THE CONSCIENCE OF
THE NEWSPAPER








THE CONSCIENCE OF
THE NEWSPAPER
A CASE BOOK IN THE PRINCIPLES
AND PROBLEMS OF JOURNALISM
BY
LEON NELSON FLINT
PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS; AUTHOR
OF "THE EDITORIAL," ETC.


D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANY
INCORPORATED


NEW YORK


LONDON




(       U
1- 'COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
All rights reserved. This book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproduced in any
form without permission of the publishers.
397


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA




PREFACE
When the principles of fairness, independence, accuracy,
service, and the rest, are presented to the inexperienced man
entering journalism he has no hesitancy in accepting them.
But as abstractions such virtues are almost meaningless.
When the same man meets his first concrete problem in suppression of news, or correction of error, or printing news of
anti-social acts, or fair play for the opposition, or injecting
editorial color into the news, or distortion by selection and
emphasis-when he actually faces the fact rather than the
theory, his former view of abstract principle may seem to
him childishly nai1ve. What in the abstract appeared simple
is now complex; what appeared easy is now hard. What
shall he do? Temporize, compromise, muddle through. It is
the best he can do. If his average standard of guesswork is
high, he wins and deserves success. But he would, perhaps,
have been much profited by consideration of concrete cases
before he reached the hour of his first decisions on conduct
or policy as a journalist.
Those who study law do so by the case method. Those who
study business in the modern way do so by the problem or
case method. Those who are interested in anything more
than the "'tricks" of journalism may profitably employ the
problem method of research. It is realistic and authoritative.
Any discussion of journalism that gives due regard to criticism has its negative aspect, but is justified by the presence
of a constructive purpose. An account of journalism as it
is, at its worst and at its best, can hardly f ail to hold suggestions of what the journalism of the future is capable of
becoming. Its present values are the first fruits of its larger
possiibilities.
Only in the broader sense is this a book on journalistic
ethics, though even such -a' matter as the individuality of a
V




vi


PREFACE


newspaper has its underlying    ethical significance. It is
rather an attempt to present American journalism as it is and
as it seems destined to become if its finer possibilities are
realized.
The first division of the book, "Newspaper Practice and
the Editor's Conscience," approaches each editorial problem
from various angles, illustrated by the "cases" offered; it is
a symposium'on matters of newspaper conduct, with such
comment as the author feels justified in making. The aim has
been to go to original sources for specific information about
the world of editorial decisions in which the real character of
our journalism takes its form.
Proceeding from these particulars to the more general, this
survey considers, in its second division, "The Thing We Call
Journalism," in respect to its nature and functions-its relations to the public.
In Part III, "The Newspaper of To-morrow," account is
taken of those influences that seem to be shaping the future.
The writer of this study of the press-a teacher of journalism who has enjoyed some years of practical experience as
editor and publisher, as well as opportunity for close observation of journalistic practice in many newspaper offices-may
be expected to have acquired not only the first-hand knowledge
requisite to any opinion but also a detachment to save him
from a too dogmatic advocacy of this or that view, whatever
may be his personal preferences. It is hoped that the discussions are sufficiently tolerant of all sincere beliefs held by
journalists in the two newspaper fields, country and city.
Some overlapping of topics will occur under any grouping
of the problems of journalism. There is a measure of truth
in the saying that the ethics of journalism is all comprehended
in the one question, what to print and what not to print.
But a certain amount of differentiation seems necessary. The
fact that suppression of news, for example, considered first as
a subject by itself, comes up again in the discussion of antisocial news and also in the chapter on independence, does not
involve objectionable duplication since the points of view are
dlifferent and the cases given are distinctive.




PREFACE


vii


Data from which the cases were written came from newspaper offices in practically every state in the Union. Many of
the facts were submitted with the understanding that their
source should be held in confidence; hence few references are
given to localities or men. Grateful acknowledgment is made
for this invaluable assistance.
Portions of the chapter on, "The Influence of Codes and
Professional Standards," are reprinted, by permission, from
an article by the present writer in Editor and Publisher, New
York. Quotations credited to Chester S. Lord are to be found
in his, The Young Man and Journalism, copyright, the Macmillan Company, and are reprinted by permission both of the
publishers of the book and of the Saturday Evening Post, in
which they originally appeared. Quotations from James Bryce
are from his Modern Democracies, copyright, the Macmillan
Company, and are reprinted by permission. Several quotations from bulletins published by the department of journalism in the University of Kansas are also to be found in The
Coming Newspaper, published by Henry Holt and Company,
New York.
L. N. F.








CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE...............................V
PART I
NEWSPAPER PRACTICE AND THE
EDITOR'S CONSCIENCE
CHAPTER
I. GENERAL SURVEY OF CRITICISMS OF THE PRESS.   3
II. FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION........           12
III. TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES, DISTORTION AND "COLOR" 50
IV. THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION...  71
V. OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE. 101
VI. THE STRUGGLE FOR IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS.   152
VII. HANDLING THE NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS.. 187
VIII. SOME BUSINESS-ETHICAL PROBLEMS.........      244
PART II
THE 'THING WE CALL JOURNALISM
IX. THE NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM.. 257
X. TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES IN JOURNALISM.. 283
XI. NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY AND POLICIES.... 311
XII. NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE, ITS ORIGINS AND OBJECTIVE 326
XIII. PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY. 355
PART III
THE NEWSPAPER OF TO-MORROW
XIV. THE INFLUENCE OF CODES AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.............................    385
XV. THE INFLUENCE OF LAW...............     395
XVI. INFLUENCE OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING.......      407
XVII. OTHER MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT..........      418
bt




x              CONTENTS
APPENDIX
PAGE
SOME CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM......... 427
INDEX.......................       463




PART I
NEWSPAPER PRACTICE AND
THE EDITOR'S CONSCIENCE








THE CONSCIENCE
OF THE NEWSPAPER
CHAPTER I
GENERAL SURVEY OF CRITICISMS OF THE PRESS
Those who write and edit and publish newspapers have a
habit of repelling criticism with the remark-made in a tone
of resignation, irony, or indignation, as temperament dictates"Oh yes, everybody thinks he knows how to run a newspaper!1"
The answer is not adequate, because it is not true. It does
not get at the root of the matter. Most people regard the press
with a fair amount of respect. They entertain for it a remnant of that awe which in earlier days enveloped the "mystery"
of printing. They are not unmindful of its services to them
and to society. They do not think that they could achieve the
ideal in newspaper making.
But a good many people detect what seem to them remediable
imperfections in the newspapers they read. They feel free to
point these out from time to time, and this criticism, in the
aggregate,, assumes rather large proportions. Some of it, of
course, is entitled to small consideration. Either it is void of
any comprehension of the difficulties that attend the making
of a newspaper; or it proceeds from an utter misconception of
the functions of journalism; or it is inspired by self-interest.
Hence it is not surprising that many newspaper men take an
antagonistic attitude towards all criticism. It is not surprising,
but it is unfortunate.
Everybody needs criticism, and the wise profit by it. Selfcriticism is healthful, but it is likely to be colored by self-justification-rationalization, as the psychologists call it. If the
3




4    THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
taste of it is too bitter, the sugar bowl is handy. So the dose
handed to us by the critical public is more likely to meet our
human needs. It should be swallowed without too wry a face.
If it does no good, the chances are we did not have the ailment
for which it was prescribed..No harm has been done, broadly
speaking, except the waste of the medicine, since our distaste
for ingestion is balanced by the public's delight in administering
the corrective.
So the better policy for the journalist seems to be to welcome
criticism, to weigh it, and to give his opinion as to its merits.
This procedure leads to better understanding. Disregard of
criticism appeals to some as an admission of guilt and to others
as an insult added to an injury. Advertisement of a newspaper's purposes, with a frank setting-forth of the magnitude
of its tasks, is bound to lead to greater appreciation and fairness.
Sources of Criticism
Naturally, the imperfections in journalism pointed out by
men and women within the profession itself are to be regarded
most seriously. And they are by no means few. The types
of newspapers are distinct enough to enable the producers of
one type to see the faults in the others. And these critics within
the profession are not slow to point out imperfections, in private
and in public, orally and in writing, individually and by group
resolution. The source of such criticism lends to it the authority of expert opinion.
Next in importance is the judgment of those outside of
journalism who, by reason of their special studies in the social
sciences or in political science, or by reason of their experience
in life, have arrived at a broad view of journalism in its relations to the well-being of people in the mass. Their indictments are sometimes caustic in tone, and their plans for betterment are often so impractical as to be ludicrous; but they have
the advantage of occupying a position of detachment and of
being without any selfish interest in the matter.
Perhaps we should place next in order of significance the
strictures uttered by vocational groups or by group leaders, for
example, in the field of labor organization. Self-interest is




GENERAL SURVEY OF CRITICISMS OF PRESS $
doubtless keenly alive here, but the proportion of the public
represented in the group is so large as to command respect.
Lastly, we may lump together all such charges and imputations as arise sporadically from offended politicians, disgruntled
persons of this or that persuasion, those whose toes have been
trampled on by the press, and various brands of dreamers who
take little account of the world as it is. Patent self-interest
renders the weight of this criticism negligible, as does also the
presentation of a purely idealistic point of view. The press is
not to be wholly separated from the people. It must keep well
ahead, if it would exercise leadership, but not too far ahead.
Even the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire had to be within
sight of the multitude in order to guide them. And the press
does not quite fit into that figure, f or it is a part of our daily
lives, not a sign in the skies. It is with us, not beyond us.
Our lives go into it and its lif e is absorbed in ours. As some
one has said, "it gives back as rain what it has received as
mist." journalism will do its part of the world's work if it
manages to be as good as the people are at their best.
That journalism is abundantly supplied with criticism is a
tribute to its essential character. In a sense, the newspaper
is everybody's business. Constructive and disinterested criticism of the press is everybody's duty.
Main Currents of Criticism
journalistic usages and policies, regarding which differences
of opinion give rise to criticism, have to do with the manifold
relationships of the press-relations with society as a whole,
with one particular community, with the readers of the paper,
with advertisers, with political or other groups, with individuals.
It would satisfy the requirements of logical procedure to examine, in order, the newspaper's discharge of its obligations
in each of these directions. But in as much as some of the
most serious complaints, like those uttered against news suppression, have to do with several or all of the relationships,
it seems desirable to seek a grouping of criticism affording
clearer differentiation.
At first glance this requirement seems to be met by consider.4




6    THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ing separately each of the main steps in newspaper production
-the business activities by which a newspaper is financed, the
gathering of the news, the process of selection, the presentation
of the news, interpretation of the news, influence and service.
Or by thinking of the newspaper successively as an informer,
an interpreter, a persuader, an entertainer, a business institution. Or by regarding in turn such storm centers in newspaperdom as the publisher, the business manager, the managing
editor, the editor-in-chief, the city editor, the telegraph editor,
the reporter. Or by looking first at the dominating spirit of
journalism, then at its declared purposes, then at the raw materials it utilizes, then at its methods or technique.
Each of these bases of analysis has advantages. But in a
brief summarization of the shortcomings of journalism as seen
by its critics, we shall, perhaps, be aided most by calling to
mind those virtues which journalists themselves have emphasized, in public utterances, in their papers, and in their group
codes of ethics-calling them to mind in connection with the
expressed doubts as to their having been realized in newspaper
practice.
If a journalist is to count for something in upbuilding his
profession he must know it as it is-know the best that is
claimed for it and also know the worst that is charged against
it. In the words of a wise teacher, "When we see the good
clearly, we needs must choose it."
The Major Virtues in Journalism
There is not, to be sure, a special set of moral laws for the
journalist. He is a man like other men and one moral law is
over all. But the nature of his calling puts to him a particular
set of tests differing in some respects from the tests he would
meet in another vocation. Truthfulness is universally a virtue,
with such exceptions as a seemingly higher law sanctions, but
the consequences of untruth in a newspaper are multiplied manyfold. Then, too, the temptations to untruth come to the
journalist in different guise from that in which they come, say,
to a physician. Essentially they are the same, but their forms
differ. Just as there are many canons based on the one moral




GENERAL SURVEY OF CRITICISMS OF PRESS 7
law, so each canon has many aspects which stand revealed
when application of principles to practice' is attempted.
What, then, are the virtues that journalism tries to practice
and in what respects is it accused of falling short of *its prof essed aims?
Accuracy, Thoroughness, Comprehensiveness
These are among the fundamental excellencies recognized by
all journalists.
Criticisms.-Some of the complaints with respect to the
realization of these aims in practice are: an almost criminal
carelessness; misquotation of persons interviewed; deliberate
faking; slovenliness in writing; improper sacrifices to speed;
failure to carry through to its conclusion a continuing news
story; obliviousness to significant news in more remote fields.
Truthfulness
The broad requirement that not even facts be allowed to
give a false impression.
Criticisms.-That much truth to which the public is entitled
is suppressed; that news is distorted; that it is colored with
editorial opinion; that by selection and emphasis it is made to
conform to the newspaper's bias; that newspapers practice
deceit; that they are chauvinistic; that they distribute the poison
of propaganda.
Independence, Courage
Newspapers are jealous of their freedom from social restraint. The public expects them to maintain equal freedom
from other kinds of coercion, and to manifest courage in asserting such independence.
Criticisms.-That commercialism has dulled the newspaper's
interest in higher things; that impersonal journalism lacks
courage; that the institutional press is bound by capitalistic
sympathies; that some newspapers are virtually subsidized;
that advertising is the means of keeping the newspapers "good";
that they avoid "dangerou's" topics; that they do not defend




8 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
the weak; that they wink at some forms of law violation; that
fear of "higher powers" renders them illiberal.
Impartiality, Fairness, Justice
journalism recognizes that as an organ of democracy it has
a vital function.
Criticisrns.-T hat the press is unfairly partisan in politics
and in other matters; that it maintains a "black list"; that it
worships certain "sacred cows"; that it will not try to right a
wrong it has committed; that it ruthlessly attacks the defenseless; that it is a "dlubber"; that in crusading it seeks a victim
and handles him brutally; that it has an inflexibility inconsistent
with justice; that its methods are such that its support often
kills good causes.
Decency, Constructiveness
The shameless flaunting of indecency by yellow journalism
was a passing phase, and the press declares it has constructive
purposes in printing the news of antisocial acts.
Criticisms.-That some newspapers invade privacy; that they
present a dark picture of the world; that they are virtually textbooks on crime; that scandal and "sex stories" are printed
solely to sell papers; that some newspapers employ conscienceless reporters; that they spread vulgarity before the eyes of the
young; that they exercise no constructive leadership.
Sincerity, Honesty, Honor
Newspapers assert that they despise hypocrisy and that the
motives for their acts are always higher than the selfish interests of owner or employee.
Criticisms.-That the atmosphere of a newspaper office is
tainted by duplicity; that newspapers maintain a ridiculous pose
of infallibility; that they print what they do- not believe; that
reporters and editors and publishers are venal; that they use
their power to gain favors; that they steal photographs;'that
a newspaper is not a "gentleman"; that it "bleeds" candidates
for office; that it is tricky in using subterfuge to betray confi



GENERAL SURVEY OF CRITICISMS OF PRESS 9
dences; that it uses progressivism to get rich and then becomes
reactionary; that it has deteriorated sadly since the days of
the "giants" in journalism; that newspaper "enterprise" stops
at nothing.
Responsibility, Trustworthiness
The newspaper recognizes that along with its privileges and
its power go equal responsibilities.
Criticisms.-That the newspaper employs anonymity to evade
personal responsibility; that it takes no thought as to the social
consequences of the ideas and suggestions it puts into readers'
minds; that it does not perform its duties as a common carrier
of information; that it fails in meeting its obligations to preserve peace in its community, to maintain respect for law, to
discourage race and class antagonisms, and to help wipe out
sectionalism; that good journalism protects bad journalism.
Optimism, Progressiveness
journalism asserts its belief in progress and its hope of a
better world.
Criticisms.-That journalism's daily picture of the world runs
from gray to black; that a visitor from Saturn reading an
American newspaper would get the impression that most human
beings are bad; that the newspaper is suspicious of anything
new in government and hidebound in its conservatism; that distrust of American institutions is the first lesson the immigrant
learns from the press; that the advancement of science is presented to newspaper readers only in distorted form because of
the ignorance of journalists.
Me~Ircy, Ki ndness, Consideration
Newspapers represent themselves as the friends of the weak
and of the unorganized masses of people.
Criticisms.-That only in case the story is of minor import.
tance is mercy shown to any individual; that innocent persons
are made to suffer needlessly by publicity; that cruel conditions
in industry are ignored by the press except when no advertis



10 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ing contract is involved; that humanitarianism is only a journalistic pose; that a newspaper is far less considerate than are
the individuals on the staff.
Moderation., Proportion, Deliberation
journalism professes to hold to a proper scale of values and
to use due care in exercising sanity and caution.
Criticisms.-That sensationalism distorts the news in most
papers; that the significance of news is less regarded than its
human interest; that trivialities are allowed to crowd out important information in the fields of business, education, religion,
and art; that newspapers trifle with the mob spirit; that they
offer snap judgments in the guise of deliberate conclusions.
Unselfishness, Service to the Public
Practically all of the rural press and a large proportion of
the city press make much of their value to the community as
promoters of every good work.
Criticisms.-T hat the real interest of the press is moneygrubbing; that its advocacy of improvements is limited to those
favored by the commercial interests; that it does not actually
take the lead in worthy movements but follows where it is
led; that few editors have any professional ideals but are
actuated solely by selfishness.
Attractiveness and Good Manners
Critics from abroad have remarked a lack of order and logical presentation of matter in American newspapers; lack of
literary care in editingr; too great length of articles; want of
discretion and lack of education on the part of American reporters; pitiful displays of egotism; a tyrannical spirit; indolence as to making difficult investigations.
Observance of Intra-Professional Rules
journalism like any other vocation has its rules covering the
relations of its practitioners with one another.
Criticism~ here do not originate with the public but are with



GENERAL SURVEY OF CRITICISMS OF PRESS 11
in the "family." They have importance as indicating the standards of honor recognized generally within the group. Reporters
on rival newspapers, for example, are not usually supposed to
collaborate in gathering news in order to save work, but are
often accused of doing so; release dates are sometimes broken;
news sent to its clients or members by one press association is
sometimes stolen by another; unfair methods in securing exclusive use of a common means of transmission of news are often
employed; special writers are sometimes induced to break contracts with one paper in order to go to another.
The foregoing enumeration indicates the points at which the
issue is drawn as to the merits of the press.
Let us hope that no one newspaper has ever been accused of
having all the faults set forth in the indictment, and let us not
forget that many, very many, admirable newspapers, large -and
small, are almost unscathed by criticism.




CHAPTER II


FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION
The merchant who persistently delivers goods inferior to
those ordered by his patrons is no worse than the publisher who
delivers misinformation when the public orders facts. And no
one can seriously doubt that the public does order facts from
its newspaper. Facts constitute the solid, opinion-building portion of the mental meal to which the public sits down twice a
day. To be sure, the public wants a balanced ration. It likes
to have its appetite whetted by a fruit-cocktail heading or two;
it appreciates a salad of editorial opinion made as palatable as
possible with a little dressing of humor or satire; it expects its
dessert in the form of a slice of funny-column cake or comicstrip pudding-and sometimes, like other children, it eats its
dessert first; but the public knows that it is really the roast-beefand-mashed-potatoes-and-vegetables of fact that keep it in sound
health. The ills that follow a diet of misinformation may not
be as acute as ptomaine poisoning, but their insidious effects
may spread through an entire community and persist for many
years.
Accuracy is the most elementary thing in journalism, and yet
it is never completely mastered. Its lessons may be learned by
heart one day, only to be imperfectly remembered the next. No
journalist regards inaccuracy, either inadvertent or deliberate,
as a good thing, but nevertheless many journalists condone it
as a necessary evil in the attainment of speed and the maximum
of news interest, trusting in a high general average of authenticity to maintain confidence in the paper within the margin of
safety.
A careful observer from the newspaper angle, Isaac D.
White, director of the New York World's bureau of accuracy
and fair play, has said:
12




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


13


My own observation and experience tell me that the newspapers
are less accurate than they were. I believe there has been a growing tendency among newspaper readers generally to distrust much
that they read. Certain it is that to-day many persons in the United
States, in print and by word of mouth, sometimes justly and sometimes otherwise, are harsh in their criticism of the newspapers
with respect to their accuracy and fairness.
But I believe that these present conditions are only a natural
result of rapid growth and development; that having passed through
a most remarkable revolutionary, stage we find our surroundings
for the time being disordered and chaotic, and that as we become
accustomed to them we shall recognize the dangers that beset us
and make a determined effort to restore order and a proper sense
of proportion.
Accuracy and fair play are inseparable in journalism. Without
accuracy you cannot have fair play. Inaccuracy is to-day the
greatest peril that the newspapers have to overcome. It results
continually in injury to innocent persons. It causes the public
at large to lose confidence in newspapers in general and the offending newspapers in particular, to question the sincerity of their
professions and to distrust their motives. The reader who loses
faith in the news columns will not be impressed with what lie
finds on the editorial page. A newspaper's real influence must
be measured by the number of readers who believe in it.
It is these rapid-fire evening newspapers that are responsible
to a large degree for the reputation for inaccuracy that is shared
by their more stable morning contemporaries.
The morning papers print the news of yesterday, while the
evening papers print the news of to-day-may, in fact, more properly be said to print the news of the hour. Without for a moment
wishing to excuse their inaccuracy, but with a keen desire to overcome it, it must be conceded as a matter of course that there is
much more reason for inaccuracy in the evening papers than in
the morning.
The morning newspaper reporter on many of his assignments
may have all day and until after midnight, if necessary, to gather
his facts and put them in writing.
The evening newspaper reporter during his hours of duty is
on the jump almost continually, making his inquiries under high
pressure and rushing to the nearest telephone to report his findings
to a rewrite man in the office, who, in turn, rattles off the story at
high speed on a typewriter.
If a rival newspaper is first to get an important story on the
street it means trouble for the reporters who are beaten. If limitation of time makes it impossible to get more than a bare outline of




14 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
the facts for any particular edition, it is obvious that the reporter
or the rewrite man, or both, must jump to some more or less
logical conclusion or draw on imagination to fill in the details.
CAsE.-When Mayor Gaynor was shot, one paper reported
that he was attacked while sitting in his steamship cabin,
that the bullet entered his temple, and that he toppled over
into the arms of his wife. Another paper had it that he was
promenading on deck when fired upon, that the bullet struck
him in the back of the neck, and that he fell into the arms of
his secretary, who later telephoned to Mrs. Gaynor at her home.
Comment.-Uncertainty in regard to details when frankly
admitted, is one thing; when concealed beneath unqualified
assertion, it is quite another matter.
As the Public Feels about It
Such stereotyped phrases as, "You can't believe anything you
see in a newspaper," or, "That is only a newspaper story," are
not to be taken too seriously; but neither are they to be dismissed with contempt as is the custom of some who work conscientiously at the making of newspapers. They are an exaggerated symptom of a genuine ailment. And the ailment is
the disillusionment which every individual experiences, more or
less early in life, as to the dependability of the press. The
prestige of the printed page-not alone the newspaper page--is
one of those impedimenta which every person begins to unload
at the threshold of the critical age. Inaccuracies in newspapers,
within the personal experience of the individual, lead to a generalization and to a suspicion as to the credibility of all news.
Inaccuracies in small things breed doubt as to accuracy in
larger things. And so, disparagement of the newspaper's reliability has come to be a sort of tenet in the professed credo of
the American public. That the public thinks more highly of
newspapers than it usually speaks of them is obvious to any
student of newspaper influence. The criticisms are shouted
from the housetops, the commendation is whispered in the
secret chambers of the mind, after the general manner of man.
The fact that the popular appraisement of the newspaper is
unjust does not dispose of the matter. The skepticism is there.




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


15


It blocks the road to the newspaper's objective-maximum
influence-and its removal is a matter of immense importance.
Giving the Devil His Due
Considering its multitudinous opportunities to make errors
and taking into account the conditions under which it is produced, a newspaper-almost any newspaper, great or small-is
surprisingly accurate.
One investigator, Lee A. White, carefully estimated the
number of chances for mistake in one issue of the Detroit News
-the statements of fact and the typographical hazards-and
reported that only one error was made to every 3,250 opportunities. This, he thought, gave a better percentage of accuracy to the newspaper, which gathers its data in a few hours,
than can be claimed by the historians who take a hundred years
to get things straight and then do not always succeed.
Another journalist of distinction, James Keeley, put the
matter thus:
In the hurry of getting out in eight hours a 100,000-word picture of what has occurred in twenty-four hours it is absurd to
imagine that in the 25,000 statements of fact in these 100,000 words
there should not be a mistake. I am not trying to cover with
a mantle of explanation every error that appears in a newspaper.
For some errors there is no excuse. The strength of a chain is
the strength of its weakest link, and there are defective links in
all chains. If there were none, there would be no railroad accidents, histories would not have to be rewritten, banks would not
fail, steamers would not wander from their course and go down
freighted with human souls. None of these things would happen
if orders were obeyed. There is a machine in the pressroom of
the Chicago Tribune which the inventor proudly asserts is "foolproof." The man who invents a "fool-proof" attachment for
humanity will be the greatest benefactor the world has known.
But I am afraid his footsteps are hardly audible in the halls of
Time-even to reportorial ears.
Ralph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World, has
described the problem as follows:
In a big newspaper office, in a night, 166,000 words are written
by about 2,000 different contributors, reporters, and correspondents;




16 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
some news comes in by wire, and some by telephone. The latter is
written by rewrite men, other news is brought in by reporters and
various news associations, and the whole mass is read and handled
in six hdurs by copy-readers, and greatly reduced and condensed.
It is put in type by linotype operators at a rate of sixteen words a
minute and printed at the rate of 120,000 papers an hour. This
fearful pressure, which the public demands, should make people
sitting comfortably at their breakfast tables a little more charitable than they are in flaying "the wanton inaccuracy of a reckless press."
And yet, although the case for the newspaper has a certain
plausibility, it makes more for forgiveness than for vindication.
The question remains as to whether its reasons are not mere
excuses. Evidently the number of opportunities for error
cannot be reduced except by changing the newspaper into
something else. But is it so certain that the conditions of
newspaper production cannot be improved? When a chef is
supposed to serve mushrooms but serves toadstools instead, is
he sufficiently excused by the plea that he had to hurry, or that
he could not tell a toadstool from a mushroom, or that somebody gave them to him for mushrooms? Isn't he supposed
to know?
Obstacles to Newspaper Accuracy
It seems desirable to look more closely at some of the active
enemies a fact has to dodge or overcome before it can arrive,
safe and sound, in the news columns.
Carelessness and Indifference
Both the news editor of the small paper and the reporter
on the larger paper come under the well-known terms of the
"human equation." They are not above taking a chance when
verification is difficult. And like all gamblers they lose at least
part of the time. And some, who seldom gamble, often blunder.
journalists sometimes give a fair imitation of the famous blind
men who went to "see" the elephant and were at variance,
because one felt the elephant's leg and thought the elephant
like a tree, another ran his hand along the elephant's side and
thought the elephant like a wall, a third took hold of the ele



FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


17


phant's tail and said the elephant was clearly like a rope, a
fourth touched the elephant's curling trunk and said the elephant was like a snake, and a fifth touched the elephant's tusk
and declared an elephant was like a spear. Even the best reporter has his "blind" spells.
Again, every newspaper office is infested by those imps of
perversity whose one aim is to muddle everything, including
the mind of the tired news writer. If the reporter puts a thing
down on paper in exactly the right terms, and if the copyreader leaves it as it ought to be and places the right heading on it, then the imps follow it to the composing room and
beset those who put it into type or slugs and those who read
the proof. And if all these assaults fail, success may attend
a last-minute attack on the make-up man, who learns early
in life all about the total depravity of a certain type of slug
which insists on getting itself transposed or turned upside
down or thrown into the "hell box" when the line ought to
be in the paper. It must be admitted that the imps contribute
much to the amusement of the reader. He is refreshed by
learning that a criminal has been "interred in prison"; that
a couple recently married "had both been widowed"; that some
inoffensive man has "been beaten in the rear of his establishment"; or that a wreck has been caused by the "failure of the
engineers to take on air used in the manipulation of the brakes."
But the amusement is at the expense of the dignity and prestige of the paper.
At the basis of all remedial measures for cutting down the
percentage of inaccuracy must be an appreciation of the worth
and dignity of a fact, as such, and of the mischief done by
even the most insignificant error. Then such office devices as
may suggest themselves may be used to promote vigilance and
to provide checks increasing the opportunities for detection of
errors.
"Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy," is the reminder posted in
some newspaper offices and in all schools of journalism. A
bulletin board on which attention is called to mistakes in the
previous day's paper is provocative of watchfulness by the
news staff. A system of demerits, or even fines, has been suc



18   THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
cessfully used. A rigorous policy of publishing corrections
emphasizes the seriousness of an offense against the truth.
Bias of Reporter, Editor, or Owner
Personal or institutional bias does not so much exclude the
unpalatable as it welcomes too warmly the palatable in the
news. For example, in the field of labor strife, whence arise
some of the bitterest accusations against the press, a careful
survey of news sent out by press associations, and of news
actually published, will usually show that an adequate amount
of information from the labor side, including statements by
labor leaders, is handled; but it is often overshadowed by the
greater mass of material emanating from the opposite side.
News unpalatable to the paper is sure to be scrutinized for
inaccuracies while the more savory kind is likely to pass unquestioned.
CASE.-The secretary of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People went to a southern state to
place before officials information concerning his organization,
with a view to forming local branches in the state. Without
apparent provocation, except prejudice, he was set upon and
beaten. Newspaper accounts, North as well as South, were
full of inaccuracies: "He had been warned by the judge to
leave town," and "He urged negroes to claim social equality
with whites," and "He had been inciting negroes to violence,"
and "He makes a living by inciting race feeling."
Comment.-In describing this case, Herbert Seligman, writing in the Nation, made this appropriate comment: "It is
unfortunate that the incident should have occurred, still more
so that it should have been misrepresented, most of all, perhaps, in that it represents a disposition to leave the approach
to race relations in the hands of a mob, many of whose leaders
occupy editorial chairs."
CASE.-An elaborate survey of the news from Russia appearing in a New York newspaper from March, 1917, to
March, 1920, made by Walter Lippmann and others, revealed
a high percentage of error.
Comment.-Some of the conclusions reached were: that




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


19


"the professional standards of journalism are not high enough,
and the discipline by which standards are maintained not
strong enough, to carry the press triumphantly through a test
so severe as that provided by the Russian revolution;" that
"certain correspondents are totally untrustworthy because their
sympathies are too deeply engaged;" and that "at critical
periods the time-honored tradition of protecting news against
editorials breaks down."
Ignorance on the Part of Journalists
When the necessity confronts a reporter of writing a story
dealing with news of science or art, no amount of painstaking
care can make up for lack of the background afforded by education, and not only the background but the processes of a
disciplined mind. The scarcity in the past of reporters with
any knowledge of science has damaged science and has cheated
the public. The scientists' distrust of the newspapers has
withheld from the public much interesting news, and this condition has reacted against science in the form of public indifference. In recent years a "Science Service" of syndicated
articles, edited by E. E. Slosson, has done something to supply
the lack; but nothing can take the place of the well-informed
reporter.
CASE.-A professor in a western university made an official
report containing a reference to the possible effects of a certain
drug on the human body. A reporter with no appreciation of
the absurdities of his deductions, and also, perhaps, with no
concern in a matter so idealistic, wrote a story about the "drug
that produces growth in the human body," and that would,
perhaps, "in the next generation create a race of giants." The
article was sent broadcast, at every re-publication acquiring
some new imbecility.
Comment.-The story did more than embarrass the scientist:
it was actually damaging to him; raised a prejudice against
the drug in conservative minds; added to the contempt in
which many scientists hold the press; misled the public.
But it was a standard magazine, not a newspaper, that told
not long ago of the "recent discovery of the giant star Betelguese."




20 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER,Errors by Informants
The most accurate person, as an observer and transmitter
of facts, is probably the scientist. Next to him comes the
reporter. He is responsible for many errors in the newspaper,
to be sure, but a large share of them originate with his "news
sources." An experimenter, testing the observational powers
of a class of university students, asked them how high was
the flagstaff on the university hall. One man said, "It is about
eighteen feet high"; another, "fifteen feet"; another, "twelve."
The f act was that the hall had no flagstaff.
The psychologist measures differences in observational
powers by enacting a scene before a group of people and then
comparing the reports made by all those present. Incredible
differences of opinion as to what took place are usually revealed. By contrast, a good reporter's accuracy in observation
appears in its true light as really exceptional. He can see
more nearly straight than anybody else; moreover, he has
learned to guard against his romantic tendencies, and he is
watchful of his prejudices. Given a newspaper that employs
such reporters and editors, and that has no objective but the
truth, and the public will be well served.
But the paper must exercise eternal vigilance against statements given to it by people whose only source of information
is rumor. Rumors from inaccessible sources, as, for example,
the many reports of the death of Lenin during the years
1917-23, may properly be printed as rumors, but surely not
as facts. The newspaper that is unwilling to attach a "rumor"
label to doubtful news invites discredit with its readers.
Even in formation from the most authoritative sources must
be subjected to scrutiny.
CASE.-The War Department distributed to the newspapers
a list of alleged draft evaders with the request that these names
be published. It was explained that the Department had two
purposes in view; namely, to obtain help in running down
actual evaders and to help clear the names of those listed as
evaders who were not evaders except possibly in a purely'
technical sense, it being assumed to be probable that many
names in the list were names of those who, after registering




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


21


in the draft, had volunteered for service without completing
the draft-law formalities.
When this list was presented to the newspapers, the question
had to be considered whether it was desirable to print the list
as given out, not to print it at all, or to deal with the matter on
some middle ground. Some papers printed the list as issued,
others refrained from printing it at all, and still others dealt
with it as raw news material to be investigated.
This last method of dealing with the lists was pursued by
the New York Times. It brought out the fact that many names
in the list were names of men who had entered one branch or
another of the military service, some of them serving with conspicuous honor. The results of these inquiries were included
in news stories in the Times setting forth that such and such a
man was listed as a draft evader but that inquiry disclosed
that he had gone into the Navy, or into the Aviation Service,
or into some other branch of military service, as the case
might be.
In some instances the evidence of service was fully convincing, whereas in other instances it rested on the unsupported
statements of members of the man's family or of his friends.
It was also found in some instances that men listed as draft
evaders had died after registering for the draft but before
being called into service; such men were listed as evaders of
the draft when their families had failed to file the proper notification with the draft authorities. In many cases, of course,
negative results were obtained in these inquiries, partly because
men who purposely evaded the draft gave a wrong name or
address, or both, in registering.
The investigation of the list required the service of a considerable number of men, each of whom was assigned to a
section of the list given out for publication from day to day.
The list eventually became so long that it was impracticable
to make inquiry concerning each individual name, but the inquiry
was made sufficiently extensive and carried on sufficiently long
by the Times definitely to establish the fact that the list of
alleged draft evaders included the names of many men other
than those who intentionally evaded their obligations to the
country.
In due course the War Department issued exonerations of
many men whose names were included in the list, but in most




22 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
cases, at least in so far as the early draft lists were concerned,
only after the Times and other newspapers that dealt with the
lists as news had disclosed the real facts concerning the services of these men.
Comment.-The work of investigation made it apparent that
the most casual inquiry on the part of the War Department,
through such agencies as it might have brought to its help,
would have disclosed that many names in the list could be eliminated before publication on the ground that they were not
the names of willful violators of the draft law.
Deception by Informants
Deliberate deception of the newspaper by outsiders runs all
the way, in motive, from the practical joke to insidious propaganda. The only phase of the matter requiring consideration
is propaganda, and that is treated separately as deserving
special attention in any survey of the problems of the press.
Speed
The greatest enemy of accuracy is speed. That men work
at maximum efficiency upder pressure is only a half-truth.
And the worst feature of the situation is that speed appears
in the guise of a patron saint of journalism. Sins committed
in that name have absolution in advance.
There are many fine maxims that place rapidity in a secondary position, such as, "The first paper to print the story
right scores a beat," or "It is still news until it is printed correctly"; but, after all, the supreme thrill in newspaper work
comes from the attainment of superior speed.
The basis for this apotheosis of one function of journalism
is valid enough: the public wants speed; competition requires
it. But the results, though often spectacular, are more often
demoralizing. The situation confronting the news desk has
been thus described:
Each issue of a morning paper contains from two hundred to
four hundred pieces of news. Each represents some problem to
be solved, each calls for some decision to be rendered. Custom and
office rules sit in judgment on the vast majority, but never a night
passes but some question is raised-and this question has to be




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION  2


23


decided in a hurry. The editor cannot sit down at his ease and
think it over. The f ast mail trains do not wait f or the man who
cannot make up his mind, and the subscriber who f ails to get his
paper with his oranges and oatmeal is apt to make a change.
Sometimes the man who has to say "Yes" or "No" will say "No"
when he should have said "Yes"-unf ortunately.
Much of the inventiveness of five generations has been expended in accelerating lif e, and rapidity of news dissemination
has been one of its most striking achievements. Steam and
electricity have been marvellously applied to news gathering
and newspaper production. The development of the modern
press, producing in an hour more papers than an early type
of press could turn off in a year, has been one f actor. The
perfection of composing machines, each doing the work of
several old-time "swif ties" at type-setting, has been another
f actor. A book would be required to describe the process of
evolution that has produced the newspaper plant of our day.
The human factor has likewise been perfected, but the nicety
of performance required for its part of the work is not promoted by too great haste.
Try as we may to appreciate the difference in conditions,
we can hardly suppress a f eeling of pity, bordering on derision, for the boasted achievements of early papers in Boston,
Philadelphia, and New York, which were able to print news
from Washington before it was two weeks old. Editorial
comment was often not more than six weeks behind an important event. The history of American journalism from that
time to the present is enlivened with stories of newspaper
enterprise manifesting an ever accelerating speed.
CAsE,.-A comparatively recent instance in which a newspaper went to considerable trouble and expense to satisfy intense public interest-and beat competitors-was described as
f ollows:
The St. Louis Star., in handling the story of the selective draft,
foresaw the demand for quick news on the draft lottery. It recognized that it would be almost impossible to compile and put in
type the numbers,- names, and addresses of all those who were




24    THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
drawn in the lottery at Washington if everything was held up
until the drawing started.
A force of thirty stenographers was employed to copy the draft
lists by wards, and as soon as this work had been accomplished
these numbers, names, and addresses were sent to the composingroom and set. After the proof-readers had finished, the names and
addresses of the men in each of the twenty-eight wards of the city
whose registration number was 1, were assembled on a galley
under the heading of No. 1. This was done on each of the numbers from 1 to the highest registration number, which was 4386.
In all, 85,000 names were set, requiring approximately 425
linotype hours, and tying up three tons of metal.
As soon as the first number was drawn and flashed over the
wire, all that was necessary to do in the Star office was lift from
the galleys all the numbers and addresses of St. Louisans whose
number corresponded to the first number drawn.
Within ten minutes after the first draft number was drawn in
Washington, the Star was on the street with a list of names and
numbers of St. Louisans who had been drawn.
An hour later the Star's noon edition, with thirteen columns of
draft names, was on sale. The first complete list of St. Louisans
drafted appeared in the Star at 2:10 p. M.
The work was handled in such an efficient manner that both
morning contemporaries saw fit to comment very favorably in
editorials.
Stories of such occasions in which journalistic speed trod
closely on the heels of Time have been recorded without number. Out of them a tradition of speed has been fabricated
-speed and scoops.
To-day a press association advertises, "Five real beats in
three days," ranging from two hours to a few minutes. Clients of one news-disseminating agency boasted that they printed
the news of a Japanese premier's death one hour ahead of
their competitors.
Such is the spirit of journalism-enterprising, admirable.
But it is not necessary to present examples in order to make
plain the cost of emphasizing one phase of an activity to the
point at which it becomes antagonistic to other and more essential factors. Speed as a fetish in journalism is malignant. It
is as dangerously antisocial as any other kind of speed mania.
The discount which newspaper readers have learned to make




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


25


on the early estimates of the numbers killed or injured in any
disaster is a commonplace. To be sure, the public demands
an early estimate, and when such figures are clearly presented
as conjecture, no fault is to be found; but too often the word,
"probably," seems not to be in the newspaper's vivid lexicon.
The license which the ordinary mortal exercises to exaggerate
when excited, does not extend to the journalist.
CASE.-A prominent practitioner of sensational journalism is
fond. of describing how one day, some years ago, the fact that
seismic disturbance had been previously reported from Messina
coupled with the report that communication with that city
had been interrupted, evidently by the breaking of the cable,
led his newspaper to announce that a thousand people had been
killed by an earthquake. The deductions made were: that
only a severe shock would break the cable; that at the hour
when the cable was broken the people were in their homes
asleep; and that since those homes were of stone construction,
the number of casualties would be great. All that remained was
to look up the figures on the population of the city and decide
upon the proper percentage of death. Thus "an expert, using
his best judgment, created a smashing story out of nothing but
the absence of any news."  And, as vindication for the proceeding, the news impresario tells how the reports which came
from Italy a day or two later bore out the improvised storyexcept that the number of dead reached a figure some hundreds
higher than the guess!
Commnent.-Little fault can be found with the employment
of guesswork if the reader is told in the heading and in the
story that he is getting conjecture and not verified fact. The
law of probabilifes does not permit the news gambler to win
all the time, as he did in the foregoing instance. When he
loses, journalism loses.
A refreshing instance of the policy calculated to inspire
public confidence was that in which the following paragraph
appeared in a story on the number killed in an earthquake
in Japan:
All these messages are being transmitted by the Associated Press
without vouching for their accuracy, realizing the difficulty in
obtaining exact information and the inevitability of excitement and
exaggeration accompanying such a disaster.




26 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CASE.-Very often a "scoop" is the result of intuition. It
is related that Delane, editor of the London Times, was sitting
at dinner one evening when the talk turned on climate and constitutions. "By the way," said Sir William Gull, "Lord
Northbrook was asking me to-day whether I thought the climate
of India would suit him."' That was enough for Delane: the
viceroyalty of India was vacant; next day the Times announced
that Lord Northbrook would be the next viceroy, and so it
proved. Delane was as clever as the other London editor
who stated that the government was about to appeal to the
country. He was absolutely right. No one had told him;
but he learned casually that a cabinet minister was clearing out
his pigeon holes.
Comment.-These are interesting instances in which intuition came off victorious. The history of journalism makes
small record of those in which it suffered def eat. That record
is f ound in the skepticism of the public as to newspaper statements of f act.
In one recent instance, however, history will probably take
note of the world-wide effects of the attainment of the maximum speed in reporting:
CASE.-Through a dispatch from France, sent by an American journalist, November 7, 1918, it was announced that the
armistice had been signed that morning and that hostilities had
ceased. A delirium of joy swept the United States. Disillusionment came the next day and four days of agonized waiting
followed, until the armistice was actually signed.
Comment.-Competent observers who have told the story
of the premature peace report have absolved the American
correspondent of personal blame. In fact a military officer of
high rank who permitted the report to reach the correspondent
took full responsibility in the matter. But a system in which
speed is the watchword seems to have brought discredit on
itself. The same report reached the English and French newspapers, but was handled with great conservatism. The consequences, historically, can never be appraised; but one observer, Arthur Hornblow, Jr., writing in the Century Magazine,
concludes:
President Wilson cast his important decision for an armistice
after he had witnessed the demonstrations of November 7, reliable




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


27


proof of the country's sentiment.... Who knows but what
a still fight-hearted American people might have cried loudly,
"On to Berlin," had not the sweet branch of the olive tree been
placed prematurely in their hands and found much, very much, to
their liking?
CASE.-A press association instructed all its correspondents
to see that the word, "to-day," appeared in the first sentence of
every story. Violent distortions were sometimes necessary to
attain this appearance of timeliness.
Comnment.-One critic professed that he expected, some day,
to read a dispatch like this:
New York. Jan. 1.-John Smith is still a corpse to-day, having
died at 7 P.M. last night.
CAsE.-Three city papers were ambitious to be first on the
street with the announcement of the verdict in a sensational
case. The verdict came. One of the newspapers was on the
street definitely ahead of the others in one part of the downtown district. The second paper was ahead in another quarter
of the down-town district. The third paper, the one that
was first to claim a beat, was minutes behind the other two at
all points. But all three papers printed claims of having
scored beats, and ridiculed the counterclaims of their opponents: the first paper, "As usual we presented to our readers
ahead of our competitors...,"   and the second, "Our
extra was on sale at all corners fifteen minutes in advance of
any other paper," and the third, "Again demonstrating its
supremacy when it beat the other papers to the street with the
first news of the verdict... "
Comment.-Many persons saw two, and some three, of the
papers. What happened to their confidence in the reliability
of these three newspapers and-much more serious-the reliability of all newspapers?
Speed in English Journalism
Sport is made of the slowness of English newspapers-those,
at least, that have not yet become "Americanized."    One
satirist, Frank W. O'Malley, formerly on the staff of the New
York Sun, writing in the Saturday Evening Post, has imagined
the sort of memoranda that a Park Row city editor, who had




28   THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
"inherited" Fleet Street, might leave for the night editor in
his paper:
Dear Clarke: Liveliest day we've had in months. Expected we'd
lead off to-morrow with the big fire in a shirtwaist factory in
East Twentieth Street, in which-so a friend just telephoned me
kindly from The Players-332 employes, mostly girls, were killed
in a few minutes. Unfortunately, however, the fire didn't start
until a few minutes after four this afternoon, or just when the
staff's afternoon tea things were being arranged on the desks by
Perkins and the office second man.
Tried my damnedest to persuade our new politics man from
London, young Hogan-Daffodil, to run up from Tammany Hall
to look the fire over, but he answered over the telephone he
specialized solely in statesmanship and, besides, was about to
toddle out into Fourteenth Street for his own dish of tea. Anyway, the rabble of our city, he said, would doubtless view the
conflagration at first-hand, and the rest of our readers would not
be interested in these incidents in the lives of the working classes.
Maybe you can lift a good fire story out of the first editions
of the other papers, boss.
Young Basil Maude-that Oxford lad who reads fortunes so
delightfully with tea-leaf dregs-almost got another crackerjack
light story while covering the Electrical Show at the Garden this
afternoon. The show's publicity man got Thomas A. Edison to
box three fast rounds with Marie Dressler 'safternoon, but just
as Battling Dressler was leading an opening hot one at Kid Edison's
jaw, Maude had to start back here to the office because of that
Fleet Street Union eight-hour law. As it was, the clock struck
five here just as he was whittling a new goose-quill pen and arranging his blotting-sand, so he had to lock his desk and go home
without writing anything at all. Lift it.
We'll have to lift the whole paper to-morrow, boss. The staff tells
me to-morrow is what they call a Benk Olidye-Whoopsuntide,
or something-and the whole damned outfit will spend to-morrow
in Brooklyn, punting on the Gowanus Canal. Pip-pip, old dear!
Yours in haste,
Mallon.
And Mr. O'Malley adds that "Fleet Street at this writing
is in a journalistic uproar-so I learn from London papers
that have just reached me-over Lord Carnarvon's excavations in the Valley of the Nile. The jolly old Times, I notice,
Las beaten the rest of the street to a frazzle. The Times an-,tounces boldly on its first news page that King Tut is dead."




