Radio vs Newspapers
Hu itoi.AMi min i
Norih
Carolina
Governors X
SETH SOTIIEL
1678;
1682-168!»
To prevent recurrence of such an
event as the Culpeper Rebellion, the
Lords Proprietors appointed Seth Sothcl
governor of Albemarle, hoping he
would put an end to the conflict in the
colony. As later events demonstrated,
they could hardly have made a poorer
selection.
Prior to his appointment Sothcl had
spent some fifteen years in enterprises
connected with the Province of Caro¬
lina and had purchased Clarendon's
share in the colony. A system of rank
and titles, as well as large grants of
property, had been set up. Each Pro¬
prietor was given rights to a "scignory."
or estate, of 12.000 acres. Sothcl re¬
ceived such a grant on the condition
that within five years he would estab¬
lish a town of at least thirty houses
and sixscore inhabitants. Ilis warrant
was for the third and last of the scig-
nories in Carolina, consisting of 1 2.000
acres on the Edisto in Colleton County,
but Sothel probably never acquired
title or occupied the land.
Sothel received his first appointment
as governor in 1678 hut on his way
over was captured by pirates and car¬
ried to Algiers where he remained for
a year. Again commissioned, he even¬
tually reached Albemarle in 1683. At
that time John Archdale, a Lord Pro¬
prietor. was governor of the Province
of Carolina and Sothel's immediate su¬
perior. As long as Archdale remained
in the colony, Sothel’s behavior was
above reproach but on Archdale's de¬
parture for England he began to dis¬
play tyrannical traits. He expressed his
contempt for the Assembly, imprisoned
citizens illegally, took away estates,
disregarded instructions from the Lords
Proprietors, accepted bribes, antago¬
nized local leaders — in all acquiring a
reputation as the enemy of popular
liberties. In 1688. reaching the end of
their endurance, the colonists rid them¬
selves of Sothel. The following year he
was tried by the General Assembly.
Trial by the Assembly, rather than by
the Lords Proprietors, was at his own
request. Convicted of oppression, tyr-
Southern Bell Company’s newly-
issued telephone directory of North
Carolina news media reveals some in¬
teresting facts on the distribution of
newspapers versus radio and television.
The useful pocket-size guidebook
shows there are almost twice as many
towns and cities with newspapers
( 171 ) as with radio stations (87). But
the growing number of radio stations
have come to outnumber the non-daily
newspapers, though the "weekly” pa¬
pers are published in more towns.
Altogether there are 186 newspa¬
pers in the state — 47 dailies and
I
ЗУ
weeklies — meaning non-dailies.
The directory carries 143 radio sta¬
tions — AM and FM, but not includ¬
ing TV outlets.
The competition is much fiercer on
the air waves than in the printed word.
There are no cities and towns with
more than two dailies or non-dailies
apiece, although many papers of
anny, extortion, and bribery, he was
declared permanently incapable of
holding the office of governor in Albe¬
marle. Exile for twelve months was a
part of the sentence and Sothel went
to Charleston where he later became
governor. His conduct in that office
was apparently no better than it had
been in Albemarle and, expelled again,
he eventually returned to the northern
colony, where he died in 1694.
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tubtcriplion.
course have wide overlapping areas of
circulation and advertising competi¬
tion.
In fact, nowhere in North Carolina
is there daily newspaper competition
in the same town. That went out of
existence when the Charlotte Observer
bought the News two years ago.
But there’s yet thick competition lo¬
cally between broadcasters. Charlotte
has the greatest number of radio sta¬
tions — eight. And there arc seven
smaller cities with as many as
four stations each — Durham, Ashe¬
ville. Goldsboro. Greensboro, Raleigh,
Rocky Mount, and Winston-Salem.
Two places even have radio sta¬
tions but no newspapers — Beaufort
and Mayodun. Of course there are
several dozen towns with vicc-thc-
versa — newspapers but no radio sta¬
tions.
As a matter of record for the other
media, there are 1 1 TV stations in nine
cities. Asheville and Charlotte each
have two, and the other seven
are in Durham. Greenville. Wilming¬
ton. Washington. Raleigh. Greensboro,
and Winston-Salem.
Back in the realm of the daily news¬
paper. there arc only eight morning
dailies left in North Carolina. They’re
in Asheville. Charlotte, Thomasvillc.
Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Raleigh,
Durham, and Wilmington. And the
publisher of every one of these papers,
except for Thomasvillc. also prints a
companion afternoon journal on the
same press.
As for Sunday papers, there are still
a fair number of them across Tar
Hcclia — 16. Interestingly several of
'em are dailies that publish every other
afternoon during the week except
Saturday.
If all this suggests that frontiers for
news media are long gone in North
Carolina, there may yet be some solace
for the pioneer in this field.
Eight county seats in the state —
all of them in tiny or thinly-populated
areas — today have neither a news¬
paper nor radio station. They are Cam¬
den. Currituck, Winton, Bakersville.
Bayboro, Dobson, Columbia, and
Wentworth.
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