The Paper's Papers

The thirty-nine-year-old publisher of the Chattanooga Times who came to New York in 1896 was anything but stuffy. He was an unusual combination: a fair and highly principled man who was also a risk-taker with a rare talent for business dealing. Ochs drew the respect of the owners, but they were reluctant to give control of The Times to the young rustic from Tennessee. But his powers of persuasion, and his ability to win support from influential persons, eventually swayed the New Yorkers. On August 19, the famous declaration of principles appeared on the editorial page. Ochs, still at the Madison Avenue Hotel, labored over it, using the hotel stationery, rewriting it by hand in at least three versions until he was satisfied that it said what he wanted it to say. It was a statement that promised to cover everything "in language that is parliamentary in good society", to get the news out fast and to present it "impartially, without fear or favor".