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION  2


9


All of which is amusing and throws a desirable sidelight
on the subject under discussion, but is far from disproving
that strict subordination of speed to accuracy and truthwhether or not that accounts for English deliberation-is an
indispensible policy of reliable journalism.
Accuracy in the Heads
One of the ironies of the news columns lies in the fact that
at the very point where scrupulous accuracy is most needed
it is most difficult to attain. By all students of the newspaper,
the headlines are held responsible for most of the distrust of
newspaper statements. The technique of head-writing, making
it difficult to present always the shade of meaning justified
in the story, even if haste were not required, is the source
of some of the trouble. And the other enemies of accuracy
do their part to muddle things in the heads.
CASE.-A news story stated that friends of a man who had
committed suicide thought that his act had been partly the
result of a warning he had received to leave town. The heading said, "Fear of Ku Klux Klan Drives Man to Suicide."
Comment.-T his is an example of the most common of
faults in allowing the head to go further than the story warrants. Qualifying words and phrases have too great difficulty
passing through the eye of the needle.
CASE.-Speaker Champ Clark opposed the Tolls Bill sponsored by President Wilson. One heading over a story of fact
regarding a speech by Mr. Clark was, "Speaker Shows That
Wounds Received at Baltimore Have Never Quite Healed."
Another story chronicling the passage of the bill was headed,
"Wilson Wins by 86 Votes in Face of Final Attack by Clark."
Comm ent.-Examples of interpretive headings expressing
the bias of the paper. As one critic has said:
The majority of the readers of newspapers get their impressions
of the news of the day solely through the headlines. They read
the headlines, skip the editorials, and plunge into the vaudeville
section. Therefore, I take it as one of the responsibilities of the
newspaper to have the headlines reflect the real content of the
story and not the editorial comment. A man who is accused of




30 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
murder, or accused of anything else, is usually guilty in the headlines, although the story may be a plain and accurate statement
of fact. Unfair headline writing is a most flagrant and inexcusable
violation of the duty of a newspaper to the public.
Another critic, waxing ironical, approaches the matter thus:
Think what the present headline humorists could have done to
Lincoln's Gettysburg address if they had been actively at work
in 1863. "Cannot Dedicate Gettysburg Cemetery," we can imagine
them as having written in some rollicking mood. Or in another
and wittier vein they might have said: "Fathers Conceived and
Brought Forth New Nation, Says President." Supposing their
mirth had for the moment become a little irresponsible, what fun
to say "President Urges Stamping Out Rebels," or, "Measures
Needed to Increase Devotion to Union." One of these jesters
might even have read the first sentence of the address quite, quite
through, and have shared his discovery with the world in this
language: "Questions Whether All Men Are Created Equal."
Another of them could have found in the last sentence of the
address its true essence and nub: "Government of People by People
for People to Perish from Earth."
A statistically inclined investigator who examined a thousand
headings in thirty different newspapers found that one-fifth
of them were open to criticism. Seven per cent were inaccurate
and thirteen per cent were editorial.
Individual Expressions on Accuracy
The editor of a small-town newspaper, John Redmond of
the Burlington (Kansas) Republican, puts the matter about
as all his colleagues in the country field of journalism would
put it:
Safety First compels a country paper to be accurate and fair.
Too many people know the facts to let inaccurate news items get
by, and the people of the rural communities are too fair to stand
for unfairness, even in their favorite paper.
If the news writer will remember that what he writes is read
by his friends and neighbors, it is easy to stick to the straight
and narrow path, and this is especially true in a one-paper town.
In towns having two papers and the resultant factions, strict impartiality is much more of a problem, but it was the policy of this
paper when there were four other papers here, to write stuff on




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


31


the theory that ours was the only paper on earth, and therefore
should get it right.
Another country editor sets forth an interesting consideration:
In the daily grind of newspaper work, it does not occur to the
newspaper makers that the facts they set down in their columns
will be used as the information from which future history will
be written. In their daily rounds in search for news they do not
always think of the high value that will be put upon the files of
their papers in after years. Events of seemingly small importance
are recorded with no thought that those events may have a deciding value in the future. It is impossible to estimate at the time
it is recorded the exact value of any information that comes under
the observation of the careful news gatherer. It may seem insignificant and unimportant but the future may give it value.
So it happens every day with the newspaper maker, that in his
efforts to get the rush jobs off the press, to round up the belated
advertising, to get the type set and the forms locked up so that
the paper may get out on time, details that make for accuracy
are disregarded-the most important function of a newspaper is
overlooked. The newspaper maker should never forget that much
that the future will know of the present of his community will
be gathered from the files of his paper.
That exacting American publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, commented on accuracy as follows:
You do not know what it costs me to try and keep the World up
to a high standard of accuracy-the money, the time, the thought,
the praise, the blame, the constant watchfulness. I do not say
that the World never makes a mistake in its news columns. I wish
I could say it.
What I say is that there are not half a dozen papers in the
United States which tamper with the news, which publish what
they know to be false. But if I thought that I had done no better
than that I would be ashamed to own a paper. It is not enough to
refrain from publishing fake news, it is not enough to take ordinary
care to avoid the mistakes which arise from the ignorance, the
carelessness, the stupidity of one or more of the many men who
handle the news before it gets into print. You have got to do
much more than that. You have got to make everyone connected
with the paper-your editors, your reporters, your correspondents,
your rewrite men, your proof-readers-believe that accuracy is
to a newspaper what virtue is to a woman.




32   THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Group Judgments as to Accuracy
All journalistic codes commend accuracy. Typical examples
are the following:
From the Oregon code of ethics for journalism:
We will put accuracy above all other considerations in the written
word, whether editorial, advertisement, article, or news story.
From the canons of journalism adopted by the National
Association of Newspaper Editors:
Good faith with the reader is the foundation of all journalism
worthy of the name. By every consideration of good faith a newspaper is constrained to be truthful. It is not to be excused for
lack of thoroughness or accuracy within its control, or failure to
obtain command of these essential qualities. Headlines should be
fully warranted by the contents of the articles which they surmount.
Means of Promoting Accuracy
Several of the larger newspapers have, in recent years, set
up within their editorial organization an agency for the promotion of accuracy. Sometimes it is one man, sometimes a
group. It represents an effort to get away from the old hitor-miss methods under which inaccuracy seldom worried anybody in the newspaper office unless it led to serious results
in the courts; and anybody, from the office boy up, handled
complaints.
The Bureau of Accuracy and Fair Play, established by the
New York World in 1913, was the first department of the
kind and has been used to some extent as a model for other
papers. The reasons for such an undertaking were thus explained:
A good working majority of editors, reporters and copy-readers
are tried and true men, upon whom every reliance may be placed.
Accuracy is part of their religion. But some good men seem to
be naturally careless or reckless without realizing it. There will
always be found a small scattering of mediocre men, lacking in
ambition and enthusiasm, who are in constant need of bracing.
Then, too, there is always being "tried out" a minority force,
made up of raw recruits who are an unknown and uncertain quantity.




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION  3


33


The correspondents in the big cities are f or the most part picked
men, but there are hundreds of correspondents in smaller towns
whom the editor has never seen and knows only by a name written
in a book. Most of them are editors or reporters on local newspapers in their home towns, and the work they do as correspondents is to them a secondary consideration.
These and other patent considerations led to the establishment of the bureau. Its organization was announced in the
following notice to the staff:
By direction of Mr. Pulitzer, a Bureau of Accuracy and Fair
Play has been established under the immediate supervision of the
legal department.
Objects: To promote accuracy and fair play, to correct carelessness and to stamp out fakes and fakers.
All complaints involving these principles, received in any department of the World., shall in future be turned over to the Bureau,
these complaints to include libel actions, letters frorn attorneys
and others, complaints made in person at the World office.
Special attention will be given to so-called "harmless fakes."
These have done more, because of their frequency, to destroy
confidence in the newspapers and to detract from their influence
than all unintentional errors combined.
The Bureau will determine whether or not these complaints are
well founded, and if they are, who is responsible for the matter
complained of. It shall be the duty of persons responsible for
articles complained of diligently to aid in their investigation under
direction of the Bureau and to make a report in writing to be
filed with the complaint.
Corrections shall be published whenever fair play demands it,
as cor'spicuously as articles complained of, all corrections to be
passed upon by the Bureau before publication in order to prevent
any publication that might be used against us in the event of an
action for libel.
Persons held responsible for offending articles are liable to the
following judgments and penalties:
1. Deliberate faking, punishable by dismissal.
2. Gross carelessness or gross unfairness, or both, first offense
punish-able by from ten to thirty days suspension; second offense,
thirty to sixty days suspension or dismissal.
3. Carelessness or unfairness, or both, first offense punishable by reprimand and warning or by suspension for from two
to ten days; second offense, suspension ten to thirty days; third
offense, thirty to sixty days or dismissal.




34 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
A. Carelessness in addresses or in misspelling proper names,
punishable first offense by warning; second offense, suspension for
two days; third offense, suspension for three days; and so on in
arithmetical progression.
Whenever penalties are imposed notice thereof shall be posted
on the bulletin board with a statement summarizing the complaint.
How It Works
Reports as to the results of ten years' operation of the
bureau, and as to the influence of similar agencies in other
newspaper offices, show that the setting up of a standard stimulates a desire to live up to it. In his first report, Richard
Linthicum, of the World bureau said:
After the bureau had followed up a dozen or more errors upon
complaint of persons involved and had traced the errors to their
source through the regular method of requiring written explanations from the writer and copy-reader, there was a noticeable decrease in the number of such errors.
The number of errors that may be classified as involuntary misstatements has decreased steadily until they are practically nil.
Prior to the establishment of the bureau they were among the
most common errors.
Errors in names, which were not uncommon, because in many
instances sufficient effort was not made by writers to verify them,
are now rare.
A recent instance of the efforts for accuracy on the part of
editors as well as writers and copy-readers was a story founded
upon a rumor of a mysterious Sound steamer, name unknown,
alleged to be in great distress and passengers in danger. Other
papers printed the rumor, making it as sensational as possible,
with no known fact. The World., unable to verify it, did not print
the story. The rumor proved to be unfounded. There are almost
daily cases in which other papers print stories founded on rumors,
in which the rumor is exploded by the World in the same date of
issue.
Serious errors have declined to such a low number that they
are now the exceptional errors, those most subject to my criticism
being those that have to do with the technical work of news gathering, writing and editing.
A further result is seen in the evidence of increased confidence of readers in the accuracy and fairness of newspapers.
In a number of cases persons who had sufficient cause. for




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION  3


35


libel actions have written letters of appreciation for fair treatment accorded them in the correction of errors.
CAsE.-A woman had a colored maid arrested for the theft
of a ring. Later the ring was f ound in a bureau drawer. The
newspaper story, indicating that the ring had not been stolen,
aroused the indignation of the woman. Later it was proved
that the ring had been stolen and replaced. The paper printed
a correction. The woman's lawyer wrote:
I want to thank you for your action in the matter. It has done
considerable to change my opinion of the news columns of the
World.
As a result of her experience, my client had taken the attitude,
"I don't believe anything that I see in the papers." This attitude
I trust will now be changed.
Comment.-One such case amounts to little, but a consistent
fight for accuracy, day in and day out, year after year, produces a tremendous aggregate of good will, as the hundreds
of appreciative letters received by the World, and other newspapers following a similar policy, show.
Another result has been a reduction in the number of libel
suits, through fair treatment of the person injured and through
discouragement of a certain type of lawyer:
The bureau has made a practice of opposing attacks and complaints that have no merit. In the early stages of its operation
it learned that there are lawyers in New York who make a
specialty of stirring up libel litigation, and who seemingly are not
averse to representing criminals and otherwise disreputable
characters who sometimes bring suits on false and perjured complaints. A card index covering a period of more than twenty
years reveals the names of lawyers who have made a practice of
stirring up libel litigation, and whenever attempts are made to
recover damages in these cases the World has spared neither
trouble nor expense in fighting to the last ditch. As a result some
lawyers have been disbarred or suspended from practice, and
several notoriously crooked litigants have been sent to prison.
An interesting and unusual method of encouraging accuracy
is that employed by the St. Louis Star in sending questionnaires to persons mentioned in the paper, asking:




36 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Was your name spelled correctly?
If not, what is the correct spelling?
Was the street address correct?
If not, what is the correct address?
What statements in the article are inaccurate?
The practice was begun in 1920. Ninety-eight per cent of
the thousands of persons approached in this manner returned
answers. Frank W. Taylor, managing editor, declared that:
Through this medium we have been enabled to weed out habitually inaccurate or careless members of the staff. At the same
time it has served to break down the belief in the minds of thousands of citizens that a newspaper prints only wvhat it believes to
be of interest, regardless of facts.
During the Star's nation-wide disclosures of the medical diploma mill doctors, I obtained ample first-hand evidence of why
the public is justified in doubting the report in many newspapers.
Harry Brundidge, our star reporter, who at great personal risk,
laid bare the medical crooks, is scientifically careful in collecting
and writing his facts. To have seen his accurate, first-hand reports garbled and changed to suit the fancies or whims of what
certain editors and reporters regarded as the best selling news
angles of the situation, was to gain additional understanding of
why the public doubts the veracity of a large section of the press.
As a general commentary on the attitude of responsible
newspapers least appreciated by the public, the saying may be
quoted, that "For every four dollars such a paper spends in
getting a piece of news, it spends six dollars in verifying it."
The Fundamental Vi~rtue
An editorial in the Outlook presented the essence of the
matter and may well conclude this discussion of accuracy:
Each profession rests upon a fundamental virtue. Thus, as in
the minister the fundamental virtue is sincerity and as in the
soldier the fundamental virtue is courage, so in journalism the
fundamental virtue is truth-telling. Cowardice destroys the specific
value of an army. Insincerity destroys the specific value of a
church. So failure to tell the truth destroys the specific value of a
niewspaper, whether it is a weekly newspaper or a daily newspaper.
It is not to be understood, of course, that an occasional lapse




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION  3


37


from the truth, because of the untrustworthiness of some individual, or because of human fallibility, is necessarily fatal; but
habitual inaccuracy or mendacity-and the one, for all practical
purposes, is as disastrous as the other-deprives a newspaper of
the very reason for its existence. This does not mean that it
deprives the newspaper of existence, because, unfortunately, there
are newspapers that exist without any excuse.
Let us put it in another way: If journalism should become
saturated with falsehood, either intentionally or carelessly, the
whole profession of journalism would be as useless as an army
saturated with cowardice would be.
The policy announced by the editor of Publick Occurrences,
September 25, 1690, is worthy of any paper to-day:
Nothing shall be entered but what we have reason to believe is
true, repairing to the best fountains for our information. And
when there appears any material mistake in anything that is coblected, it shall he corrected in the next.
Newspaper Faking
There is a type of untrue story which deserves to be men--
tioned apart from those in which inaccuracy is either unintentional or is at least mixed with a fair proportion of accuracy. This is the deliberate piece of fiction known as the
newspaper fake. In its "pure" form it is void of a shred
of fact. Usually it is written or published without sinister
intent-the expedient of a dull day or a playf ul mood, or it
may be a space writer'S means of lengthening his "string."
Proof is not lacking, however, that fakes have been printed
in the interests of advertisers or to influence public opinion.
From the early days of newspapers to the present, the turgid but, in recent years, diminishing stream of deceptive writing
has contaminated journalism. Some examples from various
sources may be briefly summarized in order, by contrast, to
encourage optimism.
CASE.-By common consent, the most famous newspaper
hoax was that known as the "Moon hoax," perpetrated by the
New York Sun in 1835. "Discoveries" of human beings on
the moon were reported to have been made by Sir John Herschel. Public interest was intense for several days until a




38 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
rival paper pricked the bubble. The flimsy defense offered for
the f raud was that, "It appears to be as natural for the human
mind to be craving for the wonderful, the mysterious, the
marvellous, and the new discoveries, as it is for the physical
appetite to desire food."
Cornrnent.-Giving the public what it wanted-even before
that specious phrase had been coined!
Varied Styles in Fakes
A wrecked ship carried a cat which was rescued by the
crew. A reporter featured the incident. Reporters who did
not do so were reprimanded by their city editors. Other
wrecks were reported from time to time. All stories supplied
the ships with cats and had them dramatically rescued.
In connection with a series of "bread riots" a reporter hired
a half dozen "strong-arm" men to upset bakers' wagons in
order to furnish scenes for lively pictures.
During the Civil War, in May, 1864, a young journalist
palmed off on two New York newspapers a faked proclamation by President Lincoln, appointing a day of fasting and
prayer and calling 400,000 citizens to the army. The object
was stock jobbing.
Many people in New York were terrorized, November 9,
1874, by a lurid story of the escape of a lot of wild animals
from the Central Park "Zoo."
Many papers printed in good faith the story of how a
farmer's wife went out at dusk to meet her husband at the
edge of a wood, carrying her baby in her arms. Dimly she
saw her husband's form approaching the stile at which she
stood. She held out the child to him. He took it and, dropping on all f ours, ran off into the woods with the child. She
had handed her baby to a bear.
Faking Not Confined to Metropolitan Journalism
While the most notorious fakes have appeared in city papers,
their like blot the records of many smaller publications. The
incentive to faking is much less in small cities and towns,
however, because little revenue is derived from street sales




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


39


of papers and because the fact that everybody knows everybody else renders faking less easy. Sometimes a small town
fake takes the form of a practical joke on the public.
CASE.-A newspaper in a small city printed a story that a
Balkan princess was to visit the town in a few days. Her picture was printed. The public became greatly interested. On
the appointed day she arrived. A    procession was held.
Crowds lined the streets. She was entertained at a ball.
Some days later it became known that the "princess" was an
impersonator from another town.
Comment.-A harmless hoax in the eyes of some, perhaps,
but really far, far removed from the legitimate business of a
newspaper.
CAsE.-An investigator of newspaper history in the earlier
days of a western state has recorded scores of sensational
fakes written by newspaper correspondents in the frontier
towns. One was the story of the baby in the bored well,
printed widely in 1889. The country breathed a sigh of relief
when the baby was finally "rescued" on the third day after it
had slipped down the narrow hole.
Other similar yarns were: about the bride and bridegroom
who were killed by serpents; about the toy balloon which carried away a famous woman's diamond pin when she took into
her arms a little child holding the balloon; about a French count
who was imprisoned in a cave; about a spiritualist medium who
actually "raised" the ghost of Hamlet when a celebrated
Shaksperean actor came to the town; about the priest who
rode six hundred miles through a prairie fire to give absolution to a dying woman; about the freakish activities of tornadoes; about the homing rabbit that carried the news of an
Indian ambuscade; and so on without end.
Comment.-These stories have a delicious flavor when recounted years afterwards. The injury such fakes have done
does not always show on the surface and cannot be measured
with certainty; but they constitute a pernicious trifling with
the serious function of journalism and their amusing qualities
do not render them any less damaging.
CASE.-The class rooms of the University of Chicago were
invaded, some years ago, by sensation-makers who flooded the




40 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
public with fake stories in the fields of natural and social
science.
Comment.-All universities have suffered from the same
practice. The pseudo-scientific article was one of the earliest
creations of yellow journalism.
The special article has contributed much to the enrichment
of newspapers but it has also been the means of much unpardonable f aking.
The Press Agent Fake
Newspapers must be wary if they would not f all victims
to the clever press agent who is seeking f ree publicity for an
employer. Faking seems to be an essential part of press
agentry.
CASE.-At 10 o'clock at night, August 17, 1921, a carrier
pigeon f ell exhausted in Columbus Circle, New York City. A
policeman picked the bird up and took it to the West 47th
Street Police station, where he detached from its leg a message dated Wyoming, 8-13-21, signed by a man who was purported to be lost in the Hoodoo Mountains, Yellowstone Park,
and asking for help. The message asked that a certain New
Yorker be notified. The man named in the message was found.
He was a hunter and naturalist and he said that the lost man
was a naturalist and camera man. He also identified the bird
and said it was one of several the traveler had kept on the
roof of his hotel, three of which he took with him to the
Yellowstone.
The subconsciousness of the city editor of one paper told
him that this story was probably a fake, but there appeared to
be no way to verify his suspicions at that late hour of the
night. If it were actually true that this carrier pigeon had
flown from Yellowstone National Park with a message for
help and had fallen exhausted in a New York street, the paper
ought to publish the story and take steps to get help to the
man from some nearby point before he was starved to death
or died from exposure. He was about two thousand miles
away. How could the story be verified? If, as was suspected,
it was a fake, it was a press agent's story of some kind, intended to exploit some individual, and in that case should
not be published. What should the city editor do?




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


41


The man who handled this story looked up the flying records
of carrier pigeons and found that, in order to cover the two
thousand miles between the Hoodoo Mountains and New York,
the bird would have had to go farther in four or five days than
the best known flight, which took eleven days. Therefore this
journalist solved the matter by writing an amusing story about
it, pointing out the impossibility of the bird's making the
flight in that time. The next day it was proved that the whole
thing was a hoax by a press agent and that the original note
was a forgery. The deception was attempted without the
knowledge of the "lost" naturalist, for the purpose of advertising some lectures.
Most of the newspapers of the country printed the story,
giving the facts as reported by the police.
Comment.-Is it fantastic to desire effective legal remedies
for such impositions?
CASE.-Not long ago a newspaper, published on the Pacific
coast, used a full page to tell the public how a contemporary
was pirating signed sport stories that the former had printed
eight years previously. Apparently it proved its charge by
photographic reproductions of the stories it had printed beside those that its neighbor was then featuring. At the same
time, it definitely informed the public that the articles were
not originally written by the boxing personage whose name
topped them, but by its own sport editor. The latter information, needless to say, had not been given to the public eight
years before.
Comment.-A case in which the original faker was treated
to a dose of his own medicine and "squealed." Editor and
Publisher commented thus:
Why this elaborate, yet transparent, deception is necessary to
newspaper operation has never been explained. That the "signed
articles" by sporting figures whose names are household words do
make temporary circulation is certain; that the deception does the
public no harm may be admitted; that the cost of such material
when furnished by syndicates to a long list of newspapers is less
than that of matter of genuine service to the public may be quite
true. Yet, all of this admitted, in this busy world where gigantic
stories crowd one another off page one, is it necessary for the
newspaper to resort to petty lying to hold or gain a few hundred
or a few thousand readers for thirty or sixty days?




42 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Faking in the Interests of a Policy
Not the least reprehensible form of faking is that which is
perpetrated subsequent to the writing of the story-an offense
by the "higher-ups." Will Irwin, journalist and author, recently gave in Collier's, a typical example:
In 1920, I followed the Ruhr rebellion in Germany. At the insurgent headquarters near Essen, I associated with the correspondent for one of the most sound and conservative of London newspapers. We both remarked with amusement on the orderliness of
the whole proceeding. Though these men professed to be tearing
down the foundations of society, they did it, German fashion,
according to rule. Except for the guards on the street, the searching parties looking for arms, the curfew regulations, life in Essen
seemed to proceed much as usual.
One night two revolutionary soldiers did loot a shop. The shopkeeper complained. On the morning following, as I entered the City
Hall to call on the revolutionary minister of war, I stumbled over
the coffins of the two soldiers. They had been shot that morning.
My friend the Briton wrote a two-column story about the atmosphere of Essen, wherein he described with some humor this
anomaly of a German revolution. Two days later a copy of the
newspaper containing his story arrived in Essen. The paragraphs
describing the orderly conduct of the revolutionists had been cut
out. In their place appeared a hair-raising account of communist
atrocities in Essen. Had not the revolution collapsed a day or so
later, he would have been expelled.
Comtment.-An example from English journalism that unfortunately has its counterpart in America in cases in which
violent coloring is equivalent to out-and-out faking.
The "'Advance Story" Fake
No one questions the propriety of writing "advance stories"~
of approaching events provided publication is reserved until
it is certain that the event takes place as described.
CASE.-A preliminary hearing in a murder case was to be
held and the outcome was easy to foresee. A correspondent
sent an advance story to his paper. The paper printed the
story without waiting for a "release." The hearing was
postponed.




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


43


Comment.--The taste that many people have for ridiculing
newspapers was abundantly satisfied. The public resents
being deceived even when there is no malicious intent.
Faking Pictures
Nothing is easier than to misrepresent by means of a camera.
CASE.-A   famous woman returned from    Europe. Newspaper photographers were at the pier. She left the boat heavily
veiled. No pictures! But one photographer cut out the veiled
face in the negative and substituted the woman's unveiled face
from a photograph in the morgue.
Comment.-A fair sample of the exploits of "X-ray journalism."
CASE.-"As proof of an almost unbelievable state of barbarity in Mexico," a newspaper printed a picture from a photograph of seven children as they were being "driven into the
water, forced to hold up their hands and be shot in the back.
The tide carried their bodies away." An exposure of the
fraud showed that the picture was merely of "children in
bathing" and had been published as such in another newspaper
some years previous.
Comment.-The newspaper asserted that it had been imposed upon. A similar case, however, in another paper under
the same ownership, was the publication of a photograph said
to have been taken in 1919, and alleged to show Japanese
soldiers crucifying Koreans. The picture was afterwards
indentified as one taken in 1905 and showing the Korean
method of punishing bandits. The purpose of the fake was
said to have been to discredit Japan at the time of the Paris
peace conference.
Near-faking
There have been instances of faking which most journalists
place on the "permissible" side of the borderline between the
true and the false. One such was the following:
CASE.-An Eastern newspaper printed a detailed account
of the San Francisco earthquake and fire before anything more
than the most meagre dispatches were being sent out from that




44 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
city. It was the good fortune of the paper to have on its
staff a reporter who had formerly worked on a San Francisco
paper and knew that city thoroughly. A ten-word message,
therefore, saying that the fire had progressed to a certain street
was easy for him to translate into graphic description. He
knew the type of construction of the buildings in the different
districts, he knew their occupancy, and he knew the landmarks
that must have disappeared in the advance of the flames. He
wrote a "color" story that was the marvel of his confreres in
other offices.
Comment.-Obviously this is not in the same category with
most improvisations. It had a broad basis of verified fact.
Nevertheless, careful journalism might well take pains to present such stories in their true light and not as having been
written at the scene of the event. An instance of what too
often happens is given in the next example.
CASE.-A "Titanic extra" was put on the streets of New
York about the moment that the steamer bearing those rescued from the Titanic was being warped alongside of her
pier. The paper contained such "faked" description as the
following:
Stunned by the terrific impact, the dazed passengers, many of
them half-clad, rushed from their staterooms into the main saloon
amid the crash of splintering steel, rending of plates and shattering
of girders, while the boom of falling pinnacles of ice upon the
broken deck of the great vessel added to the horror. In wild
confusion men, women and children rushed about the saloons and
cabins of the great steamship as though driven -out of their
senses.... In a wild, apparently ungovernable mob, they
poured out of the saloons to Witness one of the most appalling
scenes possible to be seen.... For one hundred feet the bow
was a shapeless mass of bent, broken and splintered steel and
iron.... Then came the shudder of the riven hulk of the
once magnificent steamship as she slid back from the shelving ice
upon which she had driven and her bow settled deeply into the
water. "We are lost! We are lost!" was the cry that rose from
a hundred throats.
Comment.-The facts were that there was little shock in
the collision with the iceberg; that there was practically no
damage above the ship's water line; and that there was no panic.
What a lesson in skepticism for newspaper readers!




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION    4


45


The Rewrite Man
The usefulness of the rewrite man in the modern newspaper office, where speed demands that much important news
be received in more or less fragmentary form over the telephone, is sufficiently vouched for by the size of his salary.
But he presents a problem clearly recognized by careful journalists. Receiving, shortly before press time, a few meagre
facts about an important fire just discovered in the suburbs,
he writes a column lead from the standpoint of a close-up
observer. If the story "reads just as if he had been there,"
and turns out to be fairly in accord with the facts, the longdistance reporter receives praise and, perhaps, a bonus.
Unless abuses of the system are studiously excluded, its
hazards become a serious menace to newspaper credibility.
Press Association Denies Faking
The charge was recently made by a university lecturer that
cable news is usually expanded from a few key words: "The
cable news you read is not written on the other side, except
in rare instances. The cost of cabling such lengthy accounts
would be prohibitive. The news is sent in skeleton dispatches
of from eight to ten lines and is expanded by the rewrite men
into two columns of stuff."
Denial of this was made by a number of newspapers and
press-handling agencies. The general manager of The Associated Press, Frederick Roy Martin, published an extended
refutation of the charge from which the following are excerpts:
The statement that dispatches come in skeletonized form of a
few lines and are then expanded to columns is a popular delusion
of those who have not kept abreast of the modern development in
intercommunication, cable, telegraphic and wireless.
So far as this organization is concerned there is practically no
use of skeletonized or coded messages. The cable dispatches as
received in the office are in plain text, without any coding. Coding
represents loss of time at both ends, in coding and decoding, and
will not do for news dispatches requiring promptness. Also there
is no skeletonizing which would obscure the plain meaning.




46 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The only omission is a few small words like "the," "and," etc.,
where the meaning is perfectly plain, and which in no way obscures
the plain context of each sentence and line, and of the dispatch as
a whole. Even the punctuation is indicated by the word "stop" in
everything essential. There is no capitalization, as the cable brings
the words in one unvarying form. One of the chief purposes of
the editor is to supply this mechanical omission of capitals, and a
few small words., and thus change the raw material into a finished
product which will give a smooth running story, conforming
rigorously to the cable text in all essentials.
Take, for example, the cable received on the first day of a recent
month. The actual word count showed 10,119 words of cable and
radio received in this office-about six or seven columns of ordinary
newsprint. And this was in fact what we supplied the newspapers
that day, the only additions to those 10,119 cable words being small
words, capitalization, and smooth run of sentences and paragraphs
to make a finished out-put.
Also, now and then, "dash matter" of a biographical or explanatory nature is given to make clear the text, but this is always given
under a dash to indicate clearly it is not cable.
Similar in principle to the practice, when such practice exists,
of faking cable news, is that of falsifying the route of the news.
In the interests of apparent authenticity, the date line of a story
is faked to misrepresent the point of or 'igin of the news. The
only acceptable excuse for this practice is that the reporter writing the story, or the person giving the story to a reporter, came
directly from the place named in the date line. But really, why
handle pitch at all?
A closely related form of faking is changing the date of news
received by mail and printing it as telegraph matter.
The "Education" of a Newspaper Faker
Ralph Pulitzer has thus described the "Fake's Progress":
The philosophy of faking is worth your attention. The tendency to fake usually begins in some trivial story of a broadly humorous character in which the writer embroiders a comical situation
with additionally ludicrous exaggerations which make no pretense
to being anything but imaginative. You cannot lay your finger on
anything definitely wrong about this story, since it gives its facts
faithfully enough and brands its fiction so frankly that no one can
be deceived.




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION


47


The only thing wrong about it is that it is apt to be the first step
to worse things. For the writer, congratulated on the brightness
of this first story, will, possibly, on the next occasion, write a
story equally funny, be equally frank in admitting it to be partly
the fabrication of a comic fancy, but a story in which the facts
and the fiction blend so together that the reader cannot be sure
where the one ends and the other begins. Such a story has crossed
the line which divides the enjoyable from the reprehensible. But
they say it "does no one any harm" and is exceedingly droll, and
a managing editor with a keen sense of humor is very eager to
get out a bright paper, and so in it goes.
Now, the writer's next literary effort is apt to be one in which
the humorous facts constitute the merest rudiments of the story,
and the story itself as a work of comic fiction could stand unsupported, even if what few facts there were were removed. And still
those responsible for that story's being in the paper may ask a
critic what conceivable harm that story did any one. And at first
you can't point to any one that it hurt. But a moment's thought
will show you that while this story hurt no one that it was about,
it did hurt several other persons and one institution. It injured
the reporter who wrote it, the city editor to whom he reported it,
the copy-reader who edited it, the managing editor who printed it
and the newspaper which published it. It hurt these men by insidiously dulling the keen edge of their sense of accuracy, and it
injured the paper by injuring them. For that particular reporter
is now ripe to apply the same methods to writing a serious story
about serious people and serious events, and instead of using his
fancy for the broadening of humor we shall find him using his
imagination for the heightening of tragedy, the deepening of
pathos, the sharpening of the dramatic. And still on certain
papers you will find the excuse that these stories "do no one any
harm." And the men who make this excuse do not seem to
realize that any harm has been done when the general public uses
the term "newspaper story"-which should be a synonym for
facts-as a euphemism for a lie.
The next step in this Fake's progress is the descent from embroidering untruths on a background of serious facts to fabricating a serious story out of the whole cloth without a single fact to
base it on, but using real persons for characters. About on a
level with this last perpetration is the cynical "stunt" which a
very few papers encourage and a few have condoned where the
reporter, if he cannot find that a good story has happened, actually
hires people to make it happen, let us say to shoot up a saloon in
a gang war that has grown lean of news, or to hang a prominent
employer in effigy in some strike.




48 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The last step of our reporter, now grown hopelessly irresponsible, unscrupulous and cynical, is a fake that bespatters some
honest man's character, or besmirches some virtuous woman's
reputation, which ruins spotless lives and leads innocent people
to self-inflicted deaths. The reporter who has sunk to this depth
of degradation might just as well be a murderer; in fact, there are
a good many honest murderers whose hoots he is unworthy to lick.
But fortunately at this point the libel law, which might well have
become effective considerably sooner, is very apt to take a hand in
the game, and although our present criminal libel laws have been
able to send all too few newspaper crooks to jail, yet heavy money
damages are likely to visit a partial retribution on the offending
paper, and when the pocket nerve, which is the nearest approach
to a conscience which such a paper possesses, begins to ache,' the
reporter who lost this paper some of its money is apt to walk
the plank. And there you have the whole progress, from the bright
little flight of the imagination that was so laughable and harmless,
down to the criminal piece of work that wrecked innocent
lives, brought a rotten reporter to final ruin-and lost an unscrupulous paper a fraction of its ill-earned dividends.
An Evil Exposed Is an Evil Half Conquered
There is one good thing about faking-it is no secret! Many
of those responsible for fakes have been unable to resist boasting of their exploits. Many others have suffered exposure.
"Faking as a Fine Art," was the heading of one typical confession printed in an American periodical and narrating the
deeds of "the greatest newspaper faker in history" who for
years "filled an eight-page Sunday feature section with stories
having little foundation in fact." How much of this article
was itself faked has not been divulged. The only ground on
which systematic fraud of the sort described can be condoned
is that it is not really f raud because the public has been deceived
so much that it knows better than to believe anything it sees
in the f eature section of a Sunday paper. Rather low ground
on which to try to build a substantial policy!
Even those who are none too optimistic about journalism
must admit that as regards out-and-out f aking the improvement in sentiment and practice in newspaper offices has been
marked. Items like the following which appeared in the press
dispatches one day in 1924 give evidence of a healthy condition:




FACT IN THE NEWS-AND FICTION  4


49


The 17,000-ton floating cabaret ship reported to be anchored
beyond the 12-mile limit off New York, and to have been the
scene of hilarious drinking parties, was admitted to-day to be a
myth.
The New York Herald- Tribune., which first printed the news
concerning the imaginary ship in a copyrighted article, announced
the discovery was a reporter's dream and that the reporter had
been dismissed from the staff of the newspaper.
Use the imagination? Yes. As H. J. Haskell, of the Kansas City Star has put it, "The same sort of use of imagination
that the great business man employs. It is imagination that
shows where news is and makes it easy f or the reporter to see
the possibilities of a good story." But he adds, "no self -respecting newspaper can tolerate f aking or misrepresentation on
the part of members of its staff. Faking is precisely on a par
with short weights and adulterated goods. Nothing can do
more to injure a reporter than for his paper to learn that he
is careless and unreliable. Deliberate faking is cause for discharge. Honesty is the governing policy in newspaper work."




CHAPTER III


TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES, DISTORTION AND "COLOR""
Accuracy in the news has to do with details: truth, with those
larger problems of selection and proportion and perspective
which determine the general impression made on the reader.
Accuracy is one means towards attaining truth, but it is a comparatively elementary matter, like correct grammar, while the
other essentials to truth are often so difficult as to be baffling.
A photographer goes out to take a picture in a strike district.
He can not get the whole district into one picture nor a dozen.
His first problem is that of selection. If his sympathies lean
either way in the conflict, he will need to guard against selecting subjects which give a distorted impression of the existing
conditions.
If he goes deliberately about it, he can "make a case" for one
side or the other without difficulty. Perhaps the workmen may
be decently housed, but he can find at least one hovel to give
the impression of squalor. Perhaps the strikers may be orderly,
but he can find at least one thug to pose as a leader.
Even if he is free from prejudice, his judgment will often
be at fault.
Similar to the problem of selection is that of emphasis. If
in taking pictures of the crowd around the entrance to the industrial plant involved in the strike, the photographer poses
policemen in the foreground, the impression is that of law and
order triumphant. If a few angry strikers are in the foreground, and the police only slightly in evidence, the impression
is that of impending trouble.
Even if he tries to be fair, our photographer will be able
only to approximate the truth.
If to the difficulties of the photographer in getting a true picture of conditions as they exist at one point in time is added the
50




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES


51


Herculean task of describing truthfully the progress of events
and their present trend, taking into account the maze of causes
and effects, the points at,issue and the objectives sought, we
have the situation as it confronts the reporter. Small wonder
that, even with the most complete detachment from personal
interest, he can tell only a part of the truth. Responsible
journalism does its utmost to approximate the truth closely.
Its reporters make an honest effort to discard bias. Its news
editors are slow to change, either by selection of what is to be
printed or by emphasis in the lead or the heading, the general
impression sought to be conveyed by the man who writes of
things he has seen.
Distortion of the News
The cynic has abundant grounds for his assertion that it is
everybody's natural disposition to warp things in the telling.
Partly it is sheer inability to see straight, partly it is the human
instinct to tell as good a story as possible, partly it is the effect
of prejudice. The appalling distortions of rumor are notorious.
To "dispel rumor" was given as one of the purposes of the
earliest newspapers. Even a dozen persons playing the "repetition game" can not transmit a statement from one end of the
line to the other without distortion.
In a newspaper which is careless, or one which is unprincipled in its efforts to advance its owner's interests or its ad.
vertiser's interests or any other special interest-in such a
newspaper the truth has little chance. It is so easily adulterated
that the process lacks even the distinction of being clever. It
is usually a simple matter of selection or of emphasis in lead,
heading or position.
Distortion by Selection
It would be ludicrous to expect journalism to give a complete picture of world events or even a perfect record of the
news in one city. Too many things are happening. The size
of newspapers is already too great to fit the leisure of the reading public. Selection of what to print is a major activity in
any newspaper office. In many offices much less matter can be




52 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
printed than must be discarded, even of the news actually
brought to the desk by reporters, news associations, syndicates,
and publicity agencies. And that which is actually brought to
the desk is only a small fraction of the potential news matter
waiting to be gathered.
When this task of selection is performed in the professional
spirit, with an eye for the truly significant and a sense of social
values and truth of impression, the newspaper is approximating
its ideal as a vehicle of intelligence; when it is otherwise done
the newspaper is guilty of unfairness and of misleading its
readers.
CASE.-Two newspapers in a large city were on opposite
sides of a fight over the police administration. The paper
that was defending the police department officials printed an
account of every arrest made, recoveries of stolen goods, and
orders for greater diligence on the part of the police force.
The lead of one lengthy article was as follows:
There is to be more vigor than ever instead of letting down.
That was the information of police heads given to one hundred
seventy-two men and women in the show-up at headquarters today.
The number in the show-up to-day probably was the largest in
the history of the department. Those arrested ranged from exconvicts to ordinary vagrants, caught in the police drive Saturday
night and Sunday.... Two important arrests in the annual
clean-up made by the police yesterday lead to the belief that the
perpetrators of a score of robberies that have occurred this month
will be apprehended.
The paper that was leading the attack on the police selected
for its columns all the news it could find about infractions of
law, even to printing a summary of thefts reported each day.
"Bandits take heavy toll in week-end lootings," was the scare
head over a list of fourteen cases of thievery, by no means a
large number f or such a city, but likely to impress the reader
because such minor cases are usually entirely ignored as being
too trivial to mention. One of its articles was headed, "Price
on deserter but cops shun him," giving the impression of
dereliction on the part of the police, whereas the story itself
did not bear out the head.




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES     5


53 -

Comment.-Perhaps those persons in the community who
saw both papers were able to discover the truth concealed in
the mass of contradictory facts, as a jury gets at the truth
in conflicting testimony, but it seems a pity that some newspaper in that town did not make the discovery that by printing
the news fairly it could, make itself the one indispensable
source of information.
CASE.-We have been carrying on a fight here to make the
school board independent of the control of the city council.
It has been a very bitter fight. Most of the newspapers have
been taking the part of the council. One or two have been
indifferent. We have vigorously championed the school board.
A bill was introduced to give the school board a definite
percentage of the total city tax revenue each year, thus ending all bickering as to what amount should be expended on
public education and all the guerilla warfare over individual
items in the school budget. There was a public hearing on the
bill which developed into a most interesting and hotly waged
debate. The newspapers opposed to the school board ran
columns of the speeches of the opposition and one or two
lines saying that the friends of the bill also spoke. We did
not go quite that f ar but we did begin our story by quoting
the speeches of the f riends of the bill and then wound up
with a half column of what we believed to be a f air summary
of what the opponents attempted to state.
Comment.-An example of the almost universal unfairnessin greater or less degree-in selecting what to print about
the "opposition." Few observers of newspapers, however,
doubt that the better policy of giving both sides of a question
in the news columns is gaining f avor with editors under pressure of criticism. The amazing stupidity that seeks to build
influence f or a newspaper by destroying confidence in the
newspaper's reliability is giving place to a better-reasoned
policy.
CAsE.-A reporter of the Jewish race employed on a large
newspaper owned by a Jew covered the graduation exercises
of a university having a large percentage of Jewish students.
The principal speakers on the commencement occasion were
of the same race. The reporter, by conscious or unconscious
selection, built up an article having a decided Jewish bias,




54 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
beyond the requirements of the bare facts of the case. The
city editor said: "This paper is owned by a Jew, but it is
edited for the general reader. Take the color out of your
news story."
Comment.-Unlike the preceding two cases, the coloring
of this story began with the reporter, either as a result of personal bias or in the belief that he was pursuing an office policy.
The reporter is human. As some one has said, it is difficult
for him to write an unbiased report of an interview which
ended with his being thrown down stairs. But the best reporter can come near it.
CASE.-A newspaper which favored the "sane" Fourth
selected for publication all items regarding casualties from
explosives and fireworks.
Comment.-In this instance there was no suppression of one
side of the question in favor of the other side. The facts
selected for publication were not controverted by other facts
not selected. Fairness was not involved. The paper merely
let the public know as much as possible about a situation. Support of a policy in this manner seems entirely equitable. Numberless instances of the kind might be recorded. A newspaper
favoring the abolition of grade crossings on railroads printed
every item it could get as to accidents at such crossings. Unfairness could hardly be charged on the ground that the
paper did not print the opposing fact that many persons got
across such crossings alive. Practically all newspapers have
pet policies of this sort. Their reporters and correspondents
are aware of them and act accordingly. Such policies are
not to be mistaken for "sacred cows." They are perfectly
proper objects of the newspaper's interest. The journalist
who can not distinguish between promotion of this sort and
advocacy in which unfairness is practised by selective suppression has too dull a discrimination to be a journalist.
CASE.-A newspaper started out to "make" a man politically.
It selected for publication every item that could be written
about the man's public activities and some that were of a personal nature calculated to build popularity.
Comment.-Such methods of "boosting" lead inevitably to
the "manufacture" of news. Friends of other aspiring men
will, in a case like this, be quick to note disproportion in




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES     5


55


what pretends to be an unbiased reflection of the day's events.
They sense the unfairness of it. A newspaper is safer in
public esteem if it confines its advocacy of men largely to the
editorial columns.
Distortion by Emphasis
The chief means of emphasizing a story in a newspaper are:
by emphatic headings; by position in the page and in the paper;by amount of space given; by illustrations; by the use of wide
measure, large body-type, extra leading. Through these means
an item can be raised from obscurity to dominance, as is exemplified daily in the press of any large city. One paper treats
a crime of some sort as a mere incident; another flashes it before the public at the top of the f ront page. That one editor's
judgments of news values will differ radically from another's
is inevitable. Such differences do not bring either man's procedure within the meaning of the word, distortion. The determining factor is the underlying purpose. If this is greater
justice, more truth, larger social benefits, the emphasis or the
subordination, as the case may be, is not to be questioned on
ethical grounds.
CASE.-Shortly before a recent national election, a widely
known political correspondent in Washington was commissioned
by a number of newspapers to write a prophecy of the outcome,
for publication on the eve of election day. He did so, prophesying a landslide for the Republican Candidate for President.
Papers on both sides of the contest received the article.
The emphasis given in most cases was typical, that is, the
Republican papers "played it up," the Democratic papers
"played it down." One metropolitan paper, however, exemplified true professional standards, in accordance with its
fine traditions. Though Democratic, it gave the discouraging article half the front page, a prominence which its authorship demanded. On the editorial page in the same issue it
printed one of the strongest editorials of the campaign, favoring its candidate.
Comment.-A newspaper which resists the daily temptations to distort by emphasis, thereby demonstrating the ideal
of strict separation of the news function of giving inform



56 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
mation and the editorial function of interpretation and
persuasion is a guaranty of better journalism.
CASE.-A great newspaper in a city of the Middle West
has a conservative style of displaying the news. No black
heads are used unless the news justifies their use. A mere
glimpse at its front page tells the reader whether or not the
day's news has anything in it of transcendent importance.
Only an event of the first magnitude such as the death of a
President or the beginning or end of a great war receives
more than a one-column head. But ' the paper makes one
kind of exception to its almost scientific grading of news
importance. A story which supports one of its major policies
receives as bold display as a dispatch covering an event of
world-wide significance.
Commnent.-The question involved is that of point of view.
In the opinion of the newspaper referred to, a movement to
promote river navigation in its territory is of more significance
to its readers than a fire in Philadelphia, a ship subsidy bill,
or a catastrophe in Japan.
From a world point of view this may not be true. But
every newspaper, great and small, necessarily and properly
puts home interests first. The consequent placing of emphasis seems not inconsistent with the requirements of fairness
and truth. It goes almost without saying that an editor needs
to know where to draw the line, that is, he needs to be a
responsible journalist.
CAsE:.-Many newspapers consistently "play up" antisocial news. Most newspapers emphasize wealth and social
prominence. All newspapers know that "the burning of a
bridge is bigger news than the building of a bridge."
Comiment.-Washington Giladden, the distinguished Ohio
clergyman, has given a fine summary of the "great and worthy
tasks of American journalism." Two paragraphs in it perfectly set forth the newspaper's responsibilities in these
matters:
To hold the popular judgment firmly to the truth that character
and manhood and not money and popularity are the central values
of human existence, and:
To turn the thoughts of men more and more f rom the negative




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES


57


virtue of detecting and exposing the evil to the positive virtue of
discerning and praising the good.
"Coloring" News by Choice of Words
Tampering with the truth by means of words and phrases
conveying innuendo is a common practice. It is also easy. Indeed, very few words are colorless, and an absolutely colorless
statement of a fact is not always possible. Sticking to the cold
facts is easiest for the writer with the largest working vocabulary, other things, such as sincerity of purpose, being equal.
CASE.-A report of a meeting of business women to object
to the activities of the industrial court of Kansas as directed
towards the regulation of women's employment was a colorless
statement of the proceedings except as to the first word in the
story. "Even the business women are objecting.." was
the opening of the lead.
Comment.-An example of innuendo which may not have
been intentional.
CASE.-A woman testifying in her own defense in court
was reported as "brazenly telling the jury.."
Comment.-A clear    implication that she was a shameless
person and perhaps a perjurer. This method of coloring a
story by the choice of adverbs or adjectives is as common as it
is easy. Nothing but eternal vigilance by reporters and copy
readers can prevent it. In some cases it is defended on the
ground that the assertions are true. But careful distinction
between facts and opinion usually transfers such words from
the news columns to the editorial page. In the same category
are a multitude of nouns utilized for innuendo, for example,
the term "boss" as applied to a man who would be a "leader"
if on the newspaper's side of the issue. The verbs also lend
themselves to creating a false impression. We read that a man
"under fire" of some sort slunk from the room, or perhaps,
stalked or sauntered or strode or ambled or tottered, when as
a matter of fact he merely walked.
Such criticism as the foregoing does not mean that description should be lifeless, but that it should be as true as it is
vivid.




