I’m continuing to read a biography of Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. that describes the empire he founded with Advance Publications. Newhouse was in the media business. He started with newspapers but expanded into magazines, broadcast television, and cable systems before he died in 1979.

Newhouse was in the business of providing information to people, but he was adamant that the information must be unrelated to him. He went to great lengths to make sure there was no reporting on him. Sr. had a “genuine, abiding mistrust of the press,” according to the book.  

I’m sure he had his reasons. I’d imagine a big one was that he didn’t want to be perceived negatively, as most people don’t. Negative publicity could have made his empire-building difficult and his family uncomfortable. Maybe Sr. realized it’s easier to manage public perception if it doesn’t exist. If people don’t know who you are, there’s nothing to manage.

We’ll never know why Sr. was adamant about avoiding publicity, but given his business, I found his disdain for the press noteworthy. And it may have been influential, since his son Samuel “Si” Newhouse Jr. and other descendants felt the same way.