VOL XIX. NO. 12
AUGUST 18, 1951
Publication date. Saturday.
Subscription, $5.00 per year.
Carl Gocrch. Publisher.
Lawyers Bldg., Raleigh, N. C
WEEKLY SURVEY
OF NORTH CAROLINA
Entered as second-class matter June I, 1933, at the Postoffice at Raleigh. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3, 1879
The First North Carolina Daily
It seems to be generally agreed flint I lie*
paper Hits I lie "Wilmington Daily Journal.**
puhlisluMl by Alfred Lanier Price, and that
its first issne came out on September 8.
1851.
If the published claim in the Wil¬
mington Daily Journal . of September
8. 1851, just about a century ago. is
to be accepted in good faith, and it is
generally so recognized and accepted,
then it can be stated as a fact which
should interest everyone, that that pa¬
per was the first established and con¬
tinuously - operated daily paper in
North Carolina.
Mr. Alfred Lanier Price, a promi¬
nent. talented and enterprising news¬
paperman of his day and generation
was the founder of the first daily in
this State. He was the editor and pub¬
lisher.
It is a pleasing coincidence that the
North Carolina Press Association with
its August scheduled annual conven¬
tion at Wrightsville Beach and Wil¬
mington. will gather in the city where
the original unit of the present power¬
ful daily press first saw the light of its
initial business day. one hundred years
since.
The problems and vicissitudes of
publication in the strenuous days of
1951 arc recognized and appreciated,
especially by the gentlemen of the
daily and weekly press, who constant¬
ly must struggle with such difficulties
in these days as inflation and increased
costs. For that reason a glance back¬
ward may be of interest not only to
State and Southern publishers and pro¬
fessional newspaper workers, but to
the general public as well.
Started as a Weekly
Prior to September of 1851 The Wil¬
mington Journal was issued on a week¬
ly basis. Mr. Price was a cultured and
brilliant writer, as well as a business-
«I /
lolis t. woo it i:
man of ability and fine repute. There-*
fore, full credence can be given his
general statements and claims as the
originator of North Carolina’s daily pa¬
pers.
It appears there was a temporary
issuance of The Raleigh Register dur¬
ing the Legislative sessions of the win¬
ter of 1850 and spring of 1851. All
facts seem to confirm the statement
that when the Legislature adjourned,
publication of The Register on a daily
basis was immediately suspended.
There is a clear and indisputable ref¬
erence to this point in Mr. Price's
editorial announcement in The Wil¬
mington Journal, at the time he con¬
verted his weekly paper into a daily.
September 8, 1851 The Wilming¬
ton Daily Journal made its initial
appearance, with an editorial an¬
nouncement as follows:
"This day we present to the public
the first number of the first daily news¬
paper ever published in Wilmington,
and the first EVER ATTEMPTED IN
THIS STATE, if we except the daily
re-publication of the proceedings is¬
sued from the office of The Raleigh
Register during the last session of our
State Legislature and discontinued upon
the adjournment of that body, of
whose proceedings it was simply an
abstract. The Journal then can fully
claim the credit of being the pioneer of
the daily press in North Carolina, and
must expect to encounter the obstacles
and contend with the difficulties inci¬
dent to that position.
"The enterprising spirit of the peo¬
ple of Wilmington is proverbial. The
same spirit is diffusing itself over the
State and a new era is about to begin in
North Carolina. Our undertaking is in
accord with this spirit. We look with
confidence to State pride and enlight¬
enment. and self interest of our citizens
to extend to us that support and en¬
couragement in the work in which we
may be heavy losers."
First Telegraph Service
Nine years after its establishment
and operation on a daily basis. The
Daily Journal carried the following
interesting editorial reference, which
establishes also that it was the first
purveyor of telegraph news in North
Carolina.
"The oldest of the daily newspapers
in the State. The Journal can mark
with pleasure the prosperity of many
others which have since been started.
The pioneers of telegraph news also!
we are pleased to see that a more
general spirit of enterprise has taken
possession of the press and the State."
Again, and this will be the final
extract from the editorial father ol
daily newspapers in Noith Carolina,
the enterprising and provident spirit
which actuated the publisher. Mr.
Price, is evidenced by the following:
"We have erected on Princess street
between Front and Second streets,
a building especially designed, and
equipped for our own business and
certainly inferior to none in the South¬
ern States."
A well-known historical authority
connected with an important State dc-
( Continued on page 23)
THE STATE. August IB. 1951
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