58 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CAsE.-In an account of a meeting addressed by a woman
working for the "Labor Defense Fund," we are told that,
"Several patrolmen appeared, but the meeting was not interrupted. The police had threatened a raid if she made
seditious statements. But the speaker adroitly evaded illegal
utterances. She spoke of the beautifully ideal conditions in
Russia, and of trust-ridden America, but did not explicitly declare Russia should be taken as a model for America."
This reporter doubtless exercised considerable restraint. He
refrained from telling the reader that the woman "evaded"
any direct appeal for the assassination of the mayor and
council, and that she "did not explicitly declare" that the
women of America should be nationalized. Unfair reporting
is a poor method of discouraging radicalism.
CASE.-A statesman explained that his authority did not
cover a matter pressing for settlement. The reporter described him as "passing the buck."
Comment.-A figure of speech is an aid to graphic expression but sometimes contains unwarranted editorial connotations.
"Grinds Out an Attack," "Waits at the Listening Post,"
"Shouts from Florida," are similar examples.
CAsE.-The public was interested in the question as to
whether or not a certain United States senator/intended to
be a candidate for re-election. One night, after a public meeting at which there had been four hours of speech-making, he
was invited to a social affair. The report said:
Did the Senator plead weariness and the need for repose? He
did not. He hastened to the jubilee, reaching the hall between
one and two o'clock. He was hailed with acclaim by friends and
made an impromptu address of felicitation for all present, and then
joined heartily in the festivities. He shook hands warmly with
the fathers, beamed upon the mothers, bestowed endearments upon
babies in arms and bounced the children on his knee and romped
with them.
But the thing that convinced politicians that he would fight to
hold his seat in the Senate was the fact that he fox-trotted with
several stout ladies, and was going strong at this at two-thirty.
Comment.-It is easy to guess where this newspaper stood;
but the satire is good-natured and it would be hypercritical to
object to the color in the story, though the presence of so




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES     5


59


many children at an a fter-midnight f rolic, even to oblige a
candidate f or the Senate, seems unwarranted.
The same can hardly be said of the following dispatch, almost identical in tone, but aimed at law enforcement and
therefore hardly to be regarded as harmless:
So freely was whisky manufactured in Seltzer City, two miles
from here, that police say even the cows and chickens were drunk
from the mash dumped in numerous piles.
County detectives headed a raid in which stills were seized and
liquor destroyed. No arrests were made, as so many were engaged
in the manufacture of whisky that the Schuylkill county jail would
not hold them. The officers also gave consideration to 'the plea
of miners, who declare whisky is the only thing which cuts the
mine dust out of their throats after a day's work, but the miners
were warned that even for this purpose the whisky must be obtained on a doctor's prescription.
The largest manufacturer of illicit liquor was a widow with
five children dependent upon her. She pleaded in vain with the
officers not to take her still.
Quoting a Phantom Authority
Nothing is easier than to inject editorial color into a news
story by quoting the opinions of "a well informed official," or
"one who did not care to have his name used,'' or "~most people
who are in position to know the inside of the matter." A discriminating reader is not influenced by unidentified authorities
nor by "undocumented" statements, but what proportion of
readers is discriminating? There are, of course, instances in
which highly significant statements can be given only by observing anonymity., It is desirable that they be received by the
reader without skepticism. That is one of the reasons why a
newspaper should refrain from a careless use of quotation
marks or the dragging in of "the general belief."
Out-and-Out Opinion in the News
Few newspapers tolerate direct editorial utterance in the
news column. They make a sharp distinction between "interpretation" and editorial opinion. It is difficult to appreciate
the difference. In fact if either were to be countenanced, the
less subtle would be the less objectionable because it would be




60 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
more easily detected by the reader. Artful coloring of the news
-commonly known as "poison"~-is intended to catch the
reader off his guard, and usually succeeds. A paragraph of
editorial comment stands openly for what it is, and the reader
takes it for what he thinks it is worth.
CASE.-A report of a speech contained this paragraph:
The address, which was announced as one of "facts," was made
ridiculous by the retraction of one statement and the evasion of
another.
A story about a police raid concluded with the statement:
Anarchy is the natural result of such high-handed methods of
the police in arresting and bringing innocent victims into court.
Comment.--Jf a newspaper saw fit to print an editorial
following or preceding a news article, no objection could be
made on the ground of truth or fairness; but the utility of an
editorial page would, of course, cease if the practice were
carried to its logical limits.
Color in the Heads
Whatever may be said regarding editorializing in the news
columns applies with as much force to the headings as to the
stories themselves; indeed, with more force since readers in so
great a proportion get their information largely from the
headlines.
Excuse is made f or the head lines on the ground that the
mechanical difficulty of fitting words between inelastic column
rules compels more regard for the length of a word, sometimes_.
than for its exact shade of meaning. The excuse is seldom
more than an excuse-unless speed is to be accepted as the
newspaper's supreme aim, and the employment of uneducated
copyreaders as a justifiable economy.
The Public Demand for Unadulterated News
It can not be too emphatically stated that charges of unfair.ness uttered against newspapers by persons who appear in the
news can seldom be taken at their face value. A scrupulously
uncolored report of a poiitical me1-eting suits neither side. Ben



TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES


61


jamin Franklin's test of an impartial newspaper was that both
sides in a controversy condemn its reports as unfair. Nevertheless, the journalist who takes refuge behind this fact in
defense of practices which his own conscience questions is not
as honest as his profession requires. The public is often right
in its criticisms. Its distrust of biased news is justified in too
large a per cent of cases.
The Complaint Made by Labor Leaders
Perhaps in no field is the charge of news distortion so often
made as in that of industrial controversy. The advocates of
the interests of labor express entire lack of confidence in the
verity of the news in what they denominate the "capitalistic
press." Upton Sinclair's "Brass Check" is a voluminous mass
of more or less convincing evidence from the "radical" standpoint. He has left it to others to point out similar unfairness
by labor organs and socialistic newspapers. Responsible journalists do not contemptuously dismiss such charges without consideration. They recognize that journalism has no greater task
than to give the public all the truth that can be found about
conflicting interests underlying class antagonisms. The main
hope of better social and economic conditions lies in a wellinformed public opinion.
CASE.-A story was published in the entire press of the
country to the effect that a patriotic parade in Centralia, Washington, had been attacked as it passed Labor headquarters,
a bloody riot resulting. The facts as afterwards established
seemed to be that the Labor headquarters were raided and the
laborites beaten and shot.
Comment.-Those who speak from      the standpoint of the
labor organizations are usually emphatic in their charges that
the press is negligent as to industrial reporting in ordinary
times and that in times of conflict it distorts, colors, and suppresses the facts of the controversy. These charges are
supported by much evidence. A case often referred to is that
of the steel strike of 1919 covered in a report by a Commission of Inquiry of the Interchurch World Movement, entitled
"Public Opinion and the Strike."  This, perhaps the first study




62 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
of its kind, covers the issues of the Pittsburgh newspapers,
and some outside papers, during the strike. Its conclusions
are generally discreditable to the press as regards enterprise
in getting the facts on both sides of the contest and fairness
in handling them.
Whatever may be the merits of any particular case, the
general indictment is strong enough to challenge the attention
of all who honor American journalism and regard it as the
indispensable organ of democracy.
Constructive suggestions from labor sources include that
of an "industrial news department" in every large newspaper,
in charge of a labor editor who must be a specialist in such
matters, as much as the financial editor is a specialist in his
field. A press association and a few newspapers have done
something in this direction. A special news service established by labor interests has been patronized by a considerable
number of papers.
The Views of a Capitalist
Though not bearing directly on the newspaper's handling of
labor disputes, the following views are relevant and are fairly
typical of those held by the public generally. J. Ogden Armour, of Armour and Company, packers, writing in Leslie's
for December 25, 1920, said:
There is an opportunity to go wrong on almost any piece of
news. And I take no exception to legitimate, unavoidable error.
What I do take exception to is mixing the functions of the editorial
page and news pages. And it is that mixing which to-day is going
very far towards destroying the influence of the newspaper with
thinking men, and giving to the unthinking public a vast amount
of untruth.
Propaganda is an editorial, not a news function, and I do not
care what kind of propaganda is put forward. Yet you may turn to
almost any newspaper in the country and find that a fair number
of the most important stories of the day are either colored in
the text to suit the policy of the paper, or that the headlines,
instead of telling the reader what the story is about, constitute an
editorial comment on that story.
Take a very familiar instance. Suppose a man is called in an
investigation-and in these days when investigations are epidemic
nearly every man in business is at some time or other called to




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES     6


63


testify before some committee or other. The object of the investigation is not always of importance-it is sometimes undertaken in order that the investigators may get their names into the
newspapers in a larger way than is possible by the route of speeches
from the legislative floor. A man is presumably called before
the committee because the members think he has some knowledge
of the subject which is being inquired into. The man in question
may know nothing whatsoever about the subject. He may know as
little about it as he knows of the style of hair-dressing most approved on Mars. He frankly tells the committee that he has no
information. He categorically answers every question. Now, if
a newspaper does not happen to like that man, does it say that he
has no information and by his testimony clearly shows that he can
have no information, and is therefore not in any way involved?
If it is what is called a reputable as opposed to a yellow newspaper,
it will give a correct abstract of the testimony, but it may put into
the headlines: "Brown pleads ignorance," thereby conveying
the innuendo that the witness is a skilful liar.
A yellow newspaper will not hesitate to present the whole story
in innuendo and make more prominent some committeeman's
gratuitous comment on the fact that the witness did not know
than the actual testimony demonstrating that he could not, under
any circumstance, possibly know....
The function of the newspaper, then, as I take it, is first, to give
people the news-to pipe the news from its source to the reader.
Its second function is to advance civil ization-that is, the wellbeing of the people. Certainly there must be a very considerable
divergence of opinion on how this well-being is to be advanced.
The place for expressing that difference of opinion is on the'
editorial page, or, following the French custom, by signed leaders
that are frankly opinionated.
What I object to, and where I think too many newspapers avoid
their responsibility, is printing opinion as news; for then they take
away from the public that must depend upon the newspaper for
the major part of its information, the basis for founding that
independent opinion without which the best progress is impossible.
Articles That Are Properly Editorial
As has been said, no objection on the ground of unfairness
can be made to printing in the news columns articles which are
easily recognizable as editorial in nature. Under this head come
dispatches from political correspondents in Washington or in
state capitals and from staff correspondents sent out on special
missions of investigation. In some cases foreign correspond



64 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ents have the privilege of "interpreting"ý the news they send.
Practice in this regard is described with some dissatisfaction by
an American correspondent stationed in the Far East:
I have heard a Chinese premier announce to assembled foreign
correspondents that he intended to disband the excess Chinese army.
Now, every man there knew he wouldn't do so because he was
allied to the commanders of the excess army who used the excess
to furtherý their common political purposes.
Therefore every British correspondent either ignored the statement entirely or cabled it with the additional explanation that the
premier wouldn't and couldn't carry it out, together with an anal'r
sis of the political situation that made it clear why. And every
American correspondent cabled the statement just as it stoodexcept myself.
And when I argued with all of them that they were acting
contrary to their common knowledge and common sense they replied: "But he said it, didn't he? If a premier says something,
that's news, isn't it? What right have we to hold it up or editorialize?"
And I say that it isn't news, and that not only have we a right
to ignore or explain it, even if that be editorializing, but we have
also a duty to perform. That is what we are there for. Otherwise we are misinforming and misleading our readers, who aren't
there to see for themselves. If a man is stationed abroad to represent a paper his commission cannot be construed as an abdication
of his intelligence. I take it he is expected to use the judgment
any sentient being would use in the circumstances.
That is the great point of disagreement between British and
American newspaper traditions. We fail to distinguish between
"editorializing" and "interpreting." The British expect a newspaper representative to act as a representative and to use his intelligence to interpret for the benefit of those who are not on the
scene and do not know the background of "facts." They presume, of course, that the men are chosen because they are qualified
to make interpretations. We don't. We limit our newspaper
men to the functions of messenger boys..It is obvious that opinion forms a necessary part of articles
written for newspapers by syndicate writers or others not
regularly on the staff of the paper.
"Interpretative" Coloring
Because of the favor it finds with some newspapermen, the
theory that there is a way of interpreting the news without




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES


65


objectionably coloring it should be presented. The following
discussion of the subject from that angle is quoted from an
address by Roy Howard, at the time, manager of the United
Press Associations:
The news columns of practically every daily with a staff of
clever men have interpolated in their stories a certain amount of
deduction or point of view.." The question of the moment
is not, "Is the paper's news colored? Of course it is. The question is, "How does the paper look at its news, look at its facts?
From the point of view of the mass of people whose representative
it is suapposed to be? Or from the point of view of some private
interests?"... We now recognize that it is possible to color
news in a legitimate fashion as well as in an illegitimate fashion.
Coloring a story does not mean dyeing it, but developing in it the
facts which give it its own natural color.
For example, take the strike at Lawrence, Mass. The struggle
had gone on for many weeks; children of the strikers were sickening from  lack of proper food, clothing and warmth. As a
strategic move in order to make possible their prolonging the
struggle, the strikers arranged to send a number of these children
to temporary homes which had been provided for them in nearby
cities. On the morning that the children were to leave, the police
stepped in and forcibly prevented the children's departure. Several
hundred parents, many of them unable to understand the action of
the officers, became greatly excited and started a small-sized riot
when the police without explanation started to cart their children
away to the poor farm.
A small army of newspaper men was on the scene, representing
the press associations, the Boston, New York, and local newspapers.
Scarcely any two of these reporters saw that story in the same
light. To some it was a riot in which a crowd of ignorant foreigners had attacked the officers of the law while the latter were
in the performance of their duty. To others it was a high-handed
usurpation of power, a violation of the constitutional rights of
strikers who were seeking in a legitimate manner to protect their
children. Some saw in it the thwarting of a cheap play for
sympathy by the strike leaders willing to exploit the children.
Others saw in the incident the arm of a powerful corporation
reaching out through public officers whom it controlled, to hold
within the battle lines the innocent victims of the struggle-the
children.
Every story that went out of Lawrence was unconsciously
colored, according to the point of view of the reporter.




66 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
But how was the reader to know the point of view of the reporter, or of the paper he happened to be reading? Since
the situation at the Lawrence strike was extremely complex,
should not the competent reporter have presented several points
of view, not merely his own? If he could not ascertain the
facts he could have given statements of alleged facts from both
sides. It was difficult f or the reporter not to write his own
sympathies into his story. Yes, but not too difficult. It is
being done every day. That is one reason why the trained reporter is a more trustworthy observer than the untrained man.
Unless labeled, color is bound to be misleading. If labeled,
it is not color.
As opposed to the view last quoted might be placed that of
James Melvin Lee, author of a History of American Journalism:
The eyes of a good reporter should be like the lens of the ordinary camera. About the only choice opened to him is the selection of the spot where he wishes to stand to view a news event.
The case is slightly different for the special writer. Such a person
may appropriately use a ray filter and thus shut out things which
ought not to be in a good news story. An account thus prepared
should be distinctly labeled, "Personal Impression."
Editors' Views on Coloring the News
The following are excerpts from statements made by journalists in answer to the question, "Do you believe that editorializing or coloring the news is permissible?" They constitute a short symposium on the subject and are nearly enough
in agreement to suggest that newspaper theory may be better
than newspaper practice. The first and second statements are
f rom publishers:
1. I do not know of any situation in which editorial coloring of
straight news matter is justified. Veracity in news is like virtue
in a woman-it is not a matter of percentages.
2. Every newspaper writer, consciously or unconsciously, colors
his work by his interests and sympathies, and I have yet to find
a newspaper reader who does not expect and want some of his
news colored to meet his own particular interests and sympathies.
3. If by "color" you mean the misuse of editorial prerogative in




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES     6


67


the news columns, that is -simply amateur journalism, and there
are plenty of examples in country weeklies and in a f ew big city
dailies. On the third possible definition of "color" in newspaper
work-namely, exaggeration and misrepresentation-this never is
justifiable and is plain dishonesty. The old-time, personal journalism for which people occasionally sigh was far more highly colored
than any we have to-day. Misrepresentation of any fact in a news
report can not stand up longer than an average of six hours in the
face of present day competitive news association reports and the
numerous editions which every newspaper prints. But the socalled interpretative journalism, of which at least sixty per cent
is "color," is growing more and more in popularity, because people
want it and because it gives information which colorless journalism
never will do.
The next three statements are from editors-in-chief:
4. You can take almost any news story and cut out sentences here
and there and make it sound just the opposite f rom what was
intended. This is the rankest kind of lying journalism and some of
the most outwardly respectable looking papers do not hesitate to
do it.
5. Misrepresentation iis never justified. The ordinary run of
news events can be reported, of course, as in any chronicle. But
an important part of a newspaper's task has to do with events
which must be explained and interpreted if the reader is to get a
correct understanding of them. News does not come done up in
packages. There is need of selection, of giving perspective. In
cases, as I have said, where the significance of the events needs to
be pointed out the good reporter must be an interpreter. Much of
the value of Washington correspondence, for instance, lies in the
interpretative reporting of events. The question of reporting
always calls for honesty, sincerity and good judgment.
6. The Times rigidly observes a policy of barring editorial comment or policy bias from its news columns. It is our belief that
not to do so inevitably leads to coloring the news to fit policies and
even suppressing facts inimical to the paper's stand on public
questions. It is fair to say, however, that this ruling can be
applied only to pure news matter. Propaganda, of which every
newspaper uses a considerable quantity, for worthy purposes or
otherwise, must be of a semi-editorial nature to accomplish its
purpose. The same remark applies in a measure to most feature
stories.


From the managing editors of two city papers:




68 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
7. Naturally no editor has a right to editorialize in the news
columns if he is printing a real newspaper. This should be a rule,
I believe, in every newspaper office. However, as with all rules,
there come times when a departure is justified. We had a situation, as you well know, during the war, especially in our big cities
with heavy foreign-born population, when it appeared to me it was
perfectly justifiable to editorialize or color, to a limited extent,
some news stories.
On the other hand, in the discussion of great public questions
or in political campaigns, coloring the news or editorializing in
the news columns is absolutely unprincipled. Comment on the
position of campaign speakers or on political 'activities by a newspaper, no matter what its partisan lines, should be confined to the
editorial page or, if such comment is used outside of the editorial
page, it should be clearly indicated that it is an editorial expression and not an attempt to cloak the editor's views under the guise
of a news story.
I think it is possible to get editorializing out of the news and
the headlines in nearly every instance. There is occasionally a
news story for which it is hard to write headlines to avoid this;
but it nearly always can be done.
8. There should be no partisanship in politics, no prejudice in
religion, no hostility to organized labor, no antagonism to wealth
per se, no color of personality, and, in fact, opinion should be
barred from the report of every happening, every meeting, every
public discussion, everything that goes to make up the daily grist
of news. I say it should be; I admit that it is not. Would that
it were, for if it were the days of the editor would be long in the
land and his existence would be one perennial delight. The natural
inquiry arises, "Why isn't it so if the man at the helm wants it to
be so?" My answer is: human frailty and human infirmity.
The following epigrams bearing on the subject were uttered
by an English publisher:
9. It is as wicked to doctor your news to suit your opinions as
it is to doctor your opinions to suit your advertisers.
Let me compose a newspaper's headlines and I do not care who
expresses its opinions.
It is not always decent or even profitable to imitate the worst
vices of your most disreputable competitors.
From an editorial in the Saturday Evening Post:
10. There is much less doctoring of news and far less "writing
under orders" in the daily press than many people suppose. True,




TRUTH AND ITS ENEMIES


69


a great deal of newspaper writing is colored by the prepossessions
of those who write and edit it; and so, for that matter, is nearly
all writing. The fact is that only in rather exceptional cases does
a prosperous newspaper have any motive for lying. As a rule, it
is indifferent to the subject-matter of four-fifths of its contents.
The professional sense supervenes. Interest in the thing itself
becomes subordinate to interest in the manner of reporting it. If
the composite intelligence that forms the mind of every live newspaper could be analyzed, no doubt it would be found that the paper
would rather get a big news beat than elect its candidate for president. There is undoubtedly a certain subserviency to department
stores-the largest advertisers; but usually all the department store
wants is suppression of shoplifting items.
Group Judgments as to Coloring News
Under such headings as "impartiality," "truth," or "fairness," the exclusion of editorial opinion from the news is recommended in almost all codes of ethics adopted by journalists.
From the canons of the American Society of Newspaper
Editors:
Sound practice makes clear distinction between news reports
and expressions of opinion. News reports should be free from
opinion or bias of any kind. This rule does not apply to so-called
special articles unmistakably devoted to advocacy or characterized
by a signature authorizing the writer's own conclusions and interpretations.
From the Kansas Editorial Association's code:
We should not even by insinuation interpret as facts our conclusions.
A paragraph bearing on news distortion, from the Oregon
code of ethics for journalism:
We will try to observe due proportion in the display of news
to the end that inconsequential matter may not seem to take precedence in social importance over news of public significance.
From the code of the South Dakota Press Association:
News should be an uncolored report of all the vital facts accurately stated.




70 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
From statements issued by newspapers for the guidance of
their reporters:
Keep your personal opinions, or the supposed opinions of the
paper, out of your story. Stick to facts. Interpretation and comment belong in the editorial column.
Reports must not be colored to please a f riend or wrong an
enemy. Don't editorialize in the news columns. An accurate report is its own best editorial.
Too much encouragement may easily be drawn f rom the
fact that usually when a publisher or editor or reporter defines
the requirements of news he declares that it must be uncolored.
Probably he is sincere; but unhappily he does not speak f or
the silent majority of his colleagues. Or rather, he speaks for
their ideals rather than their practices. The temptation to distort
the news and color the news is strong and it is constant, and
the only immediate penalty for yielding is a bad conscience.
Even that may submit to rationalization. But it is possible to
sense other penalties for deception, suffered by the individual
newspaper and by journalism. In no true sense is coloring the
news good policy.




CHAPTER IV


THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION
In this chapter we are concerned with the question as to how
the editor should treat requests for the suppression of news or
editorial opinion.
Such requests are common enough. Not infrequently a newspaperman is heard to declare that they constitute the greatest
problem with which publishers, editors, managinig editors, city
editors, and even reporters, have to struggle.
Sometimes no out-and-out requests are uttered, but the editor is keenly aware of the desire back of the silence, for the
editor's intuitions are sharp from constant practice in sensing
the attitude of people towards what he prints in the papersensing it in advance.
Suppression in a broad sense also includes such practices
as ignoring a news source; blacklisting individuals; coloring
news by selection, unavoidable in some degree; definitely excluding a type of news, as news of crime. It is also closely
related to the' larger question of printing the whole truth in a
newspaper. It constitutes one phase of what is spoken of as
the advertising influence. It is involved in the grave question
as to how crime news may be handled in a constructive manner.
These different aspects of the subject are treated in their
appropriate places in this book.
Evil Implication Not justified
The phrase, suppression of the news, has an evil import to
most minds, arising from the fact, no doubt, that the cases
of suppression we hear most about are coupled with intimations of venality or graft on the part of the editor, or sinister
influence by some powerful individual or group. Experience
71




72 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
with the problem, however, or even study of it from the outside, soon. reveals that it has its laudable aspects as well as its
evil ones. A veteran in journalism, looking back ov,er his
career, may very possibly take as great satisfaction in the
remembrance of acts of news suppression as in those of fearless
news publication or any other of his achievements.
The public says little regarding the newspapers' practice as
to suppression, except when some portion of it 'protests at
failure to eliminate the indecent, or another portion complains
at failure to print adequate reports of some special interest.
The general feeling of the public seems to be that people with
influence can keep things out of the paper and that unimportant people cannot. Not many people nowadays believe that
newspapers accept money to keep things out. Some prominent
people call newspapers ruthless and profess to hate them. Our
purpose is to get a broad view of this most complex matter and
to discover the general direction of correct procedure.
Current Notions Regarding Suppression Are Exaggerated
It would be impossible for any one to say confidently how
much newspaper material is being withheld from publication for
some other reason than its inferiority of news value or lesser
importance to the public. Only this can properly be called
suppression.
One editor of a metropolitan daily ventures the opinion that,
"suppression of news has come to be a topic of conversation
largely because some persons have disagreed with newspapers
about the relative importance of news. A committee organizes
a political party and then complains that the newspapers suppress the news about it. The trouble is that the doings of the
committee interest so few people that the editors do not feel
justified in giving much space to them."
Moreover., if one looks at the reading matter in almost any
issue of any newspaper, with the question in mind as to how
much of it would have been suppressed if everybody's selfish
interests or personal preferences had been considered, he will
find plenty of evidence that remarkable independence is maintained bv the press. It is printing the news without much




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 73
fear or favor. A view behind the scenes will, however, show
him that this is not the whole story.
Papers Having Restricted Fields
The term "suppression" is not applicable to a well unde-rstood policy of a newspaper to "play down" or exclude entirely
certain kinds of news. One widely read American newspaper,
for example, has as one of its foundation policies the omission
of news of crime. Its implied contract with the reader provides
for absence of the negative or destructive element in the news.
There is therefore no ground for complaint. Likewise a newspaper might omit financial news or sport news without be-ing
subject to any criticism, merely ceasing thereby to be a general
newspaper and joining the class of specialized publications.
Divergent, Theories as to Suppression
Interesting diversity of views as to the correct policy to be
pursued with reference to suppression of news or opinion will
be found by any one who makes investigation. As in almost
any other matter of editorial policy, two widely divergent attitudes are taken by men of differing temperaments. At the one
extreme is he who likes to have things settled once for all. Making a rule and sticking by it appeals to him as the simplest
way. Sometimes he has been called the ritualist or the formalist
though he is more than that. He is also a person possessed of
courage and independence. He wants no dictation nor anything that resembles it. He has a generous measure of self
sufficiency.
Print All the News
The following statement by a publisher in. a small city is
selected as presenting the point of view of this group. It
states admirably the view commonly held by metropolitan journalists but not often found elsewhere:
The greatest service a newspaper can perform is to print the
truth-and all the truth-to lay before its readers for their judgment all the facts of the day's developments, accurately stated and
fully stated. The greatest weakness into which a newspaper can




74r THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
fall is that of suppression; suppression brought about through obvious pressure, through less obvious blandishment, through the
suggestion often honestly advanced that the printing of such and
such news is not necessary or may do harm. It is through yielding
to advances that a newspaper becomes discriminatory, unfair and
unworthy. Print the news and print it all. This seems easy. It
is not.
In our newspaper we print the news-all the news we know.
We have no favorites. For a time this policy embarrassed us
greatly. But we have it established. We are no longer asked to
achieve delicate bits of suppression. Our friends don't ask it. Our
advertisers don't ask it. Our enemies do not demand it. Our
attitude is known and respected.
Not so very long ago a man prominent in our organization was
arrested on the charge of driving an automobile while intoxicated.
He is not a dissipated character, he is a man of standing, of family,
of positon, and of much value to us.
But we printed the news.
And another statement in like vein:
One of the most difficult problems the average editor must solve
is the advisability of reporting, in detail, cases which come in
police court-the petty misdemeanors, neighborhood quarrels, cases
of intoxication, etc.
After considerable deliberation a few years ago we resolved to
report these cases briefly, concisely and without any editorial
opinion added in way of garnish. We adopted a policy that provides for pitiless publicity for every offender, no matter what race
or color. If the man is "influential" in the community, well-to-do
or well-connected, it makes no difference. We have decided that
he shall have his "name in the paper" just as often as he gets into
court-standing, in our estimation, side by side with the packinghouse workman who buys lemon extract and then falls by the
wayside.
Big city newspapers have no close communion with this problem, for the simple reason that the newspaper's staff is dissociated
from the entire community. In a small city everybody knows the
other fellow and the temptation is great sometimes to overlook the
downfall of a friend. But newspapers cannot serve the public
interest if they make fish of one delinquent and fowl of another.
"Don't Hurt Anybody's Feelings"
At the other extreme is the sentimentalist who shrinks from
all the harsh edges of the editor's routine; he loves peace and




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION' 75
will pay any price for it-peace for himself and for the community. He is found in the small town, and he is a use ful and
popular citizen, but it is doubtful that his kind could render
any great service to a larger community.
One of them expresses his creed as follows:
This paper never contains a line of unpleasant reading. That
is one of the greatest things I do for the community. A newspaper that is bound to have all the news can turn a peaceful town
into a bedlam. The people like my policy.
Or, in the words of a somewhat less thorough-going pronouncement:
I handle each case as it comes up, following a certain "woman's
instinct" as to what is the right thing to do in a given case-I am
beginning to think that the policy I follow is the wise one for communities like this. A newspaper man may be very cruel sometimes,
if he permits his business to crush out all the native sympathies
and friendships of life.
Or, as another editor says:
Almost any editor, if a man came to him offering a bribe, would
kick the man out of his office, or try to do so. But when an old
friend of the newspaper or the editor gets into trouble and comes
to the editor begging him "not to put it in the paper" Roman virtues are needed.
And another:
I would rather lose the few dollars to be gained by "enterprise"
that is based upon the suffering of the family of one who has gone
wrong than to have the reputation for publishing rough-shod
"scoops."~ Financially as well as humanly this policy has proved
profitable in the thirty-five years that I have been editing news,.
papers.
"'Use Discretion"
Somewhere between these two extremes is he who is doubtful as to the efficacy of rules-except the rule to settle each
case on its merits. He accepts life as a complex matter and
refuses to try to introduce simplicity and order and efficiency
at the* expense of justice. His sympathies are keen. He is




76 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
human. And he loves peace, but accepts trouble when necessary.
His theory on suppression will conform closely to the terms
of the following written by an editor of many years' experience:
While it is true that the editor is the sole arbiter of what shall
or shall not find a place in the columns of his paper, there are
certain duties which he owes to his subscribers and other certain
duties which he owes to the community in which he lives. It is
the duty to the community which appeals with the greater force.
Try as I may, I cannot get away f rom the belief that the country
editor should be a leader in all that makes for the betterment of
his community. Let each editor take counsel with himself as to
why he is an editor, and on his conclusion depends the decision as
to whether he should allow his personal sympathies to guide him
in the matter of publishing unpleasant news.              f
If he has no higher object than to drift along with the current,
seeking only a pleasant existence for himself, satisfied with the
present and whatever it may bring, and with no thought for the
people who must live in his community after he is gone, then he
should choose the easiest way and see to it that nothing enters his
columns that will give offense to anyone. But if he wants his
community to be better for his having lived in it, if he has vision
enough to look ahead and realize that future generations must live
in the community whose destinies he helps to shape, then he should
remember that the suppression of certain news may lead to conditions under which he would not wish his children to live. Preserving silence may be an easy way to shirk an unpleasant duty, but
future generations may pay the penalty, may yield to the temptations which that silence has helped to place in their way.
And as another publisher in a small city states the matter:
Our paper got away from its biggest editorial problem about a
year ago when we realized that our greatest number of "kicks"and a "kick" means an enemy of the paper-came as a result of
our playing up petty police court cases and divorce proceedings.
We changed our policy, quit handling cases of intoxication except
where there was disturbance of the peace, omitted the names of
youthful offenders in most cases, and gave only brief mention of
divorce cases.
The Arguments Used
Most of the pressure for suppression centers on the news
department, though editorial treatment of certain subjects inim



THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 77
ical to the interests of important individuals or groups is
often the subject of protest.
It is not alone at the editorial desk, however, that suppressive
influences are brought to bear, though this is the scene of most
battles over cases of major importance. All along the line of
gathering, handling, and presenting the news, the paper's policies as to exclusion or emphasis are effective. Reporters quickly
get the "feel" of the office and are governed by it.
The advertising columns are affected beneficially by more
and more insistent demands that untruthful and offensive copy
be kept out. They are sometimes the center of controversy as
to the right of the "opposition party" to buy space therein.
Urging Suppression
Among the reasons given for asking that news be withheld
from publication are some of doubtful propriety or plausibility
and some which may be accepted as convincing. Some of the
more familiar and interesting reasons are:
That the withholding of an item about;a:- misdemeanor
would constitute a threat calculated to prevent further offenses
by the same person.
That the publication of the item would hurt the business of
the person concerned.
That the item of news would hurt the town.
That publication of the item would hurt the business of the
editor.
That suppression of the item would be a favor to the editor's
friends and in line with his social obligations.
That suppression of the truth about an incident would be
proper because of the paper's previous acceptance of a formal
statement, though untrue, as covering the case.
That the item ref ers to a first offense.
That the item relates to a juvenile offender.
That sympathy for parents justifies the suppression.
That suppression would promote peace in the community.
That suppression would avoid embarrassment of innocent
persons.
That the paper is not sure of all the facts.
That the matter is a delicate one involving affairs of state or
similar public matters.




78 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
That the item involves the reputation of a woman or a girl.
~That the story looks like propaganda.
That the story was obtained in confidence.
That the story is morbid in tone and content.
That the item is to be regarded as free publicity.
Venality may be disregarded as being beyond the pale of
discussion. Court decisions have determined that, "It is not
only unethical, but it is unlawful, for a publisher to accept a
consideration for refraining from publishing comments on individuals or companies, irrespective of the question of the character of the comments intended to be suppressed. Any such
contract is invalid as contrary to public policy on the ground
that agreements for consideration by a newspaper to sell its
right of free and unrestricted comment are reprehensible in
the highest degree."~
Favoring Full Publicity
Among the obvious reasons against suppression, the following are to be regarded seriously:
That the newspaper has an implied contract with the public
to give complete information of the day's events.
That omission is one way of telling an untruth.
That suppression gives rise to rumors while publication of
the facts protects the public against anxieties growing out of
baseless reports.
That the news can be published with substantial fairness to
all concerned and with better results than to attempt to favor
certain ones through suppression.
That by refusing to suppress news, a newspaper demonstrates its independence.
That the knowledge that publicity may be "a part of the
penalty" will act as a wholesome deterrent from wrong doing.
Typical Cases    I
"Don't Scare the People"
An argurnent for suppression that is met by large and small
newspapers alike is that publication of the news in question
would disturb the community's peace of mind..




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION               79
CAsE.-Information came to a newspaper in a city having
one paper that the water supply of the city was menaced by
typhoid contagion. Officials and prominent citizens earnestly
requested the newspaper to refrain from "scaring the people."
It was represented that the officials were doing their utmost
to remedy the evil, and that there was no need to create
general alarm. The news was suppressed.
Comment.-In this particular case an epidemic came and
the death list was large. The editor afterwards expressed
the opinion that, "to have scared the people would have been
to keep the faith and save life." But regardless of the eventualities in this case, it seems clear that suppression was the
wrong policy. Fear is often salutary. There were precautions the people could have taken against infection if they
had appreciated the danger. They had a right to the facts
on which to base a judgment as to whether or not some city
official or employee had been derelict in duty. Perhaps an
intelligent public opinion, fully informed by the newspaper,
could have brought about improvement in the water-supply
system.
"Don't Hurt the Town"
Among the most difficult tasks of an editor is to decide what
to print and what to suppress in the way of unpleasant facts
about the town or city. No performance by a newspaper
requires more courage than telling the truth, perhaps the whole
truth, in such a matter.
CASE.-A newspaper in a large city was convinced that
vice conditions were the worst in the city's history. It had
evidence of collusion between the underworld and the police.
It believed that nothing but an aroused public sentiment could
force officials and judges to enforce the law or at least maintain
a maximum of restriction. But it was argued that advertisement of the wickedness of a town prejudices desirable nonresidents against it while attracting an element that only
intensifies the evil. Also that news of vice is not fit reading
matter for the home.
The paper decided upon a vigorous campaign to enforce
a "clean up." It centered the attack upon the chief of police;
published much sensational evidence of evil conditions, in



80 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
cluding addresses of illegal resorts and stories of personal
observations by reporters, and many photographs.
Comnient.-WVhile it is true that a case such as this is so
complex a matter that the results of any line of action in one
instance cannot be regarded as determining the correct line
of action in another, yet, in general, the main elements 'of the
problem are the same in any American city. It is hard
to see the point in condemning periodic "clean up" campaigns.
Neither of the other alternatives of paying no attention to
the matter or making the campaign perpetual seems to recommend    itself.  Progress, social, political, or otherwise,
is not the result of steady pressing forward but of periodic
advances with more or less loss of ground between. The
choice of a definite point of attack has great strategic advantages, but the matter published seems to have been unduly
sensational. Vice may be effectively described in general terms,
though lacking the vividness of concrete cases. Vividness
should here be sacrificed to good taste..CASE.-Smallpox was prevalent in the city. It was a
large city drawing trade from a wide section. The papers
were urged to say nothing about the epidemic in order that
outside buyers might not be deterred from coming to trade.
Two papers did as requested. The third paper, and the one
with the largest circulation, printed daily reports from the
health authorities as to number of cases, deaths, precautionary
measures. Front page position was usually given, but headings were never sensational.
Comiment.-S ome of the advertisers and other merchants
who at first condemned the printing of the news cam,,:,,to
realize that it was better f or the business of the city, as well as
its health, that rumors should be kept down by the daily
publication of authoritative news on the smallpox situation.
In such a case no newspaper could experience any difficulty
in recognizing the clear line of its duty to the public which was
fulfilled only when it had printed this news of great public
concern. On the other hand, its duty to its advertisers was
ended when it printed their advertising according to contract.
The f act, however, that the line of duty was plain did not
make it an easy matter to accept the possible financial losses.
Only a theorist can smile with contempt or grow red with




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 81
indignation at the editor who compromises with his ideals in
the face of what appears to threaten financial embarrassment.
The situation is not easy. However, just as it seems fair to
say that a man should not open an amusement place unless he
is prepared to take losses from bad weather and smallpox
epidemics, so it is to be expected of the man who presumes
to serve the public as an editor that he has discounted in advance considerable losses sure to follow the conscientious
observance of the rights of the public to all the news that is
for the public good.
CASE.-A newspaper was accused of giving its town a
"black eye" because it campaigned against objectionable
conditions.
Comment.-It replied that the city already had the black
eyes. "It's the talking about them that raises the scandalized
protest. It's easy to see why. It's because when a public
interest is insisted upon a private interest is hit. Demand
efficient municipal government and political interests get a
black eye. Insist that the boulevards be protected and commercial interests get a black eye. These are the eyes that are
being protected-not the city's."
"~Don't Hurt Business"
While the advertising influence is treated elsewhere, a case
or two from that general direction may be included here.
CASE.-Some weeks before Christmas in a period of hard
times and manifold demands for money in support of public
enterprises, a newspaper published a number of interviews
with prominent women of the town declaring that these women
were going to confine the giving of Christmas presents to
members of their own families and make the presents simple
and inexpensive. The paper received vigorous protests from
its advertisers and demands that articles which would discourage Christmas shopping be not published.
The paper ceased the publication of the interviews.
Comtment.-It is not clear that publication was justified by
any duty to the public. The interviews were not news in the
strict sense. They were opinions of people in the community.
If the paper held the same opinions, it had a right, of course,




82 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
to print not only interviews but editorials on the subject. If
it held contrary opinions it could print the interviews and
at the same time dissent editorially from the views expressed.
But it is difficult to see that the paper sacrified anything of
its independence in discontinuing the publication of the interviews on the ground that the matter was one of individual
concern and not public concern.
CASE.-.During the war a reporter discovered by chance a
group of very rich men in a fashionable hotel carrying on a
sort of lottery, with the "pot" composed of Liberty Bonds.
It was a "corking story" as showing how the rich were fiddling
while the boys died in the trenches, and how rank violation
of the gambling laws was going on. The information was put
before the city editor of a metropolitan daily. Everything
was there, including names. The city editor decided not to
run the story.
Comment.-Not necessarily a demonstration of the differ-,ence in treatment accorded the rich and the poor. The absence
of arrests in the case may have been the deciding factor. If
not used in the paper, however, the evidence might well have
been turned over to the authorities.
"'Don't Antagonize Your Friends"
There is an interesting diversity of opinion as to how popular
an editor ought to expect to be.
CASE.-An officer of a bank was involved in a scandal
brought to light through a divorce suit. Another officer of
the bank who was a close f riend of the editor of the local paper
asked him to suppress the story. The editor refused.
Commrent.-The case was somewhat simplified by the fact
that papers in a neighboring city had already printed the story.
There was no point in suppressing it locally. It would simply
have occasioned remark that the paper was "owned by the
bank." Nevertheless, deep offense was taken by the man
making the request, and not until years afterward did he
admit that the editor had been right.
CASE.-The editor's family had accepted an invitation to
dine with friends. Two days before the dinner the brother




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 83
of the lady who was to be their hostess was indicted by
grand jury for misuse of public funds. The lady asked as
a personal favor that no sensational story, if any story at all,
be printed. She regarded her brother as innocent and was sure
that the money was safe and would be paid at the proper time.
The front page of the paper was already made up, with a
banner heading on the story, a two-column cut, and a tenpoint lead. Should the editor (1) tone down the display and
print only the bare facts of the story, (2) let the page "ride,"
sending regrets for the dinner, or (3) let it ride and go to
the dinner as if nothing had happened?
The second course of action was chosen.
Comment.-The public had a right to the facts in the case
when it became a matter of record in the proceedings of the
grand jury. No sense of duty compelled the sensational treatment of the story, however. It was a dramatic story and the
editor "played" it. If the editor had been willing to modify
his sense of the news value of the story out of consideration
for the feelings of his friends, he would hardly have been
derelict in duty. He chose to get the utmost returns in reader
interest through sensational handling. It seems fitting that
he should relinquish his claim to the hospitality offered.
This raises the much discussed question as to whether or
not an editor should have friends. Can he be faithful to his
responsibilities as an editor and maintain friendships? A few
great editors have answered in the negative. A man of wide
observation put the matter in epigrammatic form: "A newspaper's friends are its liabilities; its enemies are its assets."
Certainly the editor's friends can not be chosen from among
those whose interests are likely to conflict with the public interest.
In the words of one careful editor: "I have quite come to
the conclusion, after twenty-five years in the newspaper business, that the directing editorial chief of the paper must make
up his mind to have very few friends. The fewer he has the
better it is for the newspaper and the more independent he
becomes." Such expressions come usually from editors of
city papers. Country editors seem to find it less necessary to
beware of friendships.




