The Newspaper Publicity Act, passed in 1912, is still in effect and requires commercial newspapers and magazines using the preferential second-class mail rate to identify their owners and investors and to label advertisements that resemble news stories or editorials. These publications are also required to disclose circulation data along with their ownership statements. In part 1, Linda Lawson documents the press's inner workings, including its excesses and abuses, as it evolved from a collection of small businesses in the mid-1800s to an established commercial institution of the twentieth century. Large, urban newspapers challenged small, rural papers at the same time burgeoning popular magazines and trade journals competed fiercely with every other type of publication for advertisers and readers. The regulatory actions brought about by these divisions within the industry are treated in part 2.