Biggest Issue Yet

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 852, 21 December 1929, Page 10

Biggest Issue Yet

Sixty Pages for Twopence

THIS record issue of The Sun, consisting as it does on the final edition of over 60 pages, is such an unusual production that a few facts concerning it will probably interest our readers.

Excluding the sports section, consisting of four pages, which is added to the final edition, the paper consists of three sections of 20 pages, 20 pages and IS pages, respectively.

The first two comprise the ordinary news and magazine sections which make up the usual Saturday issue of The Sun. The third section is a special supplement which’ tells the story of Mr. Thomas A. O’Brien’s Civic Theatre enterprise from its conception to its gala opening last night in the presence of the largest and most representative audience which has ever assembled to witness a first night performance in Auckland. The Sun takes it as a great compliment that it should have been chosen by the Civic Theatre proprietary as the official paper to bring out a souvenir edition on such an important occasion. This paper is barely three years old, and the tribute thus paid to our journalistic methods is appreciated very much. As our contemporaries have already made their efforts in this connection the public will be able to judge the different results for itself. The mere statistics of this issue, would not convey very much without detailed explanations, but some idea of its size may be gained when we state that about 15 tons of paper and four cwt. of ink are required to produce it. The Sun is printed from rolls of paper 751 n wide, and the passage of this enormous quantity of white newsprint paper through the press and its conversion in a few hours to thousands of printed and folded newspapers is an operation of considerable magnitude, requiring a high degree of technical skill and involving the use of mechanical equipment of an exceeding modern and efficient description. Daily newspaper production of recent years has been the subject of some very notable developments, and most of them in this country have originated in offices of the publications owned by Sun Newspapers Ltd. In pre-war years art work and illustration were confined largely to the weeklies which, by the employment of the halftone photo-engraving process, and the use of a highly-finished paper, produced results that were exceedingly creditable.

When it came to illustrating a daily newspaper successfully, a new set of

problems had to be solved. In order to sell a newspaper at twopence the cheapest grade of paper and ink must be used. If this issue of The Sun were printed on paper of the quality usually used by high-class weeklies or magazines, the cost of the paper would exceed £I,OOO. With the restrictions imposed by the available materials and the necessity of employing high-speed printing, the successful illustration of the daily newspaper was so difficult and expensive that most proprietors deferred it till their hands were forced by competition. Side by side with illustration came improved typography and arrangement, with the result that the daily newspaper produced under competitive conditions today is living and vital compared with the news-sheets that people had to be contented with not so many years ago. The Civic Theatre supplement ■will repay study, as it represents the advance made since 1914 in the presentation of letterpress and illustration to the newspaper subscriber. The modern newspaper has a twofold function. It offers its reader the news in print and pictures, and it comments on public affairs, but it is also the principal medium for business publicity, which includes advertising of every description. This issue of The Sun contains 33 pages of advertisements. This in itself is a rather remarkable recognition by the business community of Auckland of the progress of a paper which has yet to celebrate its third birthday. It seems to offer a fairly adequate reply to a few persons who still think that Shortland Street is Auckland, and that the 225,000 men, women and children who comprise its inhabitants should be dominated by them and their descendants for all time. Three years ago these worthies were exercising what they are pleased to call their minds on the subject of whether The Sun would last for three or six months. In the interval The Sun has established itself firmly in popular favour. The production of today’s issue has extended us and taxed our equipment almost to its full capacity. The literary, business and mechanical staffs submit it for the critical examination of the readers and advertisers it is their pleasure to serve, and if there are typographical imperfections The Sun hopes they will be regarded with an indulgent eye.