Chapter 8: Edward von Bauernfeld

  Chapter 8 Edward Von Bauernfeld

“You want to open a newspaper, have you thought about how to make a profit?” Mrs. Sophie asked with concern

Profit?

It was impossible to make a profit, at least not in the short term!

Newspapers are not that easy to open, and newspaper sales are even more unlikely to rise in a single day, without sales there is naturally no advertising revenue.

Under normal circumstances, the first few months of the newspaper is a pure loss, and then slowly increase sales, and then pick up some advertising, step by step to slowly realize profits.

In this era, the people of Vienna were still not rich, and the number of middle-class people was quite small, so the sales of newspapers were naturally very low.

“I’m going to publish novels first, cultivate a stable group of readers, and occasionally insert a little bit of news of interest to the public to attract people’s attention.

There’s no rush on the issue of profitability yet, it’s more realistic to consider the issue after the newspaper has sold more than 20,000 copies!” Franz said confidently

“Twenty thousand copies, that’s not easy, as far as I know there are only three newspapers that sell more than twenty thousand copies locally in Vienna, unless it’s a national market!” Mrs. Sophie said thoughtfully

Obviously, she had also done her homework and did not make up her mind.

Franz nodded, he knew that even these three could not sell 20,000 copies of newspapers in Vienna every day, only when there was breaking news.

There was no way around it, the population of Vienna in this day and age was less than half a million, and not more than eighty thousand people could afford to buy a newspaper, and even fewer of those would be willing to pay for a subscription.

Franz estimated that the group of long-term subscribers in Vienna was between 20,000 and 30,000, and that everyone else bought an occasional paper.

It is fair to say that the survival of newspapers in this era was quite harsh, and coupled with the strict newspaper censorship system, the industry was not a good one.

Franz’s goal was to increase the sales of the newspaper to ten thousand copies within a year, of which six thousand copies could be sold in Vienna and that would be considered a success.

Mrs. Sophie thought for a moment and said, “Franz, now that you’ve thought it through, go ahead and do it boldly!

I’ll give you a piece of advice, recruit a reliable editor-in-chief who can make you lose a little less money.

It’s best not to blindly get involved in politics, it will save you a lot of trouble!”

“Thank you, the name of my newspaper can be seen, it’s just a newspaper that gives a voice to the people, but it’s not for me to worry about exactly what I’m going to do!” Franz said with a smile

He was not willing to be used as a gun, politics could be participated in, but between the capitalists and the nobles, it was definitely not possible to blindly take sides.

As the heir to the empire, Franz’s attitude would affect the stance of many people, which was related to his own persona.

Franz positioned himself as a benevolent Crown Prince who cared about people’s livelihoods, and he had to remain supreme in the battle between the nobles and the capitalists.

All of this required publicity, without which how would the general public know what he was?

……

Time rushed by, and Franz soon chose an editor-in-chief for the paper, Eduard von Bauernfeld, chosen for the sole reason of his fame.

One of the best-known Austrian writers of the era was a radical hothead in his early years who tended to be conservative in his later years.

Now already he had reached middle age, and his fervor had burned almost and not quite exhausted itself.

“Mr. Bauernfeld, welcome!” Franz said with a smile

“Honorable Archduke, it is a pleasure to serve you!” Eduard von Bauernfeld replied

“Mr. Bauernfeld, I invited you here today, mainly for the positioning of the newspaper, do you have any opinions?” Franz opened his mouth and asked

“Your Excellency the Grand Duke, it is every newsman’s duty to expose the dark side of society, we must dare to expose it all!” Eduard von Bauernfeld said with anticipation

Franz knew why so many people were willing to accept his invitation, the sentiment was to find a platform where he could curse to his heart’s content.

Austria was practicing book and newspaper censorship, and without a strong backstage, these literati couldn’t have fun if they wanted to curse.

Undoubtedly, he, the heir to the empire, was the best backing, even if he caused trouble, could he, the boss, still not go to fish for people?

Eduard von Bauernfeld is not too young, and has learned to compromise in the face of reality, and just recently created a book satirizing the government, “Adulthood”.

After it was released he was worried because it was issued privately, it didn’t pass the inspection of government agencies, and if he was caught he was going to jail.

He was about to run away when he received an offer from Franz, which he accepted decisively.

This year the Austrian secret police is also to look at people, if he works under Franz, as long as the do not go too far, these people will not take him.

Franz shook his head and said: ”Mr. Bauernfeld, there are already so many newspapers that expose the dark side of society, and there is no shortage of us.

The purpose of my founding this newspaper can be seen in the name of the newspaper, our purpose is to give a voice to the lowest level of society.

I hope to rely on our efforts to change the living conditions of the country’s underclass, who need bread and cheese, which are the most basic human needs that should be guaranteed!”

Any newspaper has a high-minded idea, and there was no such newspaper in Austria during this period dedicated to giving a voice to the underclass, because this class could not afford to buy a newspaper.

“Your Excellency the Archduke, I have to say that your intention is great, but in order to achieve this goal, we have to change our current political system!” Eduard von Bauernfeld didn’t hesitate to start chucking in personal remarks

Franz said with a slight smile, “Austria’s system does need to be changed, but how it needs to be changed, I don’t know.

Even if there is a ready-made program in front of me, with the accumulation of my knowledge, it is not enough to make a correct judgment, so I have to keep silent on this issue for now.

However, I know that no matter how the system is changed, the lives of the people at the bottom need to be changed, which requires the government to enact more laws to protect their interests!

Mr. Bowenfeld, you have a very big task ahead of you. You must make more people in society understand the lives of the lower class and care about them!

It would be even better if you can push the government to legislate to protect their interests!”

Who’s afraid of fooling people? Franz made Eduard von Bauernfeld speechless in three words, all knew that Austria needed reform, but how should it be reformed?

Everyone has a different interest needs, naturally there are different reform programs, Franz simply sell small, do not expect a 16-year-old kid to decide the fate of the country.

(End of chapter)