Carr
Van Anda was born in Georgetown, Ohio, in 1864. After studying astronomy
and physics at Ohio University, he became a reporter for the Cleveland
Herald. In 1886 he was appointed night editor of the Baltimore
Sun and two years later did the same job for the New
York Sun.
In 1904 Adolph Ochs the owner of the New
York Times, appointed Van Anda as managing editor. Obsessed
with reporting every major story in great detail, Ochs worked twelve
hours a day, seven days a week. As one historian of the newspaper
has pointed out: "He loved to match his speed and wits against
a deadline. But he never lost sight of the importance of conscientious
and intelligent handling of the bulk of the news, and he transmitted
this spirit to his staff."
One of Van Anda's many success stories was the way he reported the
sinking of the Titanic. At 1:20 a.m. on 15th April, 1912, the
New York Times newsroom
received information about the Titantic SOS via the Marconi
wireless station in Newfoundland. Van Anda contacted his correspondents
in Halifax and Montreal who were able to find out that the ship's
wireless had fallen silent 30 minutes after the first call for help.
By consulting the New York Times
detailed news library Van Anda discovered that other ships had recently
reported close scrapes with icebergs in this area. The next morning
the New York Times reported
on its front page that the ship had sunk while other papers in America
were handling the story in incomplete and inconclusive manner.
During the First World War the New
York Times began to publish the texts of documents and
speeches in full. The compilation of the New York Times Index ensured
that it became the nation's leading reference newspaper for students,
librarians, historians, and journalists.
The newspaper continued to prosper under Van Anda's management and
by 1921 circulation had reached 330,000 during the week and 500,000
on Sunday. At the same time advertising had increased tenfold in 25
years. Carr Van Anda, who retired from the New
York Times in 1932, died in 1945.
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