84   THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
"Have Sympathy"
The plea for suppression on this ground has many angles.
Sometimes it is sympathy for individuals mentioned in the
story, sometimes for their relatives or friends. Sometimes
the basis of the request is the youthfulness of the offender,
sometimes it is the fact that the offense is his first one and
likely to be his last, if he is given a chance to save his good
name. Sometimes the story relates to no offense against the
law but to some humiliating or compromising or embarrassing
incident.
The discussion of the influence of publicity as a deterrent
of crime, the theory that publicity is a part of the punishment,
is handled in the chapter devoted to antisocial news. The
validity of the sympathy plea for suppression need be considered only briefly here. To say that a newspaper should be
as inexorable as a law of nature; that whatever Providence
allows to happen may properly be recorded by the,press; or
even that everybody must be treated alike, is to lay down for
the editor a different policy from that which we are wont to
acclaim in other departments of life. We approve the exercise
of clemency in special cases. We may be told that President
Lincoln's pardon of a soldier condemned to be shot for having
slept while on guard was liable to weaken discipline and expose
a whole army to disaster through similar derelictions by men
doing sentry duty, but we read his historic letter to the young
man's mother and commend his merciful act. Life is not yet
a simple matter of obeying rules. Until it becomes so we shall
continue to applaud judicial sympathy and executive clemency,
and we shall approve of the editor who, having a general policy
to give the public all the news and having sufficient courage
to follow that policy unwaveringly, yet makes exceptions to
the rules in cases that appeal to his sympathies without at the
same time presenting overbalancing considerations of the public
good.
CASE.-A prominent man in a large city was found dead in
a downtown hotel. The coroner's verdict was acute alcoholism.
He had a wife and several daughters who would be em



THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 85
barrassed if the cause of death were given. Did the paper
owe it to other men to print what might serve as a warning
against intemperance? If the man had not been prominent
would the question have arisen at all?
It was determined not to print the alcoholism angle of the
story. Upon request, the coroner changed the verdict to
heart disease. Instructions were given the desk that in all
cases of death, good judgment and humanitarianism shoulrlI
be exercised, even though it were necessary to omit facts.
Conmcent.-Publication of the details to satisfy the morbid
curiosity of some newspaper readers would undoubtedly have
been unjustifiable. If the case had no real bearing on a
question of public policy, of law and order, the newspaper's
handling of it was doubtless correct. The argument that the
original verdict would have been printed in the case of an
unimportant citizen contains the fallacy that publicity for the
fact in the two cases would have caused equal embarrassment,
which was probably not true. At all events, the safe rule,
"when in doubt, don't print," tends to justify the decision.
CASE.-The city editor received notice of the death of the
small daughter of a well-known family. Inquiry developed the
f act that the child had attempted to crawl off its bed and in
falling caught its head between the bars of the bed and had
been strangled. The nurse found the dead child and called the
father. The mother was ill. The father urged that the manner of the baby's death be not described since it was important
that the mother be kept ignorant of it as long as possible.
The request was refused on the ground that the paper owed
it to parents of small children to let them know that such an
accident could happen.
Conmrnnt.-The paper seems to have been in the wrong.
The editor might well have sent a reporter to investigate the
manner of the accident and to find out whether beds of
the same sort were for sale in the town. If the facts seemed
to warrant, he could have run a story containing the warning
without reference to the local accident.
CASE.-A prominent citizen went to the editor of the local
paper with the request that nothing be said regarding the
engragement of his daughter to a man who had lived in the city
some years but had recently been arrested in another town




86 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
on the charge of having two wives. He said the girl was
ill as a result of the shock of the disclosures; that she had
been an exemplary girl, but injudicious, perhaps, in accepting the attentions of the man.
The editor f elt it his duty to print the facts in the case,
withholding the name of the girl.
Comment.-The newspaper is under obligation to acquaint
people with the variety of ways in which they may incur trouble,
but this may be done abundantly without the use of local examples causing pain to individuals who may be comparatively
innocent, when the local case is,, as in the present instance,
one of a private nature, and is not a subject of court proceedings. Suppression of the name, merely, probably afforded
little protection to the young woman in the case since everybody's curiosity is excited into activity by a "no name" story.
Somewhat different was the case in which an editor was requested to keep an engagement announcement out of the paper
because it would be a shock to the "other girl" to whom the
man was engaged-and she had a bad heart anyway.
CAsE.-A girl lured away by a man and arrested as immoral was a relative of one of the city's richest men. If the
item was not used, the inference of those who knew ab~out
the case would be that influence or fear was the cause. As
a matter of fact, those concerned made no request in the case,
even after the court placed the girl on probation. The problem was handled from the girl's standpoint alone. The court
gave her a chance which would have been useless had publicity
resulted. For her sake, the item was omitted. Not even
thanks came from her family; a certain portion of the public
declared influence hushed up the matter-but the after life of
the girl justified the consideration given her.
Comment.-Instances in which girls are attacked, or commit
some indiscretion, present the same problem. Newspaper policy usually protects such as long as there is any chance that
the protection will serve any good purpose.
CASE.-The police made a raid on a hotel and in one of the
rooms found three men with a plentiful supply of liquor. One
of the men was a dentist. Evidence was introduced in court
the next morning to the effect that the dentist had been called




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 87
to the room by telephone to relieve the sufferings of one of the
other men who, in spite of the whisky, or because of it, had a
toothache. He was released and the paper was asked not to
print his name because of the injury to him professionally and
socially.
The name was left out -of the story.
Comment.-The editor knew that few readers of the paper
would believe the dentist's story. He did not believe it. But
he was not absolutely sure that it was untrue. Rather than
take a chance of injuring an innocent man, he suppressed the
name.
CASE.-A young business man was arrested in a neighboring
town and fined for drunkenness. He returned home and
begged the editor to withhold the story. He had borne a good
reputation and was succeeding well in his first business venture. He assured the editor that he would never get drunk
again.
The story was withheld.
Comnment.-The editor embraced an opportunity to hold his
newspaper as a disciplinary club over the head of a first
offender. Few memories give an editor more satisfaction than
those of the instances in which he took pity on youthful or
other first offenders.
However, there should be a definite limit to the editor's f or1hearance. As one nationally known editor of a small city
daily, William Allen White, puts it:
The man who fills up with whisky and goes about making a
fool of himself becomes a public nuisance. If permitted to continue it he becomes a public charge. The public has an interest
in him. Publicity is one of the things that keeps him straight.
His first offense is ignored in our paper, but his second offense is
recorded when he is arrested, and no matter how high or how low
he is, his name goes with it. We have printed this warning to
drinkers time and again; so when they come around asking us to
think of their wives and children, or their sick mothers or poor
fathers, we always tell them to remember that they had fair warning, and if their fathers and mothers and wives and children are
nothing to them before taking, they are nothing to us after taking.
The bum is treated always from the standpoint of the community
interest.




88 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Strikingly similar is the policy enunciated by a metropolitan
daily:
Minor news of first offenses is always to be played down and
is kept out entirely for good cause shown at any time. The question to ask is:  Has this particular case any relation to the public
welfare? If it has, print it; if it has not, why give some young
fool, or some person who slipped, a handicap for life? Public
curiosity and public welfare are not synonymous.
CASE.-A youngyster, one of three brothers, was arrested for
the theft of an automobile, convicted, and sentenced to six
months in jail. He had been arrested for bootlegging, and
minor offenses, and had been suspected by the police of serious
crimes such as an oil station robbery. He was the only black
sheep in the family.
The boy's father was a judge of a local court, of good standing and long service to his community as a lawyer. A man
of about seventy years, as fine as could be found. The trouble
of his son almost caused a breakdown for the father, whGj considered resigning his place if the story was printed. The
father was only moderately well-to-do and needed his salary
to support himself and wife.
The boy's mother was an invalid, whose life was tied up
with her children. She knew nothing of the youngest boy's
troubles. News of her son's disgrace would probably cause
her death. She read the newspaper daily.
One of the other two newspapers in the city agreed not to
print the item. The other was noncommittal.
The story was suppressed.
Comnment.-Possibly a commendable exception to the rule.
CAsE.-A superintendent of a Rescue Mission, a widely
known evangelist, was sued by his wife for separate maintenance, among her charges being the allegation that he was the
father of a child born to his secretary at the Mission. Two of
the seven members of the Mission board believed the charges
and urged a local newspaper to take up the case even before
it came into court. The editors considered the fact that the
Mission had been a fine thing in the city and that many persons
had pinned their faith to its superintendent; also that the usefulness of the superintendent would be ended, however innocent he might be, unless all the facts could be presented at one




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 89
time; also that such a case of scandal would do no good to the
men, women, and children of the city.
The paper printed nothing until the trial and then only
conservative items-this in spite of the fact that sensational
outside newspapers "played up" the case and gained local
subscribers thereby. The decision of the court was a complete vindication of the superintendent who was granted a
divorce from his insanely jealous wife. The local paper
printed the decision in full, devoting several pages to a complete exposition of the case.
Comment.-An instance of courageous suppression that
should put to shame the apologists for the principle of giving
the public what it wants.
"'It Is a Delicate Matter"
The newspaper's responsibilities in respect to affairs of state
and particularly in matters affecting international relations are
discussed elsewhere. Similar "affairs of state" on a smaller
scale are encountered in even the four-page-weekly town. Beneath all the petty disagreements as to the propriety of printing this kind of news is a fundamental difference of feeling
towards the public and public opinion. Some people seem to
be naturally secretive and suspicious. They like to work under
cover. Their acts may be wise and unselfish but they do not
wish them known. They instinctively distrust the people. The
thought that matters which they have in hand should be discussed in the community is repugnant. Other human beings
are more communicative. They can see no reason why democracy should not mean a general sharing in knowledge of public
affairs. They think of secret proceedings by publicly constituted bodies as a bad tradition, growing out of an unhappy'
f ear of the mass of the people. "Let the public know each
step in the process," they urge, "let them talk about it, and
bring pressure to bear, and hold indignation meetings or ratification meetings, as the case may be. The people will make
mistakes but in the long run their rule will be the best rule."'
In such cases it seems as though the benefit of the doubt
should be given to the many rather than to the f ew; that
secrecy should be the last resort; that the newspaper can not




90 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
fall in with the human but dangerous theory that the few
who are entrusted with responsibility must not be hampered
by referendums; that publicity is not a part of the game.
CASE.-The board of education of a small city had some
difficulty in selecting a school superintendent. At one meeting
a tie vote was recorded in favor of re-employing the superintendent of the year before. At the next meeting one member
was absent and the motion to ree*mploy was carried. Another
meeting was to be held soon with the prospect that a motion
to reconsider would be made. The newspapers were urged to
suppress the story on the ground that the situation was embarrassing to the superintendent and that there really was no
story until the question should be finally disposed of. "At
least give the superintendent time to hunt another job," was
the plea.
The paper held out the story.
Comment.-Every step of the proceedings was of public interest and should have been printed. There had been ample
time, before any meetings were held, for the friends of the
superintendent to tell him of impending opposition. His opportunity to hunt a new job was then open. Moreover, it is
doubtful that suppression by the paper kept the facts from a
single person in the communityw-for a very great length of
time-or that any school board in any other city, considering
the superintendent's employment, failed to ascertain the facts.
Besides, there was a crop of rumors started that would have
been far less rank of growth if full publicity had been afforded
from the first. Finally, public opinion had a right to expression on such a question.
CASE.-A telegraph story was sent to a large number of
newspapers giving the results of an inquiry among married
women as to their attitude towards marriage. As one editor
-viewed it, its effect was in the direction of discontent and
cynicism. He killed the story.
Comment.-" Don't upset people needlessly," is not a bad
principle.
CAsE.-A member of a state legislature in a "dry" state was
arrested while drunk and disorderly, but released when his




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 91
identity became known in order to save a scandal among his
rural constituents. The local papers, however, refused to
suppress the story. Three days later the man committed suicide. Indignant citizens accused the papers of "murder."
Comment.-A borderline case in which the fact that the
man had a good reputation at home and was induced to go
on the drunken spree 'by "friendly lobbyists" who escaped
arrest, was offset by his responsibilities as a public official, the
newspaper's duty to expose demoralizing conditions in the
state capital, and the probability that rumor would do more
damage to his reputation than publicity in the press.
CASE.-A newspaper received a bundle of compromising
letters written by a prominent candidate for office. It published
the fact that such letters were in existence. The candidate
denied the charge. The letters were then printed in the paper.
Comment.-A case in which a newspaper felt justified in
acting as judge, jury, and executioner-gruesome business at
best. The troublesome ethical questions involved in such cases
are: as to the justifiable methods, if any, by which a newspaper may acquire private letters; and the conditions warranting, legally and ethically, the publication of such correspondence. Digging up a man's past is a ghoulish occupation
whether done for amusement or for the sake of duty. Some
of the pathetic tragedies of real life, as well as of fiction, have
grown out of the answer to the problem.. Protection of a public interest undoubtedly affords the best excuse for courageous
cruelty.
"Don't Violate a Confidence"
Suppression of news received in confidence is a matter in
which considerable variance exists between theory and practice. The theory is admirable. Not only journalists but statesmen, speaking after dinner, laud the scrupulous care with
which newspapermen hold inviolate confidential information.
And it is all true, but it is not the whole truth. The f act
is that newspapers are so of ten imposed upon in such cases
as to discourage idealistic notions. just as, under certain circumstances, men offer evidence in court in exchange f or immunity, so they seek to trade. confidential news in exchange for




92 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
protection from publicity. Many revelations labeled as confidential are in fact not at all exclusive; may be likely any
day to reach other newspapers. In some cases the public has
a clear right to the information. And so it is not strange
that newspapers sometimes evade the restrictions of a confidence-without damage to their consciences.
CAsE.-A correspondent at the state capitol obtained a story
in confidence. He was af raid it would "leak" to the other
papers. He wrote it under a date line f rom the other end of
the state, injecting, "according to reliable information from
the state capitol," and attaching a note to the state editor explaining the situation. It was printed.
CASE.-A reporter got a tip in confidence that a grand jury
was to be called.
He reported to the city editor that the prosecutor had given
him the information in confidence. Acting on the tip, the city
editor was able to get the information from another source.
He then printed it.
Comment.-T he standing rule in newspaper offices to respect confidence is good policy as well as good ethics. Evasion
as in these cases, or deception, can be justified only by the
motive-the end. But reporters may well be cautioned against
making any promises of suppression for their paper. The man
higher up is the only judge in such cases.
Observance of a release date on a story comes to mind in
this connection but is hardly to be regarded as a matter of
withholding news. It is a mere matter of contract between
'the paper and the source of the news-contract explicitly
stated or implied in universal newspaper practice and seldom
violated.
"'Don't Be a Tool"
A newspaper may be "used" sometimes in giving publicity
to a story, sometimes in withholding it. All kinds of people
try to use the newspaper to punish their private enemies or
to promote their private interests. When known, they lose
Vopularity with the editor.




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 93
CASE.-The day before an automobile show was to open in
a large city, a resolution was introduced into the city council
calling for searching investigation by the fire, police, and building committees into the conditions at the exhibition hall.
Speeches were made on the necessity for safety precautions of
all kinds. The horrors of a recent disaster in another city were
graphically painted. But the reporters knew that the whole
rumpus grew out of what the members of the council regarded
as a niggardly allowance to them of complimentary tickets.
By frightening people away from the show, they hoped to
make the management of the hall "come across."
No paper printed a word of the story.
Comment.-An excellent example of salutary suppression.
"'Don't Add Fuel to a Bad Fire"
No greater responsibility rests on a newspaper than that of
helping to maintain order and obedience to law, and to discourage class antagonism or race hatred.
CASE.-At a time when race prejudice in a Southern city
was threatening violent expression, a story was brought to a
newspaper that a young white woman had been insulted by a
negro as she stepped into the elevator which he operated in a,
down-town store. The editor knew that only an insignificant
spark was needed to start a conflagration.
The story was suppressed.
Comment.-T his case invites comparison with another 'in?
which the bloody riots in a race war in a Southern city were
generally ascribed to the sensational and therefore inflammatory articles printed in one of the daily papers.
As an Eastern metropolitan newspaper states the matter in
its office rules: "Don't stress the fact that the villain of your
story is a negro, or an Italian, or a Methodist, unless that
fact is essential. It is injurious to the interests of the paper
to indict a race, or a nationality, or a religion, f or the misdoing of an individual."
"Don't Leave' the Field to Rumor"
The most primitive newspapers recognized and proclaimed
their purpose to ''discourage rumors."~




94   THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CASE.-An automobile driven by a prominent business man
and a member of one of the "first families" of the city was
wrecked on the road from a neighboring town late at night.
The man suffered broken legs and other injuries. With him
was a married woman, also of a leading family in the city,
who received severe injuries and was taken to a hospital in
the city. The morning paper made no mention of there having
been a woman in the accident. A brother of the injured man
was quoted as saying he was alone in the car. Relatives interviewed the editor of the evening paper and asked him to save
a scandal by suppressing the facts. Moreover, the father-inlaw of the woman said that she had spent the previous day
visiting friends in the neighboring town and while waiting to
board an interurban car for her return had been offered a ride
home by the young business man. He insisted that the meeting was entirely unpremeditated and innocent. The victims
of the accident were old friends and had not been the subject
of previous gossip.
The paper printed the entire story, including the father-inlaw's explanation of the circumstances.
Comment.-The newspaper is not a regulator of peoples'
private lives, though the fear of publicity, like the fear of the
police judge or the penitentiary, is a wholesome influence.
But in this case the editor who mutilated the story in the morning paper made himself ridiculous. His only choice was between printing the whole story or suppressing the whole story.
Moreover, suppression was ineffective. Rumors about the
woman in the case spread quickly over the city. The explanation given by the father-in-law did not go along with them.
The evening paper, in giving a full account of the affair really
did a kindness to all concerned-a fact that was later acknowledged by them.
CAsE.-Small-town gossips were very busy over the indiscretions of a married woman with a prominent young business
man. The husband knew of the talk and was greatly humiliated by it. The woman protested her innocence but continued
the affair. The local paper printed an item to the effect that
a triangle case was brewing and that the people of the town
wanted it stopped before it was too late. The young business
man asked the editor to "lay off of him."
Nothing more was printed.




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 93
Comment.-It was none of the editor's business in the first
place. We may fairly regard this case as disposing of the
various types of scandal and gossip cases that do not get into
court. Broadly speaking the reputable newspaper has nothing
to do with them. It was on them that the yellow press f attened-and does yet. The public will buy newspapers to read
that sort of thing, as it will buy liquor and drugs. The selfrespecting man will not make a living by vending that sort of
poison. A human judge can handle such a case f rom the
standpoint of the law; an All-Wise judge can determine guilt
or innocence from the standpoint of morality; an editor is not
a judge. The busybody is held in universal contempt. A
scandal sheet is a busybody raised to the nth power. Nobody
believes that the public health-in mind or behavior-is not demoralized by such filth. The clever remark, "The wages of sin
is publicity," is as bad a slogan f or a newspaper as could well
be contrived.
Publicity As a Big Stick
The threat of publicity has been used as a corrective influence, or, as in the following case, as a means of bringing
about action desired by the editor.
CASE.-A judge of a state supreme court, according to evidence laid before the editor of a metropolitan newspaper, was
guilty of questionable professional conduct. The judge said
he was innocent but that he was an old man and "broke," and
that the publication of the story would lead to tragedy. He
agreed to resign from his position on the bench if the story
was withheld.
The story was suppressed and the judge resigned.
Comment.-T he editor, in this case, sat as an extra-legal
judge, heard the evidence, and passed sentence. The power
of his authority came not from the law but f romn his engine of
publicity. Neither can it be said that the threat of publicity
would have been impotent if the law also had not been against
the accused judge. Many an innocent man has been injured
by ruthless publicity. The decision in the case seems highly
questionable. It was probably rationalized by the editor as
being a measure sanctioned by public interests; but it appears
more like unwarranted domination.




96 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The "Official Statement"
Public men often insist that their version of a situation
should be accepted by newspapers as final.
CAsE.-A minister resigned from his pastorate. The editor
and many other people knew that he was leaving because of
disagreement with his official board on the question of a parsonage. But he told the reporters that he was leaving the
town on account of his health.
The paper accepted his explanation as if it had been true and
printed it as a part of the interview, without contradiction.
Comm ent.-S uppression of facts by substitution of an official representation of the facts is often obnoxious. To be
sure, there are things which it is not necessary for the public
to know, but usually the official pronouncement contrary to
fact is questionable.
In connection with this case involving a minister, the careful
newspaper's attitude in more serious cases may be described
in the words of an Eastern editor:
It is the policy of our paper not to over-display or sensationalize
either telegraph or local stories pertaining to the clergy of any sect
who have erred or fallen from grace in the eyes of their parishioners, on the ground that the fact of a man's being an ordained
minister is no fair reason for exploiting his missteps or mistakes,
which same mistakes in a layman would be given no undue notice.
"'Take Your Own Medicine"
The idea that a journalist should treat himself as he treats
others seems elementary, tunt is far from universal acceptance
by editors who find it difficult to achieve detachment of themselves from their newspapers regarded as their private properties.
CASE.-The editor of a newspaper was arrested for alleged
responsibility in an automobile accident. The story was
printed. The editor, to show that he was "game," had his
name set in extra size type.
Comment.-Except for the extra size type, the matter seems
to have been handled admirably. The editor in this case had




THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 97
"a reputation for consistency in printing names of those having
"a court record. "Show us where any one else's name was left
out in a case like yours and we will leave yours out," was his
standing challenge. His theory was that "each reader buyingy
a paper makes a definite contract with it for the news---and
not merely the news of those without influence to keep their
names out of the paper." At least one admirable short story
published recently embodies the situation in this ''case.'' A
managing editor noted for his ''nose for news'' is confronted
with the duty of playing up the disgrace of his own son. He
does his duty.
CAsE.-The Emporia (Kansas) Gazette printed an account
of the appearance in police court of two of its reporters charged
with violating a traffic ordinance. The names were given.
Then it remarked: "The next time you come to the office and
try to keep an item out of the paper on account of the respectability of the parties concerned, just remember this one. Both
of these culprits have respectable families; each of them has
sick relatives who will die if the news is in the Gazette; and
both of them have good jobs which they will lose if the story is
published."
"There Are No Reporters Present"
There are circumstances, no doubt, under which a speaker
on some semiprivate occasion has a right to ask that his
remarks be not reported in the newspapers, but any understanding that "there are no reporters present" is a matter for
arrangement between the persons chiefly concerned. A request
by a public speaker that his remarks be regarded as private
is a request and nothing more.
CASE.-Three towns, some two hundrect miles apart, were
competing for selection as the best place for the location of a
project in child welfare work sponsored by a national organization. One important consideration was the guaranty of public
support of the project; so in one of the towns a meeting was
held to acquaint the people with the undertaking. The papers
were asked to refrain from giving more than bare mention
of the meeting, in order that the other contestants might not
be spurred to greater activity. The papers complied with the
request.




98u THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Comment.-T he request was foolish and the papers gave
short weight in the news delivered to their readers that day.
Group judgments As to Suppression
In some of the codes of ethics adopted by associations of
editors are specific references to suppression. In others the
matter is covered in general terms.
As an example of the latter, a paragraph from the canons
of journalism promulgated by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, may be quoted: "A newspaper should not invade
private rights or feelings without sure warrant of public right
as distinguished from public curiosity." Or the rule of a
metropolitan daily, "Deal gently with weak and helpless off enders."
More'specific in nature is the following from the code adopted
by the Oregon State Editorial Association:
It shall be one of our canons that mercy and kindliness are
legitimate considerations in any phase of journalism; and that if
the public or social interest seems to be best conserved by suppression, we may suppress; but the motive in such instances must
always be the publi6z or social interest, and not the personal or
commercial interest.
It goes almost without saying that newspapers every day
are withholding news because they are not sufficiently sure of all
the essential facts. One newspaper held a story of a crisis
in an Asiatic country a month, until its special correspondent
could ascertain the facts, while all of its competitors were
printing it in frequent installments. Many newspapers suppressed the government's lists of draft evaders, fearing to do
injury through publication of names not properly in the Jist.
"Professional Conduct"
The question naturally arises as to whether it is fair to the
journalist to expect him to sacrifice his financial interest in
order to conserve the public interest. Why should we say
that it is the duty of the editor to make enemies, if necessary,
in giving the public the news and in performing other kinds
of community service? Why can not the editor run his busi



THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF SUPPRESSION 99
ness as other men conduct theirs-in the manner that will
insure him the greatest returns?
The answer is, of course, that the newspaper is not merely
a business concern. In the very nature of things it can not
be a good newspaper if run on the controlling principle of
business, that the good will of everybody is at the basis of
success. No man should enter the field of journalism unless
he is willing to take the losses that are sure to come f rom
following the policy of representing the interests of the unorganized public against those of powerful individuals and
groups. That is an essential part of the editor's career. It
calls for courage; it appeals only to the man with a vigorous
strain of altruism. That men of other ideals are financially
successful in journalism and are not ashamed to maintain that
their vocation is nothing more than a business means nothing
except that in every business and profession are men who do
not accept the best standards of that business or profession.
They are the dead weight carried by their colleagues who are
blessed with clearer vision.
Nor, after all, is so much more required of the journalist
than of those in other professions. The doctor, in protecting
the public by a strict adherence to quarantine laws, makes
enemies who represent for him a financial loss; in fact much
of the modern physician's labor is towards lessening the need
for physicians. The lawyer, in lending his strength to the
protection of causes that are unpopular, though entitled to
protection for their legal rights, sometimes loses valuable good
will. The minister whose preaching and whose activities are
directed at concrete evils rather than at evil in general must
pay the price. He should not have entered the ministry unless
he could cheerfully accept the penalties. So with the editor.
To make an enemy by refusing to suppress a piece of news
to which the public is entitled should be to him merely a part
of the day's work. Of course, this is easier said than done.
It is easier in the city than in the small town. It may properly
be avoided, so far as good nature and diplomacy and sympathy
can avoid it; but there is a line of professional conduct on
which courage stands firm.




100 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Weighing All Considerations
Nothing would be more ridiculous than to attempt to reach
a decision in a doubtful case by a mechanical method of weighing the arguments for and against suppression.    Broadly
speaking, every case is different and must be settled on its
merits. But to do this wisely is to bring to bear a judicial
mind on all the considerations. This process may well be
illustrated graphically in a table presenting the reasons, properly weighted, for and against suppression. To be sure, there
is no time in the editor's day to ref er to such a table, even
if he were academic enough to make one. Most decisions
must be made on the instant. But the f act remains that the
editor with the ability to look at all sides of a question without being paralyzed thereby into indecision, is the one who will
have least occasion to regret ''bad guesses."~




CHAPTER V


OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE*
Complete independence for a newspaper is not a desirable
thing, any more than absolute truthfulness is always desirable.
Any newspaper by printing the whole truth about people and
events for a single day could become an antisocial influence.
Human beings are able to live with each other in some degree
of harmony only by reason of those everyday amenities of
which restraint in speech is one. There is a grain of wisdom,
along with the irony, in Mark Twain's maxim: "Truth is the
most precious thing we have, therefore let us economize it."
An independent newspaper of low ideals is far more dangerous to society than if it were responsive to outside influences-assuming, optimistically, that the more powerful influences are likely to be corrective, as indeed they must be
or we should be moving towards the Dark Ages, not away
from them.
Meaning of Independence
The expression, "independence of the press," is used here
as being much broader than "freedom of the press," which
refers to one particular kind of liberty. It is broad enough
to include such subjects as independence of the advertising
influence, of public opinion and public taste, of commercialism
and the capitalistic influence, of insidious propaganda, of
political parties or factions, of friends or enemies. Some of
these matters merit rather close examination.
First of all, it is necessary to survey rapidly some of the
main facts in regard to the development and present status
"*In this chapter, as in some others, cases, being hardly necessary
to clarify the discussion, are used but little.
101




102 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
of that most fundamental kind of independence, freedom from
governmental control.
The Winning of Freedom
From its earliest infancy, journalism has been engaged in
a struggle for independence of control by government. In
England and in the United. States the fight was practically won
generations ago,, though the press has not ceased to feel that
"ceternal vigilance is the price of liberty." In some other
countries, as in France and Italy, newspapers have, enjoyed
a large measure of freedom, while in still others, as in Germany
and Russia, periods of comparative independence have been
succeeded by periods of political. control. In all countries,
war crises lead governments to impose censorship regulations
or oth'er measures for control of the press which are equivalent
to censorship.
The fight for f reedom of the press has had three main
aspects: (1) the struggle against censorship and licensing by
which those in authority sought to dictate as to what should
be printed; (2) the opposition to unjust and. unfairly administered laws, usually good in themselves, against libelous, scandalous, blasphemous, and seditious publications; and (3) contention against oppressive taxation.
The Struggle in England
Freedom for the press in America was partly won in England. The decisive battles against censorship were fought in
that country. From the time of the Star Chamber edicts,
early in the seventeenth century, to the abolition of censorship
in 1694, the struggle was waged, and for a century afterwards
the equally bitter fight against unjust punitive laws and unfair
courts continued. Finally, in 1792 a satisfactory libel law was
enacted through the efforts of such statesmen as Erskine, Fox,
and Camden..Taxation as a means of restraining or even suppressing
publications was in use in the eighteenth century. It continued,
largely as a means of revenue, as late as the middle of the
last century, when the law taxing advertisements was finally




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE        10


103


repealed af ter a hearing in which Horace Gree~ley, who was
in London at the time, gave testimony againstthprcie
The history of the long struggle for freedom of the press
reveals not a few bold and unselfish figures. Many heroic
utterances are to be found in the record, of which perhaps the
noblest is the "Areopagitica" of John Milton, an attack on
licensing and censorship based on the belief that, "Though all
the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth,
so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licensing and
prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood
grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a f ree and
open encounter?"
Freedom of the Press in America
In our own country governmental control by censorship and
licensing is forbidden in the first amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law... abridging the f reedom of speech, or of the press...." It is likewise forbidden
in similar terms in the constitutions of the states, for example,
in that of Illinois: "Every person may freely speak, write and
publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that
liberty." These liberal guaranties were in part reactions from
usages in the Mother Country and in part the results of the
lesson learned through colonial days, that "government is intolerant of criticism." The first American newspaper, Publick Occurrences, was suppressed after its first issue, in 1690,
by the General Court of Massachusetts. The First Continental
Congress, in 1774, declared the importance of liberty of the
press to consist "in the advancement of truth, science, morality,
and the arts in general, and in the diffusion of liberal sentiments
on the administration of government, the ready communication
of thought between subj ects, and the consequential promotion
of union between them, whereby oppressive officers are shamed
or intimidated into more honorable and just modes of conducting affairs."
As regards taxation, the press in this country has had very
little annoyance. Massachusetts imposed a stamp tax of two
thirds of a ntenny on each newspaper, in 1785, but repealed




104 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
it in the same year. A tax on advertisements-sixpence up
to twelve lines, a shilling up to twenty lines, and so on, without
regard to the circulation of the paper-was repealed three
years later.
The foolishness of levying a tax on the chief organ of
intelligent public opinion, in a nation dependent on such opinion for its existence, had become as plain as the foolishness
of any other sort of social suicide.
The third enemy of a free press, unjust law and unfair
administration of the law, received its severest blow in the
trial of John Peter Zenger in New York early in the eighteenth century. The eloquence and the logic of Andrew Hamilton established the principle that not only the fact of publication but the question of its libelous nature and of its truth
was to be decided by the jury. Thus was a beginning made
at taking tyrannical power from the hands of political authority. An editor accused of a pernicious publication receives
judgment by a jury of his peers.
But it seemed to be impossible to learn the hard lesson once
for all. In 1798, the Sedition Act was passed by Congress to
protect the government from criticism. Its unpopularity, however, helped elect to the presidency Thomas Jefferson, who,
writing on the subject in 1804, thus expressed his opinion of
the law:
I discharged every person under punishment or prosecution
under the Sedition Law, because I considered, and now consider,
that law to be a nullity as absolute and as palpable as if Congress
had ordered us to fall down and worship a golden image; and
that it was as much my duty to arrest its execution in every stage
as it would have been to have rescued from the fiery furnace those
who should have been cast into it for refusing to worship the
image.... While we deny that Congress has a right to control the freedom of the press we have ever asserted the right of
the States, and their exclusive right, to do so.
As the decades passed, the interpretation of the phrase,
"liberty of the press," was more fully arrived at, though it is
yet by no means clearly and completely defined by judical decisions.




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       10


105


Meaning of "Liberty of the Press"
One thing that "liberty of the press" unquestionably means
is freedom from previous government license or censorship.
It has generally been interpreted by judicial decisions to mean
freedom from court censorship through injunctions against publication. It means, in the words of judge Cooley, "A right
to publish freely whatever the citizen may please, and to be
protected against any responsibility for so doing, except so
far as such publications, from their blasphemy, obscenity, or
scandalous character, may be a public offense, or as by their
falsehood and malice they may injuriously affect the standing,
reputation, or pecuniary interests of individuals."
Freedom does not mean immunity for publications that endanger the public peace or advocate crime or the destruction
of organized society. "Constitutional government may protect
its own life." It does not mean license to demoralize society.
"Constitutional government'may, under its police power, take
reasonable steps to protect the morals of the 'people for whom
and by whom it is instituted." It does not mean f reedom to
publish f alse news with evil intent. It does not mean f reedom
to invade the human rights of life, liberty, and the peaceful
possession of propertýY.
To be sure, there will never be perfect agreement as to
how and when restrictions of the press by law should be
applied. Volumes have been written as to the administration
of the law against seditious publications, to mention one subject especially fruitful of controversy, because it touches so
closely upon liberality in government. Broadly speaking, however, the boundaries of freedom of publication are well defined. The newspaper is f ree to print what it will; but it is
held responsible therefor.
The Law of Libel
A standard definition of libel is, "A malicious defamation,
expressed either by printing, or by signs or pictures or the
like, tending to impeach the honesty, integrity, virtue, or reputation, or publish the natural defects of any person, and thereby




106 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, or financial
injury." But, to quote one authority, John Gerdes:
If the rules were rigidly enforced, the result would be a severe
restriction on our boasted Anglo-Saxon freedom of speech and
liberty of the press, which were guaranteed to our forefathers by
the English Bill of Rights and to us by the first amendment of the
federal constitution, and it would be impossible for the press to
discuss frankly the questions of the day. It would also prevent the
proper working of our courts, our legislatures and our administrative departments.
The law of libel therefore recognizes certain exceptions to the
foregoing rules. There are two classes of communications which
the law recognizes as privileged; these are known as cases of
absolute privilege and cases of qualified privilege. By an absolute
privilege is meant one which renders the author of a statement,
which would otherwise be libelous or slanderous, free from all
liability for damages even though the statement be false and published maliciously with knowledge of its falsity. By a qualified
privilege is meant one under which the author of a defamatory
statement can be held only if it can be shown that he acted with
a malicious motive in publishing the defamatory matter.
All proceedings of the legislature are absolutely privileged, and
no member of the legislature ih liable for words published by him
in his official capacity. All testimony given in a court of law,
which bears upon the issues being tried, is also absolutely privileged.
A qualified privilege is extended to the publication of all fair
and true reports of any judicial, legislative, or other public and
official proceedings, when the report is made without being actuated
by malice.... Comment on, or criticism of, the acts of persons before the public, are privileged if they are made in a fair
and reasonable spirit, and not actuated by malice. The privilege,
however, only extends over comments and criticisms, and does
not extend over any false statement of fact. In cases of f air comment, in order to relieve the defendant from liability: (a) the
words published must be fairly relevant to some matter of public
interest; (b) they must be the expression of an opinion, and not
the allegation of a fact; (c) they must not exceed the limits of a
fair comment; (d) they must not be published maliciously.
For the same libel there may be a suit f or damages and a
criminal prosecution, and the damages may be both actual and
punitive. In most states the truth is a complete def ense in




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       10


107


either kind of prosecution. In some states it is a def ense only
when good motives and justifiable ends can be shown.
Summing up a discussion of the law and the newspaper,
Frederick W. Lehmann, formerly solicitor general of the United States, has written:
Reviewing the laws of this country for the regulation of the
press, it may be said unhesitatingly that they are not, any of them,
designed for its repression. To the publisher of a newspaper the
law of libel may seem harsh as holding him to account for what
he publishes without malice and as a part of the current news of
the day. Gibbon says that history is a register of the crimes, the
follies and the misfortunes of mankind. The daily newspaper is
such a history for each day; and such a history, its materials
gathered from every quarter of the globe and reported upon the
instant, cannot be infallible. If careful and exhaustive investiga-.
tion is attempted, the incident may cease to be news before its truth
or falsity is established. But the good name and good fame of
men are not therefore to be left without protection. For injury
done to individual reputation, whether through hasty publication
or malicious, there must be redress. The hazards of this business,
like those of any other, must be borne by the business. To maintain the freedom of the press, it is not necessary to relax responsibility for the abuse of that freedom. As the freedom is great, the
standard of responsibility should be high.
Avoiding Law Infringements
The restrictions and penalties imposed by laws are reflected
in sets of office rules of which the following, placed in the hands
of its copy readers by the St. Louis Republic, is a fair sample:
1. Heads are danger points. Never make, in a head, a damaging assertion which is not borne out fully in the text.
2. Make no assertions against any person's conduct or character
unless you are ready to supply complete legal evidence.
3. Do not draw conclusions adverse to conduct or character.
Let the facts tell the whole story.
4. Be sure the wrong person is not made to appear. This is
often done, either by slips in writing names or mistakes about
identity of persons involved. Get every name absolutely right.
5. Be careful about using' names given by unknown persons.
It is a common practice for criminals and other delinquents to
assume the names of respectable persons.




108 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
6. Any court news affecting business standing or business transactions is dangerous ground. Watch names. Be careful about
reporting business failures or embarrassments.
7. Be careful of stories affecting the professional repute of doctors, lawyers, preachers and men of other professions dependent
upon personal esteem.
8. Equally dangerous are stories affecting the character of
women. Use no epithets or adjectives unnecessarily. Never on
hearsay connect a woman with a detrimental action. Watch names.
9. Be careful of statements from one side. Never base an assertion on these ex parte statements. Get both sides or say that it is
from one side and be careful even then. The fact that a petition
has been filed does not necessarily justify publication.
The beneficent effect of the laws of libel upon journalism
is generally recognized. As one publisher has said, "It insures
the freedom of the press with the same certainty that it protects the citizen from abuse of the press's power. In every
newspaper office it has an influence for good because it fixes
the responsibility for errors, thereby tending to prevent their
repetition, and puts on record writers who are habitually careless or untruthful."
Independence of the Courts
Rome G. Brown, a distinguished lawyer, has pointed out
that:
Except the limited rights of censorship in times of war and
certain exceptional cases of censorship by injunction, the rights
of restraint on publication which have been reserved as a part of
the rights and immunities denoted by the "freedom of the press"
are generally in respect of those classes of restraints imposed by
penalties after publication. These are restraints on publication.
However, they are in law neither restraints on nor abridgments of
the freedom of the press.
Such restraints are usually classified as those under -the laws
against (1) sedition, (2) blasphemy, (3) obscenity and (4) defamation. But this classification omits a very important class which
has been variously defined and which has been upheld on varying
grounds. This class is (5) restraints imposed through the exercise of the police powers of the federal and state governments, and
of the power of the courts to punish contempts of court. This
fifth class applies to publications tending to interfere with the




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


109


due administration of justice by the courts or which tend to incite
breaches of the peace or to cause riots and disorder or to corrupt
public morals, or otherwise injuriously affect the public welfare.
There must be added also, if not as of this last class, then in addition to it, such indirect restraints as are imposed by departmental
regulations, like those of the Post Office.
All these reserved rights of restraint, when imposed and enforced in the exercise of the reasonable discretion given to the
lawmaking power, are rights within the freedom of the press, just
as much as though they were expressly written as a part of the
constitutional guaranty.
In the words of Justice O. V. Holmes of the Supreme Court
of the United States, "It is desirable that the trial of causes
should take place under the public eye, because it is of the
highest moment that those who administer justice should always
act under the sense of public responsibility, and that every
citizen should be able to satisfy himself with his own eyes
as to the mode in which a public duty is performed." Newspapers are privileged, therefore, to print "fair and true reports" of judicial proceedings, provided no malice is shown.
Criticism of court proceedings during a trial, being liable
to influence the administration of justice, are against the law,
This barrier is removed when the case is finally decided; but
scurrilous attacks are unlawful and lay the critic open to prosecution for libel or summary punishment for contempt.
These are the governing principles, but the law in some
particular cases is by no means clearly defined.
If a newspaper states that it has evidence that a law is
being violated, must its responsible editor present that evidence
in court, on penalty of being punished for contempt?   If a
reporter refuses to tell the court from what source he obtained
information regarding an alleged crime, can he be punished
for contempt?   These and other like questions await final
decision, though the latter question, in one form, has been
passed upon by the Supreme Court of the United States
adversely to one newspaper's theory that statements made to
its reporters were privileged communications.
CAsE.-The city editor of a Chicago newspaper was convicted of contempt of court for refusing to identify for a Fed



110 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER


eral grand jury the writer of an article in the paper forecasting
an indictment. He was fined $500. The decision was confirmed by the United States Supreme Court.
Comment.-Prior to that time there had been several decisions by lower courts holding that newspapers could not be
forced to divulge sources of information or the names of
writers of articles objected to.
The power of the Federal courts to punish for "constructive
contempt" was abolished almost a century ago; but supreme
courts of states are not affected by the restriction.
CASE.-The secret proceedings of a grand jury "leaked out"
and a newspaper forecast the action to be taken. The responsible editor was sent to jail for thirty days. He was regarded
as a martyr to the cause of good journalism, becoming something of a popular hero.
Comment.-If, as seems reasonable, secrecy in grand jury
proceedings is necessary in the administration of the law, it is
difficult to appreciate wherein this paper contributed anything
to social well being.
On the whole, newspapers have as much freedom from
domination by judicial powers as they need. And the same
may be said as to independence from authorities in the legislative and executive departments of government. American
journalism seldom has need for the Japanese "jail editor"
employed to "serve time" for the newspaper's infringement
on restrictive laws.
Independence in Times of National Peril
The freedom of the press, as well as other kinds of freedom, is compromised by war. Nations take more or less complete control of their newspapers when it seems necessary to
conceal the movements of troops and fleets and other war
measures. In the World War the committee on public information at Washington issued a statement to the press in
May, 1917, describing "dangerous matter" and "questionable
matter" and setting forth "practice and routing" in the handling of doubtful news or other matter. At the head of the




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       11


ill


statement was the following quotation from remarks by President Wilson:
I can imagine no greater disservice to the country than to
establish a system of censorship that would deny to the people of
a free Republic like our own their indisputable right to criticize
their own public officials. While exercising the great powers of
the office I hold, I would regret in a crisis like the one through
which we are now passing to lose the benefit of patriotic and intelligent criticism.
Voluntary censorship, however, soon gave way to strict
accountability under the law. The history of restrictive and
repressive measures used during the war has been written,
and various estimates as to their effects have been made.
Criticism of the news and propaganda sent out by the committee on public information has been voluminous, as has also
denunciation of the postal department in denying use of the
mails to certain publications which it desired to suppress.
Many court decisions have been attacked as unwarranted infringements on the freedom of the press. It has been charged
that our government proved more reactionary and less liberal
during the war than that of England, France or Germanythough a glance at the German Censor Book should remove
that impression from the mind of any critic.
Only bare mention of these controversies is in place here,
but the assertion may be hazarded that, in spite of what took,
place in 1917-1918, it is difficult to see any considerable dif,
ference between pre-war conditions and those now existing.
"Honor-Bound Censorship"
Control of newspaper reporters and correspondents by government officials through the practice of giving information
in confidence, has been condemned by Fred S. Ferguson, vice
president of the United Press Associations, and by others who
regard it as an insidious and unfair device for -suppression
and propaganda. The news may be more effectively colored
by omissions brought about by the obligation of confidence
on the part of reporters towards government officials than
in any other way. After a fashion, the official "turns state's




112 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
evidence," with the understanding that his disclosures are to
be released for publication only at his own pleasure. The
price that must be paid for full information is at least partial
suppression.
So much, by way of a glance at the subject of the newspaper's independence of governmental control-the growth and
justification of it, and its limitations.
The legislative efforts that have been made to improve the
press in various ways and the tendency of newspapers to
regard all such laws as infringements on their constitutional
rights will be considered later.
Independence of Political Parties
Since the rise of the political party press in the period
following the Revolution., newspapers in the United States
have, in the main, been partisan. During the last few decades,
however, a drift towards independence of party has been
noticeable. In a recent national campaign, a weekly newspaper
was established to carry the publicity of one of the great
parties, and a member of the national committee of that party
explained the reason for such action as follows:
A careful study of the situation developed that party organs are
passing away. In the McKinley campaign of 1896 the national
committee distributed literature to 18,000 newspapers throughout
the United States. Of that number, 6,100 were out-and-out Republican organs. All we can find to-day are 2,300, a loss to the
party of 3,800. Some of them have gone out of business, while
others have become independent. Of all the metropolitan dailies
in the big cities in the country, only fourteen are classed as devoted
to the principles of the Republican Party.
The figures may not be entirely accurate, but the tendency
described is unmistakable.
In justification of the party organ it is pointed out that
our government is a government by the political party system. If it is good, then parties are good. The existence of
parties presupposes adherence to them by the rank and file
of voters and by their leaders. Among such leaders are newspapers. Only through the clash of opinions, for which the




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


113


press affords the best medium, can the greater good be discovered.
Independence Is Not Neutrality
The fallacy in this line of reasoning arises from a confusion
of independence with neutrality. A neutral press would indeed
leave the electorate helpless until the "platform" could be revived to take up the work which it has largely resigned to
the newspaper. But an independent newspaper is not less
militant than a party organ, indeed its freedom to support any
party makes for greater aggressiveness since its position may
be taken on principle, never as a mere matter of party allegiance.
The Party Organ
Harrison Robertson, of the Louisville Courier-Journal, has
stated the case against the party organ thus:
The average party organ is ever the champion of its party,
right or wrong, and of its adherents, good or bad. It proceeds on
the theory that all is fair that may help its own partisans or hurt
their adversaries. Fairness to such of its readers as might look
to it for straight news and honest views has no part in its program. Either notoriously or insidiously it colors and distorts both
its news and views in favor of one party and against the other.
The reader who throws aside the organ of one party and takes up
the organ of the other party, hoping between them to get the truth,
gets buncoed if he credits either one. Neither praise nor condemnation by the party organ, even when deserved, has any force.
The only time when its condemnation might count for something
would be when directed against the sins of its own party; but it
does not admit that its own party has any sins for which it should
be chastised. One of the few popular quotations which have not
come down from William Shakespeare and which, by the way,
Henry Watterson was fond of is,
"Things have come to a hell of a pass
When a man can't wallop his own jackass."
The trouble with the party organ is that it refuses to recognize
that its own party is ever a jackass, in need of a walloping; while
it insists that the other party is always a jackass, and wallops it




114 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
accordingly. To it, long ears on the steed of the opposing party
always betray the species of the mount which Balaam walloped,
but long ears on its own "critter" are visioned only as celestial
wings.
Or, as another journalist, Bob Swayze, of the Oregon Journal, puts it:
The newspapers ever will continue to debate great municipal,
state and national issues and range themselves editorially on one
side or the other; but the party-at-any-price newspaper, the kind
which will blazon and champion a political lie on one side and
strangulate a political truth from the other side is going the way
of all flesh. Distrust of the newspapers has grown proportionately
with the knowledge that "party expediency"' and truth cannot associate congenially in the columns of the same newspaper.
What an unholy mess of odoriferous candidates I have seen the
party press attempt to ram through the ballot box during a newspaper career that has extended from the Old South through the
Southwest, the East, the Middle-West, the Pacific Coast and into
Canada. Such things were done with some success twenty years
ago, but they are rarely successful nowadays.
A "provincial editor," writing anonymously in the Atlantic
Monthly painted a dark picture of the domination of the
political boss: "I found that few people in the city considered
me other than a hired servant of the political organization
that aided in establishing the Herald. My function was evidently to explain or attack as the case might be." He was
rewarded, when he was "good" by receiving the public printing. He was punished, when "necessary," by being deprived
of it. Having surrendered to the domination of the boss when
the issue was first drawn, he soon became involved in hopeless
subserviency.
An interesting case in contrast is recorded in the History
of the New York Times, in which the publisher, though in
great need of financial support, refused the public printing
contract offered to him by the Tammany organization-without any "strings" attached. Mr. Ochs felt that the "strings"
would appear sooner or later and that even if they did not,
the independence of his paper would be compromised in the
eyes of the public.




