In the Sunday edition, fiction section, we print at least one patriotic story. The pictorial supplement contains war photographs and portraits of military leaders.
The woman’s department is devoted largely to war service. One section is given to the work of the Red Cross and especially to its needs. We give scientific and practical information about food and preach economy and conservation in cooking and urge coöperation with the Food Administrator.
We advocate the making of war gardens and give explicit directions.
We have a Camp Stories contest in which we encourage soldiers to send short stories of camp life.
We print one page of signed editorials on the war. The idea of the page is to give articles such as may be found in magazines of the caliber of the _Atlantic Monthly_, the _Yale Review_, the _North American Review_ and the _New Republic_.
On the club page we have one article and picture from the Woman’s Committee of the State Council of National Defense.
Under the heading “Woman in War Time” we report the activities of the various patriotic women’s organizations.
A three or four thousand word letter of society gossip has been a feature for many years. I find in the last one fifteen hundred words devoted to the work of the Woman’s Committee on the Liberty Loan campaign, one hundred words on war talk at one of the clubs, five hundred on the entertainment of soldiers and sailors, five hundred words to the Woman’s Land Army, three hundred words on the work of women in munitions factories, five hundred to appeals for war donations from New York committees, and three hundred words on a sale of Easter cards for the benefit of the wounded. This one article, indexed as “Society Letter” is one hundred per cent war propaganda. The only feature section not contributing to war material is the comic section.
What has been true of the Chicago _Tribune_ was true also of nearly all the important newspapers of the United States. Nothing was permitted to come before the most insignificant bit of war information. The newspapers made all news subordinate to war news. Day after day no other intelligence than war news appeared on the first page of our metropolitan sheets. With glowing patriotism they surrendered column after column to appeals for help for Belgium and for scores of other charities growing out of the war, and not in all the long years did they cease to print appeals. Through the coöperation of the newspapers millions on millions were raised before we entered the war. Then began renewed efforts to help the Red Cross, the Young Men’s Christian Association, the Knights of Columbus and kindred organizations. And in still greater patriotic endeavor the press of America urged support of the Liberty Loans and the thrift stamp movements.