Billboard (magazine)

===Early history===
[[File:Billboard, November 1, 1894 first issue.png|thumb|left|upright|First issue of ''Billboard'' (1894)]]
The first issue of ''Billboard'' was published in [[Cincinnati]], Ohio by William Donaldson and James Hennegan on November 1, 1894.<ref name="LampelLant"/><ref name="Broven 2009 p. 187">{{cite book |last=Broven | first=J. |title=Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers |publisher=University of Illinois Press |series=Music in American life |year=2009 | isbn=978-0-252-03290-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/recordmakersbrea0000brov |url-access=registration | access-date=November 5, 2015 | page=[https://archive.org/details/recordmakersbrea0000brov/page/187 187]}}</ref> Initially it covered the advertising and [[Flyposting|bill-posting]] industry<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Gary|last=Trust|title=The First Billboard: All That Was 'New, Bright and Interesting on the Boards'|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/first-billboard-issue-november-1-1894/|magazine=Billboard|date=November 1, 2021|access-date=October 1, 2022|url-access=subscription|archive-date=November 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101232809/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6746273/first-billboard-issue-november-1-1894|url-status=live}}</ref> and was known as '''''Billboard Advertising'''''.<ref name="Gussow. 2015">{{cite book|last=Gussow.|first=Don|title=The New Business of Journalism: An Insider's Look at the Workings of America's Business Press|date=1984|publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich|isbn=978-0-15-165202-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newbusinessjourn0000guss/page/32 32–33]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newbusinessjourn0000guss/page/32}}</ref><ref name="godfrey"/>{{efn|Some sources say it was called ''The Billboard Advertiser''<ref name="LampelLant"/>}} At the time, billboards, posters, and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the primary means of advertising.<ref name="godfrey"/> Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co., managed magazine production. The first issues were just eight pages long.<ref name="HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared 1994">{{cite news | title=Hall of fame. (history's top personalities in the live entertainment and amusement industry) (One hundredth-anniversary collector's edition) |website=Amusement Business| date=November 1, 1994 | url=http://business.highbeam.com/53/article-1G1-15906377/hall-fame | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224000221/https://business.highbeam.com/53/article-1G1-15906377/hall-fame | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 24, 2015 |access-date=November 7, 2015}}</ref> The paper had columns such as The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable and Tireless Industry of the Bill Poster.<ref name="LampelLant"/> A department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896.<ref name="on Project 1943 p. 184"/> The ''Billboard Advertising'' publication was renamed '''''The Billboard''''' in 1897.<ref name="booksdirectory">{{cite book|title=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|volume=98|publisher=International Directory of Company Histories|first=Ed|last=Dinger|pages=260–265}}</ref>

After a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegan's interest in the business in 1900 for $500 (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US-GDP|500|1900|r=-2}}}} today) to save it from bankruptcy.<ref name="HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared 1994"/><ref name="Hoffmann 2004 p. 212"/> On May 5, Donaldson changed the publication from a monthly to a weekly paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, and Paris,<ref name="booksdirectory"/><ref name="Hoffmann 2004 p. 212"/> and also refocused the magazine on outdoor entertainment such as fairs, carnivals, circuses, [[vaudeville]], and burlesque shows.<ref name="LampelLant"/><ref name="booksdirectory"/> A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of outdoor events in 1901.<ref name="on Project 1943 p. 184"/> ''Billboard'' also covered topics including regulation, professionalism, economics and new shows. It had a "stage gossip" column covering the private lives of entertainers, a "tent show" section covering traveling shows and a subsection called "Freaks to order".<ref name="LampelLant"/> Donaldson also published news articles opposing censorship, supporting productions exhibiting good taste and decrying [[yellow journalism]]."<ref name="Radel 1994"/>

As railroads became more developed, ''Billboard'' enabled a mail-forwarding system for traveling entertainers. The location of an entertainer was tracked in the paper's Routes Ahead column, and then ''Billboard'' would receive mail on the star's behalf and publish a notice in its Letter-Box column that it had mail for him or her.<ref name="LampelLant"/> This service was first introduced in 1904 and became one of ''Billboard''{{'}}s largest sources of profit<ref name="Radel 1994"/> and celebrity connections.<ref name="LampelLant"/> By 1914, 42,000 people were using the service.<ref name="HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared 1994"/> It was also used as the official address of traveling entertainers for draft letters during [[World War I]].<ref name="newsweek">{{cite news|newspaper=Newsweek|date=April 4, 1949|title=New Boss for Billboard|pages=57–58}}</ref> In the 1960s, when the service was discontinued, ''Billboard'' was still processing 1,500 letters per week.<ref name="Radel 1994"/>

In 1920, Donaldson controversially hired black journalist James Albert Jackson to write a weekly column devoted to black performers.<ref name="LampelLant"/> According to ''The Business of Culture: Strategic Perspectives on Entertainment and Media'', the column identified discrimination against black performers and helped validate their careers.<ref name="LampelLant"/> Jackson was the first black critic at a national magazine with a predominantly white audience. According to his grandson, Donaldson also established a policy against identifying performers by their race.<ref name="Radel 1994"/> Donaldson died in 1925.<ref name="LampelLant"/>