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United Press Associations formed to serve evening newspapers

NEW YORK July 15, 1907 (UP) - The completion of an important press association consolidation was announced this morning. By arrangements just completed, the Publishers Press Association, the Scripps-McRae Press Association and the Scripps News Association become one concern, under the name of the "United Press Associations."

The United Press Associations, incorporated under the laws of the state of New York at Albany, secured by purchase after some negotiations all the franchises, contracts and other assets and obligations of the three press associations which together controlled practically all the existing press association business in the United States outside of the Associated Press.

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The new United Press starts business with 460 newspaper clients, of which 400 are evening newspapers and 60 are Sunday morning newspapers. It is not intended to serve morning papers, but to make the United Press the best and greatest news agency in the world for evening newspapers and Sunday newspapers.

This consolidation completes an interesting chapter of American newspaper history. When the old United Press went out of business in 1897, a group of western papers formed the Scripps-McRae Press Association, while a group of eastern newspapers formed the Publishers Press.

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Later the Scripps News Association was started to supply news to papers on the Pacific coast. All three made remarkable progress, but were hampered by being sectional rather than national organizations.

While they formed working alliances with each other, they were always separately managed.

A step toward consolidation was made last summer, when the E.W. Scripps newspaper interests secured a controlling interest in the Publishers Press. The new association will be under similar control, every person actively interested being connected with the press association business or with the publication of evening newspapers. It is announced that the United Press will not be run on narrow or monopolistic lines, but will seek to give fair and impartial service to all legitimate newspaper publishers in the field.

Through its clients, system of leased wires, bureaus and correspondents, the United Press already has splendid news gathering facilities, and these will be rapidly extended and improved.

Its Washington, European, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and other bureaus are unusually well manned and enterprisingly conducted.

The interior of a United Press office at the Munsey Trust Building in Washington, D.C circa 1909. Photo by Harris and Ewing/File/UPI/LOC
It is the same organization improved which has to its credit such historic "beats" as the assassination of President McKinley, the death of Queen Victoria, the massacre of King Alexander and Queen Draga at Belgrade, the signing of the peace between Russia and Japan, at Portsmouth, etc.
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Recently a working arrangement has been made with a new Japanese press association.

The new United Press has more business in the evening field alone than the old United Press had in both the morning and evening fields the year before it was disbanded. The form of organization which brought disaster to the old United Press has been entirely avoided in the new company.

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