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       15


115


Dangers in Independence
That political independence affords opportunities for evil
doing is not to be denied. The self-seeking newspaper finds
a broader field of operations; the arrogant newspaper finds
a larger club in its hands. There is a plausibility, too, in the
plea that the influence of good newspapers is needed within
party organizations. They are in position to help guide the
party to higher ground. If they cannot always have their
way, they are no worse off than the rest of us who soon learn
that life proceeds by compromises. Then too, only a bigoted
individual or newspaper is always dead sure of being right.
The judgment of the majority within a party has the same
sort of validity as the judgment of the majority within the
nation.
All of which loses some of its force, however, when the
difference between the position of the individual citizen and
that of an "organ of democracy" is taken into account. The
newspaper should take sides in most conflicts, to be sure, but
it has a duty to the public to see that both sides are f airly
presented. This is particularly true in view of the growing
number of one-paper towns, and of cities having a much
smaller number of papers than formerly. A steady trend
towards fewer papers, through consolidations, has marked recent years. In the nature of things, it is harder f or the party
organ than for the independent journal, to be fair to both
sides.
Independence of Factions and Leaders
Bismarck had his "reptile press," the early statesmen in
the United States had their controlled newspapers, and even
in our time there are sundry varieties of "organs."  Such
papers to-day usually fail of respect and therefore of influence.
just as men of great wealth who have bought control of newspapers have usually found that their investment was unprofitable in every way, so a politician or a political clique is
likely to be disappointed in the value of an "organ." Respect
is not withheld from an attorney for a corporation or an




116 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
office holder or a group of office holders. But the case is
different with the newspaper which assumes the functions of
such an attorney. It is regarded as having sold its soul. Its
attorneyship should be for the public.
Such criticism hardly applies to the man in public life who
is a bona fide publisher or editor, though the measure of his
selfish designs, and the extent to which he appears to be using
his newspaper merely as a tool, will determine its influence.
Some forty members of the Sixty-eighth Congress were editors or publishers.
Independence of Advertisers
If no one had ever produced a case in which an advertiser
influenced a newspaper, yet anybody not entirely unsophisticated would know that, in the very nature of the relationship,
such influence is bound to be exerted. To what extent it is
an evil influence damaging to the public interest is another
question.
Probably on an average not more than one-fifth of the receipts of a small weekly newspaper come from the subscribers.
The rest is advertising revenue. In the case of daily papers,
small and large, the proportion of advertising earnings is even
larger. The price paid for a city newspaper does not cover the
cost of the paper stock used in it. On the face of it, this
situation seems to leave the door wide open to dictation by
advertisers. Self preservation is the first law of newspapers,
as of nature. A newspaper is not "commercialized" merely
by reason of seeking business success. A starved newspaper
is not likely to be influential, because it is not in a position
to be courageous. To an increased dependence on advertisers
it adds dependence on money lenders.
Business success being a prime object of journalism and
an almost necessary prerequisite of other forms of success,
and business success being largely dependent on advertising
patronage, it seems that the question of an advertising influence resolves itself into the question as to whether or not advertisers have any desire to exert such influence.'
But this line of reasoning, while plausible enough, presents




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


117


only a superficial view of the matter. There are counteracting
factors that help to save the day for independent journalism.
Protective Factors
In the first place, the value of a newspaper as an advertising medium depends not only upon the extent of its circulation but also upon its standing with its readers. No intelligent advertiser is satisfied with quantity of circulation alone.
He looks for quality. And one element of quality is reader
confidence, making for responsiveness. Any doubt as to the
integrity of a newspaper compromises the entire sheet. The
most destructive doubt that can exist about a paper is that it
is run in the interests of somebody else than the subscribers.
Thus it is that enlightened self-interest on the part of the
advertiser admonishes him to keep hands off of the paper's
policies. But, of course, not all newspaper advertisers are
"enlightened."
Another protective feature is the fact that concerted action
on the part of advertisers is rarely possible. For one thing,
there are so many of them that they cannot agree. The thing
in a newspaper that offends one pleases another. Then too,
anything like an organized boycott is extremely dangerous.
Public opinion has a way of making such action highly unprofitable.
Another saving factor is the knowledge all experienced
publishers have, that a concession in one instance is the beginning of thralldom. Love of independence is instinctive. It
is the thing for which men fight.
The far seeing publisher knows that his main asset is his
subscription list or his body of readers. Without them he is
nothing. With them, he has something so valuable to sell the
advertiser that his strategic position is very strong. Some one
has declared that the way to find out the money value to a
newspaper of each one of its subscribers is to divide the number of subscribers into the total earnings of the paper. The
total annual income of a daily paper having five thousand
subscribers may be $100,000. Each subscriber pays about
$5.00 a year, but he is worth to the paper $20.00 a year, viewed




118 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
from the point of view suggested. As William Allen White
sees it:
The newspaper code could be very short; and should be based
upon the fact that a newspaper is run first, last and all the time
for the subscribers. If it doesn't have subscribers, it cannot give
its advertisers value received. If it cannot give its advertisers
value received, it is taking money under false pretenses. There
can be no conflict between the advertiser and the subscriber, because in such a conflict the advertiser has no rights. The newspaper code is, therefore, very short: the advertiser has no rights
which the subscriber is bound to respect. A paper run on that
basis will make money for its advertisers, and be fair to the subscribers.
CASE.-An elevator accident occurred in a large department
store resulting in the serious injury of two women. The
management, fearing that customers might be kept away by
apprehension of further mishaps, asked the papers not to
mention the matter. Two papers complied with the request.
The third paper put the item on the front page.
Comment.--This is the typical department-store case. If
nothing more serious was meant by the "advertising influence"
than such incidents as this, the matter would hardly be worth
discussing. If there was no evidence of carelessness on the
part of the store management and if the case did not call for
a "safety first" warning to the public, suppression might seem
to be justified. The trouble lies in the fact that one such request, if granted, leads to another-perhaps in a far more
serious matter. The newspaper is fortunate if it can teach
its advertisers that such demands are futile. A successful
publisher has said, "The matter of relations with advertisers
often has a very important bearing on the success of a newspaper enterprise. The storekeeper as a rule is a mild sort of
little despot, or likes to make himself think he is. If we permit
him to make us think that his advertising is more important
to us than to him, our relation is hopeless. If we allow him
to dictate to us, we are lost."
Another aspect of the advertising influence is presented in
one reporter's account of his experience with it:
CAsE.-After turning up a story of the elopement of the
son of a wealthy merchant with the old man's cashier, the re



INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       19


119


porter finds that it does not appear in the paper. A good yarn,
too. The merchant threatens to disown the boy, but finally
kidnaps him f rom the bride and induces him to enlist in the
navy. The girl gets another job and waits f or him to return.
On the other hand, he receives orders to play up the story
of the mental collapse of another merchant, who, after announcing a general increase of pay for his shop girls, is taken to
a sanitarium by his children, from which retreat he telephones
the manager of his furniture department and orders him to
buy a gross of canary birds and give one away with each purchase.
One of these shops did not advertise.
Comment.-Obviously, either both or neither of the stories
should have been published. The newspaper placed itself in
the light of attempting to intimidate merchants in its town.
Such a policy merits and receives the same contempt felt for
any other effort at blackmail.
CASE.-The department stores of New Haven combined in
an attempt to dictate advertising rates.
Comment.-A type of case in which the public has no interest except that the newspaper as a vehicle of information may
be affected by insufficient revenues, and except for the further
fact that dictation in business matters leads naturally to attempted dictation in editorial matters.
The really serious aspects of the advertising influence are
hardly manifest in the foregoing cases. They are too trivial
and obvious to be called sinister.
CASE.-A street railway company sought a franchise for a
long term of years on terms unf air to the public. It had the
support of important financial and business interests in the
town. The editor of the local paper was not approached in
the matter, but he saw fit to print only the news of the proceedings, without taking sides or attempting to interpret the
terms of the proposed contract.
Comrnent.-The advertising influence is often most demoralizing when unaccompanied by threats or bribes or even any
words at all. The editor who succumbs to it in a case like this
has merely sensed the situation and acted accordingly. He
knows. without being told, what is likely to be unpleasant




120 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
reading for the class from whom comes most of his revenue.
In the foregoing case, more than half of the business men were
against the franchise. The paper's attitude disappointed and
disgusted them. The editor was not oblivious to the fact;
but he knew that disappointment on the one side would not
hurt him as much as the active enmity of the other side, which
would follow opposition to the franchise.
The advertising influence does not often take the form of
an explicit demand: "You will have to stop printing editorials
against high prices or I will withdraw my advertising." Those
overzealous defenders of the press who deny the existence
of any advertising influence on the ground that few such instances have been brought to light are merely employing trans-.
parent subterfuge. Their willful blindness does no service
to the press. The journalists who have had the courage to
lay bare the true conditions and to exalt the principle that a
newspaper must be edited for its subscribers are the ones to
whom credit is due for such betterment as is observable.
CASE.-The managing editor of a national publication has
given the following instance:
A publisher has frankly told me that what he considers the
"best piece of constructive journalism" done by his paper in recent
years was an article so ably defending the meat packers against
an official charge of having shipped rotten meat to soldiers in
Texas that it got for him large advertising contracts from the
packers. He said also that the packers' publicity bureau sent this
article to every leading newspaper in the country,, several of which
reproduced it in whole and many more in part. This is the same
publisher who later excluded from his paper all mention of the
Federal Trade Commission's indictment of the packing combine
but was keen for a big spread when the packers' publicity agents
brought charges of socialism against that Government department.
There may or may not be special significance in the fact that this
"best piece of constructive journalism" occurred in a leading religious weekly, proclaiming itself intent upon the higher things, not
of the flesh but of the spirit.
Comment.-A case on which both sides should be heard before forming an opinion.
CASE.-A large national advertiser made gifts to a college
at its commencement. A-!ocal newspaper "played up" that




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


121


feature and then sent its advertising solicitor to the philanthropist's office with clippings in one hand and an advertising contract in the other.
Comment.-Completeness requires that such a case as this
should be included, in which the "advertising influence" is
made to work backwards.
CASE.-One of the largest advertisers in a small city had a
woman arrested for shoplifting. She was a member of his
church. He told the local paper that if it printed the story he
would withdraw his advertising. Since it was a matter of
court record, the story was printed. The advertiser made
good his threat, during a period of six months.
Comment.-A cheerful feature of such a case is that independence once asserted in this way is not likely to be questioned
again. This editor reports, with a wry smile at the irony of
the thing, that shortly after the incident just described he reported a case in court in which an enemy of his was defendant,
and was generally accused of being vindictive!
The country publisher is in a much more difficult position
than the city publisher when it comes to resisting the advertising influence. One advertiser more or less means more to
him than to his colleague in the city. An enmity in a small
town is a much more uncomfortable thing than in a large town.
It is almost as if it were in the family, so many are the embarrassments arising from it. Men of large affairs, commercial
as well as political, may be antagonists to-day and allies tomorrow. Men of small affairs seem less flexible, less able to
forget the past in the exigencies of the present. The country
journalist who would maintain his independence at less than
a ruinous cost needs not only courage but infinite tact.
Comparative View of Conditions
The following comment by a well known publisher and
writer, Charles H. Grasty, in the Atlantic Monthly, is illuminating, though a demurrer must be permitted to the statement
in the first sentence. It seems broader than is justified either
by what follows or by conditions. It is as much too far in
the one direction as the views of, say, Upton Sinclair are in
the other.




122 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The relation of our journalism to its chief source of support-.
mercantile advertisingý-is free from danger and confusion. I
regard this danger as the greatest that presents itself in the development of independent journalism. I do not mean to cast any
reflection whatever on the merchants who patronize the newspapers. On the contrary I think they behave with great restraint
toward the journalistic institution for which they so largely furnish the sinews of war. Nor do I think they would be pleased at
bottom if they could break down journalistic standards and reduce
that profession to the status of a pure business.
It is a fact, however, that in England the relation is entirely
different. I do not say that the advertiser demands any share in
the conduct of newspapers there, but the relation is certainly one
that I would feel very uncomfortable and anxious about if I were
running a paper in London....
It is often difficult to tell what is advertising and what is reading
matter in a London paper. Until recently, when, led by an American, H. Gordon Selfridge, the big shops began to use large advertising, the newspapers have been relieved of the consequences of
their methods through the fact that no merchant has spent enough
money to tempt him to tamper with the newspaper which carried
his business. London has all of this pressure yet to meet and
resist. We have gone through with it on this side of the water,
and newspapers have become freer and freer from anything like
advertising domination. It is frankly admitted that in the cities
newspapers are dependent for their profits on the business of a
few big department stores. It would seem to be a perilous position. It is an inverted pyramid, but it has thus far been kept rightside up.
I am of opinion that extra-journalistic domination from any
other quarter is impossible; but the advertiser can get at the newspaper, especially one that has not yet reached the goal of success,
in most convenient ways. I can give an instance from my personal
experience. In 1905, after I had had the Baltimore News for
thirteen years and success seemed to be sure, one fine afternoon
all the department-store advertising which had been in the paper
in bulk for some years suddenly disappeared. The management
had always been rather cold-hearted toward the advertiser, in view
of its conviction that independence of all outside influence was
necessary in the conduct of the paper; and the raising of the
advertising rate had furnished to our customers an excuse for an
organized movement to discipline us. Their meetings were secret
and we were able to obtain but little information. Such as we
could obtain we published, and we made a candid but moderate
statement of the position in which we found ourselves. If an




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       13


123


organization of this kind could be formed and maintained, it meant
that any paper could be destroyed by its large local advertisers.
Some of my conservative friends from other cities, in a spirit
of kindness, came to Baltimore and urged me not to keep up a fight
of this kind, but to try to come to terms in private. I believed in
the other method and was anxious to demonstrate the soundness of
independence as a newspaper policy and the stability of newspaper
property. At the end of a few weeks the merchants who- were
boycotting us were themselves boycotted by their customers to such
an extent that they voluntarily surrendered. The only thing that
we did to protect ourselves was to publish the facts, and this we
did in no intemperate spirit. We did not work up any counterboycott by private means. It convinced me, and I think a good
many others, that, if a newspaper were on the right terms with its
public, no movement by advertisers could prevail against it.
Independence of the Public
When newspaper publishers find themselves on -the defensive because of objections to the character of what they print,
they always seek vindication in the specious phrase, "We must
give the public what it wants." In one sense, of course, the
statement is true enough. That is why it serves so well as a
defensive pleading. Success in any department of life depends
on being able to contribute to the satisfaction of some human
want or need. That is axiomatic. But, as is the case with
figures, while axioms do not lie, men lie by means of axioms.
It is a simple process of stretching truth to cover implications
which the unwary may be trusted not to discover.
As used defensively by gutter journalism or jazz journalism
or journalism spotted with filth or froth, it has a fallacy concealed in every term. The word "wants" is ambiguous. It is
all right in one sense and all wrong in another. The individual
who proceeds on the theory that he will take what he wants,
lands in jail. Civilization consists largely in the denial of wants,
the establishment of order and restraint and the recognition of
relative values.
A high official in a news association relates that ten ministers
called on an editor to protest because he allowed the trivial to
crowd the significant from the front page of his paper. The
editor replied, "There are two doors into this room. If I were




124 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
to say to you that in one minute President Eliot would enter the
door on the left and James J. Jeffries the door on the right,
nine of you would look toward the door on the right." His
comment is: "The editor in the story was right in his argument
with the preachers. A world's champion prize fighter is more
interesting than a college president, and the reason for that is
not hard to find. The prize-fighter appeals to the elemental in
us. Our civilization and culture are still comparatively new;
the varnish on them is hardly dry. Until just a few centuries
ago our ancestors were savages, each man battling against his
fellows in defense of his woman and children and his food."
So it seems that the public wants those things which lead it
back to its days of savagery! It has taken the trouble to put
on a varnish of culture but really wants it removed and the f unction of the newspaper is that of a varnish remover. Strange
how easy it is for this type of journalistic mind to deceive
itself by professing its inability to distinguish between wants
which are instinctive, elemental, impulsive, transitory, and
those which are acquired by education and experience, sanctioned by reason, permanent, valid.
On this aspect of the subject Fabian Franklin, journalist
and author, has written:
It may be said, to be sure, that any people gets the kind of newspapers it deserves; just as it is said that any people gets as good
government as it deserves. In any such saying, there is just
enough truth to give it standing; but it is far from being the whole
truth. If we were to accept it in the case of government, we
should not only have no improvement, but should be sure to go
from bad to worse; and the same is true of newspapers, or of the
stage, or of anything else in which the downward path is the
easiest. To take that kind of view is to forget that in "the people" is included not only the general crowd, but also the personsrelatively few, perhaps, but absolutely many-who have standards
higher than those of the crowd; and to forget also that even the
crowd is not only what it is but what it is capable of becoming if
given the right lead and the right chance., When our civil service
was completely given over to the spoils doctrine, when our banking
and currency system was disgracefully lacking in the essentials
of sound method, many said that this was all we could expect-~
that it was the only kind of thing our American democracy would




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


125


have; but the persons who refused to accept this fatalistic view
were sufficiently numerous, and sufficiently resolute, to bring about
a thoroughgoing change. It took time, and patience, and energy,
and faith, but it was done. And, while the case of the newspaper
is not altogether parallel, there is fundamentally the same conflict
-the conflict between the view that the people get just what they
want and the view that it is the business of men of light and leading to challenge this fatalistic doctrine.
Appeal to the fact that sewer sheets achieve large circulations
is inconclusive proof that the public wants them. In some
instances it tolerates them because they have certain admirable
qualities mixed in-independence in some lines or even devotion
to public causes. It is easier to tolerate a newspaper than to
resist its appeal when the appeal is made to instinctive interests,
however unworthy. To some degree the sensational paper
awakens and excites desires that would otherwise remain latent,
then points to them as its justification. All rabble rousers
through the ages have made similar pleas in justification.
On this aspect of the matter the late George Fitch, journalist,
has said:
The question of which comes first, the desire for a certain kind
of news or the news itself, has not been answered and is not
generally recognized by the editors who say they publish certain
kinds of news in response to the public demand. I don't believe
that at any time in the past ten or fifteen years, a sudden demand
for comic supplements has arisen over night-particularly for the
comic supplements printed in colors which jar every established
rule of art. I do not believe that that demand came pouring into
the newspapers of the United States on a single day and that the
newspapers had to comply with it. It appears to me that that
demand was cultivated as carefully as the farmer cultivates his
soil; and the seed had to be sown before the demand arose.
The same form of alibi is used by theatrical producers and
it is refreshing to hear one playwright taking higher ground:
I think the public wants something very different from what it
cries for. If you gauge what the public wants by what it gets,'your
estimate of what the public wants is apt to be rather discouraging.
As a matter of fact those people in whom are vested the right to
dole out to the public its artistic fodder, treat that public exactly




126 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
as a tenement mother might treat her squalling youngsters; the
settlement worker has probably left a perfectly good formula of
nutritious food, but a formula that requires a slight cultivation of
the baby's taste for the baby to swallow the food; the tenement
mother, however, finds that bananas are what the child grabs for
and gorges down with satisfaction, and so bananas are what the
baby gets. The white-faced tenement baby is the result.
The answer is: The public-great, overgrown baby-is clamoring for its bananas. And it is to the eternal shame of those of
us who dole out its nutriment that we do not take as a moral responsibility the education of that baby for more nutritious food.
A second fallacy in the phrase, "A newspaper must give the
public what it wants," is in the word "public." There are many
publics. The specious newspaper apologist uses the phrase as
justifying his policy of giving what it wants to that public which
is lowest in its tastes and least disciplined in its indulgences. A
purveyor of any sort of agreeable poison can find a public
that wants it. Until humanity is standardized there will always
be minorities whose wants run the whole scale of ethics. But
minorities are accustomed to accept denials of their wantseven majorities do so-in the interests of what they recognize
as the common good.
It is obvious that, as Max O'Rell once wrote, "journalism
can not be now what it was when it was read by people of
culture only." And since that was written, newspaper circulation has gained a universality not dreamed of by Mr. O'Rell.
It has gained this greater clientele partly by judicious compromise of the standards that could be maintained for cultured
minds only, and partly by illegitimate use of the methods of
panderers, by cowardly surrender to opportunism.
On this phase of the subject Hamilton Holt, editor of the
Independent, said before a newspaper conference:
We might divide the public into three parts: the first, the socalled thinking classes and intellectual classes-"highbrows" if you
will; second, the mass of the people, "low brows" as they are
sometimes called; third, the depraved and debased and criminal
classes.
I hold thatkno editor has a right to make a paper deliberately
for the last class-for the debased class; and if he tries to do so,
he should be ostracized by other editors and if necessary should




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127


be prevented by the state through legal process. But every criminal has some good side to his nature, and the upper classes have
a yellow streak in their nature; and I do not believe that an editor
should be allowed to appeal to that yellow streak.
It is perfectly legitimate, I think, for an editor deliberately to
attempt to appeal to the intellectual classes or to the masses; and
which is the most important I don't know. I suppose it will never
be decided whether Harvard or the public schools have done the
most for the state, and whether the man who writes a scientific
treatise has done more than a man who writes a novel. I think it
is legitimate to appeal to these classes.
The third fallacious term of the plausible phrase "A newspaper must give the public what it wants," is the verb in the
imperative mood. just why "must" it so act? There are
other vocations than journalism. If a man finds he can succeed as an editor only by corrupting public morals, his best
plan is to try to succeed at something else. A crooked lawyer
or a crooked doctor is not sanctioned on the ground that he
must be crooked or fail in his profession. As a matter of fact,
crookedness is usually deliberate not imperative.
The editorial apologist who substitutes "should" for "must"
in the effort to raise his depravity to the level of duty is too
ridiculous to deserve serious attention. His gift for rationalizing misconduct approaches genius. If there are obligations
anywhere in journalism, one of the chief is the obligation to
give the public what it ought to have, what it wants in its better
moments, what the editor in his character as custodian of the
public weal can, with a clear conscience, give it.
This is not idealism; it is mere decency. It is not theory;
it is common sense. There are impractical idealists, to be sure.
Cyril Arthur Player, of the Detroit News, had them in mind
when he wrote:
Firmly convinced as I am personally of journalism's mission of
leadership, I incline to think that it must draw the key to its
leadership from the highest note it finds in the public, and not the
highest note it imagines the whole public should reach if all the
public was on the high-road to an evangelical heaven.
But Mr. Player would be the last man to agree that a newspaper can play down to the submerged tenth or the submerged




128 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
nine tenths, as you choose to regard mankind, and keep its
self -respect.
As to this theory that an editor is compelled to bend to
a low public taste, George Fitch said, one time, to a group of
publishers:
Does a man have to publish what the public demands? It depends altogether on what kind of an editor you are, just as it depends in every line of business whether you have to give the
public what they demand.
Boys demand certain things that they cannot have; and they
grow up and demand booze and certain men cater to that demand.
But we don't build monuments to the saloonkeepers when they die.
Other men have educated themselves into the belief that they cannot live without morphine, and you can always find in every city
some druggist who supplies the great popular demand for morphine;
but he has to do it on the sly, because if we catch him we certainly
teach him that there are some popular demands which cannot
legally be supplied.
Other people seem to need a certain type of reading"-a type of
reading which subverts probably all the moral instincts they have,
which vitiates their taste, which destroys what regard the'y have
for morality, which leaves them in a state of hopeless misinformation on all public affairs; and that is a recognized demand and
some papers supply that. But if I were an editor and~ supplied
that demand, I would not go around bragging about it.
The substance of the issue was boiled down to this brief
statement by the late Lyman Abbot, editor of the Outlook:
The defense of the newspaper that it must give the public what
it wants is no better defense than it would be for the selling of
whisky, cocaine and opium, for the marketing of stale fish and
decayed vegetables, for the publishing of obscene literature and
obscene art, for putting on the stage licentious dramas, for houses
of prostitution and gambling hells, for the manufacturing of dynamite bombs for anarchists. In all these cases the seller gives to
the people who buy, what the people who buy want. The editor
is or ought to be a public teacher and he ought always to give to
the public the facts of life and the truths of life as honestly and
as accurately as he can do it with the means at his disposal.
An editorial writer in a journalistic periodical aims to take
a realistic view of the matter:




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       12


129


The editor might like to reform the methods and conditions, but
that is impossible; single-handed, he can only whistle against the
wind. He must decide whether he will conform to the conditions
of competition and succeed, or stand by his convictions of right
and fail. It is a decision he must make every day-yes, a hundred
times every day. The most pitiful part of it is that those with
the highest ideals, the keenest sense of right and acutest conscience
are the ones who must suffer most. There is no graver, more
vital, more insistent, more fundamental editorial decision. It cannot be dismissed as a moral platitude. It reaches to the very deeps
of the editorial soul. It is the matrix that shapes every phase of
editorial policy.
Is it better to follow your high ideals and suff er, or is it better
to give them up and be so spiritually dead that your carrion stinks
to the stars? Which is really the success and which really the
failure? What's the answer? What is your answer for yourself?
His conclusion is that the great editors of the past have
won through maintenance of ideals, and that human nature
responds to nothing so quickly as righteousness of purpose
bravely maintained.
The situation is thus described by Lee A White, of the
Detroit News:
The greatest present- weakness of the press is a subservience,
not to advertisers, but to an anonymous and largely imaginary
public; and this public, by its very anonymity, like the author of
a blackhand letter, has capacity to disturb the vacillating editorial--
mind, and the sensitive purse of the weak-willed publisher. It
takes courage to determine upon a course and pursue it in the face
of a declining circulation. But more than one editor, wherever
you find robust newspapers, has, by courageous persistence in a
course in which he believed, won back those who deserted with
compound interest in the shape of a multitude of new readers who
found his conduct laudable.
There is no occasion for the surrender of ideals by editor or
publisher on the ground of unintelligence of the public. The difference between the high and the low brow is, anyway, largely
a matter of vocabulary; and the writer who learns to think clearly
and express himself simply will find the great mass absorbing his
ideas.
And this opinion as to editorial responsibility is advanced
by the English author, Gilbert K. Chesterton:




130 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
There is the notion that the press is flashy or trivial because it
is popular. In other words, an attempt is made to discredit democracy by representing journalism as the natural literature of
democracy. All this is cold rubbish. The democracy has no more
todo~ih the papers than it has with the peerages. Temlin
aire newspapers are vulgar and silly because the millionaires are
vulgar and silly. It is the proprietor, not the editor, not the subeditor, least of all the reader, who,is pleased with this monotonous
prairie of printed words.
A favorite recourse of some newspapermen in seeking to
justify the superficialities and trivialities of journalism is to
point out that such things make up the greater part of people's
lives. They point out that news value is densest in the neighborhood of violence, scandal, mystery, personalities. All of
which is beside the mark. If our thoughts are mostly trivial
the newspaper has a glorious opportunity to relieve our monotony by being different. We all like change of diet. It also
has the opportunity to make non-sensational but truly significant
things interesting by cleverness in handling. Newspapers
which accept that challenge do not usually fail to get the attention of the public. A newspaper worth its salt is too independent to "give the public what it wants" without question.
Independence on Specific Issues
Much has been said, and wisely, about the primary obligation of a newspaper to its subscribers. A word may be added
as to the dangers of too great subservience in this relation, in
specific cases. The tyranny of the mob is the worst of all
tyrannies, whether it is dictation by public opinion as to newspaper policy or by public taste as to newspaper content.
CASE.-A newspaper advocated the release of political
prisoners still in confinement some years after the World War.
It was denounced and threatened by individuals and organizations. It dropped the subject.
Comment.-No one should be too sure that in the editor's'
place he would have done differently-with possible ruin
threatening him. It is easy to advise martyrdom for another.
One can only express the wish that this editor had possessed




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


131


sufficient resources to support independence, whatever it might
cost.
CASE.-A religious organization employed lobbying methods
to defeat in the legislature a health measure framed to advance
the public welfare. One newspaper exposed and denounced
the proceedings.
Comment.-All newspapers meet situations where they feel
it their duty to offend large bodies of their readers. Nothing
else in journalism calls for greater courage. When Horace
Greeley advocated fair treatment for Jefferson Davis and
signed his bond, he paid an enormous price for a clear conscience.
CASE.-A nonpartisan movement for lower taxes swept
several agricultural states. Newspapers were threatened with
the boycott if they took up the defense of public expenditures.
They printed reports of the meetings and the resolutions
adopted and, for the most part, made no effort to stem the
tide of discontent.
Comment.-Some editors do6btless sincerely believed that
silence was the best cure for the trouble, and trusted in the
arrival of good crops to remove the cause of the uprising.
Others were merely discreet. Still others doubtless remembered that the seemingly radical proposals in connection with
such movements sometimes find their way into law and cease
to appear radical.
At least it can be said that bad temper and intolerance in
such cases is not effective. Fairness and an appeal to reason
constitute the only practical policy.
A newspaper writer, Jay E. House, thus comments on the
exercise of courage in the face of community opposition:
Certainly no newspaper can tell the truth, or anything approximating the truth, if it is scared to death of its town. If a newspaper starts in to cater to the passions and prejudices and whims
and fancies of its reading public, it will find it more or less difficult to abandon the practice. But once it has established a reputation for truthtelling, it will find there is very little objection to
the habit.
A newspaper is published for its readers, but not subject
to their dictation, and the hopeful feature of the matter is that,




132 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
down in their hearts, most people recognize that this is right.
They may complain, protest, and even threaten; but if the
paper has demonstrated its honesty and sincerity, they cannot
lo~ng suppress respect for its independence.
A Group Declaration of Principle
An unmistakable utterance in opposition to the false idea
of subservience to supposed public demands is found in the
Oregon code of ethics for journalism:
We dispute the maxim sometimes heard that a newspaper should
follow its constituency in public morals and policy rather than
try to lead it. We do not expect to be so far ahead of our time
that our policies will be impractical; but we do desire to be abreast
of the best thought of the time, and if possible to be its guide.
It is not true that a newspaper should be only as advanced in its
ethical atmosphere as it conceives the average of its readers to be.
No man who is not in ethical advance of the average of his community should be in the profession of journalism. We declare
therefore as follows.... We will consider all that we write
or publish for public consumption in the light of its effect upon
social policy, refraining from writing or from publishing if we
believe our material to be socially detrimental. We will regard
our privilege of writing for publication or publishing for public
consumption as an enterprise that is social as well as commercial
in character, and therefore will at all times have an eye against
doing anything counter to social interest.
Independence of Commercialism
In the consideration of journalism as a profession, the relations of the business side to the editorial side will be considered at some length. It is necessary here to present only a
few opinions as to the "commercialism" of which so much is
now heard.
"The publisher," says one critic, "has begun to dwarf the
editor." Another critic within the profession of journalism,
Robert L. Duffus, has written as follows in a journalistic
periodical, the Quill:
In one sense a newspaper is a business enterprise, which sells
facts and opinions as a grocer sells cabbages and canned goods.
In another sense it is an educational institution. Ordinarily those




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


133


who are interested in making it one thing are less interested in
making it another, and hence we have the immemorial conflict between editorial department and business office.
What makes a newspaper pay does not always make it a safe
guide for the reading public or a good moral influence upon the
men who do the writing. This, of course, is an old story to newspaper men. We are a divided profession, with one foot on land
and one on sea. Emissaries from the first floor come up to find
out why it is that the young gentlemen who write the paper can't
keep the prejudices of advertisers in mind. The advertising manager is continually reminding us that it is he, after all, who meets
the pay roll. On the other hand we are tempted to regard ourselves as custodians of public morality and public intelligence and
to put forward our own opinions as pure doctrine where we would
resent as somewhat tainted the opinions of men who sell dry goods
or stocks and bonds instead of news.
Of late years there has been a school of newspapermen who have
dropped the pretence of being in business for the public's benefit
and have frankly declared that their enterprise is conducted for
the same reasons as any other business enterprise-to make money
by pleasing the public. This is a gain in one way; it at least eliminates a certain amount of hypocrisy. But it is very doubtful if
many newspapermen, especially those whose eyes have been opened
somewhat by a college training in sociology and economics, are or
will be satisfied with such a motive. It is impossible for a thoughtful person to escape the conclusion that newspapers ought to be
run for some motive other than profit, whether it is possible or
not. There must be some ideal higher than getting the public's
pennies and the merchant's dollars or the profession will die of
dry rot. There is no basis for a life work in writing of murders,
suicides, divorces, accidents, politics, or sports unless these things
are tied together in one's mind by a philosophy of life and unless
that philosophy seems to the possessor important and worth expressing. If the newspaper writer is so hemmed in by mechanical
considerations that he can deal only with the surface of events he
might far better be mending boilers. Mechanical journalism begins nowhere and ends nowhere.
It must be admitted that it is difficult to convince a newspaper
proprietor that the principal end of journalism is not to make the
paper pay. He will like to be a power in the community, he will
like sometimes to spread pet ideas of his own, but generally he
will first insist that his paper be profitable to him, and sometimes
he will be quite indifferent to the kind of ideas he publishes, or even
to the total absence of ideas, provided the income is satisfactory.
I think the opportunity of the thoughtful newspaper writer may




134 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
lie here. More and more we will have to deal with proprietors
who are business men rather than editors. From this will come
either a colorless, thoughtless, mechanical journalism, unprogressive and uninteresting, or one which is not only intelligent and
forward-looking but which will be more or less independent of
business-office control. By this I do not mean that we can escape
from the necessity of not cutting off the sources of our income.
I do mean that we can win a degree of autonomy for the editorial
department, under which the business offices will deal with such
matters as kind and extent of circulation but will not meddle with
the ideas and methods by which such circulation is obtained.
To attain this, a lifting of the standards now prevailing in editorial offices is necessary. Writers of news and editorial articles
must acquire a professional code and must stand together in refusing to permit infractions of that code.
Mr. Jason Rogers, a veteran publisher, has said on the same
subject:
No newspaper can ever become great or linfluential until it is
known to be making money. Every one is suspicious of the newspaper which is desperately struggling for every cent in sight to
keep afloat. No editor can speak with absolute freedom and independence in an unsuccessful newspaper. It is not an evidence
of commercialism for a newspaper to seek financial success.
It is owing to these underlying principles that many a* newspaper
gets set with the dollar sign as the chief goal. The dollar is essential to continued publication, but is not the reason for publication.
Increasing costs of publication have put a higher premium on the
man able to secure the much needed revenue, but it is a badly
equipped newspaper that forgets its real purpose, the publication
of news and real service to its community.
Wide experience clearly shows that very few really influential
newspapers have ever been built up through business energy alone,
although in some cases, around the mere shell of a sheet that looks
like a newspaper, a money-making enterprise has been made a fact.
Another publisher has declared that, "The less the director
of a newspaper puts his heart into the counting-room, the
greater will be the ultimate flood of dollars."
Add to this a paragraph from an editorial in Editor and
Publisher:
The newspaper is a business enterprise, of course, and what
brings in profit must be primarily considered. But direct profit



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135


making is not all of life, particularly not all of editorial life. Very
few enter it f or the profit in it and f ewer still remain long in it
for the money emoluments, because they seldom are large at best.
The real journalist, the successful one, the influential one, the
happy one, is he who is seeking not merely to get for himself but
also to give of himself. Even if direct profit-making were all of
newspaper life, the fact remains that direct profit-making is not
the best profit-making. The newspaper capital that pays the best
dividends is character-"good will," it is called.
To this may be added a hopeful statement by James Wright
Brown, publisher of the periodical just quoted, speaking to
an editorial group:
While commercialism is now the dominant note, there is no reason to believe it is more than a passing phase in American
journalism. It carries in itself the germ of its own destruction,
for newspapers which turn themselves primarily to making money,
while subordinating public service and information, cease to be
newspapers and leave an opportunity for the genuine to take their
place.
These are not the views of impractical idealists unacquainted
with newspaper making; and they are essentially optimistic
views. journalism should become so clearly professional in
its purposes that it will have little attraction for the commercialized mind.
Independent Though Capitalistic
Closely related to the charge of commercialism is that of
capitalism. As in the other case, the charge is largely true
but not necessarily damning.
Our society is capitalistic, not socialistic nor communistic.
In that sense the press is capitalistic. It is also true that in
metropolitan journalism large amounts of capital are required
-much larger than formerly. In provincial journalism this
is not true in the same degree, though the amounts necessary
are not materially less than in other lines of business in the
same localities. These facts create in some minds the suispicion that the sympathies of journalism are with big business.
And the suspicion is undoubtedly justified in some cases. One




136 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
prominent buit intemperate critic has reiterated such charges
as this:
Some newspapers have fallen into the hands of banking groups
and are the incessant apologists for their financial backers and so
are more prone to pursue corporate favors than public approval.
It marks the decadence of independent journalism     and the
centralization of the power of the press too often in the hands of
those who use this power to hoodwink the people whom they are
exploiting.
Another drastic critic, Maxwell Anderson, believes that the
"blue pencil" is wielded by capitalism:
Thus four censorships, commercial, political, philosophic, and
personal-this newspaper owner maintains for the public good
and his own-and another, more pervasive, more deleterious to
the paper as an organ of enlightenment. It is a general ban on
ideas, and is stressed especially on the editorial page. To see
clearly and think sharply cannot be abided, for it leads, as rivers
to the ocean, to criticism of institutions, of capital--of the capital
even which accumulates for the parasites of newspapers. Therefore, the editorials which fill the back page are sawdust and water,
without nourishment for heart or brain. The man who writes
them is paid to be innocuous, dull; to say nothing daily in two
thousand words and to quench the reader's thought in a flood of
mediocrity. Perhaps he had an original genius for it, for he does
it well.
A more judicial critic, E. A. Ross, a prominent sociologist,
describes the situation as he sees it in these words:
Perhaps never in the history of the periodical press was the
character of newspapermen so high as it is to-day. The trouble
lies with the bondage of many newspapermen to the advertising
end of business, and to the business men who own the capital invested in the paper. Lawyers and doctors have not become
annexes of a plant, and hence lawyers and doctors are not falling
down on their jobs. Newspapermen too often do, because many
of them have become" hired men of some capitalist who lacks the
newspaperman's spirit and ideals. It is as if a large proportion
of physicians were becoming merely attache's of private sanataria
run by business men with nothing in view but profit, and were expected to give such treatment and advice as would result in the
largest number of costly operations, and in keeping moneyed




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


137


patients the longest possible time in the institution. Something
like this has happened to editors.
Seeing then that the trouble comes from the conversion of
newspaper publishing into a capitalistic business, instead of the
practice of a profession, I see little prospect of relief from an
endeavor to improve the moral qualifications of newspapermen.
By a fair play bureau something might be done to redress the
grievances of wronged individuals against certain ruthless journals,
but it could not make the conscienceless newspaper print important
but damaging truth, nor prevent it from coloring and distorting
the news to suit the financial interests behind it.
Of course, I applaud all movements to quicken professional
spirit and pride among newspapermen, because this helps them to
stand up against their employers when they ought to do so. Nevertheless, I think the main hope is to get behind a few newspaper
ventures, capital-philanthropic or public-not intent on profits
like the capital behind our endowed and state universities, or our
endowed and public libraries. A few free newspapers would exercise a vast wholesome regulative power upon the commercial
press.
Tests for Capitalism
Professor Ross has enumerated what he regards as the
"sacred cows" of the capitalistic press: the railroad company,
the public service company, traction, the tax system, the party
system, the man higher up. He has also devised a plan of
using "ten touchstones" by which a newspaper's attitude
towards capitalism may be discovered. These touchstones are
the major issues on which, at any given time, there is a sharp
division between conservatives and liberals, for example, industrial disputes, Russia, fuel control, the steel trust. A survey of the news and editorial columns of any given paper
reveals whether ornot the attitude of the paper is that of
capitalism, of mixed independence, or of liberalism.
Undoubtedly such a survey will show whether a newspaper
is conservative or radical or in between, but it is doubtful that
the cause of the attitude can be traced to capitalism. If large
investments in newspaper property beget a capitalistic attitude,
we should expect to find more liberalism in the country press.
But it is hardly observable that the country press is less conservative than the city press. Some men are naturally conserv



138 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ative and some are by nature radicals, and this fact goes far
towards accounting for the difference in newspapers. It does.
not tell the whole story, to be sure. Class sympathy of the
rich with the rich is not to be ignored, any more than selfishness in rich and poor alike. But the checks to which a newspaper is subject, through the conditions necessary to that public
approval which spells prosperity, are very potent. As some
one has truly said:I
A newspaper sustained by wealth to serve wealth would be like
other typical scions of the rich-a dude, a mollycoddle, a burden
upon industry. No man is rich enough to own a paper as his
chattel. Such a paper would be a plaything. A business proposition would disregard the narrow view of the capitalistic owner
and adopt the broad view of its noncapitalistic employer-the
public.
Views of Publishers
Excerpts from statements by publishers of several large
newspapers will help to define their attitude, subject, of course,
to comparisons with the actual practice of the paper in each
case:
If by "capitalistic" we mean influenced and controlled by large interests, my answer is flatly no.  It has been proven beyond
dispute that no newspaper can ever win lasting success and influence
if owned and controlled in this way. Our press as a whole is free
and independent-owned and operated by men more inclined to unselfish public service than the majority of those in their communities.
Time will undoubtedly wipe out the few remaining capitalistically
inclined newspapers, for an increasingly enlightened public will not
tolerate them in any community.
Those who always look upon Capital and Labor spelled with capital letters, are not the ones best able to work out most satisfactory
results for the progress of civilization. Our newspapers recognize
that labor represents a much larger part of the people than those
included in labor unions and that society is fundamentally concerned
in protecting itself from the hard-shelled, slave-driving capitalist as
from the blatant, selfish and destructive labor agitator. Our newspapers as a group will be found lined up behind the working manwhether he wears overalls or a white collar-whenever fairness to
society demands it. It is good business and it is right.
And from another publisher:




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The press is capitalistic to-day in the sense that it requires a great
deal of capital to establish and conduct a newspaper. In my opinion
there is no ground whatever for the charge that it is capitalistic
in the sense of catering to and favoring great financial interests or
special privilege groups.
I think if the critics would analyze the situation they would be
forced rather definitely to the same conclusion. In 1920, eighty-one
per cent of the population who made income tax returns reported
incomes less than $3,000; fifteen per cent had incomes under $5,000;
thirty-three men reported incomes of more than a million. It ought
to be the most obvious thing in the world to anyone that a newspaper
cannot exist without circulation. There are only two or three centers in the United States where there are sufficient people of the socalled capitalistic class to support a newspaper. In those few centers it is possible to have and, as a matter of fact we do have, in
a sense, a capitalistic press.
With these few exceptions the newspaper generally must appeal
to the great rank and file of the people, that is, the group with iincomes below $5,000 a year. Readers watch editorials far more
closely than many people think, and perhaps they watch news articles
more closely than editorials. Any attempt on the part of a newspaper to play the capitalistic game, either in its news or editorials
is immediately detected and resented by the reader, his resentment
almost certainly taking the shape of the cancellation of his subscription. A newspaper could not be capitalistic if it wanted to be, for
the reasons I have indicated, and I have enough confidence in the
broadmindedness and uprightness of the editors I know throughout
the country to conclude that very few newspapers want to be.
And from a third newspaper director:
Cert 'ainly there are capitalistic newspaper s-news papers published
by men who see things from the viewpoint of the moneyed interests.
And there are newspapers representing the other extreme, too.,
published by men who see things from a viewpoint that is exactly
opposite to that of capital. And in between are other newspapers.
And many of them I am happy to believe, are neither capitalistic
nor anti -capital isti c, but-shall I saym-humanitarian. The men who
make newspapers of the sort I have in mind realize that their success
depends upon the friendship and good feelings of the public, which
is made up of all classes. They believe that the way to win and keep
friendship is to be on the right side of great public questions, the
human side. That may be the side of capital sometimes, or it may
be the side of labor. It is quite likely to be neither in entirety, but
a middle ground representing the interests and the welfare of the
general public.




