Life, 1911-02-23 · page 40 of 44
Life — February 23, 1911 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **reader-participation advertisement**, not a satirical cartoon. Collier's magazine launched a 1911 national campaign investigating "the newspaper situation in America"—examining whether newspapers served democratic ideals or corrupt interests. The contest solicits readers' letters describing their **local newspaper's role and conduct** in their home towns. Collier's offered $50 for the best submission (500 words max) and $5 for any published letter, positioning ordinary citizens as investigators of press integrity. This reflects the **Progressive Era's** muckraking tradition: investigative journalism exposing institutional corruption. By crowdsourcing reader accounts, Collier's gathered grassroots evidence about whether newspapers functioned as democratic forums or tools of political/business elites—a central reform concern of the 1910s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
We are asking these questio of newspaper readers everywhere This particular advertisement and others to the same effect were inserted in 107 newspapers —the first steps in a national campaign for an ideal— the ideal of true democracy. COLLIER’S has already received several thou- sand replies from this. COLLIER’S will run through 1911 what we hope will be the most epoch-making series of articles ever published —a broad treatment of the news- paper situation in America. Part 0‘ the series has been written by Will Irwin—after months of - travel and personal investiga- tion —but the main portion, editorially sifted andcrys- tallized, is written bythe American Public itself. This preliminary advertisement will give an idea of thescopeof our A Oe Nl of “Life” to help us. Weof- fer you a prize of $50 for the best letter of not over 500 words telling of the newspaper situation in your home town g —and we will pay $5 for ev- Mey? Pag, cg bye ery letter that may be published 0g rg rifity 4,920 y sate in CoLutEr's, either in whole or tage Sao in part. ty, > We F Follow these instructions : Write a brief, simple letter, answering all or part of the questions in the above advertisement—% ignore the questions altogether, if there is something more vital for you to write about. We want your honest view-point. Send letter to Collier's Newspaper Editor, 416 West Thir- teenth Street, New York City. CONTEST CLOSES APRIL 15 AWARDS TO BE MADE ON OR BEFORE JUNE 1st comicbooks.com