From left to right: William Randolph Hearst, Robert G. Vignola and Brisbane in New York, during the filming of Vignola's The World and His Wife (1920)
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(The articles in this book were published originally in th...)
The articles in this book were published originally in the editorial columns of the various Hearst newspapers throughout the country. These articles may have some interest for the student of modern happenings, because of the fact that the newspapers publishing them have an aggregate daily circulation of two millions of copies, and are read each day by no fewer than five millions of men and women.
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https://www.amazon.com/Book-Today-Arthur-Brisbane/dp/1140007343/?tag=2022091-20
Arthur Brisbane was born on December 12, 1864, in Buffalo, New York to Albert Brisbane, an American utopian socialist who is remembered as the chief popularizer of the theories of Charles Fourier in the United States, and Sarah (White) Brisbane.
Brisbane’s family was well-to-do, and he had the advantages of a private education in the United States and in Europe. He never attended university.
Arthur went straight into publishing in 1882, at the age of eighteen, as a writer for the Sun, then edited by Charles A. Dana. He threw himself into his job, but within a few years he left for a stay in Europe to recuperate from overwork. Instead of the rest cure this trip was intended to provide, it became a new means to practice his profession.
On his return to the United States in 1923, Brisbane took up an editorial post at the newly founded Evening Sun, which had a primarily literary focus. For seven years, Brisbane oversaw the growth of the Sun, helping to earn for it the distinction of having the highest circulation of any of the New York papers. Brisbane’s success at the Sun caught the attention of other major New York publishers, notably Joseph Pulitzer, who set out to acquire Brisbane’s talents for the Sunday World, a new paper he was planning to publish in 1890. Brisbane came to the paper as managing editor, and within a few short weeks, he made the World a force to be reckoned with in New York’s competitive newspaper arena.
By the mid-1890s, Brisbane had earned an impressive reputation in publishing circles, an asset that was not lost on the World’s competitors, particularly William Randolph Hearst. When a policy dispute arose between Brisbane and Pulitzer over a column Brisbane initiated (Pulitzer wanted no editorial opinions other than his own reflected in the World’s pages), it was only a matter of time before Brisbane would look for a berth at a more obliging paper. This he found at Hearst’s Evening Journal, which in 1897 was lagging behind in the great circulation wars among the major New York newspaper publishing houses. Hearst snapped Brisbane up at a generous salary that included bonuses based on increases in circulation, and offered him a forum for his editorials. Thus began Brisbane’s phenomenally successful, twenty-four-year stint as editor for the Journal.
During his tenure on the paper, he brought its circulation over the one million mark, in part because of the popularity of his writing, but also because of his masterful handling of planning coverage and his effectiveness at composing powerful, attention-grabbing headlines, particularly during the Spanish-American War. However, Brisbane’s duties were not restricted to the Journal. In 1900 he was instrumental in establishing Hearst’s Chicago paper, the American. But this was only a temporary departure from the Journal offices. Within a year he was back on his accustomed beat in New York. And he wrote for other journals as well, publishing articles, essays, and interviews for Cosmopolitan (another Hearst publication), which was then a journal of news and commentary. Many of his Cosmopolitan contributions dealt with the important figures of industry, from the meat-packing giants, the Armour family, to his own employer (published in 1902 and 1906), and his former boss Pulitzer.
By 1916, Brisbane himself had become news. A feature in Everybody's magazine that covered the careers of seven important writers of the day included the following passage, as quoted by Staudacher: “It is not improbable that something like four million sturdy middle class Americans, including hundreds of writers, believe that Arthur Brisbane is the champion editorial writer of the world.” Within a year from the appearance of this article, Brisbane embarked on the editorializing venture that assured his position as America’s pre-eminent editor - the first installment of his “Today” column appeared in the Hearst stable of newspapers and quickly spread through syndication. He followed up the success of “Today” with “This Week,” a rewrite of the daily column for distribution to the weeklies.
Right around this time, Brisbane also began a new career as newspaper owner. He acquired the Washington Times in 1917, a move that touched off some controversy, with some suggesting that Brisbane's backers (among them the owner of a brewery) might have undue influence on the paper’s coverage of the news. One such flap arose over allegations that Brisbane showed favoritism by running advertisements and editorials that denounced whiskey but supported the sale of beer. A more serious allegation was that Brisbane, through his paper, supported the German cause in World War I. As with the controversy over alcoholic beverages, this charge was based on suspicions that Brisbane’s brewer-backer, who bore the Germanic surname of Feigenspan, was demanding control over editorial content as the payback for financial support to the paper.
Controversy notwithstanding, Brisbane soon added to his budding newspaper empire, purchasing the Evening Wisconsin and the Daily News, both in Milwaukee, in 1918. But these forays into the life of newspaper owner may have merely been a cover for Hearst’s own expansionist plans - within a year the two papers, which Brisbane combined to form the Wisconsin News, fell under Hearst’s ownership. In 1919 Hearst also took over the Washington Times. Outside of the newspaper publishing industry, Brisbane also went into real estate. He, together with Hearst, bought the Ziegfeld Theatre and several Manhattan hotels.
Throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, Brisbane continued in his position of managing editor of Hearst’s flagship paper, the Journal, but in 1934 he took over the editorship of the New York Mirror, Hearst’s daily tabloid, as well. Here he enjoyed less than his usual high level of success - he left the staff after less than two years. Shortly thereafter, on December 25, 1936, he died of a heart attack, stricken while at home and in bed. He left an estate with an estimated value between twenty-five and thirty million dollars.
Arthur Brisbane was one of the most influential journalists in the United States. He wrote for and edited Joseph Pulitzer’s World and later William Randolph Hearst’s Journal, ultimately achieving broad national syndication (in approximately two hundred dailies and twelve hundred weeklies). His “Today” column, begun in 1917 and continued up to the time of his death, ultimately reached some thirty million readers, and Brisbane himself eventually became the highest-paid journalist of his era, with an annual salary of $260,000 in his later years.
(The articles in this book were published originally in th...)
Quotes from others about the person
At his death, Hearst said, "I know that Arthur Brisbane was the greatest journalist of his day, " and Damon Runyon said "Journalism has lost its all-time No. 1 genius. "
Brisbane married Phoebe Cary in 1912, with whom he had six children.