140 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
I think we may rest assured that a newspaper which adopts a
biased attitude, which tells more or less than the truth in an attempt
to aid any special interests, will lose prestige and influence so rapidly
that it will not long continue to be a serious menace.
Anticapitali~sm
While lack of independence of capitalistic influences should
not be excused on the ground that there is an equal lack, in
other quarters, of independence from anticapitalistic influences, yet the following statement merits consideration. It
was written f or the Review by W. J. Ghent., an author who
describes himself as a "constructive radical":
The mournful judgment must be recorded that most of the stuff
labelled "information" appearing in the radical and pseudo-liberal
press is utterly unreliable. Much of it is flagrantly false; much of
it is fragmentary, true enough in itself but false in its implication;
much of it is trimmed, colored, "doctored" to accord with a particular
view. Sometimes, indeed, the insurgent periodical prints facts or
figures of great value which have been suppressed or distorted by
the regular news journals; but for every service of this kind that it
renders it perpetrates a score of offenses against the truth.
There is every reason-except an ethical one-why this should
be so. The bias of the insurgent reader and the bias of the insurgent editor are usually in accord, and the result follows. The reader
wants facts, near facts, or fabrications that sustain his social theory,
that confirm his suspicions, that feed his prejudices, and that warm
up his antipathies. The editor or writer on an insurgent periodical
who does not understand this truth and conform to it finds himself
without a job.
The capitalist news journal appeals to a more general audience.
It must, in the nature of things, give a fairer presentation of the
news. There are, it is true, in most newspaper offices certain recognized tyrannies that must be obeyed-the department-store
tyranny, the index expurgatorious of "enemies of the paper," and
that other index-the list of good men and true, "friends of the
paper," who must always be spoken of with respect. There is, also,
the obvious fact that most daily newspapers--especi ally those which
-ire members of the Associated Press-are upholders of the capitalist system,, and that that system is not deliberately made to appear
at a disadvantage in the news. But though the editors and owners
are committed to the prevailing system, all the reporters and news
writers are not. Indeed, many of them are radicals of one sort,,)r another. In their attempt to write honestly they fare immeasur



INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


141


ably better than they would if they were employed on a Socialist,
radical, or pseudo-liberal journal.
Insurgent editors and writers acknowledge the fairness of the
capitalist news service when it suits them to do so-when the
material given is useful to their purposes. They deprecate or denounce it when the material is inconvenient. With all allowances
made for the obvious derelictions of the regular news journals, it
is still to be said that they print the news. Along with much that
is trivial, much that is mere baseless gossip, and much that is deliberately colored, they print most of the worth-while information
(other than statistical-and some of that) upon which we rely.
The news accounts in the insurgent journals are, in the main, notoriously undependable; they are discounted, even by the insurgent
following, when sincerely seeking the truth.
Independence of Propaganda
While propaganda through the press is not by any means an
invention of the present generation, it has been a commonplace
matter to everybody only since the beginning of the World
War. Then for the first time were revealed, to the press as
well as the public, its full possibilities. Indeed, without its
aid throughout the years of preparation in Europe, the war
itself would perhaps have been an impossibility. During the
war it raised armies, won battles, shattered the morale of
nations, financed the struggle, made belligerents out of neutrals,
kept other neutrals from becoming belligerents. It was frankly
a war measure. The governments of the world devoted themselves as assiduously to propaganda as munition factories did to
high explosives. And one of their most potent agencies was
the press. Some of the propaganda was deliberately deceptive,
some of it was based on facts. As to its real effectiveness in
many cases, opinions differ. Eric W. Allen, dean of the school
of journalism in the University of Oregon, has dissented from
the usual view in the following statement:
Common report has it that the Germans were highly skilled in
the art of newspaper falsification. They lost the war. In 1914 and
1915 the British papers told their people that the Allied armies were
in much better positions than they really were in order to keep up
public confidence. Some people say that this nearly lost the war
to our side, for the Englishman is a dogged fighter, and fights best
when all seems lost. As a matter of fact, Britain only put forth her




142 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
supreme effort after the "business as usual" nonsense was disposed
of, and the common Englishman knew how great the need of sacrifice really was. We all took delight in printing, in unusually big
type., assertions that the Audacious was still afloat after she had
really been sunk, and that the Germans habitually boiled down their
dead for tallow; and the net result was that the press lost its power to
carry conviction to a very considerable minority of the people when
it was telling the great truths that we all needed to know and wanted
everybody to believe.
Even in war time, it is at least an open question whether there is
any material gain from falsification to make up for the enormous
spiritual loss involved. How much more so in times of peace!1
Worse than the material disorganization following on the war,
worse than bolshevism, is the menacing power of propaganda.
Propaganda means "money talk." It means that a big enough
propaganda fund of money can be so overpowering in its influence
that almost nobody else can be heard. And propaganda is abroad
in the land.
I think the greatest and most dangerous problem before the American people to-day is "shall propaganda, or the independent voices of
trained journalists, speaking their own honest unbiased ideas, speaking as human individuals, uninfluenced by fear or favor, reach the
public ear?
Propaganda Since the War
The most pronounced influence on journalism gro0wing out
of war conditions has been in respect to propaganda-its early
complacency in regard to it; its later acceptance of the role
which it was asked to play. Publicity methods have assumed
a large place in affairs-publicity and the publicity expert.
Practically every human activity now knows and utilizes them.
But, of course, publicity is merely a newly developed phase,of advertising, developed., however, beyond the imaginings of
anybody a very few years ago. Before we look at its methods
of operation and its effects on journalism, it is well to discard
from consideration the sort of publicity which is merely publicity and nothing more.
Publicity As Distinguished from Propaganda
Even if there was no generally understood difference between the two, it would be desirable to establish a difference in
definition, because there are press agents' stories which con



INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       14


143


tamn legitimate news and have a right to a place in print. The
question as to their appearance in the paper is largely a question of the paper's willingness to print free advertising. The
fact that they contain news is not decisive on this point; all
good advertising contains news, yet it is paid for. Arthur
Brisbane, editor of the New York Evening Journal, has made
the following distinction:
Legitimate publicity is the spreading of truthful information, or
facts, about any cause or condition which is of interest or importance
to people generally, and not for the pecuniary or other advantage
of the person spreading it.
Propaganda is the giving out (or hiring) of opinions, arguments
or pleas to induce people generally to believe what some individual,
group of individuals or organization wants them to believe, for the
pecuniary or other advantage of the individual group or organization
giving out (or hiring) the propaganda.
The public cannot acquire facts and information necessary to
reach a correct conclusion on any question without full publicity.
Public opinion is often deliberately misled, deceived or seduced
by propaganda or hired opinions.
To see no difference between publicity and propaganda is to
see no difference between nutritious food and insidious poison.
Ivy L. Lee, adviser in public relations to the Pennsylvania
Railroad, offers the same definition of publicity in amended
form:
Legitimate publicity is the spreading of truthful information, or
facts, about any cause or condition which is of interest or importance
to people generally-provided that it is made plain who is responsible
for distributing the information and who is financing its distribution,
together, of course, with details as to the amount of money spent a~nd
the methods by which it is expended.
Propaganda is not necessarily in the interests of a bad cause,
but it is one-sided and therefore deceptive; it is veiled special
pjleading; it colors and distorts and suppresses facts; in a word,
it uses the newspaper as a medium for doing those things
which when practised by the paper itself are called dishonest
journalism. Sometimes newspapers collaborate in the decepltion,, but at other times they are unsuspecting or careless or
unwilling victims. Propaganda has been justly described by




144 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
men both inside journalism and outside as the most sinister
threat against the integrity and influence of the press that our
times have known.
Varieties of Press Agents
A question of independence that has, perhaps, caused almost
as much discussion as the department store influence has to
do with dramatic criticism. It is a problem confronting the
city press only, but having an interest for the entire country
which gets its ideas of plays largely from the comment in those
cities where the dramatic productions originate. Some newspapers maintain independence, some maintain a show of independence, and some are frankly subservient to the press agents
and the advertising managers. To the unquestioned legal
rights of free comment, the theaters oppose the argument that
it is not fair that the financial success of a play, costing a fortune to prepare for its first night, should be jeopardized by
the bad digestion of a critic.
The ordinary run 'of manufactured news about theatrical
persons, such as rumors of engagements, ideal family conditions produced by separate establishments with only two meals
a week to be eaten at the same table, divorces, eccentricities,
milk baths, robbery of jewels, strange pets, etc., are less serious
offenses., but yet they take up space. They are deceptive if
believed, and damaging to the newspaper if not believed.
They are not true, nor disinterested, nor important-not news.
That they are interesting hardly indicates that they are a permanent feature of journalism.
Literary criticism less often raises serious controversy, perhaps because publishers' advertising is of minor importance.
CASE.-A theatrical press agent promoted a financially successful season for a play on the road by false publicity relative to the cast of the play, the "stars" in it, and the success
-of the production in New York. Few newspapers even questioned the truthfulness of the matter he gave them. Their
advertising contracts with the company called for reading
notices.
Comment.-The foregoing might be called a practice rather
than a case. It is one of the many kinds of sins against legit



INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE       14


145


imate advertising and against the standing of the press committed by theatrical press agents. It comes under the head
of propaganda rather than publicity because it is largely false
and because it is used to defraud. The moving picture corporations have been guilty in the same way. When the public is
disillusioned in any instance, it seems disposed to place the
responsibility where it really belongs-on the press. Adequate
remedies for the evil are in the hands of the newspapers.
CASE.-An editorial writer, as pictured by one critic, Irving
Brant, wished to discuss the question of recognition for
Mexico.
"Boy," calls the editor, "go into the library and bring me everything on the recognition of Mexico."~
In a f ew minutes, the editor has at his elbow a thick volume
entitled, The Truth About Mexico,' a thicker volume called The Real
Truth About Mexico," and a thickest volume called The Truthful
Reality About Mexico, all of them written for and published at the
expense of the Oil-American Association for Preservation from
Mexican Independence. The editor also has for guidance a
voluminous report on the necessity for American intervention in
Mexico, written by a senator who owns sundry thousands of acres
of Mexican land recently expropriated by the revolution and given
to the peons. He also has a confidential letter of mimeographed
advice from the American owner of a Mexican silver mine. To
balance all these, he has a series of beautiful tributes to the character, patriotism and ability of whatever Mexican happened to be
president, written by whatever American press agents happened to
be in Mexico City when the various presidents marched in.
Comnrent.-It is the same way if the editor sends to the
morgue for clippings on almost any live subject. The boy
bringrs back an armful of propaganda, from which there is
little hope of extracting the truth. The tidal wave of publicity
that every day surges up to the editor's desk is pretty sure to
deposit fragments of propaganda which, sooner or later, are
deemed suitable to feed the editorial fires. If it were not so,
the millions now spent, on that theory, would be diverted to
more promising efforts for misleading the public.
CASE.-Any public man knows that by employing a press
agent he can have articles in the magazines under his own
name as author; he can get his opinions into the papers by




146 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
"being interviewed," on one excuse or another, invented by
his press agent; he can have speeches on hand for every occasion; he can be sure that his goings and comings will be
noticed; and, best of all, he can retire behind press agent def enses if he happens to come under fire.
Comment.-Perhaps none of the foregoing should come
under the head of propaganda. "Harmless publicity," most
people say. "Queer that the newspapers fall f or it, but harmless." However, three dangers should be pointed out: (1)
that such stuff may crowd out of the paper real news of value
to the public, (2) that its presence and character may be detected by enough readers to impair seriously public confidence
in the fairness and independence of the paper, (3) that performance of the newspaper's duty to maintain direct contacts
may be blocked by the intervention of a press agent with his
"hand-out." These dangers are present in even the most innocent publicity practices. They are not theoretical dangers,
as every inside observer knows.
CASE.-Practically every corporation has its press agents.
Comment.-T he dangers mentioned in the preceding case
are present in a much greater degree. To say this is not to
condemn all publicity methods. Much that they accomplish
is beyond criticism; indeed it is public service. They furnish
the public with information otherwise difficult of access. The
director of public relations, as the head of the publicity department is sometimes called, has a highly useful function in
studying the relations between the public and his company,
striving to remove prejudice, educating the public to believe
that nothing in the company's methods are covered up, developing good will. His function may be as legitimate as that of
counsel in legal matters. But its legitimacy depends, of course,
on the actual existence of conditions a s presented. As a provider of soporifics f or the public, in order that its eyes may
be closed to unf air practices, he is the most menacing propagandist that threatens the public and the press. Even at best,
he is liable to be in the way when the public interest demands
that the press have direct contacts with the heads of big business. The remedy lies in the insistence by newspapers that
evasions here are themselves relevant facts to which the public
is entitled.




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


147


CAsE.-Many executive departments of government have
press agents, bearing such titles as "chief of the bureau of
information." Boards and commissions have similar press
representatives.
Comment.-A perfectly sound reason underlies these agencies of information. Indeed something of the sort is indispensable, as has been pointed out by Walter Lippman in his
book, Public Opinion. Voluminous departmental reports are
not news, but they often contain news highly important to the
public. Some one having broad, and at the same time detailed,
knowledge of the subject is needed to translate pages of statistics infto readable stories for newspaper correspondents. This
is legitimate publicity. The element of propaganda enters when
a bureau of information concerns itself with "making a case"
for some departmental policy by concealing facts, or when it
devotes its energies to glorification of some individual by false
emphasis or distortion of facts, or when it operates as a buffer
between the press and primary sources of information, by employment of the "hand-out" system which supplies newspapers
with nothing but prepared statements.
"Washington," declares J. F. Essary, a Washington correspondent, "has become the great center of propaganda, political, religious, social and industrial. This propaganda is carried
on by literally scores of national organizations, having their
headquarters in the National Capital. Every one of them is
campaigning in behalf of some special interest and every one
is eager to get space in the press of the nation. The mail of
Washington correspondents is filled daily with propaganda
from these sources and much of it is so skilfully prepared that
it has genuine news value."
Under the definitions offered, much of this matter is merely
publicity; but some of it is propaganda.
The propriety of employing an intermediary between the
man of affairs and the press is thus defended by Atherton
Brownell, author and editor:
The strict executive, who will not permit a letter carefully dictated
to a stenographer to leave his office without rereading before signing, is expected to deal in an offhand way with the most vital topics
whenever asked to do so by a reporter, and then to permit his views
to go out to the world through the mediumship of a man he has




148 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
perhaps never seen who relies upon his memory for faithful transcription, who has no fundamental knowledge of the subject to permit of accurate compression of the details into newspaper space, and
who does not permit the subject of the interview to see what he is
to be committed to saying before its publication.
Declarations of Independence
The following are typical of the expressions found in journalistic codes of ethics:
From the canons of the American Society of Newspaper
Editors:
Freedom from all obligations except that of fidelity to the public
interest is vital. Promotion of any private interest contrary to
the general welfare, for whatever reason, is not compatible with
honest journalism. So-called news communications from private
sources should not be published without public notice of their source
or else substantiation of their claims to value as news, both in
form and substance. Partisanship in editorial comment which
knowingly departs from the truth does violence to the best spirit of
American journalism; in the news columns it is subversive of a
fundamental principle of the profession.
From the Oregon code of ethics for journalism:
We will resist outside control in every phase of our practice, believing that the best interests of society require intellectual freedom
in journalism; we will rise above party and other partisanship in
writing and publishing, supporting parties and issues only so far
as we sincerely believe them to be in the public interest; we will
not permit, unless in exceptional cases, the publishing of news and
editorial matter not prepared by ourselves or our staffs, believing
that original matter is the best answer to the peril of propaganda.
From the code of the South Dakota Press Association:
Partisanship or the taint of propaganda has no part and cannot
be present in fair journalism.
Stemming the Tide of Propaganda
By refusing to use the methods of propaganda in its own
interests or in the interests of outsiders., and by making the
policy effective through redoubled vigilance as to doubtful
news sources and as to clever disguises by talented newspaper



INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE


149


men employed as propagandists, the press can save itself and
protect the public. The late President Harding once wrote:
I cannot but feel that the primary purpose of the press, as a social
institution, is the opening of men's minds rather than the closing
of them.
Propaganda aims primarily at shutting up the mind against other
conclusions than those which the propagandists design to implant.
Education, on the contrary, aims to open the mind, to prepare it,
to make it receptive and to urge it to formulate its own conclusions.
Propaganda would at last mean intellectual paralysis; education
is, when properly employed, intellectual stimulus. It is better that
men should think than that they should accept conclusions formulated by other men for them. We have need in these times that
men should think deeply, that they should realize their necessity
of settling their own problems.
The late Frank I. Cobb, Editor of the New York World,
likens to bands of marauding soldiers who terrorized Europe
after the Thirty Years War the bands of propagandists wandering around terrorizing public opinion, and he adds:
The gravest duty that confronts the American press to-day is to
bring these vast questions that have come out of the war into the
forum of public discussion. The barrier of propaganda must be
broken down. The competent, independent investigating reporter
must come back to his own. This is vital. The American people
cannot deal intelligently with any of these problems without knowing
the facts, and they cannot know the facts until the newspapers
brush aside the propagandists of contending factions and get back
to first principles of news gathering. All this is fundamental.
Will Irwin believes that propaganda is beginning to bring
about its own undoing. Writing in Collier's, he says:
The struggle between truth and falsehood in the press seems to
be entering another phase. Publication of views, the old method,
was found to be only partially effective; a long campaign of news.
presenting only one side of the case, proved a much better method.
But experience showed that when you were working for something
false, something based on self-interest, something opposed to the
irresistible flow of the human spirit, such a campaign would not
forever win. The insincere or blind propagandist, like the confidence man, must "clean up" quickly, or he is finished. The time
comes when, through the very discussion which he has roused, the




150 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
truth emerges. Since the press became an active force, most of the
vital changes in human society have proceeded to victory against
an overwhelming opposition press.
It seems nature has endowed the human mind with a curious sixth
sense for truth. It is slow, this instinct; it burns dimly, but persistently. The famous epigram about fooling the people, attributed
to Lincoln, conveys a profound truth.
Another newspaper writer, Charles G. Miller, also strikes a
hope ful note:
The press is "coming to" to find its influence upon the people
shaken, its freedom restricted, its thinking hampered by coercive
propagandists, and its facts still obscured by poisonous publicity
flowing from thousands of interested sources.
The press is awaking to duty and opportunity more momentous,
more exacting, than it has ever faced before in all its glorious
history of great achievements.
The famine in facts must be ended.
The long, deadly drouth of indifference must be broken.
Truth must once more have its place in the sun.
Courageous thought must speak out, unhampered, unafraid.
Independence of Friends and Enemies
Elsewhere we have mentioned the belief of some great editors that friends are a liability to the journalist. Undoubtedly
there is danger in too great ambition to be popular. But there
is equal objection to an editor's allowing his enemies, or if he
has no enemies, allowing his competitors to help edit his paper
-to feel obliged to do what they do, or, more likely, to do the
opposite. An independence that puts the editor on a level
above too many outside considerations, above too much regard
for victory or defeat in all undertakings, is the best foundation
for abiding self-respect and genuine success.
Independence Then and Now
We are often told that personal journalism was more independent than   institutional journalism.  Henry  Watterson,
sometimes described as the last of the great personal journalists, has expressed the opposite opinion. He insists that the
old personal journalism was egotistical, autocratic, contentious,
partisan, and dominated by the spoils system. These are




INDEPENDENCE AND COURAGE                   151
hardly the characteristics of true independence. Group participation in the direction of a newspaper is likely to result in
greater tolerance than was shown by the great personal editor,
but tolerance is not subservience. Fairness is not dependence.
Courage alone will not win independence. Wealth will not
insure it. Advertising patronage does not establish it. The
only basis of true and lasting independence for a newspaper is
the confidence and respect and loyalty of its readers.




CHAPTER VI


- THE STRUGGLE FOR IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS
Occasionally an editor seems to feel that his newspaper is
his own property to do with as he sees fit; to use in spreading
such propaganda as suits his views; to serve as a medium for
such half-truths and garbled facts as he decides the public
shall have. Such an attitude is not less unprofessional than
unbusinesslike. No intelligent merchant regards his business
in that light. If he should undertake to carry out such a policy
consistently, the law would stop him. A newspaper is more
than a business.
Impartiality and fairness plead for recognition in all the
relations of a newspaper to the public. Wre have found them
to be involved in questions of suppression of news, distortion
by selection or emphasis or editorial color, and newspaper independence; but in certain of their aspects they seem to require
special consideration here.
Fairness As to Communications
Opinions differ as to how much a department of communications is worth to a newspaper. In the case of the London
Times, it became a sort of national institution. In some other
newspaper offices it is regarded as both futile and vexatious.
That it is a bothersome feature few will deny. It costs something to maintain it. But it places the newspaper in a favorable light before its readers, if judiciously managed, and it
discharges a duty to the public comparable with that of expressing honest editorial opinion-the duty of serving as a reflector
of the many shades of public sentiment.
Perhaps the most fundamental question in respect to this
kind of matter is: How much responsibility does a newspaper
assume for opinions or statements of fact in the "Public
152




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS    15


153


Opinion," "Public Mind," "Voice of the People," or "Open
Forum" department? Its responsibility for libelous statements appearing therein is well recognized, but how about
statements which are merely contrary to the newspaper's views?
CASE.-A man wrote a letter to a newspaper opposing a
soldiers' bonus measure advocated by the paper. The communication was not printed, for reasons of policy.
Comment.-The man showed courage in writing the letter,
much more courage than would have been required for the
newspaper to be fair in handling the question. If a newspaper
is to print nothing in its communication column but what it
can endorse, it might better abolish the column for there is
little virtue in it. An "open f orum" is a misnomer f or a
column f rom which decent views decently expressed, on any
side of almost any question, are excluded. There will not be
room f or all communications; but fairness will see to it that
all points of view get a hearing. A department of communications impartially edited is a fine advertisement of the newspaper's breadth of mind. It seems worth while even if it is
not read as much as some other parts of the paper.
CASE.-Occasionally the editor receives a dull communication -a column long.
Comment.-It goes into the waste basket or back to the
writer. Then, perhaps, the editor receives a protest like the
following, recorded by the Fourth Estate:
A man in East Boston, on having a letter returned, took shears
in hand and for the next two weeks cut from the Herald those
things, large and small, which he regarded as trivial and unimportant. The resulting bunch of excerpts he promptly transmitted
to the editor., with the request that he should look them over to
see if it was true that his communication was less important than
these.
A former mayor of Boston, noted for his geniality and affability,,
received back some submitted material "unaccepted," on a certain
occasion. A few days later, a man who had toiled so assiduously
on another topic as to melt the editor's heart to the ext 'ent of giving
him half a column, occupied that amount of space with something
that was intolerably dull and wholly unimportant. No one realized
this better than the editor, but the personal circumstances seemed
exceptional. The genial ex-mayor, reading that article, enclosed
it, with a letter which said:




154 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
"I received the article which you returned the other day, with
the intimation that it was not sufficiently important for you to publish. I did not perceive the extent of the compliment until I had
read the enclosed which you did print."
But the editor must expect that sort of thing and meet it
philosophically.
CASE.-Often the editor receives unsigned communications,
in spite of a standing notice explaining that no such letters
will be published.
Comment.-The rule against printing anonymous letters is
a necessary precautionary measure. The opposite policy would
deluge the editor with undesirable matter. Yet an occasional
exception may be judicious. Sometimes persons not without
courage, and actuated by the best motives, may write unsigned
letters. Circumstances may render such a proceeding their
only avenue of attack upon evil. Of course, in so doing they
are asking the newspaper to shoulder all the responsibility.
This may or may not be a fair request. But the editor may be
expected to decide the question without assuming the easy
attitude of contemptuous lindifference towards all such communications.
CASE.-Editors receive communications, signed and unsigned, attacking the policies of the paper. Herbert Bayard
Swope, executive editor of the New York World, thus states
his views on the problem:
What should our attitude be? No man who believes in fair play
can regard his paper as other than a forum in which, whether he
desires it or not, he is under moral compulsion to give the other
fellow just as wide, just as free a swing, as he gives to his own
views. That principle we must accept as elementary and axiomatic.
But are we to continue day after day, to reprint vicious, býaseless
assaults.... I believe we should not be so free in printing
such things.... Also, it seems to me that it is the part of
wisdom to print, not in the editorial column, but interpretatively
in the news column, a bald, simple, comprehensive, accurate statement of the fact surrounding the attacks.
Comment.-The simplest way to solve such a problem is, of
course, to take the view that it is beyond reason to ask a news.
paper to assist in diminishing its own prestige or its effective



IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


155


ness in promoting a given policy. But the easiest way is not
always the most attractive to the editor who likes to play the
game with the utmost fairness to his adversary. The strategic
advantages of his position are tremendous as compared with
the strength of any individual critic. He can usually afford
to be magnanimous-and even gain prestige thereby. An
editorial reply following the communication may be desirable,
or it may be wiser to trust the public to reach a correct judgment, without comment in defense. If the newspaper is in
the wrong, the chances are that the public is aware of the
fact already and will admire the courage of a tacit or expressed
admission.
CAsE.-Sometimes a communication presents an interesting
point of view but does not present it clearly or concisely nor
even in good English.
Comment.-The most effective answer that can be made to
some arguments is to print them just as they are written. As
to the fairness of so doing there may be some question. The
right, even the duty, of a newspaper to correct grammatical
errors in communications can hardly be questioned. Does
this carry with it the privilege of editing for rhetorical effect
or shortening by elision or condensation?
The answer that seems to be dictated by fairness and impartiality is that editing must be done in such a way as not to
change the significance of the letter, and that more freedom
in editing is permissible when the communication is to be
published over a pen name than when the real name of the
writer is to be used.
CASE.-Most editors exclude from    the "public opinion
column" matter liable to provoke controversy involving religious subjects, race prejudice, and other topics touching closely
upon the deeper convictions that people hold.
Comment.-Controversy in itself is not a bad thing provided
it is kept within the bounds of good taste and also provided
it is closed before it becomes wearisome. Baiting the public
is sometimes a stimulus to much interesting and profitable
discussion. Some conductors of paragraph columns get their
best stuff in this manner. So, an editorial may be written
designedly to feed the department of communications by provocation of argument. Sometimes a letter which might be




156 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
construed by some one as an attack upon him should be submitted to the person concerned before publication. The editor
ought to be reasonably sure as to how far and in what direction the discussion will lead, before he decides to let it start.
CASE.-A communication printed over a pseudonym contained statements which a reader of the paper regarded as
damaging to his interests. He demanded the name of the contributor in order that he might bring action against him. The
editor felt that his communicant was in the right and refused
to give his name, preferring to shield him from annoyance.
He told the complainant to sue the paper instead, knowing that
he had no case.
Comment.-The editor had the privilege, perhaps, of pursuing a Quixotic course like this; but, generally speaking, no
inviolable secrecy attaches to the authorship of communications.
The names may be withheld from publication, but they are
accessible to any inquirer.
These cases are typical and are indicative of the varieties
of problems that hover about the department of communications.
Fairness to "The Opposition"
It is easy enough for an editor to give assent to the proposition that he ought to treat his opponents fairly-be a "fair
fighter."  Fairness in the abstract is a beautiful thing. Fairness in the concrete is not always so attractive. One's opponents do not usually seem obsessed with the idea of being fair;
the public does not seem to applaud fairness as loudly as it
does a smashing pugnacity. The recipient of fair treatment,
and the bystander also, sometimes interpret fairness as a sign
of weakness, of being "on the fence." But the man who faces
such discouragements courageously wins a measure of self
approval and thus at least finds to what extent fairness is its
own reward.
Presenting Both Sides of a Matter in Controversy
That theory of news handling which leads some editors to
refuse to let the facts spoil a good story leads them likewise




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS   17


157


to refuse to let fairness weaken a good "wallop." From the
standpoint of a business office, interested mainly in circulation, this may be a good policy; it certainly is not a good policy
f rom, the standpoint of newspaper influence.
CASE.-A newspaper was supporting a proposal to build a
concrete highway through its county. As is usual in such
cases, many taxpayers opposed the project on the ground that
it would not benefit their property, situated some distance from
the road. The town in which the newspaper was published
strongly f avored the undertaking. When the two rural members of the board of county commissioners defeated the proposal presented to the board, the newspaper published a sensational story placing the two members in the light of being blind
reactionaries.
Comrnent.-Even in fighting for so worthy a cause as good
roads, fairness to the opposition is not only good ethics but
good policy. It is the policy most likely to win in the long
run. In this instance, the rural commissioners were representing sentiment in their districts. They were entitled to an
opportunity to state their side of the case. If they refused to
embrace the opportunity, the paper could have found some one
else to speak for the negative side of the question. For the
sake of the paper itself it was desirable that the news columns
present both sides. The editorial columns afforded the proper
avenue for criticism of the acts of the public officials concerned.
CASE.-Among the pro-slavery papers in the North, few
were more outspoken than the New York Herald., and yet that
paper is credited with having printed remarkably complete
and uncolored accounts of antislavery meetings.
Comment.-It is not necessary, of course, to go back threequarters of a century to get a conspicuous example of fairness.
Few newspapers exclude an important aspect of any controversial matter. Reporters are instructed to "get both sides."
In a large proportion of cases the newspaper has no occasion
to be anything but neutral as to the points at issue. In another
large class of cases it realizes that among its readers are a
sufficient number of adherents to both sides of the controversy
to render fairness a matter of good business policy as well as




158 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
good ethics. In yet other cases newspapers manifest genuine
conscientiousness as to impartiality in the news columns. The
responsible newspaper frequently delays publication of a story
until it can be covered from some angle not represented in the
original report. Grounds for suppression of news often disappear when it is evident that the news is comprehensive and
fair.
CASE.-A metropolitan newspaper was conducting a vigorous local campaign for a civic measure. Readers of the paper
who lived far enough from the city to have no direct knowledge
of the situation were impressed with the overwhelming arguments in favor both of the proposed undertaking and of the
men who were candidates for office on the platform advocated
by the paper. It seemed particularly clear that all the women
of the city would favor the measure, at least all the women of
the better districts. When the election brought overwhelming
defeat to the paper's cause, in the better residence wards as
well as in the rest of the city, and when an analysis of the
vote showed that the women had been on the other side, some
outside readers of the paper were greatly mystified. The explanation was simple. The paper had consistently presented
a totally unfair view of the issues, following its usual methods
in such cases.
Comment.-An example of the dynamic ideal gone to seed.
The newspaper was sincere in its belief as to which side ought
to win. But at that point it forsook reason and judgment.
Its pride in being a strong fighter blinded it to the most elementary principle of effective debate-the principle of giving
full weight to the opposing arguments. People cannot long
retain confidence in the man or newspaper which seems to see
only one side of a question. The leadership of such is not to
be trusted. The newspaper in this case is one of the finest in
the country; but its direct influence is not great. In a hotly
contested campaign its policy of trying to herd its readersmake up their minds for them-deliver them at the polls nicely
tied up in one big bundle, is disastrous, for the natural inclination of human nature is to resent and resist such methods.
Such an advocate satisfies for a time, even delights, those who
are on the same side; but most of them recognize its unfairness though they may view this with complacency for the time
being. Their satisfaction, however, is merely the pugnacious




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


159


feeling of joy at seeing rocks hurled at the enemy. It is nof
the respect accorded to real leadership.
CASE.-A Republican newspaper in a town of fifteen
thousand inhabitants absorbed its Democratic rival thus obtaining a monopoly of the field. The editor was urged, in the
interests of harmony, to make his paper neutral in politics.
This he declined to do; but he set aside two columns in which
he printed the comment of an "editor" chosen by the Democratic leaders in the community. He did not censor the
opposition copy nor directly assail the views expressed in it.
For two years the plan seemed to give general satisfaction.
It was discontinued when the "opposition editor" grew tired
of his job and no one was found to take his place.
Comment.-Theoretically the plan is sound enough; but it
does not seem to recommend itself in practice. Perhaps the
trouble lies in the unwillingness of the opposition group,
political or otherwise, to seem to be beneficiaries of the
magnanimity of the editor, with a consequent loss of dignity.
This reluctance is not so evident in nonpolitical affairs.
When, for example, an issue is drawn as to the advisability
of the purchase of a public utility by the city, the advocates of
the view opposed to that of the newspaper will often make
free use of the privileges of an open form. For the purposes
of such an attempt to discover the community interests, the
newspaper is seemingly regarded as itself a public utility-a
common carrier of opinion.
Another form of fairness to opponents, closely allied with
granting them space in the news or editorial columns of the
paper, is willingness to sell them space in the advertising columns.
CASE.-In the national political campaign in which the
League of Nations was an issue, a newspaper refused to sell
advertising space to the opposition on the ground that it must
refuse advertising which it regarded as untrue.
Comment.-A specious argument revealing a narrow mind
and an absence of a sense of social obligation. That the publisher who excludes advertising of impure drugs and foods,
worthless preparations and adulterated products should also
exclude that which is liable to act as poison to the mind, is plain




160 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
enough. But that he should undertake to put a poison label
on this or that political doctrine advanced by responsible persons or groups is ludicrous. And yet this form of journalistic
bigotry is not uncommon. It is usually cloaked under some
such plea as the following:
A newspaper should not be so inconsistent as to advocate
one thing in its editorial columns and another in its advertising columns.
Opposition advertising in a newspaper makes it appear that
the paper has "sold out," or is at least mercenary, if not venal.
A paper owes undivided allegiance to the cause it decides to
support.
Either the advertising hurts the interests advocated by the
paper or the paper is in the position of taking money f or
advertising which it knows will do the buyer no good.
Subscribers to a newspaper have chosen it because it represents their views. They have a right to expect that it will
be consistent in its attorneyship for their favorite ideas.
All of which sound well enough until tested by the simplest
rule of conduct f or any newspaper that realizes it ought to
pay rent for the space that society allows it to occupy. Doubtless the public does want a partisan newspaper, but not a paper
that insults the reader's intelligence by undertaking to protect
him f rom the views of other people, and that defrauds him
by giving him only half of the news about any controversial
matter.
CASE.-In April, 1916, a prominent pacifist in this country
offered a page advertisement on "Humanity and Sanity" to
a vigorous newspaper exponent of preparedness. Everything in the page was opposed to the policies advocated by the
paper. The paper accepted the advertisement and printed it
without comment.
Comment.-The decent and f air thing to do. It is a weak
cause that must be won by suppressing or concealing the arguments against it.
CAsE.-An organization of public utilities offered a country
editor an advertising contract f or space in which to present
its reasons for asking certain concessions f rom the public.
The editor ref used to sell the space on the ground that he was
not familiar enough with the questions involved to give the




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


161


public the other side of the matter through the news or editorial
columns and did not wish to turn his paper into an organ of
propaganda.
Comntent.-The decision was quite in line with the function
of a newspaper to give the public the facts on both sides plus
such interpretation as the editor feels competent to offer. But
the editor's inability to serve the community in this instance,
except in a negative manner, must be pointed to as a journalistic breakdown at the very point of the newspaper's greatest
professional importance.
CASE.--A candidate for mayor of a city distributed, on the
morning of election day, posters presenting his platform and
explaining that he was using posters and handbills because
the matter had been refused for publication in the newspapers.
The statement was denied by the papers. One of them had
not been approached in the matter and the other had offered
to print the statement as advertising matter, having once printed
it as news earlier in the campaign.
Comment.-An attempt to gain sympathy through charging
the newspapers with doing the sort of thing that the public
seems inclined to suspect them of doing. Nothing but the
most careful efforts to avoid even the appearance of unfairness
can win that public confidence on which newspaper influence
rests.
Attitude in Victory and in Defeat
Not infrequently it seems that people are not very good
sports and that in controversial matters fairness, along with
generosity, is out of place. Who thinks anything about good
taste in a fight? What cause was ever won by tolerance? The
hard hitter gets the cheers-the man who exults boastfully in
victory, and in defeat professes to see retaliation coming
swiftly to his hand.
Undoubtedly we are yet primitive in many things, but it is
hard to see why a man who would call it crude to boast of
victory in a private matter, and who would feel contempt for
a poor loser should sanction such performances by a newspaper. Many editors do not sanction them. Some of the
maxims formulated in response to inquiries as to how a news



162 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
paper should conduct itself in defeat and in victory are rich in
practical wisdom:
1. I recommend a generous amount of silence. It makes friends
for the paper-strengthens its influence. Once in a while a little
bragging after a victory may do no harm, but the credit to the
paper ought always to be assigned by some one else. In defeatsilence! I have never seen an "alibi" accomplish anything.
2. Nobody has any respect for a quitter. When you are licked,
make it plain you expect to live to fight again some other day. But
that doesn't mean exhibiting a lot of sore spots.
3. Don't be afraid to accord a little recognition to the winnereven when that does not happen to be yourself.
4. When you lose, be a good sport. But that doesn't mean that
you can lose all the time and build up prestige. It is not a bad
idea to start something once in a while on which you are sure of
winning. Treat yourself to a victory now and then. People just
naturally can't help "handing it" to a winner.
5. A paper never gains much by "playing down" the victory of an
opponent, or claiming a foul. It is better to face the facts. Only
a weakling is afraid to admit defeat.
6. Obviously the only hope of turning a defeat into a subsequent
victory at the next election is by gaining support from some of
the opposition forces. This can best be done by such a bearing as
will win the admiration of fair-minded men and induce them to
give reconsideration to the question at issue. Remarks that make
them angry or disgusted will hardly accomplish this. Venting one's
feelings is a natural procedure; but other people have feelings too.
They can not usually be driven as easily as they can be persuaded.
Fairness in Matters Involving a Newspaper Policy
Some newspapers, being human, find it difficult to see any
good in the person or the cause to which their policies are opposed. The weakness and narrowness of such unfairness is
brought into sharp relief by contrast with conspicuous ex-,imples of the opposite procedure.
CASE.-A newspaper which was for years a vigorous opponent of President Roosevelt, never failed to praise him highly
for acts that conformed to the paper's ideas as to good public
policy.,
Comment.-Only a few intolerant or fanatical readers of
the paper accused it of inconsistency. It gained friends and
influence by its fairness.




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


163


CASE.-A newspaper that had consistently fought a public
service corporation gave due acknowledgment of improvements in the service and commended the management.
Comment.-There were those, of course, who cried that the
paper had been "bought," but they were the sort of persons
whose influence is limited to the first person singular.
CASE.-Between 1921 and 1923 some 165 financial houses
failed in New York City, in practically every case causing
total loss to the customers involved. The failure of one house
made an especially good story: eleven thousand workefs had
put their savings, a dollar at a time, into the enterprise, and
now it was in the hands of the state banking department. The
directors of the company were well and favorably known in
big banking circles. It was asserted that the investment of
the workers had been well safeguarded by a trust fund and
the directors insisted that no one would lose a cent, but that
it might take a year to liquidate and pay back. The story
was handled by one paper in the following manner: the fact
that eleven thousand workers were involved was played up,
and the general effect of the story was to strengthen the
suspicion that Wall Street was out to "skin" the working man
any way it could. The facts were-and were obvious-that
at the very worst, the workers could not lose more than ten
per cent, and in all likelihood would lose nothing-which
proved to be the case. In other words, the newspaper classed
the failed concern with the bucket shops; preferred a sensational, routine "bucket-shop loss" story to what the story
actually was, namely, a unique occurrence in the 1919-1921
depression, a financial failure that paid out one hundred cents
on the dollar.
Comment.-A case in which the standing policy of the
paper-doubtless a good general policy, from the point of
view of the public interest-was permitted to work great unfairness to one concern.
CASE.-A newspaper decided to make a campaign to force
the resignation of the superintendent of an insane asylum
concerning whose conduct damaging rumors were in circulation. A reporter was sent to get a story that might serve as
the opening gun in the fight. The reporter was treated with
courtesy by the superintendent, given every opportunity to




164 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
investigate the charges, and encouraged to look into all phases
of the management of the institution. He went back convinced
that the superintendent was a capable man wronged by malicious tongues.
As a result of the reporter's presentation of the case, the
paper changed its policy to one of endorsement of the
superintendent.
Comment.-A refreshing instance among the many that might
be given of an opposite character in which reporters are sent
out with orders to get a certain story regardless of the factsa story that will bolster up the case which the paper has
undertaken to establish without consideration for fairness or
truth.
Disparity in Size As Affecting Fairness
That it behooves a strong man to be scrupulously f air to a
weaker man is a commonplace of honorable conduct. But
the great disparity in size between most newspapers and most
men of ten seems to be disregarded by the f ormer in f avor of
a ruthlessness that begets resentment in the heart of every
believer in f air play. Charles H. Grasty, an experienced journalist, recently said in an article in the Atlantic Monthly:
I have never been able to understand why newspapers with a
high standard of public duty should be so lacking in ordinary decency to the individual.... I believe that much of the cynical
attitude towards newspapers arises from newspaper disregard of
what is due f rom the press to the individual. Many men who in
their private relations would not think of doing deliberate injustice,
show in their conduct of newspapers a Hunnish contempt for the
rights of the individual.
CASE.-A   woman, returned f rom. a visit to.1the Orient,
praised the Chinese costume for women as being artistic and
comfortable. A Sunday paper quoted her as advising its
adoption in the United States and faked a picture of her
dressed in such garb.
Comment.-Inaccuracy and faking almost always violate the
rights of individuals.
CASE.-A woman, exhorting a meeting to take up a certain
program vigorously during the ensuing few days, said jokingly




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS    16


165


that husbands and families should be allowed to look out for
themselves. She was reported as saying vehemently that husbands and children must be neglected f or the more important
things.
Comment.-Worthy causes often suffer through unfairness
to the individual who happens to be a leader.
CASE.-A serious blunder was made in transmission of a
noted foreign correspondent's story, making him appear wholly
unreliable. His most urgent appeal that he be set right with
the readers of the papers carrying the story was ignored by
most of the editors to whom he sent it.
Cornment.-Showing a willingness to damage an innocent
man in his means of livelihood, notwithstanding the fact that
the means in this case was journalism.
The Crusading Spirit
Much has been said in criticism and in defense of the crusading newspaper's habit of centering its fight on some individual rather than on the logical aspects of the case.
"It is the newspaper yielding to human nature's brutal demand for a victim to be sacrificed," declares the critic.
"It is the only way the newspaper can get the sluggish
public aroused in a good cause. Evil in the concrete is the
only kind the public will take measures to suppress," answers
the defender of the crusading paper.
Fairness to the individual hardly seems to be the question
involved. To be sure, one person-the "goat"-suffers more
than others equally guilty. But the fact of his guilt stands
in justification of punishment. The others may have their turn
later. No law could be enforced if enforcement were to be
delayed until all violaters could be punished equally.
Not infrequently the individual chosen for attack by the
crusading newspaper is as powerful in his' way as is the
newspaper. Real courage may be required to make the attack,
much more courage than would be required to attack evil in
general.
CAsE.-A newspaper in a large city found that many criminals were escaping punishment through the machinations of




166 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
crooked lawyers, in collusion with judges who were a part of the
"system." In addition to showing up the general aspects of
the situation., the paper selected an individual lawyer and an
individual judge as "horrible examples," and lost no opportunity to keep the public advised of their services to the
underworld. These names came to stand f or the system by
which protection was accorded to criminals in that city.
Comment.-T he two men, selected as representatives of
their types, received, relatively, an undue amount of attention,
but really no more than they deserved. The newspaper was
justified in using the best means of getting the public mind
to apprehend the situation.
So, a newspaper that is making a fight f or an increase in
property valuation f or purposes of taxation is likely to take
a specific case of undervaluation-a particular man who has
been a consistent evader of taxation-and relate its campaign
to that case or individual. Indeed, almost any movement f or
ref orm or change is likely to proceed along those lines. Not
strictly impartial, admittedly. Yet not entirely unfair; and in
most cases justified by difficulties which a newspaper meets
in attempting to win response f rom. the lethargic public.
The tendency of the larger paper to become specific is in
contrast with that of the smaller paper to avoid such concreteness, because of the greater expensiveness to the small paper
of the luxury of making enemies.
The temptation f or a newspaper to be unfair to an individual is largely removed from a judicious editor by the fact
that, however unfair the public may become in moments of
mass excitement, it usually comes to its senses before long
and resents having been tricked into doing injustice. The
newspaper with its longer reach and greater striking force is
"out of luck" if it comes to be known as a bully and a
bruiser.
The "'Blacklist"
A negative form of unfairness by a newspaper towards
individuals is popularly described as blacklisting and consists
in excluding the news relative to blacklisted persons. An




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS    16


167


actual blacklist written out f or the guidance of a newspaper
staff would be a curiosity worthy of a place in any museum
of journalism. Possibly no such list ever existed. But the
practice of blacklisting is widespread and is sometimes frankly
defended.
CASE.-A candidate for mayor, opposed by a newspaper,
made a physical assault on the editor in the heat of a bitter
campaign. From that time on he and his family ceased to
exist for that paper.
Comment.-Such advertisement of an editor's pettiness of
mind is usually prevented by a sense of pride in being regarded
as "broad-minded." But in less obvious ways the same policy
is often followed.
Fairness in the news columns towards a personal enemy of
the editor goes against the flesh and, to this extent, deserves
praise. Yet such a policy hardly merits being described as
generous. It is "big" only in the sense that it shows the editor's ability to see his obligations to the public, to see hi.,a
newspaper as a common carrier of news, and to see that exclusion of his enemy's name, when it becomes news, is shortweighting his readers.
CASE.-A new reporter on a newspaper in a town of 50,000
people picked up an interesting story which embodied an interview with a business man of the town. When he turned in
the story he was told by another reporter that the man wa.,;
on the blacklist because he refused to advertise in the paper,
The story did not appear in print. The reporter avoided that
news source.
Comment.-An absurd and unprofitable policy for a newspaper to follow. News can not fairly be subjected to the test
of friendship or enmity nor the news columns conceived of as
the branches of a Christmas tree in which the bad children
must find no recognition.
CASE.-In his farewell sermon to his city congregation, a
minister of some note, both as preacher and writer, saiid: "One
of the reasons I am loath to leave this city is that I shall not
be here to see the overthrow of the most extraordinary jour



168 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
nalistic despotism that ever held a city in its grasp. I have
never seen a paper to equal this one in its ineffable pettiness.
I have fought it fairly and squarely and openly on matters of
public policy. Lately I have officiated at a number of funerals,
some of them of people of municipal importance and social
importance. The funeral notices have appeared-with my
name carefully deleted."
Commnent.-Regardless of whether or not such a policy is
destructive of newspaper influence through its obvious unfairness, how can any editor derive satisfaction from doing things
that subject him to pity and contempt?
CASE.-A man became a "hound f or publicity," and when
he did not get what he conceived to be due notice, he made
raucous outcry. The paper applied heroic measures by ref using to print his name f or a year.
Comrnent.-Publicity-seekers of this sort, though usually
mild cases-pitiful rather than annoying-are to be found in
every community. An exceptional case may justify exceptional
treatment, but not to nullify the general rule that news is
judged as to its news value without prejudice because of its
origin.
Fairness Towards Officials
Members of legislative bodies, executives of government,
and political leaders are often heard to denounce the unfairness of ne'wspapers towards themselves. "As soon as a man
takes office," they complain, "he becomes the target for unfair
newspaper attack questioning his motives and impugning his
judgment."
The reply of the newspaper is that the press is the eye of
the public through which officials must be watched if they are
to be held to account at all, and that it is better that many
honest officials shall be subjected to needless scrutiny than that
one dishonest person should betray the public with impunity.
Reversing the dictum of the courts, many newspapers hold
that every man who enters public life should be held potentially guilty of unfaithfulness until he is proved innocent, and
that only as the press performs its function of directing a
searchlight upon the acts and motives of public men is there




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


169


any hope of success for the experiment of democratic government. A definition of the newspaper offered by Robert R.
McCormick, co-editor of the Chicago Tribune, may well be
quoted here with special reference to the last clause:
A newspaper is a daily publication conducted for profit; an
instrument created by modern civilization to convey to the public
the news of the day, while promoting commerce through advertisements, and to furnish that check upon government which no
constitution has been able to provide.
The statesman's complaint as to the unfairness of the press
is clearly presented in an article written for the World's Work
by David Lloyd George in the course of which he said:
What happens to the politician who blunders in act or speech?
He wakes up one morning and finds from his newspaper that his
error is blazoned forth to the world, and he is principally conscious of the fact that at that moment there are millions of his
fellow countrymen either abusing him, cursing him, or, what is
still worse, laughing at him. I have seen men who had faced death
and torture in every form quail and shrink before ridicule, for the
corrosive shafts of ridicule burn and gnaw into our very tissues.
The poor politician has to endure it through life, and when he
reads of his mistake and of the use which is made of it he knows
he will never hear the end of it. He will again and again be reproached with it and when his unfortunate stumble is published to
the world he realizes that fate has tied another knot in the lash with
which the furies flog his lacerated back through life. There is no
profession which is carried on under such exacting, irritating, and
mortifying conditions. Just imagine what would happen if a barrister or a clergyman or a doctor had to discharge the duties attached
to their exalted professions under the conditions which afflict the
life of the politician.
Let us take the case, first of all, of the barrister. He has to conduct a very difficult and complicated case in court. He does his
best for his client, puts the whole of his strength and ability into
the presentation of his case. A real aptitude for the study and
practice of the law and a life of industrious application to its duties
have given him proficiency. He has worked hard at this particular
brief, all the experience and accumulated skill of a lifetime, added
to no mean natural gifts, are all placed at the disposal of the man
whose cause he is pleading. Nevertheless the following morning
this is the kind of comment which would, if he were treated like




170 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
politicians, appear in the press which happened to be hostile to him
and to his cause:
"The opening of the case of Brown v. Robinson by Mr. Ernest
Pleader, K. C., yesterday, was by universal consent to say the least,
disappointing. As we have repeatedly pointed out in these columns,
the plaintiff's case at best is a bad one, but Mr. Pleader made the
worst of a bad case. We are aware that a knowledge of law and
its principles are not his strong point, but we credited him with the
possession of a vein of crude emotionalism which appeals to a certain
type of petty juror. Yesterday, however, even that resource failed
him completely. He emptied galleries attracted by the interest of
the case. The jury looked with envious eyes at those who were
free to depart. His cross-examination was hectoring without being
effective. Buzfuz at least won his case. Pleader lost his. We
are not surprised that the popularity of this well-known advocate
which was always confined to a certain class of client and case-.not by any means the highest--is waning, even in that quarter."
That is not an unfair parallel to the criticism to which politicians
are subjected. There are probably few men who could have done
it better than poor Pleader, and they are certainly not amongst the
critics; and the men who could do it better were probably engaged
on other causes and were there subjected to exactly the same kind
of criticism.
May I dare to imagine the kind of paragraph that would be written
about great surgeons:
"We are loth to dwell on the horrible scenes that were enacted
yesterday at the operating theatre of St. Blank's, when Sir Ruthless Cutter performed what ought to have been a perfectly simple
operation in a manner which would have disgraced a mere novice.
We hate using the word butchery, but the English language in
all its opulence can furnish us with no other equally appropriate."
Then come the clergy. Here I will quote headlines only, for the
whole article would be too long for quotation. These are the
large headlines in a popular paper in reference to the minister
of a church whose doctrines and traditions are obnoxious to the
paper in which these comments appear. The first is a report of the
Sunday morning sermon. "Even the Deacons Yawn;" "Why
Sleep at Home?" The next is "An Emptying Church"; the next is
"Moral Condition of Parish Deteriorating Under New Regime."~
Then comes the turn of the missionary, and these are the headlines:
"Appalling Waste on Cannibals; the next, "Clear Out of the
Solomon Islands."
The protest is highly entertaining but does not dispose of
the newspaper as a quasi-official observer and critic. Pun



IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


171


gency of comment is not ruled out by fairness. It is necessary
to win a hearing from the more indifferent. Spice is generally a legitimate ingredient of the journalistic pudding-as it
is of Lloyd George's.
In this connection, we have been reminded by Frank I.
Cobb that Thomas Jefferson said once in a letter: "The spirit
of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions
that I wish it always to be kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised
at all." Criticism of government is surely a mild and salutary
form of "resistance."
The chief executive of a large city, when congratulated
because a newspaper that had been bitterly unfriendly to him
had passed into friendly hands, answered that he could not
accept congratulations:
For years, the paper has called me everything almost, personally
and professionally; but the "panning" frequently did me good.
They might say some things I thought, or knew, to be unjust.
But, nevertheless, down under the surface, their attacks gave me
food for thought and frequently I got busy and corrected the fault.
In my opinion, adverse or hostile newspaper criticism is nearly
always a good thing for the official or individual or corporation
which gets it. Frankly I'd hate to live in a community where the
newspapers were afraid to criticise or attack or didn't care to
criticise or attack anybody.
CAsE.-During a political campaign a newspaper put a question of fairness and duty up to its readers in the form of a
statement to the effect that the paper had copies of court records showing that one of the candidates for a county office
had once been indicted for murder following upon the heels
of a scandal in which he had been one of the principals. "Is
there an obligation resting on a newspaper in such circumstances to tear the veil from hypocrisy?" it asked.
Comment.--Since there was no record of conviction, any
attack by the paper must needs be based on the theory that the
editor had an opinion as to the guilt of the man in the case,
superior to the judgment of the court. Rather doubtful
ground. Very likely the readers of the paper advised it to
go ahead with its denunciation of the candidate. Many peonle




172 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
are exceeding bold, even ruthless, in their pursuit and exposure of suspicious circumstances-by proxy.
The question of attacking public men through their private
lives is not so much one of fairness as one of judiciousness.
Generally the journalistic verdict has been given against the
publication of gossip or scandal, on the ground that the chances
favor the victim of such publication, through public sympathy.
One newspaper known as a vigorous fighter in every local campaign made this editorial statement of its policy as to personalities:
There are two things on which this paper insists. One is that
it never resorts to personalities in any political fight.... It
is concerned with public officials only in their public capacity; only
as they make themselves instruments for what it conceives are good
or bad policies.... There have been plenty of vulnerable
men who have blackguarded this newspaper. It never has retorted
with the ammunition that lay ready to use concerning the blackguarder's private affairs. It always confines itself strictly to the
public record. If an official is a bad public servant, if he is dishonest, or inefficient, or politically corrupt, this paper says so. It
never falls back on the personal innuendoes that are the favorite
weapon of so many politicians.
CAsE.-A promoter of a reform movement sued an editor
for calling him hard names such as "crank." The supreme
court, in sustaining a decision in favor of the newspaper, said:
"In the struggle of civilized society for higher ideals of law
and government., there is a constant and legitimate warfare.
Some degree of vituperation must be tolerated in the interest
of the larger peace of the community."
Commnent.-No broad statement as to the fairness of personal abuse of a public man would "hold water," partly because of the absence of any accepted definition of personal
abuse. Statements which the recipient calls abusive are described by the projector as merely critical. There seems to be
no fault to find with the common remark that a newspaper
should be a gentleman; but it is not clear that a gentleman may
not utter a little innuendo now and then, or even a few remarks
colored by satire or irony, or the stronger and rougher expressions of sarcasm, or, with proper curative intent, ridicule, and
even, in extreme cases, invective.




