foundation for the investigation of
qualitative aspects of newspaper development, the various problems related
to which can be grouped as follows.
(B) The general cbaracterl of a newspaper
I The production of a newspapers character and tendency Collectivism
and individualism in the creation of a newspapers contents. Newspaper anonymity : its bases: commercial (e.g. contrast between subscription press and
retail press), political (e.g. greater or lesser resilience of party organizations
as a condition for press anonymity), social (e.g. efforts to preserve the tradition and prestige of a newspaper as such, maintenance of the power relation
between newspaper capital and journalism), and cultural (e.g. greater or lesser
authority of the printed word, especially that printed anonymously and
appearing as a collective product, for a public, assessed with respect to its
varying levels of political awareness). Its effects: on journalists - on the educational advancement or retardation of public opinion - on the political and
cultural importance of the newspaper as such.
II External influences
1

on the character of a newspaper

The degree to which a formally independent newspaper is bound to its
tradition. Comparisons with abroad. The media of such constraints:
through owner or shareholders (compare also through that of the purchasers, through semi-official or similar influences). Increase or decrease
of dependence, internationally compared. The rise of the more or less
purely news-based paper and of the real or supposedly non-partisan
newspapers, of the family newspaper and of the independent national

newspaper.

Special analysis of the trade sections with respect to the sources of information, of judgements and also comparison with abroad. Relation to interested parties as sources of information. Shifts in the style of large newspapers

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general or with respect to special questions. What means of contacting the

readership do newspapers have? What is the actual impact of the readerships
convictions and biases, and how does this happen?
2 Newspapers formally tied to a specific programme, whether in general or
in respect of particular issues.
in

(a) Catholic press. Manner of finance, management and control, level and
of the individual stance of individual papers. Background of
editors. De facto division of power between press, independent
Catholic organizations and the established Church authorities. Comparison with abroad (America, France, Austria).
(b) Social Democratic press. Special features of their conditions of existence, official and actual relations to party leadership, to local party
groups, to unions and other interested parties. Background and
careers of social democratic editors. Existing monopoly position and
division of power within the press, and between press, party, supporters and intellectuals.
(c) Newspapers representing the bourgeoisie.
nature

Relationship of the political parties to the formally free press. Actual division of powers between party and the press within the individual parties
(involvement of the press in party meetings, efforts on the part of the press
to maintain its independence while the party seeks to increase its control).
3

of public opinion by the press

Comparative analysis of the forms of newspaper reading abroad (e.g.
America, France) and at home, quantitatively and qualitatively (special
attention to be paid to a qualitative analysis of local newspapers abroad,
and in the south, east and west of Germany). Categorization of newspaper
reading itself through the arrangement of printing, the increase and type of
telegraphic reporting and the greater or lesser emphasis lent thereby to par-

III ?he production

1

ticular reports and other matter.

are the other media forms that the Press displaces? (Classical
example: Russia before and after the decree granting relative press freedom,
displacement of periodicals, transformation of the entire nature and tendency of reading material.) Urbanization of the countryside and small
towns through the influence of the press.
3 What kind of reading matter does the press encourage, and what changes
in forms of thought and expression does it promote? (Classical example to
start with: analysis of American magazines.) Extent and nature of linkage
between newspaper reading and that of other printed material.
4 Influence on colloquial speech by the press (real and supposed newspaper
German, conditioned by the use of telegram and telephone) and the
2 What

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extension of this influence to written and literary language (this can be

dealt with in a reliable manner only as a careful philological study). Influence on the need for discussion and knowledge brought about by the combined factual and emotional style of newspaper reporting and newspaper
criticism. Real and apparent broadening of intellectual horizon, enrichment and schematization of thought. (Here solely illustration with extensive quantities of concrete examples is of any value.)
What kind of person does the Press make famous or influential? Appeal
of newspaper fame for whom and for what? About whom and about what
is the newspaper silent; what kind of reasons, related to the character and
needs of the readership, are there for this?
The nature of the demands made on press contents according to gender,
occupation, social stratum both at home and abroad. Comparison of scientific and critical supplements with their corresponding specialist journals,
feature sections with belles-lettres. The newspaper as a letter box, the
culture that arises out of this.
The degree of discretion on the part of the press and the principles
governing newspapers in this regard, concerning which there exist some
very erroneous ideas (here an analysis of the gutter and revolver press,
compared internationally by quantity and quality).
Newspaper publicity and public morality, compared historically and

internationally.
Such questions can be easily multiplied and only in relation to these and
similar questions would the actual major cultural questions concerning the
significance of the press - with its ubiquitous, standardizing, matter-of-fact
and at the same time constantly emotionally-coloured influence on the state
of feelings and accustomed ways of thinking of modern man, on political,
literary and artistic activity, on the constitution and displacement of mass
judgements and mass beliefs - be open to debate.
It must once more be noted what the foregoing report should have made
plain: that before one begins with such questions, on which it is very easy to
write an entertaining Feuilleton, on which it is unbelievably difficult to
compose a scientific presentation - a broad foundation of experience and of
analyses has to be created. The initial work can begin with autobiographies
of the larger newspapers: Klnische, Allgemeine, Schlesische, Frankfurter
Zeitung, Scbwibiscber Merkur, Hamburger Nachrichten, etc. The substantive material, besides trade directories, will come from questionnaires on
specific questions, and besides newspaper archives (insofar as these become
accessible), working through newspapers with a pair of scissors will be of
benefit. In addition: trips abroad by specially selected individuals: America,
England, France. (Suitable contributors would here be those reasonably well
acquainted with the German newspaper business, and if possible also

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journalism, for whom a study grant towards the cost of an extended visit to
America for the purpose of orientation, or to work on a voluntary basis in
the local press, would be welcome.)
These, however, are all things that not only require a substantial amount
of money, but also considerable patience, on the part of the workers engaged,
the supervising association and its donors, as well as from a public anticipating results. It also goes without saying that the success of the work presupposes the benign and trustful cooperation of the newspaper publishers,
together with journalists and other interested parties in the newspaper business, whose representatives must be approached directly following the preliminary securing of material means to request that they accept cooption into
the commission and identify suitable individuals able to contribute to the
project. It is to be hoped that they have confidence in the enterprise, being
convinced - as one hopes - that this survey aims at nothing other than a purely
scientific determination of objective facts, and does not serve, even in the
broadest sense, the interests of political or moralizing needs. If the project
is then joined by respected scholars familiar with newspaper practice, and
whose lack of prejudice, expert knowledge and impartiality is widely
accepted, then we can anticipate every success.
Translated by Keith Tribe
NOTE
1

Zeitungsgesinnung in the original [trans.].

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