The papers are clumsily written and crudely made up. Their ads are their most important feature. Classified ads spill over onto the front page, and the news columns often promote the latest offerings of local merchants. Even so, the morning Mobile (Ala.) Register (circ. 46,905) and the afternoon Mobile Press (circ. 71,483) had understandable attractions for Publisher Sam Newhouse: the only dailies in town, they are moneymakers, and they offer one more foothold in the burgeoning Gulf Coast region where the Newhouse empire has been busily expanding.* So Sam "bought" Mobile.
For...