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS    17


173


CASE.-In one issue of a newspaper appeared a story about
a politician's offense against good taste, for which he was
called to account in an embarrassing manner, and another
story about an admirable piece of community service by the
same man.
-Comment.-An ideal exemplification of fairness-by the
unthinking likely to be mistaken for on-the-fence weakness.
CASE.-A reporter had developed a feud with a county
official. He saw an opportunity, in some charges filed with
the county board, to even the score and handed in the story
without giving the official an opportunity to make an explanation.
Comment.-The reporter was called to account both for
failure to extend the ordinarily fair and decent treatment to
the official attacked, and for using the paper as a weapon with
which to wreak personal vengeance. A reporter without
journalistic education might make such a blunder and be excusable on the ground of thoughtlessness, but one from a
school of journalism could do it only in deliberate violation of
what he knew to be good practice.
Perhaps the most difficult achievement in respect to impartiality is for a newspaper to convince its public that it is relatively fair to different groups-not protecting certain men
because they "belong" while pillorying certain other men, no
worse, who do not "belong."
CASE.-A dominating newspaper of a great city and state
conducted a long and bitter campaign against a governor of
the state based on charges of corruption in office. At the
same time it was silent as regards other notorious cases of
public plundering and political irregularity. The paper was
charged with pursuing a policy of persecution for those who
did not belong to its "(gang."t
Comment.-A newspaper can not scatter its fire too much.
It must make selection among the several opportunities for a
crusade that offer themselves. The law is not called unfair
because it punishes only the criminals who are caught. Without knowing the multitude of facts necessary to warrant an
opinion in the foregoing case, it may safely be said that the




174 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
fact that the paper pursued one suspected man, and not all,
does not convict it of insincerity or unfairness.
Fairness Towards Competitors
The question of how a newspaper shall treat its competitors
is more than a question of private relationships, because the
public is made a party to all such matters through being compelled to read about them. A newspaper war is a public-.affair-usually a public nuisance. Professional courtesy be-,tween newspapers is an object lesson to the rest of the community. A happy mean, which seems to be about as much
as can be expected in the present state of human nature, is
the newspaper's complete obliviousness to the existence of
competitors. Not always strictly fair, probably, but more
nearly fair than any printed reference is likely to be.
CAsE.-A young man bought a paper in a small town where
two papers were being published. After he had been running
the paper for a few months, his competitor, without provocation, began a campaign of personal abuse directed at him.
Ridicule of his personal appearance and insinuations as to
his morals formed part of the attacks. The young man made
no reply. Many people seemed to enjoy the prospect of a
"fight," and often asked the young editor why he did not
" go after" his assailant.
Comment.-A typical example of the beginning of the
traditional newspaper "war," unworthy of any editor; unfair
to the public.
CASE.-A newspaper started a "Pure Food Department"
under the direction of an expert and adopted standards for
its food advertising higher than required by law. Within five
years two other papers in the same city had established similar food departments. The same paper inaugurated as a special
feature a page of school news and became the quasi-official
organ for many thousands of school teachers. In a few years
two others papers started similar pages. This same newspaper
began publishing a radio page and weekly supplement, only to
be imitated by four of its competitors within a short time.
Comment.-A newspaper fair enough to announce that it
was introducing a feature because its competitor had demon



IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


1.75


strated the value of such a department would be regarded as
"queer." Nor does imitation necessarily involve any infringement of rights-legal rights, at least. Nevertheless, willingness to give credit where due makes strong appeal to people
with a normal sense of fair play.
CASE.-A newspaper announced the projected publication
of a fiftieth anniversary edition, an industrial survey of the
territory during the fifty-year period. A competing paper
thereupon prepared and issued, on the same day as the first
paper, a "fiftieth anniversary edition" ignoring two or three
gaps in its early history when no paper was published. The
first paper refrained, with some difficulty, from accusing its
competitor of unfairness and misiepresentation.
Comment.-Change of ownership is not regarded as breaking the continuity in a newspaper's life, nor the omission of
an issue or two, nor even a change in name. Just how radical
a change or combination of changes puts a stop to its existence
beyond the possibility of resurrection is hard to determine.
But in the foregoing case no consideration of fairness need
have deterred the first paper from printing historical facts in
protest. A question of business expediency, however, might
well have warranted its decision to say nothing.
Fair treatment of a newspaper competitor, with regard to
his mistakes, his misfortunes, his triumphs, and his policies,
is affected sometimes by the relative strength of the papers.
A weaker competitor may deserve different treatment from a
stronger one. It may also be affected by the size of the town
and such other circumstances as number, age, and affiliations
of the papers in the field. The safest general rule, in the
words of a veteran editor, is "Mind your own business; let
the other fellow strictly alone." Or, as expressed by another:
"The best answer to an attack by the 'esteemed but loathed
contemporary' is-silence."
Fairness in Correcting Errors
When the editor of almost any sort of newspaper explains
his policy as to making corrections, his statement is likely to
be liberal enough to satisfy almost any critic. But when he




176 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
proceeds to put his policy into practice, the critics are anything
but content. And the critics in this matter are numerous
enough to constitute a respectable proportion of the newspaper-reading public.
The practice of correcting errors in the news columns-we
are not now concerned with errors of opinion which raise the
troublesome question of editorial consistency-may appear to
be a minor matter and yet it is one constantly affecting a newspaper's prestige and good will. Practice in regard to corrections, either through mere restatement, or through admission
of error, or direct apology, or through publication of letters,
is so' varied as to be confusing to the public, while at the
same time suggesting that editors themselves are not clear in
the matter, have not studied it carefully, do not appreciate
its importance, have not compared each other's individual notions about it so that they might approach a unif orm guiding
standard.
Editors' Views As to Making Corrections
Let us go to original sources f or the opinions of editors and
also for opinions f rom. the reading public, and note the divergence between the two points of view, as regards practice if
not theory.
Some of the typical answers given by editors to the question,
"Under what circumstances do you correct errors in your news
columns?" are as follows:
1. Our paper takes every possible precaution against errors in
its news columns, and, where such occur, immediately and cheerfully
corrects them. In some cases we become aware of the error before the person concerned. In such an event the correction is
made as a matter of good taste, without waiting for a protest.
2. This paper corrects every error appearing in its news columns
as soon as determined.
3. I f you are wrong, the best way is to acknowledge it, not to
avoid a libel suit, nor to encourage one; the idea simply being that
it is the right and decent thing to do. Pride and stubbornness don't
mean anything but grief.
4. The question of correcting errors that appear in the columns
of a paper is an important one. If a newspaper is to have any reputation for good faith-and without such a reputation it ought to




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS   17


177


be wholly devoid of any influence-it must be punctilious in the
correction of errors which appear in its columns.
5. It is the policy of this paper to correct any article that we
find to be in error. In carrying out this policy we not only correct
all errors that should be corrected but I believe we correct a great
many that should not be corrected because the statements were true
in the first place, but through difficulty in proving the facts corrections are printed.
6. We desire to impress on our readers that we are glad to confess
our errors.
7. We are very solicitous about the damage that a powerful
newspaper like ours can do to an innocent person, and we try to put
ourselves in his position. Any person desiring a correction or a restatement of facts, even though the matter be not libelous, is always
received in this office with the utmost sympathy and friendliness.
Such expressions from individual editors might be quoted
indefinitely. Moreover editors collectively have put themselves
on record to the same effect. Only recently the Americanl
Society of Newspaper Editors adopted this as one of its
canons of journalism:
It is the privilege, as it is the duty, of a newspaper to make prompt
and complete correction of its own serious mistakes of fact or
-opinion, whatever their origin.
The Public Thinks Otherwise
Such being the declared views of editors-the foregoing are
certainly representative, coming as they do f rom the directing
heads of newspapers both conservative and sensational, great
and small-how does it happen that newspaper readers are
usually f ound to be not only unaware of any such attitude on
the editor's part but f ully convinced that his attitude is quite
the opposite?
Any one who doubts that this is the prevailing opinion of
newspaper readers need only ask a f ew of them in order to
be 'convinced that the general practice of newspapers in the
matter of handling corrections is not satisfactory to the public.
That it would be possible to give complete satisfaction is of
course doubtful. A perfect newspaper, entirely free from mistakes, would still be accused of error because people see things




178 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
differently and can seldom agree on any statement of fact except by liberal compromises.
But, making all due allowance for unreasonable demands, it
yet remains clear that the editor who is interested in the problem of a newspaper's influence and its possession of the confidence and good will of the public needs to consider sympathetically the complaints made as to newspapers' lack of
fairness in making corrections-criticism  both spoken and
unspoken, the latter not less intense but suppressed because
of timidity or because of a sense of the futility of complaining.
Those who have uttered such strictures publicly have not
always been strangers to the inside workings of a newspaper
office. Washington Gladden, who beheld the fair fame of his
life work and the earning power of his pen compromised by
an incorrect news dispatch telling the world that he was resigning his pastorate because his pews were empty, in giving voice
to his condemnation of the inadequate efforts to undo the
damage, spoke from the vantage point of one who had known
journalism from the inside.
The man who, in an important American magazine, characterized the behavior of some newspapers in the matter of
correcting errors as barbarous and devoid of any sense of
justice or decency in the treatment of the individual, was himself a distinguished foreign correspondent of a New York
paper with years of experience as reporter, editor, and publisher of a metropolitan daily, Charles H. Grasty.
Satirical attacks by a college professor, as, for example,
that of Munroe Smith, pointing out that what he called the
"dogma of journalistic inerrancy" must be pursued in Machiavelian fashion, as a matter of safety, and that the virtue of
fairness in dealing with corrections, while not to be adopted
seriously, should be assumed by making, say, "an annual dismissal of a reporter or a triennial retraction which would
cause the murmurs of discontented thousands to pass unheeded"
-such ironical shafts may perhaps be ignored in the newspaper world as coming from academic sources, but not the
complaints and the admissions of journalists themselves. At
least, continued disregard of this source of irritation cannot




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS   19


179


but be expensive to the newspaper press as a whole-expensive in prestige and influence, which means, ultimately, expensive in every way.
"A man who accidentally pushes you off the sidewalk into a
muddy gutter will at least beg your pardon," declares a long-time
student of newspapers, Fred Newton Scott, of the University of
Michigan. "If he does not he is no gentleman, but either a boor or
a cad. But the newspaper which has pushed you into the gutter.,
rolled you in filth, even given you a kick or two in the ribs, will not
only refrain from apologizing for its rudeness, but, if it pays any
further attention to you at all, will usually jeer at you and make you
the butt of the spectators, thus adding injury to insult. I do not
know of any newspaper in this country which freely, promptly and
ungrudgingly apologizes for its mistake and gives to the apology
the same space and promi Inence which it gave to the injurious
article. Therefore I do not hesitate to say that every newspaper
that I am accustomed to read is to this extent either a boor or a cad.
They may all be admirable newspapers in other respects but in this
respect they are simply contemptible."
Another testimonial in the same vein has been given by
Robert Lansing, former secretary of state:
To admit an error of statement, a false deduction or a wrong
judgment is something that an editor cannot do, as that would be
a confession that he was not the pure fountain of truth from which
the people may unhesitatingly draw their information and upon
which they may base their opinions.
Why the Discrepancy!
It is apparent that two widely divergent views are presented
by these expressions of opinion. The professions of newspaper
executives as to fair play and corrections seem not to agree
with their practice, as that practice is judged by the public,
including some who are on the inside of journalism.
There is no doubt that the professions made by editors are
sincerely made in most cases. Few newspapers hold to the
theory that they are so powerful as to be able to ignore injustice done by them to individuals or, at least, to follow a
consistent policy of disregard for individual rights.   Few
newspapers are indifferent to the moral aspect of the matter




180 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
and still fewer are so injudicious as to invite a reputation for
high-handedness and brutality. Only-a few journalistic buccaneers frankly revel in the "glad freedom of irresponsible
power." But it is obvious that in carrying out their professed
policies of fairness some newspapers fail to attain the level
of practice which the public expects; and, in this case, the
public seems to have the best of the argument.
This failure in the matter of realizing ideals as to making
corrections is partly due to the f act that most of us are too
busy trying to avoid to-day's opportunities f or mistakes to
take much interest in correcting the errors we made yesterday.
Then too, human beings just naturally do not like to correct
errors-that is, their own. For the grown-up, hardly less than
f or the child, admission of error and apology for a mistake
is a harrowing experience because it involves a sacrifice of
pride which is humiliating. The evolutionary process will
doubtless produce a being who gets supreme satisfaction out
of acknowledging his own blunders-an editor who enjoys
printing corrections-but the logical next step in the process
is the being who seeks a maximum of happiness through the
simple expedient of making as many errors as possible in order
to have the satisfaction of correcting them.
if, in the case of the newspaper, admission of error is
less personal-less humiliating to any individual-since it is
a correction of an institutional rather than an individual mistake, yet the dread of diminished authority is keenly felt by
all concerned. "We are entitled to have some thought for our
own prestige," is the way one editor puts it. Or as another
argues, "Doctors- are not forever admitting that they have made
errors in diagnosis or prescription. Lawyers are not given to
telling the jury that the insinuations made by them the day
before were not justified by the facts. Why should the editor
be expected to deplete his stock of self esteem and his assets
of prestige by advertising his blunders? The only person who
enjoys admitting an error is the curious individual who does
it for effect when the stage setting is favorable-a practitioner
of humility who makes boasting of error his pose."
But is there not here shown a disregard f or the loss of




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


181


prestige resulting from  a too conservative policy as to corrections?
Possibly it is true that, measured by an abstract moral standard-if such exists-a newspaper's errors are no worse than
an individual's; but inasmuch as they have more serious practical consequences they are a matter of greater social concern.
Another thing which beclouds the issue in the mind of the
editor is the paradox that the public both wants and does not
want corrections printed in the paper. It condemns failure
to print them, but does not care to read them when printed.
Regret it as much as we may, the public has convinced many
editors that "whatever reflects discredit on a fellow being is
news, and whatever tends to remove that discredit is not news."
Nevertheless the public feels that an editor who uses the public's own shortcomings in good taste as his alibi is a rather
pitiful figure. And he is. A newspaper should be captain of
its own soul.
What Is "Adequate" Correction?
Dissatisfaction with the practical working out of the editor's
profession of fairness originates also in a lack of agreement
between the editor and the public as to what constitutes an
adequate correction. The conventional demand of the public
is, (1) that the correction be run in the same position in which
the error was printed, and (2) that it be given a heading of
equal size.
The varying attitudes of representative editors toward these
demands is shown by the following quotations from letters
dealing with the subject:
1. It is too difficult, for reasons of make-up, to print a correction in the same position as that in which the error appeared.
2. No matter in what section of the paper the original error
occurred, we carry the correction on page one in the belief that
in doing so we are doing our utmost to right an injustice.
3. Usually the correction is given the same position and prominence as the article containing the error.
4. We try, although it is not always possible, to give the correction as much prominence as the original story. That much, too,
is due the reader.




182 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
5. It would be folly to put a large head on a simple correction
in the same position.
6. Oftentimes the correction is given much more prominence
than the original article, depending on how serious the error may
be. We handle each correction on its own individual merits.
7. When the error is one of unimportance and the correction is
sought more for the purpose of mortifying the newspaper than
setting right the readers, a paper is justified in minimizing the space
given to the correction.
8. The position which is given such an announcement in the newspaper does not mean anything, but we take great pains when making
a correction to see that the other fellow gets the best of it by displaying it as he or she may like.
9. If a serious injustice has been done to any person we make the
correction at least as prominent and usually more prominent than
the offending items, both as to position and headlines.
Although these answers present considerable variety, they
reveal a general policy which would seem to meet the requirements of the public. The editor is, and ought to be, the final
arbiter, except in cases involving libelous statements leading
to court proceedings-cases with which we have no concern
in a discussion interested solely in maladjustments not subject
to legal remedies.
Apparently the solution of the whole problem lies in a general adoption by editors of the attitude and the practice of
those exponents of the true professional ideals of journalism,
those editors most liberal in their interpretations of the newspaper's responsibility for fairness towards individuals and dependability in the eyes of the general public-its adoption both
in theory and in practice.
Degree of Error
Probably no one would deny that there is a class of mistakes creeping into the news columns too trivial to admit of
correction. In this class are ordinary typographical errors,
misplacement of parts of stories, mixing of cuts. Yet such
errors, while having no measurable consequences, are nevertheless as busy as rats in a ship's hold gnawing at the newspaper's
prestige in the minds of its more exacting readers. In this class
are all such errors as would be unduly magnified by correction




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


183


and cases in which correction would only add to the embarrassment of the individual concerned.
Slightly more serious are the instances in which protest is
made to the newspaper regarding a statement which the editor
finds on investigation to be substantially correct. The most
that can be expected of the editor in such case is that he give
the reader space in which to present his views, and give it to
him freely without attempting to put him in the wrong or
punish him with ridicule.
"Our rule is that letters complaining of misstatements shall
be printed in the department of 'Letters to the Editor,' " is
a report that presents the prevailing policy. "All letters to
the editor, correcting our mistakes, if they are not too trivial,
impertinent or silly, we take pains to print," is a rule that
leaves room for a proper exercise of the editor's discretion
and is liberal enough if the editor himself is liberal enough.
Next in the order of importance are errors which call for
a restatement of the facts in a later issue of the paper. Probably no individual has been aggrieved by the original statement but inaccuracies were included in it. A corrected statement or an entirely new article containing the verified facts
meets the requirements of the case.
Fourth in point of seriousness is the error which calls for
an out-and-out correction, without attempt to pass the blame
to a news source or to the speed jinx. The remedial statement either carries the heading, "A Correction," or "This
Paper was Wrong," or an equivalent heading, or at least states
frankly in the heading or in the lead to the story that an error
was made in a previous article. In handling cases of this sort
the editor soon demonstrates to his readers the breadth of his
mind, the acuteness of his sense of justice, and the texture
of his courage-for it takes courage to admit error. Incidentally he makes evident to his own staff the standards of accuracy
which he requires of them.
The fifth order of errors, and the most serious, is the one
calling not merely for correction but for apology. Here again
the real fibre of the editor's soul is put to the test. Fortunately such tests are not often presented in any well regulated




184 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
newspaper office, large or small, and it is a fine tribute to
journalism that such is the case.
The means by which each case will be evaluated and its
proper handling determined, will of course vary radically. In
some offices the editor who happens to be least busy at the
time will take care of it. In other offices, this haphazard
procedure gives way to some sort of bureau of accuracy and
fair play. Under any system., the machinery is of far less
importance than the spirit in which the thing is done.
And why should not fairness of spirit and liberality of
policy be advertised? They are excellent goods and the demand
for them is great. Such advertising of a desire to correct
errors will bring "business." Too much business? Well, perhaps, f or the editor who is blind to the larger values. No
doubt the whole thing is bothersome. So is the store policy
of exchanging or accepting return of goods. But it is a good
store policy. "The customer is always right," has won general
adoption as a business slogan. Why should not the profession
of journalism approximate the level of the trade of merchandising?
Use of a Standing Head
An interesting method of making formal corrections, and
one which seems to be gaining in favor among editors, is that
of the standing head, sometimes boxed, "Beg Your Pardon,"
or, "Truth is Found also in the Correction of Error," or some
similar expression. One advantage of such a department is
that errors trivial and yet irritating may be corrected in it
without unduly magnifying their importance. Editors who
are not yet friendly to this plan usually object to it on the
ground that it "would give the impression that we have a great
number of corrections to make,"' or that it appears "more
or less wooden and insincere," or that it "affords no opportunity f or discriminating between the more important and the
less important corrections," or that "it does not have a good
psychological effect upon the public."
The use of the standing head does not, of course, prevent
giving greater prominence to any correction which. in the




IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS


185


opinion of the editor, requires it. As to the psychological
effects upon the public, the argument seems to be strongly
in favor of the standing head. The number of errors in newspapers, like most other things which it has been the policy
to cover up, is greatly magnified by the public. The standing
head, if it occasions any surprise, will do so by reason of
the smallness of the amount of matter that appears under it
from day to day rather than by the largeness of the amount.
"It gives the impression to the public of good faith and shows
that the paper is trying at least to be accurate," is the testimony
of one important newspaper executive who has used it for
several years. "We have no evidence that it lessens the paper's
prestige; we do not find so far as we can observe that it
invites frivolous demands for corrections." Surely nothing
is to be lost by abandoning the absurd pose of infallibility.
On the whole this device of the standing head seems to
merit a fair trial by newspapers everywhere. The fact that
"it often irritates the reporters or sub-editors who find in it
a certain implication of criticism," does not seem likely to
militate against the accuracy of the newspaper or its standing
in its community.
However notable have been the comparatively recent improvements in the business and editorial departments of newspapers
-the organized efforts for more efficient production, supplying the public with a better commodity-even more significant
is the progress made in the last few years towards a more
general adherence to high journalistic standards and a wider
acceptance of professional ideals. Serious minds in journalism
everywhere are bent upon the problem of the newspaper's influence. There is no news to them in the statement that something is wrong between journalism and its public. But it is in
really big news that editors and publishers are seriously trying
to find out what is the matter and what can be done about
it. Any question involving human beings in the mass is likely
to prove difficult, mixed, elusive. The good will, confidence,
and responsiveness of the public are mysterious and baffling
phenomena to the student of public opinion as well as to the
casual observer. Only painstaking analysis of each factor in




186 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
the problem promises practical results. The policy in handling
corrections is one such factor.
Fairness Not Easy to Maintain
The foregoing are some of the forms in which the problem
of fairness presents itself to the editor.
Difficult.? Yes; but not too difficult. An admirer of one
great American newspaper has said:
It is a fine thing, and, as all practical men know, a, difficult
thing, to maintain over the years a policy of fair play, of hearing
both sides in the news columns. Regardless of what the Times
has favored in its editorial columns, it has always printed the news,
and a finer thing could be said of no paper.




CHAPTER VII


HANDLING THE NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS
Whatever may be the limits to the propriety of the study
of man by mankind, there are no limits to its interest.
Everybody likes to watch animals at play, animals on the
hunt, even animals in a fight that is not too brutal, and the
animals which interest us most are those of our own kind.
In this realm direct observation has the maximum of reality,
but its interest is hardly greater than that of indirect observation afforded by literature and the other arts.
Few would question that this phase of the social instinct
is good for us; that it has been a potent force in helping to
bring us thus far up the road of progress; that the best evidence of its bearing our approval is that we describe it as
"socializing."
Limitations Are Needed
But the experience of the race has brought it to believe
that many beneficial instincts require limitation, and the limitations established constitute an important part of what it calls
civilization. Our instinctive curiosity about our fellows has
been found to be of this sort. It has been found desirable to
hedge it about by restrictions which attempt to guarantee that
we shall, on the one hand, be allowed to attend to our own
business at least a part of the time, and on the other hand,
keep out of other people's business all of the time.
To find where the line should be drawn has been a difficult
matter; is still about as difficult as anything in life. Indeed,
the location of the line is constantly changing; the hand of
public opinion rubs it out here and draws it there to-day,
only to erase it again to-morrow and draw it elsewhere. It
is not a straight line, nor a fixed line, nor a clear line some187




188 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
times, and around it is much confusion and debate and what
we call the complexity of life.
And so, the question as to how much it is good f or us to
know about the rest of the world has f or one of its phases
the question as to how much it is well f or the newspaper to
tell us about our fellows. How much, f or example, should
it print of what may be called disagreeable news, or news of
antisocial activities, or as some people describe it, news of
a negative type,, or crimson news, or simply, news of crime
and scandal?
Not a Question of Reporting All That Happens
The expression attributed to a great American editor, to
the effect that whatever Providence allowed to happen would
be repohted in his paper, was a brilliant epigram, but it would
be a treacherous guide. Its philosophy may be defended, of
course; in fact it may be argued interminably because it involves the paradox of the existence of evil under a Beneficence
that is omnipotent. But as a practical matter the rule has
never received full sanction by any considerable proportion of
either journalists or readers of newspapers. And it has never
received even approximate exemplification, though the yellow,
press went far in that direction. Everywhere in life we find
the principle established that there is a point at which reticence
must rule. Never was there a realist so thoroughgoing as to
abandon all restraint in his expression of his art. It is not
humanly possible to tell the whole truth, and even if it we-re
possible, nobody would sanction the telling.
Poor Excuses f or a Radical, Policy
The newspaper editor who maintains that it is his business
to print detailed accounts of the commission, trial, and punishment of crime uses one or all of the following arguments in
support of his policy: (1) that such news is commercially
profitable; (2) that the public has a right to receive what it
wants; (3) that the newspaper's responsibility ends when it
has accurately recorded the facts and that its province does
not extend to a selection or coloring of facts in order to teach




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 189
a lesson. In practice he does not go to the extreme of printing all the f acts, as has been pointed out. He omits the most
revolting details and the most offensive language, but he approaches the extreme as closely as public opinion or the law
will tolerate.
1. The refutation of the first argument need not be undertaken here. It will be made sufficiently plain in the later
discussion of the function of the press. A journalism in which
commercialism is the dominating force is not rightly to be
called journalism but a dangerous imitation of journalism by
men who belong in purely commercial pursuits, and might be,useful to society in business, but are ill fitted to render professional services to their communities.
2. The weakness of the second argument has been considered
in the chapter on independence.
Supplementing what was there said, we may note one typical
case of a newspaper attempting to defend its sensationalism
in the following words:
The vast majority of perfectly wholesome and normally intelligent men and women are a great deal more interested in the fleshand-blood doings, springing from flesh-and-blood motives of fleshand-blood human beings than they are in theories of economics,
problems of governments, perplexities of diplomacy, or complexities of banking and currency.
No sane man doubts that the latter class of questions is of infinitely greater importance than the former class of stories. And
yet, the fact remains that out of one thousand people nine hundred
and ninety-nine are infinitely more interested in the woman who
tried to kill the other woman than they are in the rival merits of
currency measures. And as long as the vast majority of perfectly
worthy people prefer to read about the dramatic, the mysterious,
the romantic, the comic, the tragic in human affairs, rather than
the important, the World is not in the least ashamed of giving them
what they want to read as fully and as prominently as it gives them
what they ought to read. The World tries to balance the two types
of news, avoiding an appeal to morbidness on the one hand and an
appeal to intellectual priggishness on the other.
It is a weak case, based on cowardice and social irresponsibility. One critic draws this comparison:




190 THE CONSCIENCE OPFTHE NEWSPAPER
If half a dozen milk bottles left on the back steps of as many
houses in this city this morning had contained poison milk, a great
cry would go up and the criminals would be brought to swift justice.
But if the poison of hate, prejudice, suspicion and crime is delivered
in the shape of a newspaper at thousands of front doors, shall we
say nothing because the poison works slower though just as surely
and affects the mind and soul instead of merely the body?
An editorial writer in the Saturday Evening Post sums up
the issue thus:
Sentimentalize, psychoanalyze, Fletcherize. Play up the unpleasant in streaming headlines. Gangway for the ghastly. Squeeze
the teardrops into every column-that is the conception of the
part the press should play in the administration of justice that
too many of our newspapers hold.... But the newspapers
of America should realize that a great gulf lies between what
the reading public will devour and what the reading public should
have.
Speaking before the National Editorial Association, Crosby
S. Noyes once painted the picture in such terms as these:
Take a copy of a modern Penny Dreadful. You will find it
packed with Horrors, many of them so precious in sensational
atrocity as to require, for each, five sets of job-type headlinesthe special Thriller of the day, with pictures and biographies of
the Woman in the Case; pictures and biographies of the Villain
who pursued the Woman in the Case; pictures and biographies of
the more or less crazy husband who killed the pursuing Villain;
pictures and biographies of all the relatives, friends and acquaintances of the pursued woman, the pursuing Villain, and the killing Avenger; pictures and biographies of the judge, the jury,
and the lawyers in the case; pictures and biographies of the scores
of alienists who deposed variously that the avenging husband
was crazy when he killed the pursuing Villain and sane the moment
after; or that he was born crazy, is crazy now, and will be crazy
all his life. The paper will be spaced out with minor horrors
of considerable sensational value.  There will be reports of
Black-Hand assassinations, rapes, elopements, divorces, massacres
of Jews in Russia, Christians in Turkey; gruesome stories of
starvation and corpse-eating cannibalism in China, and manifold
horrors and atrocities reported by cable, telephone, wire and wireless telegraphy. No quarter of the globe will have escaped the
searchlight of the enterprising journal in quest of malodorous,
putrid happenings.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 191
So it seems that the primitive in man makes many demands
which the rational man does not sanction.
3. The third bit of rationalization has an engaging plausibility. It attempts to invoke the scientific ideal of respect for
the facts as we find them. It suggests the admirable maxim,
"Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may." The
fallacy in it is the acceptance of fact as being synonymous with
truth. This distinction has often been pointed out by journalists with keener analytical powers than are manifested by
those who use the third argument. The facts about a crime
or about a criminal may, and usually do, fail lamentably to
present the truth. The facts are likely to be negative or destructive in their effects on others; the truth not so.
Truth Back of Facts
By way of illustration consider a paragraph from an account
of a legal execution printed in a city newspaper; and not unlike statements often found in descriptions of trials and executions:
When the death warrant was read Lockett stood unmoved
and yawned at the finish. His only comment was: "I am ready
to go. I am not afraid to die."
The f acts are there, but the truth is not there. The item
as it stands is antisocial. Why? Because all our lives we
have been taught admiration of fearlessness in the face of
death. It is a part of our concept of the heroic. It is to our
minds the final and the supreme evidence of greatness of soul.
As we grow older we may modif y our views on the matter;
but by that time let us hope we shall have ceased to devour the
crime stories in the newspapers.
The paragraph quoted makes a hero of a criminal-in the,minds, it is safe to say, of the great majority of readers. But
the criminal was not in truth a hero. There was nothingr
heroic about him. He was a very ordinary murderer. That
was the truth about him. The newspaper told the facts but
it left the perception of the truth to the discernment of the
reader. But readers of newspapers are not, at the time, in a




192  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
mood of discernment. Some of them are not capable of it.
Some are too inexperienced to supply the necessary background. They got the glamour of the facts in the paragraph
quoted; they did not get the tragedy of the truth. If their
minds made any passing observation, it was not, "What a failure of a life; what a waste; what a wreck!" but more likely,
"That fellow had courage. Some pretty good men commit
crimes. Seems too bad he had to die!" It is true that some
pretty good men commit crimes, but the perception of that fact
alone, without all its modifying implications, is not constructive in its influence on any individual nor on society.
Literature-great literature-has given us the truth about
such criminals. The paragraph quoted might appear, word
for word, in a great novel or short story and yet give every
reader an overpowering sense of the true values in life, because
the Turgenev who told the man's story gave us the background
and revealed the inner tragedy-told us the truth about the man.
The truth will not hurt us but the facts are sometimes deadly.
And, in the nature of things, the newspaper can not give us
the truth, except in those rare instances in which great literature comes ready made from the mind of an inspired reporter.
A Turgenev would need days and maybe months, and a wealth
of experience, and an endowment of genius, to tell us the
truth about that criminal.
Knowledge of good and evil is doubtless a prerequisite of
moral conduct, but it is necessary not to lose sight of the fact
that evil is sometimes presented in the guise of good, or takes
on that aspect for at least some of its beholders.
The newspaper, then, which publishes the day's record of
crime and social catastrophe will need to use extraordinary
care to meet its responsibilities as a social organ.
Not a Question of Reporting Nothing Unpleasant
To dispose of the extremes brings the inquirer to the median
belt in which the real merit of a question is usually discovered.
It seems clear that the debatable ground as to printing news of
antisocial acts lies some distance to the right of the position
described in the last section. How far it extends towards




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 193
the conservative extreme is a matter of debate. That it goes
the whole distance seems to be contrary to the judgment of
the practical wisdom of the time; and this pragmatic test we
must apply if we would arrive at anything more than a beautif ul theory.
If a benevolent despot ruled an American city, would he
sanction newspapers of some sort? It is hardly to be questioned. To be sure we have a habit of thinking that the world
improved a good deal before the days of any newspapers.
And yet, the historical study of the functions of the press
can hardly fail to convince any one that the newspaper has
developed because it satisfied fundamental needs of human
beings, among them the need for greater justice and freedom.
It is incredible that our benevolent despot would refuse to use
such an agency as the press, at its best.
But would he be wise in keeping from the inhabitants all
knowledge of the evil or destructive or negative portion of
the day's happenings? If he did so would the result be that,
lacking the stimulus of suggestion, all the evil propenslities
of the people would atrophy, leaving the good despot, or at
least his successor, in charge of a community of angels? Disregarding, for the sake of argument, the joyful influx that
might be expected from the great underworld, or, in other
words, assuming benevolent despots for all cities and one for
the rural stretches between, are we to believe, then, that the
city, day by day, would grow better and better upon a diet of
pleasant information only? Hardly!
But imagine that the despot had the bad luck to become
malevolent. Surely he would lose no time in establishing a
yellow journalism! Through it he would advertise crime and
vice. The romance and heroism, the thrills and pleasures of
the criminal's life would be suggested.   The successful
methods used in crime would be described. Does any one
doubt that the results would be almost as destructive socially
as though crime were taught in the schools? Such is the reasonable conclusion; but it is equally clear that the amount of
damage that can be done by an evil press is no greater than
the amount of good that can be accomplished by a press that




194 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
lives up to its responsibilities. And "living up to its responsibilities" need not be conceived to mean refusing utterly to see
and to report things as they exist in our imperfect world. As
Herbert Bayard Swope has said:
journalism is life reflected in ink, and it must partake of the
ugliness as well as the beauty of life. It need only keep the basic
honesty of life; then, it will never have cause to feel \ashamed of
itself.
The question does not simmer down to one of profits. Possibly a policy of printing nothing unpleasant would pay financially. If we glance for a moment at the magazines, we shall
find that those of greatest circulations are not the ones which
tell the truth about life-not the unpleasant truth. They shun
it. Their fiction is of the pleasant-ending-at-any-cost sort. Their
articles deal with success, usually measured in money. This
is doubtless in reaction f-rom the muck-raking popular some
years ago.
The same reaction is making its appearance here and there
in journalism. Very possibly the swing in the new direction
might go farther than it ought for the public good. just now
it does not seem that a wholly "pleasant" newspaper is what
society needs. Society needs more truth than that. In fact
it needs all the facts that can be printed without destructive
effects. How much that may be is a question on which
opinions differ. But the publisher, editor, or reporter who
refuses to make it a subject of careful study falls that much
short of meeting his professional responsibilities. His standards are in danger of becoming inferior even to those of commerce, where- the quality and serviceableness of the commodities produced and distributed are scrutinized unremittingly.
The Editor's Real Problem
The practical problem facing the editor is both quantitative
and qualitative, but chiefly the latter. How much news of
crime and vice will his paper print is part of it; but also, and
chiefly, in what way can he present crimeand vice so that the
effect will be constructive? Both of these questions are difficult enough and the second especially so.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 195
The question of quantity involves the question as to the
news value of crime, or as to how keenly the public wants
such news; and back of that the question of why the public
wants it and whether it is consistent with the best standard of
editorial responsibility to give the public what it wants.
The news values of a story of crime may depend upon its
nearness to the reader in time and space, the reader's acquaintance with the persons concerned, the prominence of the participants, the dramatic features of the affair, unique features,
mystery, relations to other crimes, and many other considerations. But news value is only one of the things to be determined. The other questions will be considered in this chapter.
They relate to such matters as the wisdom of giving details
of crime, recognition and avoidance of the dramatic appeal,
brutalizing descriptions, palliative effects to be avoided, constructive work in promoting social order, warnings to the public, and like topics.
Scientific Basis of the Matter
The fears that were loudly proclaimed some years ago that
hypnotic suggestion would play a sinister part in the worldfears that were exploited in both fiction and drama-seem not
to have been realized. But the study of suggestion in general
has thrown great light upon the genesis of human conduct
both social and antisocial. It has, for one thing, given rise to
much serious discussion of the kinds of stimuli proceeding
f rom a description of a crime when read by various types o/
individuals.
The newspaper crime story has been studied by the psychologist as, "the source of initial images of ideas that may constitute either a part of the f ringe of a present act or the focus
of a present act, leading a person to decide to commit a crime
and giving him the method." For one who cares to pursue
the subject as treated scientifically, discussions of suggestion
are available in any recent book on general psychology, as well
as a few special studies of antisocial tendencies as affected
by news of crime and vice and domiestic tragedy.
For our present purpose it seems permissible to take the




196 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
scientific basis for granted. Its validity is not questioned by
any scientist. Nor does it need to be accepted on faith, merely,
by people in general, for every mature person is aware of the
power of suggestion. Realization of its potency increases
with systematic observation and experience, but sufficient
foundation for the purposes of the present discussion is a
matter of common knowledge.
The adult whose own daily experience teaches him the
power of suggestion does not need a scientist to tell him of the
vastly greater potency of this influence upon adolescents. He
knows how impressionable they are, how easily their newly
formed concepts of right and wrong may be distorted. In
their minds are being cut the channels through which will flow
the thoughts and impulses of maturity. Everybody agrees
that the reading of bad fiction at this age is demoralizing.
How much worse the reading of bad fact!
Suggestibility is as fundamental in our natures as any part
of them, though not all people are equally suggestible any
more than they are equally sympathetic, or playful, or fearful.,
or acquisitive, or sociable, or curious. Also it is a commonplace that the imitative instinct, like the others, functions less
vigorously as we grow older. After we have taken the children to the circus, we enjoy watching them re-enact the events,
even though we are a little sorry f or the cat that is a highly
unwilling tiger in respectI to jumping through hoops. But we
do not-unhappily for us, perhaps-enter the ring, unless a
whip cracker needs attention or the knot of a lasso fails to
slip properly. We have acquired detachment. We look at
things objectively. Or we have developed certain inhibitions.
Such expressions and others describe the fact of our change.
Nevertheless, we are all more or less suggestible to the end
of our lives, and if we examine our acts f rom day to day we
shall be surprised to find how many of them can be traced to
origins in close proximity, at least, to the instinct for imitation. Our conduct is what we are, and what we are is largely
the sum of what we have thought.
Then, the criminologists tell us of the people found in all
walks of life who have attained years but not maturity and




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 197
who require the same protection from temptation and, from
negative stimuli as does youth.I
Also, we are told of the occasional criminal or the potential
criminal who requires only a slight external influence to upset
the equilibrium of his conduct, lacking a sufficient inner repugnance towards unethical behaviour.
"Mob psychology" is another subject engaging the attention
of scientists and others. "The crowd itself is irrational," is
one way of stating the general conclusion, "it cannot dissect,
weigh, and compare; cannot apply remembered teachings."
People in the mass sometimes lose all resemblance to the same
people as individuals. And while the phrase, "people in the
mass,"9 pictures them in physical assembly, the ideas given
simultaneously to a community by a newspaper have sometimes produced the same kind of concerted reaction as that
which is thought of only as the objective of the orator. A
book on group or mass psychology is really a text book in
journalism.
Lessons in Crime
This phrase used sometimes by critics of the press refers
partly to actual instruction in the "technique" of crime given
unwittingly by newspapers that print detailed accounts of clever
methods used in specific instances, and partly to the less direct
"lessons" embodied in suggestions which may be unconsciously
admitted to the mind of the reader and acted upon a month or
a year or ten years subsequently when a combination of circumstances exists favorable to a line of action. The former
is comparatively rare. Even beginners in crime do not need
to depend on the newspapers for instruction, since they can
get it from far more competent sources. The latter is more
common, and an understanding of the psychology of suggestion constitutes one of the greatest needs in the education of
journalists.
A case or two will suffice as examples of the first kind of
"lesson."
CASE.-A newspaper printed a lengthy article on the methods
by which automobile thieves pick out the cars to be stolen,




198 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
disguise them to prevent identification, secure registration in
other states, and dispose of them through "agencies."
Comm~ent.-The articlewa      intensely interestingbti
offered no protection to the owners of automobiles because no
preventive measures were suggested, beyond that of being
sure that the car is locked. It was of no value to officers because they already understood the methods used by automobile
thieves. Its effect on the reader was to impress him with the
ease and safety attending such thefts. It is inconceivable
that among the thousands of readers of that article there were
not some, already predisposed to cross the borderline of crime,
who hesitated no longer.
Similarly, a newspaper printed an article on the various
clever ways in which banks are defrauded or robbed. It was
hardly constructive. A concern manufacturing a device to
prevent the "raising" of checks was much more judicious. It
issued a pamphlet showing by means of f ac-simile reproductions of raised checks how easily such fraud could be perpetrated when a check was carelessly written, thus proving the
need of the device recommended; but the company took scrupulous care that the pamphlet was seen only by responsible business executives.
A succession of axe murders was at one time pointed to as
an example of a fashion in crime established by the publicity,
given to the first deed of the sort. So with a unique method
of gaining entrance to houses for the purpose of committing
burglary. So with stories of "Tom, the Peeper," and of
peculiar methods of arson. A murder in a dance hall in Chicago was followed by others committed in a similar manner
and given the name "tango murders." After a story of an
abduction in which a hypodermic needle played a part had
been printed sensationally, there followed a succession of
"Poison needle" abductions in widely separated localities. In
one city an epidemic of "boy bandit" holdups followed a
graphic write-up of the first instance of the kind.
In how many cases the series of similar crimes was committed by the same person, in how many cases they were mere
'coincidences, or in how many they were faked by unscrupulous




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 199
reporters is impossible to determine. But the considerable
smoke -indicates fire, and the logic of the matter points in the
same direction. In matters that contradict reason or experience, we may well demand overwhelming proof in the form
of concrete evidence. In the present instance the conclusion
arrived at is supported both by reason and experience and by
such concrete facts as are available. That more evidence has
not been assembled seems due to the difficulty of penetrating
the dark alleys of human conduct and to the fact that it has
been nobody's business to undertake the task. The journalist
who takes the defensive position that he is "waiting to be
shown" is in a sadly untenable position and one unworthy of
a profession supposed to exercise initiative where truth is
concerned.
Serious Effects from Trivial Causes
The incongruity between a trifling provocation and a tragic
consequence constitutes a kind of news value. That the prevailing effect of such news is likely to be beneficial is not
always clear.
CASE.-A rooster's crowing annoyed a man living across
the alley. He complained to the owner of the fowl but without avail. Then he went to the hen house before daybreak
and wrung the rooster's neck. The owner heard the noise
and shot out of the window, killing the intruder.
Commncnt.-The hen has an amazing court record, in some
cases leading to the Supreme Court of the United States. She
and her kind have been at the bottom of as much violence as
the line fence. It seems that the effect of reading about such
absurdities should be to increase sanity and a decent regard for
the feelings and rights of the neighbors, but the element of
doubt is present.
Do Newspapers Breed Criminals?
After a discussion of a subject like the present, from a
scientific or theoretical standpoint, the person of practical mind.
very properly asks: "But what evidence have you from the
criminals themselves? How many of them trace their evil
doing to the influence of something read in a newspaper?"




