Editing Adolph Ochs (section)

==Career==
At age 11, Ochs went to work at the ''Knoxville Chronicle'' as an office assistant to the newspaper's editor, [[William Rule (American editor)|William Rule]], who became a mentor.<ref name=nyt /> In 1871, Ochs worked as a grocer's clerk in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], while attending night school. He returned to Knoxville, where he was an apprentice to a pharmacist for some time.<ref name=amer>{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Ochs, Adolph S. |year=1920}}</ref>

In 1872, Ochs returned to the ''Chronicle'' as a [[printer's devil]], who looked after various details in the composing room of the newspaper.<ref name=nyt /> His siblings also worked at the newspaper to supplement the income of their father, a lay religious leader for Knoxville's small Jewish community. The ''Chronicle'' was the only Republican, pro-[[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], newspaper in the city, but Ochs counted [[Abram Joseph Ryan|Father Ryan]], the Poet-Priest of the Confederacy, among his customers.<ref>Neely, Jack. ''Knoxville's Secret History''. Scruffy City Publishing, 1995.</ref>

===Chattanooga Times===
{{Further|Chattanooga Times Free Press}}
At the age of 19, Ochs borrowed $250 from his family to purchase a controlling interest in the ''[[Chattanooga Times Free Press|Chattanooga Times]]'', becoming its publisher.

The following year, he founded a commercial paper that he called ''The Tradesman''. He was one of the founders of the Southern Associated Press and served as president.

===The New York Times===
{{Further|The New York Times}}
[[File:TIMEMagazine1Sep1924.jpg|thumb|Ochs on the September 1, 1924, cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine]]
In 1896, at the age of 38, he was advised by ''[[The New York Times]]'' reporter [[Henry Alloway]] that the paper could be bought at a greatly reduced price due to its financial losses and wide range of competitors in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Elmer Holmes|title=History of the New York Times, 1851-1921|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.87872|year=1921|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.87872/page/n259 179]–181}}</ref><ref name="crump">{{cite book|last=Crump|first=William D.|title=Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ujTfCwAAQBAJ&q=One+Times+Square+building&pg=PA242|publisher=McFarland|date=2014|page=242|isbn=9781476607481}}</ref>

After borrowing money to purchase the ''Times'' for $75,000,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0312.html|title=Adolph S. Ochs Dead at 77; Publisher of Times Since 1896|website=The New York Times |access-date=2019-05-31}}</ref> Ochs formed [[The New York Times Company]], placed the paper on a strong financial foundation, and became the majority stockholder.<ref name=eb />

In 1904, Ochs hired [[Carr Van Anda]] as his managing editor. They focused on [[objective journalism]] at a time when newspapers were openly and highly partisan. They also decreased the newspaper's cost from 3 cents per issue to 1 cent, which led to the newspaper's survival.  The newspaper's readership increased from 9,000 at the time of his purchase to 780,000 by the 1920s. He also added the ''Times''{{'}} well-known [[Nameplate (publishing)|masthead]] motto: "All the News That's Fit to Print".<ref name=":0" />

In 1904, Ochs moved ''The New York Times'' to a newly built building on [[Longacre Square]] in [[Manhattan]], which the City of New York then renamed as [[Times Square]].

On New Year's Eve 1904, Ochs had pyrotechnists illuminate his new building at [[One Times Square]] with a fireworks show from street level.<ref name="crump"/><ref name="lankevich">{{cite book|last=Lankevich|first=George J.|title=Postcards from Times Square|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSv3JxmjLo4C&q=One+Times+Square&pg=PA1892|publisher=[[Square One Publishers]]|date=2001|page=20|isbn=9780757001000}}</ref><ref name="mckendry">{{cite book|last=McKendry|first=Joe|title=One Times Square: A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1FfFwpp5Z4C&q=One+Times+Square&pg=PT10|publisher=David R. Godine Publisher|date=2011|pages=10–14|isbn=9781567923643}}</ref>

Beginning with 1896, there was issued weekly a supplement, eventually called ''The New York Times Book Review and Magazine''. Other auxiliary publications were incrementally added, including ''The Annalist'', a financial review appearing on Mondays, ''The Times Mid-Week Pictorial'' on Thursdays, ''Current History Magazine'', a monthly, started during [[World War I]], ''The New York Times Index'', started in 1913, published quarterly, and comparable only to the ''Index'', published by ''[[The Times]]'' in London.<ref name=eb />

On August 18, 1921, the 25th anniversary of reorganization, ''The New York Times'' employed 1,885 people. It was classified as an [[independent Democrat]]ic publication, and consistently opposed [[William Jennings Bryan]] in his presidential campaigns. By its fairness in the presentation of news, editorial moderation and ample foreign service, it secured a high place in American journalism, becoming widely read and influential throughout the United States.<ref name=eb />

===Philadelphia Public Ledger===
{{Further|Public Ledger (Philadelphia)}}
In 1901, Ochs became proprietor and editor of the Philadelphia ''Times'', which was later merged into the Philadelphia ''[[Public Ledger (Philadelphia)|Public Ledger]]''. Ochs was the sole owner of the [[Philadelphia]]-based newspaper from 1902 to 1912, when he sold it to [[Cyrus H. K. Curtis]].<ref name=eb />

According to Wolfgang Disch,{{refn|group=note|name=Disch|Wolfgang K. A. Disch wrote several books on the topic of marketing, mostly in [[German language|German]], including a bibliography.<ref name="19640101WJ">{{cite book |last1=Disch |first1=Wolfgang |title=Bibliographie zur Marktforschung : Bibliography on marketing research. Bibliographie sur l'étude des marchés |url=https://catalog.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/60752 |website=Penn State University Libraries |year=1964 |publisher=Welt-Wirtschafts-Archiv |access-date=7 June 2020}}</ref>}}

In 1916, Ochs communicated one of his most famous quotes, saying, "I affirm that more than 50% of money spent on advertising is squandered and is a sheer waste of printers' ink." The quote might be the origin of the common marketing saying, "I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half", a quote that has been attributed to [[John Wanamaker]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gem-online.de/pdf/gem_publikation/HalftheMoneyIspend.pdf |title=''Marketing Journal''. |access-date=2012-01-07 |archive-date=2012-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227095319/http://www.gem-online.de/pdf/gem_publikation/HalftheMoneyIspend.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Ochs was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1931.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Adolph+S.+Ochs&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>