200 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
For the answer to this question it is necessary to go to the
criminal himself, either directly or through the information
obtained by police officers, court officials, or wardens of penitentiaries.
The -criminal himself has afforded very little dependable
evidence in response to direct questioning. And for very good
reasons. He is not usually capable of introspection. He has
no interest in endeavoring to trace effects back to their primary
causes, least of all, effects in his own conduct. His answers
to questions by an investigator are anything but trustworthy.
Inquiries made of police officials have brought statements
that some criminals ascribe their wrong doing to suggestions
received from newspaper stories. Strong unanimity of opinion
is found that such effects must necessarily follow the publication of crime news as now practised by most newspapers.
One chief of police in a city of medium size states: "I have
known of only one case in which a criminal laid the blame for
his act on newspapers." But he adds, "I believe that crime
news as now handled has a tendency to encourage other acts
of the same type and I believe it would be better if only the
main facts of a crime were published, as the details give the
potential criminal a line of action to follow."
Prosecuting attorneys hold similar views. One attorney
with a wealth of experience in a rather large city, both as
prosecutor and as judge, says:
There is no doubt in my mind that the newspapers, by their
method of treatment of crimes as news stories, do unwittingly
incite and encourage crime among the youthful, the weak-minded,
and the quasi-criminal classes. They lead this class to believe
that the commission of crime is easy and is attended with more
or less safety. If less space were given to the commission of
crime and more to trials resulting in conviction of criminals,
a much better result would be gained for the entire public.
This experienced prosecutor also expressed the opinion that:
The newspapers in their haste to publish all the details relative
to a crime often apprise the criminal of the evidence against
him and render him much harder to apprehend.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 201
Criminals have sometimes admitted that they read the papers
for possible clues as to the best means of avoiding capture. The
amount of help obtained in this way is, however, small because the report is some hours behind the action taken by the
police, or it concerns only such action as is merely a matter of
routine, or it is deliberately framed to deceive the fugitive.
From wardens of penitentiaries opinions are fairly consistent that much of the crime news is demoralizing. These opinions often lack the backing of specific evidence which might
be expected from that source, and which it is to be hoped will,
ere long, be sought and presented to the public. One warden
reports that no daily papers are given to inmates of the prisons
or reformatories in his state. Another, that the reading of
prisoners is confined to copies of papers free from sensational
crime stories.
In a recent annual report of a police commissioner of New
York is the following statement:
During the year the local press of New York took occasion
to publish, almost daily, scare-headlines and exaggerated stories
of crime and lawlessness in this city, which served only to advertise
the business of the criminal and to attract criminals from far
and near, who because of the newspaper stories, believed they
could operate here with impunity.
Many young men, without previous criminal records, stated,
under oath, upon examination at police headquarters, that they
were induced to commit crime because the newspapers had led
them to believe that they could do so in this city with little or
no fear of arrest and the consequences.
The Glamour of the Romantic
No one doubts the evil influence of bad books upon impressionable youth. Few doubt that the crime film bears fruit
in lawlessness. Society has taken measures to protect itself
from both of these destructive agencies. It is not necessary
to examine in detail the scientific basis for our belief that
admiration of a hero begets imitation of a hero. Full advantage of the principle, on its constructive side, is embraced in
our educational methods from the kindergarten up. Examples
of it have come within the observation of all of us.




202 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Few journalists, however much they practice sensationalism,
will seriously defend 'the news story that tends to make a
hero of a criminal or to surround a crime with an atmosphere
of romance. But many newspapers do just this thing day
after day, rationalizing the procedure by such excuses as,
"the other fellow is doing it," or, "it is what the public wants,"
or "children don't read the newspapers anyhow." Then, too,
there is a very real practical difficulty of knowing just where to
draw the line; and in case of doubt the decision is likely to be
in favor of the "good story."
CAsE.-A bandit attempted to rob a mail car but was overpowered by the mail clerk and delivered to the officers. He
had a long criminal record, including several escapes from
officers and from prisons. The press association's story of
the capture filled almost two columns. In most papers it
was given prominent position on the front page.
In the "lead" the bandit was described as, "the most elusive
criminal, probably, the country has ever known," and the doubt
was expressed that he would "stay put" very long. The engaging personal qualities of the man were presented in a conversation he had at the prison with his captor:
The prisoner held out his hand and said, "You haven't got any
hard feelings, have you?"
"I've got a wife and child at home," replied the mail clerk.
"So have I," responded the man, "and if you had had a gun
last night your wife would have been a widow to-day. I never
hurt an unarmed man. But next time a gun is stuck against
you, put up your hands. It might not be me behind the gun."
Then followed a thrilling account of the criminal's several
successful breaks for liberty. His bravery, his affection for
his wif e, and his sense of humor were all brought out.
Comment.-The story was essentially f alse and as damaging f rom a social standpoint as any "yellow back." The
statements of f act were correct, no doubt, but the truth about
the bandit was all between the lines. Mature readers would
appreciate it but the immature would not; and no journalist
seriously asserts that his paper is not read by a high per cent
of the immature, regardless of age.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 203
CASE.-A young woman wearing a black mask held jail
guards at bay with a pistol while her sweetheart escaped. The
dramatic features of the occurrence were vividly brought out:
the slight and refined appearance of the girl, her coolness in
a hazardous undertaking, her loyalty to the man in jail.
Comment.-It would be impossible to estimate with any
certainty how large a percentage of the readers of this story felt
the romantic appeal in it and were secretly grieved to read later
of the capture of the girl and her lover. But there can be no
doubt of a demoralizing influence from such dramatizations.
CASE.-A young divorcee was arrested on the charge of
having murdered a man supposed to have been one of her
suitors. Her former husband, who was a lawyer, rushed halfway across the continent to take up her defence declaring that
he had never ceased to love her. The dramatic features of
the situation were played up in practically all newspapers.
The woman's brave "fight for life" with the help of her
"chivalric champion" was presented day after day until it became a national topic of conversation.
Commcnt.-Few indeed were those capable of seeing the dif -
ferent elements of the case in proper perspective, of maintaining right values, of remembering the dead man and' the cause
of justice and safety.
CAsE.-Torti the Weasel lies abed in St. Vincent's Hospital.
Paralysis is creeping over him. Even if he lives he will be
sent back to Mulberry Street a helpless cripple. His career as a
gunman is over and done with. He is disgraced in the eyes of
the slinking, 'rat-eyed youths who haunt Chatham Square, Chinatown, and the old Five Points quarter. He never can face them
again.
SArmed and in full strength he let a policeman smaller than
himself take his pistol away from him yesterday morning. When
hie tried to run, the policeman fired a bullet into the small of
his back. It was an inglorious, humiliating anticlimax to a violent
record. This Torti had dared the vengeance of Big Jack Zelig
when Zelig was in the full flush of gangster power. He was one
of the few who ever summoned the nerve to draw a gun on Zelig
and pull the trigger. Yet a policeman, a little policeman, bent
him backward over a fence yesterday morning, took his gun away'
f rom him and shot him with his own weapon.
Charley Kane, jiu, jitsu and bag punching expert of the police




204 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
department, 145 pounds of whalebone and nerve, was walking in
Mulberry Street early yesterday morning with his pal, Detective
Brennan. They were not advertising for the police department.
Night birds who knew them not would have taken them for derelicts of the quarter-homeless men on the prowl. They were
dressed shabbily, sweaters and battered caps adding the correct
atmosphere. Detectives resort to disguises outside detective stories.
(followed by details of the capture)
Comment.-T he foregoing quotation from a metropolitan
newspaper serves as an example of the dramatic crime story
in which the policeman is the hero. Also, the rewards of a
life of crime are truthfully suggested. In the main the story
may be called constructive, though the significant news contained in it hardly seems to warrant the half-column space
devoted to it. It is, at least, f ar better in character than a
story printed about the same time and headed: "Sonny Dunn,
the Desperado with a Charmed Life. Prison Bars Can't Hold
Him and Chicago Cops Can't Catch Him."
CASE.-An underworld character suspected of a crime was
arrested but escaped and took refuge in a deserted building.
He had obtained weapons, and when his whereabouts was
discovered he defended himself. The house was surrounded
by officers and an almost continuous firing was kept up by
them during the afternoon and night. The fugitive returned
the fire intermittently. Finally the building was set afire and
the escaped prisoner was shot when he appeared at a window.
Most city newspapers carried sensational accounts of the
"battle." It was the main feature in the successive editions of
that day.
Comment.-A human instinct, no less admirable than universal, is sympathy for the under dog, for the fellow who makes
a brave stand against overwhelming odds. His act is justly
regarded as a "sporting" thing to do, and one that reflects
credit on the race. The newspapers so handled this case that
the people of a great city and a considerable portion of the
country at large yielded this meed of admiration to a desperadowho had cost society heavily through many years of his life
and who sought to inflict the utmost damage at the end. No
one who has given thought to the matter can doubt that such
false sentiment is destructive of law and order and manhood.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 205
CAsE.-An actress made her third attempt at suicide giving
as her reason the refusal of her wealthy lover to marry her.
A newspaper sought the capitalist and printed his two-column
interview giving the story of the girl's infatuation resulting
in her three attempts at suicide, in spite of the millionaire's
desperate efforts to keep clear of entanglements and his innocence of wrong doing.
Comment.-The story was pernicious in that it permitted a
man by no means absolved of guilt to pose as a martyr of circumstances and a foolish woman. It supplied palatable
poison to the sickly sentimentalists. It tended to elevate the
man to the pedestal of the matinee idol. Much better judgment is shown by the newspaper that withholds the privilege
of the interview-the journalistic form through which an individual speaks directly to multitudes-from seducers, thieves,
and prostitutes who happen to be booked at police headquarters, reserving it for men and women of distinction who have
some excuse for a moment's occupancy of the newspaper soap
box.
CASE.Twenty years behind the grim gray walls of the Oklahoma state
penitentiary was the price Freddie O'Neil knew he would have to
pay when he came to Kansas City six weeks ago.
But Freddie, notorious motor-car thief and "bad man," didn't
care.
For Freddie, whate'er the cost, wanted to see a little lad, on'
whose chubby face he had not laid eyes in three years.
"All the time I was in the 'stir' his little face hovered betore me,"
he said. "It was awful! I would wake up from a dream in which
hie had his arms around my neck and hear him call, 'Daddy."'"
"That's what brought me back, fellows," he mumbled, his eyes
welling with tears.
Comment.-A "sob" story in which the sentimental appeal
is absurdly overdone. But the disadvantages of a criminal's
life appear so clearly, in the background, as to render the
article almost constructive.
Brutalizing Effect of Crime, News..Another type of crime story that is not often defended, but
is nevertheless all too common, is that which contains lurid




206 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
features or disgusting details. The word brutalizing seems
to describe it aptly.
To the degree in which we become interested or absorbed
in reading or hearing a narrative, we "participate" in the action.
This, of course, means much in the enrichment of our lives.
No person is the victim of such humdrum conditions that,
given a healthy imagination, he can not, through good literature, acquire a world of experience by participation in the
lives of others. But this precious faculty, like all others, is no
great respecter of the materials with which it works. Given
an invitation by a news writer with some ability in description
and narration, and it will take us into places which we were
better off not to have visited and show us scenes from which,
if literally brought before us, we would shrink in horror.
When these quasi real experiences are of the sort that dull
our finer feelings, lessen our repugnance for what is vile and
our shrinking from what is cruel; when they tend to make us
cold-blooded or callous, they are accurately described as brutalizing. And it is not merely a fact of science but also a matter
of general observation that abhorrence of gruesome things is
lessened by familiarity.
The newspaper which takes us daily into the chamber of
horrors is educating us to tolerate horrors, to accept them as
a matter of course, to be indifferent to their perpetration, or
even to take a hand in them ourselves. There is nothing fanciful about such deductions. Every mature person has the proof
within himself. Familiarity with crime on the part of immature and undisciplined and defective human beings enhances
morbid curiosity and the desire for abnormal experience and
predisposes to yielding to temptation. It is brutalizing.
CAsE.-'rwo bank robbers were shot by policemen. The
newspaper story was illustrated with pictures from photographs showing a close view of the bodies lying in the morgue,
with clothing removed where the bullets had entered, and
arrows to indicate the holes.
Comment.-It can not be denied that such a picture is
fascinating to many persons-in some degree to all persons.
The knife with which murder has just been committed, a




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 207
piece of the rope with which a man has been hanged, the room
in which notorious criminals did their deeds-any of these will
draw a crowd, and represented pictorially in a newspaper,
will sell papers. Such things appeal to very deep primitive emotions, but they are antisocial as well as elemental. Yellow
journalism demonstrated that horrors give pleasurable shocks,
but it has also demonstrated to an increasing proportion of
journalists that such shocks are unfavorable to social control
and adj ustment.
That exposure to brutalizing experiences is not a means of
combating brutality is now well understood. Wide censure
was recently given to the views of a country sheriff who insisted
on exposing the body of a dead bandit to public view in order
that the youth of the community "might be influenced to mend
their ways."
CASE.-A newspaper secured, and printed in a half-page
space, a picture of "Russian officers hanging patriots at
Tabriz." Eight bodies hung suspended by ropes and the officers were proudly posed beside them. Even the expression
on the faces of the victims was revoltingly plain.
Comment.-To be sure, this is an unusually gruesome case,
but it is not different in kind, only in degree, f rom many
cases that may be f ound in any day's newspaper output. For
its own protection civilized society has excluded itself from thescenes of its legal executions, but the press is still permitted
to take its readers into the death chamber through the medium
of vivid descriptive writing. And it must not be forgotten
that word pictures are only slightly less realistic than photographs and are f ar more effective in transmitting details that
the camera cannot record.
CASE.-Two women were charged with having poisoned
fifteen or more men, including their several successive husbands. Murder had been their avocation for some years. One
newspaper heading announced that, "Gay music rang through
residence of 'Mrs. Bluebeard' while body of dead husband lay
in house." The scenes of the various murders were all reconstructed.
Comment.-This is an example of the story dealing with an
extraordinary crime. It would seem that the more atrocious




208 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
and diabolical the act, the greater the effort made by some
newspapers to place it realistically before the minds of its
readers-women, children, morons, and the rest. One particularly nauseating case, involving a popular film idol, was
f ed daily to the public, over a period of weeks, and did more
than any other occurrence of the year to bring American journalism into contempt.
Of ten the headlines alone are enough to warrant barring a
paper f rom. the home: "Thirteen-year-old Othello Denies
Knifing His Desdemona," or, "Fourteen, Golden Haired, Admits He is a Burglar," or, "Youngest Shoplifter Acts Like
Old Hand."
CASE.-One of the most notorious crimes in recent years.,
followed by an equally notorious trial, was the murder of a
prominent American architect by a rich young man whose
motive for the act was vengeance for alleged wrongs suffered
by the young woman, who afterwards became his wife, at the
hands of the man he killed. The great majority of newspapers
carried the story on their front pages for several weeks and
used their best talent to extract from it every ounce of human
interest, every thrill, every shock to the ordinary sense of
decency.
Comment.-T he so-called "sob sister" has a legitimate
place in journalism. It would be absurd to condemn emotional
writing, as such, or even sentimentalism. The only question
involved is that of purpose and effect. An emotional handling
of the tragedy in the death of a child under the wheels of a
speeding motor truck may be just what the community needs
to rouse it to preventive measures. It may be in the best sense
educational. Innumerable other cases may be found in any
day's happenings in a great city. But the object of the
sentimentalism in the present case was f rankly commercial
and its value commercially, its attractiveness f or the public,
rested upon those characteristics of the human animal which
do him the least credit. In such a case the newspapers take
advantage of our weaknesses: they capitalize the baseness in
our nature-and despise us while they are doing it. Many of
them know they are taking filthy money; some of them merely
do not stop to think. They swallow the common traditions




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 209
of journalism and leave it to others to think what they are
about and work towards the betterment of the profession.
News of Suicides
Victims of discouragement are extremely suggestible in the
line of their depressed mental attitude. Not a few instances
have been recorded in which successive cases of suicide by the
same method, sometime's an unusual method, seem to have resulted from publicity given to the methods used in the first case.
CASE.-A young banker in Georgia took bichloride of mercury and lay dying f or a week. He held a reception at his
home and bade all his friends a personal and affectionate f arewell. Papers all over the country printed daily stories of the
case. It was noticeable in the weeks that followed his death
that numerous stories of bichloride of mercury poisoning appeared under date lines f rom widely separated parts of the
country. Many of these were suicides, and the natural conclusion was that the Georgia affair had worked as a suggestion
to morbid persons.
Cornment.-Due account must be taken of the fact that correspondents would be likely to use the facts concerning all
bichloride of mercury poisonings which came their way, because
of the exceptional interest resulting from the case just
chronicled widely. Nevertheless it seems fair to say that,
whether or not the relation of cause to effect existed, there was
no justification for publicity as to the details of the case.
Many newspapers now recognize their responsibilities in
this matter by refraining from mentioning the kind of poison
used by a suicide. It is doubtful that the means used by any
suicide should be reported. Certainly if it is new or ingenious
it may appeal strongly to the imagination of some unfortunate
person.
CASE.-Neighbors heard a couple quarreling and telephoned
the police. When the officers arrived the man had killed his
wife and himself with a butcher knife. The deed was done
in the presence of a small child. The story was printed with
brutalizing detail.
Common t-Impressions received from such narratives notonly harden the sensibilities of readers but afford positive




(


210  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
suggestion to individuals in unhappy circumstances. The utmost restraint is required in handling such news.
CASE.-The "Diamond Queen" brought back from Paris to
face charges of large jewelry thefts in New York, ended her
life dramatically by swallowing poison as she was being taken
to the Tombs. "You'll never take me there alive," she cried
as she snatched a phial of poison from her handbag and swallowed the contents.
Comment.-A certain type of mind is much impressed by a
theatrical exit from life. Suicide pacts have a strong emotional
appeal. Jumping from bridges or high buildings recommends
itself to some as a heroic means of escaping from the
trials of existence. Stories which treat such occurrences with
dramatic intensity make suicide attractive to the despondent.
CASE.-A 63-year-old farmer committed suicide and cremated his own body by jumping into a huge brush pile near
his home, setting fire to the pile and then blowing his brains
out with a shotgun. Neighbors said the man had carefully
collected the brush pile for a year. He had been despondent
for months and had frequently referred to his shotgun as a
faithful pal which would some day do its duty. After a
restless night, he arose early, according to his widow, and
left the house with the excuse that he heard some one in the
chicken house. Later his wife observed the brush pile in
flames.
Comment.-A gruesome case without constructive value and
one likely to deepen the morbidity of persons defeated by hard
circumstances.
CASE.-A daughter of a wealthy manufacturer, with all the
benefits of a college education, and the promise of a successful career in vaudeville, was found unconscious in a cheap
hotel with a man who was dying from the effects of poison.
The young woman died also. The story concluded:
This is the final chapter in the career of a girl who had everything in life-beauty, wealth, education, friends, and talent.
Comment.-Probably less negative in character than most
accounts of suicide pacts.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 211
CASE.-The body of a boy thirteen years old was found
suspended by a rope tied to a rafter in the barn at the rear of
his home in Chicago. It was believed that he had committed
suicide by tying himself with the rope and jumping off a pile
of wood nearby. The father said the boy had read much about
another young boy who had been found hanged a few weeks
previously.
Comment.-Since each successive suicide was bigger news
by reason of the cumulative effect, the headlines should,
logically, have grown larger and larger and therefore more
powerfully suggestive. Such practice is in line with the gruesome remark of a writer on "Is Suicide a Sin?" who found a
causal relation between stories of suicides and subsequent
suicides, but declared that since only degenerates would be
susceptible to such influence it was a good thing to employ
this means of getting them out of the way.
This theory was not saved from brutality by any lack of
sincerity, as was a statement by the English master of irony, G,
B. Shaw, that "Reading about crimes does not make us criminals, but rather causes any propensities we may have in that
direction to waste themselves harmlessly through the imagination, just as reading about high virtues does not make us heroes
and heroines, but wastes our heroic impulses in precisely the
same manner."ý
In Palliation of Crime
No doubt many acts that are crimes according to the strict
letter of the law are justifiable; but a newspaper is treading on
dangerous ground when it undertakes to establish this fact in
any specific instance. Usually the result is a lessening of respect for law and a consequent increase in lawlessness.
CASE.-A man shot another for "invading the sanctity of his
home." The reporter described the romantic courtship and
the ideal happiness of the couple before the invader appeared
and the tragedy of the husband's disillusionment.
Comment.-The purpose of the story seemed to be so to
arouse the reader's sympathy as to obscure the fact that the
wronged husband had legal recourse and that he had committed
a crime. The probable effect on the reader was to arouse
resentment at the course of the law in the case.




212_THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CAsE.-A man was deluded into paying $15 f or a bogus
automobile license. The story made him ridiculous and pictured the swindler as a clever rogue.
Comment.-T he reporter, no doubt innocently, employed
humor in such manner as to make crime appear innocuous.
CAsE.-A woman was tried on the charge of having killed
her husband's stenographer. The story of her acquittal played
up her own emotion and the almost hysterical enthusiasm of
the crowd.
Comment.-The effect was to lead the reader to say, "I don't
care if she was guilty, I'm glad she got off."
CASE.-A man was tried f or murder. The report of the
plea of the attorney for the defense was illustrated by a halftone picture showing the defendant bowed in grief, his daughter
at his side with her face buried in a handkerchief, and other
relatives weeping during the lawyer's impassioned utterances.
Comment.-W hat a cruel law that makes people suffer!
Emotional interest in criminals as persons is not conducive to
social order.I
CAsE.-A report of a decision of the United States Supreme
Court on the migratory bird law contained an interview with
a hunter who said, "We went right along shooting ducks at such
times as the shooting was good and only three arrests were
ever made by the men drawing fat salaries to enforce the law."~
Commen~t.-Contempt for law received the tacit approval of
this newspaper, which editorially, no doubt, would loudly de-.
clare that laws must be obeyed until repealed.
CASE.-The adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment was
followed by a widespread condonation and endorsement by
newspapers of law violation.
Comment.-No exception is here taken to efforts by newspapers to have the law modified or repealed. The newspaper
that believed prohibition to be a bad measure had a duty as
well as a right to oppose it. But the encouragement of law
violation is another matter. In news, features, editorials, cartoons, and joke columns, many newspapers presented the bootlegger and his patron as admirable persons, crusaders in the
cause of personal freedom. The law, the courts and other




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 213
enforcement agencies, were made to appear contemptible.
The difference between a constructive campaign for modification of the law and a destructive campaign for lawlessness
seems easy enough to understand, but an incredible number
of editors pretended not to comprehend it. The result has
been an incalculable bill for organized society to pay.
CASE.-Sensational newspapers, and some others, have expressed their opposition to court decisions, usually decisions
having political aspects, by attacks upon the courts themselves.
Not constructive attacks embodying remedies for alleged imperfections, but attacks calculated to destroy confidence not
only in particular judges but also in our judicial system.
Comment.-Immigrants knowing little of our language, and
the masses of uneducated people in cities acquire from these
papers having huge circulations, highly distorted ideas of
American institutions. The results in maladjustment and discontent do not need to be described to be appreciated by any
student of social affairs.
Stories of Wrecked Homes
Doubtless some of the unpleasant news about the disintegration of families is salutary. The public has a right to know
how its great human institutions such as marriage and the
family are functioning in modern life. It is not to be expected
that only sugar-coated news will be furnished by the press.
But on the other hand newspapers are not to be excused from
taking some thought as to the influence likely to be exerted by
stories dealing with social disorders.
CASE.-The following two-column head in Gothic type
sufficiently describes the story: "Colonel, Accused of Affair
with 'Woman across the Hall' Calls Wife Love Monopolist.
'She Demanded My Exclusive Worship and Love' says Army
Man of Mate Who Sued Him f or Divorce."~
Comment.-T he story written from the standpoint of the
offender and embodying his claims for justification is anything
but constructive. It might consistently be printed in a paper
that had frankly announced a policy of combating our marriage
laws, but not elsewhere. Even if the whole story were told,
so as to present the truth about the incident, it would be ruled




214 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
out by the fact that it is not significant news. Significant news
of this class is that which may help to guide intelligent public
opinion to a sound judgment as to the need for a change in
our laws governing the formation, preservation, or disestablishment of the home.
CASE.-A married man and a girl preferred death to separation forced upon them by relatives. Both took poison and
died. The story was handled in a sensational manner with
pictures.
Commnent.-The fact that a story has human interest and is
full of heart throbs does not in itself justify publication. It
merely furnishes an excuse to thoughtless or irresponsible
journalism.
CASE.-A minister was found dead beside the road near a
small town in New Jersey, and near his body was that of the
wife of the janitor of his church. The minister's wife was
living. No theory as to the crime was substantiated by
enough evidence to lead to an arrest.
The metropolitan newspapers saw in the case the materials
for sensational handling. During the several weeks from the
date of the crime to the end of the grand jury investigation,
seventy-five or more correspondents and photographers were
kept on the ground entailing a total expense estimated at
$100,000. One newspaper alone was said to have used 350,000 words on the event.
Comment.-A shameless exhibition of the eagerness to exploit crime for profit. The public was entertained as by a
detective story or a play of mystery, but it was not clean
entertainment, and the cost in suffering to innocent persons
was great. No good social purpose was served.
CASE.-In any day's grist of the divorce mill are many cases
based on trivialities exemplifying the vagaries of human nature.
Comment.-Treatment of such matters in a spirit of f rivolity is productive of cynicism ill calculated to promote the business of good living. It is self -evident that anything which
strengthens the notion in immature minds that social bonds are
to be regarded lightly is antisocial.
CAsE.-A woman was charged with causing the death, by
lrsenate of lead poison, of a man with whom she had lived as




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 215
common-law wife and to whom she had been legally married
six hours before he died. The woman declared she expected
to become a mother within three or four months, but declined
a medical examination. These and other details were printed
in many newspapers.
Comment.-An example of the obnoxious story, though by
no means an extreme example, that stimulates the public taste
for the scandalous. Decent newspapers do not purvey filthy
details uncovered in court proceedings except through some
pitiful lapse of discretion. Life is made tolerable by reticences.
Science and literature may tear aside all the veils for the sake
of the public health and in the search for a surer, sounder basis
of morality, but seldom is such a proceeding within the province of journalism. Few reporters are adequately prepared
for such an undertaking. Nor is it true that the public clamors
for disclosures of the intimacies of private lives. What the
public will accept in a careless mood is by no means what the
public wants.
Publicity as Punishment
The newspaper as an agency for the maintenance of social
order holds constantly over the heads of those having criminal
tendencies its menacing scourge of publicity. Not that the
newspaper is to be regarded as an extra-legal retributive and
corrective institution,, a sort of private court in which cases
are determined and punishment assessed, "You are guilty and
your sentence is one column on the front page." But rather
that in the everyday discharge of its duty of telling its
readers what they have a right to know, the paper incidentally
metes out punishment to those who cannot afford to have their
acts made public. One of the wise sayings attributed to Emerson is, "Light is the great policeman."
To be sure there are notoriety seekers requiring special
treatment. Usually their performances are harmless, as for
example, the girl who maintained a blood temperature of 114
degrees for several days, to the amazement of the whole country, until her clever method of playing tricks on the thermometer
was discovered. Or the more reprehensible case in which a
girl advertised for a husband, specifying qualifications, and




216 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
made public the answers received. Usually some irresponsible
reporter has a large share in framing such specifications and
the answers, in order to concoct a salable story or series of
stories.
Rarely do criminals seek publicity, though some of them
pose complacently enough when the spot light finds them.
The complexities of the question, when to give publicity and
when to withhold it, have been examined in the chapter on
suppression.,Not only in this way does the newspaper participate in the
administratiow of justice, but also by way of keeping a watchf ul eye upon the police and the courts, f or the public has a
right to know whether or not these agencies for law enforcement are effective or inadequate.
CASE.-Following is the lead of a top-head story in a city
paper:
The city's courts dealt crime a savage blow last week. For years
the criminal calendar had been clogged. Last week, however,
brought a new order of things. Three additional criminal courts
were established, making six in all, and the judiciary went after
the three thousand cases awaiting disposition.
The six criminal courts were in session four days and in that
time disposed of more than one hundred cases of a more serious,nature. The cases were many and various, and special attention
was given to those involving homicide.
The~n followed a list of those whose cases had been decided,
with the sentence given in each case.
Cominent.-A constructive article on the improvement in the
city's legal machinery. An unmistakable warning to the underworld.
Emphiaslizing the Penalties of Crimte
Certainty of punishment, rather than severity, is the most
effective deterrent of crime. A high degree of certainty that
a crime will be detected, the criminal apprehended, a swift and
just disposal of the case made by the courts, and no pardoning
power invoked by influence will insure a low per cent of
ezrime in any community. The more information that can be




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 217
published showing such conditions to exist, the more effective
will be the newspaper's part in maintaining order.
CAsE.-A spectacular post-office robbery at Toledo was the
subject of scare heads and exhaustive descriptions in the newspapers of the country. The robbers were not apprehended
at once, but in the course of a few months twenty-five men and
women had been arrested and tried. Of these, twenty-one
were found guilty and sentenced to terms in the penitentiary
aggregating 184 years. Five of them received sentences that
were practically for life. Items referring to these convictions
were printed from time to time, but no newspaper saw the news
value and the social value in a conspicuous story summarizing
the retributory aspect of the case.
Comnzent.-Newspaper readers in general, knowing how
great was the amount stolen and not being adequately informed
that most of, the money was recovered and the robbers punished,
were left with the impression that the crime had been immensely profitable. A lawyer, pleading before an editorial
association for greater vigilance in giving publicity to the
punishment of crime, said:
Punishment for crime is utterly and absolutely useless unless such
punishment gets publicity. And only the press can give it publicity. To the extent that the press fails in that obligation, to that
extent the press is responsible for the contempt of law and the
crime for which this country is notorious among nations. But, to
the extent that the press will feature punishment, as well as crime,
to that extent it will give force to deterrence and create a new
respect for law and a surprising decrease in crime.
CAsE.-The following is quoted from a newspaper report:
Doors of the state penitentiary to-day swung open to receive
three brothers, who must serve up to a maximum of twenty-one
years for highway robbery.
With their mother dead of a broken heart, the three men started
on their long sentences, which officers said came at the end of a
long road of crime.
Absolutely incorrigible, was the message of the sheriff to the
warden of the prison when he delivered the three brothers. Long
lists of charges are on the police blotters against them. One has
averaged an arrest every two months for the last fifteen years,
officers said.




218 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The family, except the mother and a fourth brother, has been
against the law for years, according to officers. Three years ago
the father died, happy in the knowledge he and his sons had kept
out of the penitentiary. The mother's and brother's pleadings with
the three after their father's death only hardened them. All are
large, raw-boned men of a fighting nature. Charges on which
they were arrested time and again ranged from violation of the
prohibition law to highway robbery.
Comment.-Such a story tells enough of the truth about a
life of crime to make such a career anything but attractive.
CASE.-An account of a defalcation by a bank official descri~bed at some length the early successes of the young man,
his happy home life, and his fine business prospects, all compromised by yielding to a temptation to get rich quickly.
Comment.-T he journalist need not moralize in order to
drive home the lesson that industry, honesty, thrift, truthfulness, and decency pay better than their opposites. He does
not step out of his sphere as a journalist into that of the
preacher when he brings into a story the facts that furnish
a background. That is the way in which he makes the story
truthful as well as accurate. A story which paints clearly the
cost of crime or vice to the participant, as well as to society,
is constructive.
CASE.-A youth of sixteen was sentenced to death in the
electric chair. He had been convicted of killing a Brooklyn
shopkeeper while attempting, with two other youths, to rob
a store.
"This is the saddest act that I have had to perf orm since I
have been a member of this court," the justice said in passing
sentence.
Comment.-The effect of such an item will depend somewhat
on one Y s views as to capital punishment, but certainly an impression is gained of the inexorableness of the law and its
freedom from any vindictive spirit.
CASE.-The internal revenue collector for a state in the Middle West joined forces with the prohibition enforcement
director and issued an appeal to all law-abiding citizens to aid
in the enforcement of the law. One city paper carried a twocolumn story on the f ront page and related a number of in



HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 219
stances in which the vigilance and determination of the officers
had brought about detection and conviction of bootleggers and
operators of stills. A little sentiment was injected into the
story by an account of how the internal revenue collector raised
money to care for the destitute family of one of the convicted
men.
Comment.-A highly constr uctive article, only the lead of
which contained spot news, but all of which was interesting
and informative. The theory that the enforcement of law is
everybody's business was not explicitly stated but was so effectively suggested as to make the article an important factor in
promoting better citizenship.
CAsE,.-A young man, convicted of burglary, had been sentenced to the penitentiary for ten to twenty years. When he
was taken to prison a newspaper assigned a reporter to accompany him and write the story of his first day's experience.
The story filled five columns and was headed, "When a Youth
Goes to Prison." The arrival at the barred door, the conversation with the record clerk and with the deputy warden were
reported.
"Can I ask a question?" inquired the prisoner.
"Yes, " the clerk answered.
"How soon do I get a chance to ask for a parole?"
"In ten years."
The deputy warden asked him about his schooling.
"I went to high school and could have gone to college if
I'd wanted to."
"Why didn't you?"
"Oh, I got with the gang down on the corner and we didn't
want to be like the sissy boys."
"Where did you get the hunch to start breaking in houses?"
"From a movie."
"Stop lying! Where did you get the hunch?"
"So he lp me God, warden, I'm telling you the truth," the
boy reiterated, "from the movie."
The incidents of his first day in prison were related with
a simplicity overwhelmingly effective: the meeting with other
prisoners, the first descent into the coal mine, the beginning of
the long term at hard labor. That night a trusty reported
to the warden:




220 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
"I'm worried about that new man. I think he's sick."
"What's the matter," the warden asked.
"Well, he was workin' in our coal room, and I come in from
a trip with the mule and I crept up on him sort of quiet, because the ceiling is darned low there, you know, and I saw he
wasn't working at all but was kind of digging with his pick at
a shelf of coal and there was tear streaks down through the
dirt on his face."
"Didn't you ask him what the matter was?"
"Yes, and all he said was, 'Forget that you saw me like this;
but ten years is such a long, long time.' I kind of believe the
kid's sick."
"No, he isn't sick. He's just in prison, that's all."
An editorial note sums it all up: "It is a safe bet that if
the average young man had to go through one day of prison
routine he'd never commit a crime."
Conmment.-It was not a "sob story," just a plain narrative
full of truth, and a fine example of the constructive treatment
of crime. Accounts of escape from prison, of the granting
of pardons or paroles, of the return to crime by men who have
served out their terms are common enough. But the ghastly
truth about confinement in prison, ghastly at least for most
prisoners, even under the best of modern conditions, is seldom
told. This is merely another example of the fact that the
newspaper which merely utilizes the facts that are thrown to
the surface by the day's eventualities may be giving some of
its readers false notions about life; and that it owes it to them
to seek and present the truth.
"Equal Justice for All"
Generalizations about the beauties of impartial justice have
less force, if indeed they have any force at all, than insistence
upon impartial justice in a concrete case. They are virtually
void of meaning because so bromidic and because so often
uttered as agreeable platitudes by people without understanding or sincerity. Action in a concrete case is clearly defined
and often requires courage. A newspaper which takes up
such a case often wins commendation, if no imputation of
malice can be made and when the time and circumstance are
ripe.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 221
CASE.-A wealthy man killed a relatively poor man. There
were no witnesses of the act. The man's defense was that the
slain man had attempted to blackmail him and, angered at
failure, had attacked him. There was a grand-jury investigation resulting in a trial for murder. The case was dismissed
upon motion of the prosecuting attorney. Much criticism was
uttered against the officials for their apparent desire to aid
the accused in concealing the nature of the alleged blac~kmail.
Letters received by the newspapers showed a widespread feeling that the man's wealth had been a factor in preventing more
vigorous prosecution. One metropolitan paper assigned a reporter to the case. He studied the minutes of the grand jury
and other evidence and became convinced that the court proceedings had been farcical. He found that a large proportion
of the people distrusted the officials and believed that money
could buy anything in that state. He so reported to his newspaper.
The paper undertook to force a reopening of the case. Much
publicity was given to it. The governor was appealed to.
After a campaign of some weeks, the governor acted by ref erring the matter to the attorney-general. The result was the reopening of the case.
Cornment.-The newspaper's angle of approach to this case
was such that all the news and opinion published regarding the
crime had a constructive character. Those who question the
propriety of dynamic journalism will, of course, maintain that
the paper went outside its legitimate sphere as a newspaper in
conducting a campaign against miscarriage of justice. That
point of view. limits too narrowly, the function of the press.
The Newspaper in the Ro^le of Detective.
just how far a newspaper should go in assisting in the apprehension of criminals is a debatable matter.
CASE.-A metropolitan newspaper ran a series of pictures
of men wanted by the police, giving both front and profile
views and describing in detail the appearance of each man.
The offenses for which they were sought were also described.
Comrnent.-This sort of publicity sometimes leads to apprehension of the criminal but more often gives rise to false
alarms, annoyances, and embarrassments through overzealous




222 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
efforts of inexperienced persons. It is not a feature which
can be commended except in rare instances.
CAsE.-A newspaper in a large city assigned a reporter to
follow and apprehend an absconding bank president who had
eluded the police. The chase extended through several foreign
countries and ended with the arrest of the criminal and an exclusive story of great interest to the public in the columns of
the pursuing newspaper.
Comment.-M any newspapers favor such enterprises as a
means of scoring beats on their competitors. More of this
sort of thing would be done were it not f or the heavy expense
usually involved. The temptation to say dogmatically that this
is not journalism must be resisted. To be sure, the detective
methods of the yellow journal were and are despicable; their
vileness lay in the ends for which they were used-the publication of scandal or the levying of blackmail-and also in the
nature of the methods themselves-searching waste-paper baskets, prying open desks, stealing photographs, peeking through
transoms, or eavesdropping. If there is doubt as to the sincerity of the police in detecting crime or apprehending the
criminal or if there is a compelling reason why the public
should have access to the mind of an offender against law or
custom who has not been found, there seems to be no serious
objection to a newspaper's joining in the pursuit, though such
activities do more or less violence to one widely accepted
concept of journalism. Whether or not the prestige of the
paper will be more compromised than augmented must be decided in each case.
CASE.-A newspaper, believing that the chief of police was
incompetent, conducted a campaign against him by printing
all manner of evidence tending to show that a "crime wave"
was sweeping the city as a result of insufficient police activity.
Long lists of petty offenses were printed. Abuse and ridicule
were heaped upon officers and police commissioners. The insecurity of life and property was the subject of daily editorials
on the f ront page.
Comment.-Such campaigns are generally looked upon cynically by the public, as being at bottom political. In so f ar as
they are taken seriously, they engender a state of community
"nerves" that is to be deplored. It has been said that even a




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 223
second-rate city editor can produce a crime wave on twenty
minutes' notice. It is equally true that if he does so merely
for the sake of creating a sensation, he should go to jail for
disturbing the peace. Moreover, it is doubtful that this method
of opposing a police administration is ever quite justifiable.
Inefficiency of the police can be presented to the public without
such sensationalism.
CAsE.-Pay-roll robberies became common in a city and the
newspapers promoted the organization of a citizens' committee to co6perate with the police in frustrating and capturing the
bandits.
Comment.-A fine piece of public service.
A director of the crime commission for Chicago expressed
what will appear to some as an exaggeration, but it is nevertheless provocative of thought:
If the daily newspapers in this city decide to-night that crime
shall be cut fifty per cent by the first of next May, it will be done.
If any one newspaper in Chicago determines to-night that crime
in this city shall be reduced fifty per cent by the first of next May,
every other newspaper in Chicago will be forced by public opinion
to take the same stand and by May 1, Chicago crime figures will
be cut in half.
If newspapers decide to decrease crime they will first insist that
criminals be apprehended. Is there sheriff or police official that
can withstand their demand that prosecutions be vigorous, judges
firm, and jurors honest? Is there prosecutor, judge or juror that
can withstand the pressure, when exerted by the press of the city,
that penalties when imposed be executed? Is there official or lawyer or criminal that would attempt to defeat justice with the newspapers playing the searchlight of publicity upon them? That's all
there is to it. It sounds simple. It is simple. But it is not easy
of fulfillment.
It is interesting to note that within a short time after this
statement was published, a newspaper in the city opened a
campaign of publicity against vice by reporting the testimony
before a board investigating houses of prostitution. Many excellent people were shocked and made protest. The newspaper
maintained that vice flourishes in secret and that knowledge of
its ruinous consequences is a more powerful restraining in



224 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
fluence than either silence or veiled allusions to "social dis-'
eases."ý
Helping to Convict a Criminal
However justifiable may be a newspaper's activities in helping directly to apprehend a criminal, the dangers in "trials by
newspaper'' are such that the only safe course seems to be
strict limitation to an uncolored and conservative report of the
court proceedings. The many notorious cases in which newspapers have so prejudiced the public for or against an accused
man or woman as to make a f air trial next to impossible have
been the basis of some of the sharpest criticisms of journalism.
Clarence Darrow, a veteran of the law, declared to Editor and
Publisher., though he subsequently modified the statement:
Trial by jury is being rapidly destroyed in America by the manner in which the newspapers handle all sensational cases.
I don't know what should be done about it. The truth is the
courts and the lawyers don't like to proceed against newspapers.
They are too powerful. As the law stands to-day there is no
important tribunal case where the newspapers are not guilty of
contempt of court day after day. All lawyers know it, all judges
know it, and all newspapers know it. But nothing is done about it.
No new laws are necessary. The court has full jurisdiction to
see that no one influences a verdict or a decision. But every one
is afraid to act!
The machinery of justice has a right to the help of the press
in its functioning, and the most obvious avenue of service is
through repressing rather than intensifying such a state of the
public mind as makes calm judgment difficult.
One legal authority states the matter thus:The newspaper is an unqualified evil in so far as it affects the
trial of crime. Since the abolition of public executions, it has
been the policy of the law to hide all sensational details connected
with the punishment of criminals. The object of most newspapers
is just the reverse of this. By picturesque methods they try to
make their readers see every incident from the conception of the
crime in the brain of the man on trial down to the jury's verdict
and the punishment, if there be punishment. Consequently the
newspapers must always come in conflict with the courts.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 225
Which extreme view should be modified in the light of contrary opinion to the effect that newspapers have helped greatly
in the apprehension and punishment of criminals, and in the
maintenance of respect for law. The following legal opinion
is justly appreciative as well as sound:
Publicity is almost the only safeguard of the proper administration of justice; hence the full and free publication of proceedings
in open court is privileged.... The report must not, however, be published in defiance of a prohibition by the court, nor
would the privilege attach to any indecent or blasphemous matter
contained in a true report.... The report must also be fair,
accurate, and impartial, and the writer is not at liberty to impute
falsehood to a witness, or to add comments of his own tending to
give false color to the testimony.
Warnings against Crime
The most effective warnings against crime are stories showing the inevitability of a penalty, either by detection and punishment, even after many years, or through the mental suffering, and perhaps physical, of a f ugitive f rom justice, as depicted
in belated confessions. Men who are contemplating their first
steps in crime do not expect to be caught. They credit themselves with superior cleverness. Publication of facts tending
to discourage belief in this fallacy is a public service.
CASE.-A dying bandit professed to see the folly of crime
and asked to make a statement. The local paper printed the
f ollowing story:
"There's nothing in a life of crime, and I want you, Cliff, for
my sake, to be a good citizen in the future. That's the one message
I want to leave with you before I go."
This was the final message the other night of Earl Hanner,
youthful gunman, bandit and confessed slayer of Avera M. Hudson, policeman, to Clifford Riley, alleged accomplice in several
crimes which Hanner confessed.
Paralyzed from the chest down and slowly weakening from
wounds he received in a revolver fight with detectives before his
arrest, Hanner has given up his fight for life. When the policemen on guard at his bedside changed at roll-call they were told by
attendants that Hanner had not long to live.




226 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The bandit asked that the detectives to whom he had confessed
his many thefts and hold-ups be called to his bedside and that
Riley, who is facing a charge of grand larceny, also be brought.
"I want to tell you this," began Hanner when the group gathered
about his bed, "in the presence of the police who arrested you, that
it doesn't pay to be bad. You can see what I have come to. When
you get out, stick it out and be a good citizen. Goodhy."
The two shook hands, Riley was led from the room, and a minister came to prepare the dying bandit for his fate.
Comment.-T he story is constructive. A report of the
speedy punishment of a crime, in contrast with the usual story
of the law's delays, is wholesome.
An excellent example of a constructive crime story, with
its unusual narrative lead-preceded by a boxed paragraph
from the judge's statement in pronouncing sentence-is the
following from the Kansas City Star:
Mike Nigro, an Italian youth, 23 years old, grew up in the
North Side of Kansas City, with a knockabout idea of citizenship.
He looked to his precinct committeeman for law. He called upon
his associates-other Italians older in the ways of the North Side
-for advice. Mike had his own ideas about right and wrong,
perhaps because no one from south of Eighth street thought to
tell him different.
Mike learned to-day from an agency of his government one of
the things his swarthy companions neglected to tell him. It was
that the United States had laws to protect the adopted sons from
other countries, as well as their sons who may have been neglected
in the melting process of citizenry.
The youth stood before judge Reeves convicted on two counts
of selling narcotics and using counterfeit revenue stamps. The
court considered leniency, of course, but the United States has laws,
Mike found, that cover and protect all.
Five years in the federal prison at Leavenworth and two fines
totaling $5,000, the United States decreed. His youth probably
saved him from the maximum of twenty years at hard labor....
judge Reeves told Mike some things he never had thought about
before.
Warnings to the Public
Crime news properly written has its constructive influence
in warning the public as to the methods by which criminals
operate.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 227
CASE.-A newspaper report contained the following:
T. C. Cross, wealthy land owner and farmer is ahead $20 and
the police are holding two alleged confidence men as the result of
the farmer's visit to this city.
With Mrs. Cross, Cross has been stopping at the Touraine Hotel.
A few days ago he met Mr. Beath. B~eath took the Crosses to a
theater, and treated them to a sumptuous dinner. He was a good
dresser and his manners were perfect.
Saturday Cross and Beath were down town. Beath met a friend
named Strong. Strong had some money for Beath which, it was
confided, had been made on the wheat market. Beath made Cross
accept a $5 bill out of what he termed his "cleanup." Strong was
again met Sunday. That time three $5 bills were forced on Beath.
When Cross was asked to meet Beath and Strong at Twelfth
and Central Street last night, the farmer notified the police.
Detectives saw Cross meet Beath and Strong. Strong produced
a telegram from a "friend" telling which way to place his money
on wheat. Cross was asked if he did not want to make a "cleanup. " The detectives appeared.
Cross laughed as the two men were taken to police headquarters.
"I may be a farmer, but I wasn't born yesterday," he said.
Comment.-S uch stories exposing the methods of confidence
men have great educational value for potential victims. So
also warnings against fake agents or peddlers operating in the
community or bad check "artists" who profit by any relaxation
of vigilance on the part of merchants.
CASE.-Complaints from the victims of pickpockets were
more than usually numerous at police headquarters. Finally
a former member of the police force detected a pickpocket at
work on a street car and captured him.
The incident was played up in a half-column space, with a
list of all the cases reported the preceding day. Methods used
to distract the attention of victims were described.
Comment.-T he story was educational. The danger that
some youth might derive from it an ambition to steal seems
slight and it was certain that a great many people would be
placed on their guard.
CASE.-A middle-aged man in a strange city became acquainted at a cafe" with an attractive young woman. He took
her riding in his new automobile. The next day the car disappeared. The girl promised to keep watch for it. Soon




228 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
after he reached home she wrote him she was on the track of
the car but needed some money for expenses. He sent money
several times, then returned to the city and found the car in
her possession. She told the police he had made her a present
o f it.
The f acts were handled humorously at the expense of the
man involved.
Comment.-T he story should have value as a warning,
though in certain lines men seem loath to learn anything from
the experience of others. Generally speaking, ex-lposure of
the methods used by fakers and crooks of all kinds is salutary.
But in any doubtful case the story should be suppressed on the
theory that the evil of starting one suggestible person in crime
outweighs the good in warning a hundred persons against
some one form of dishonesty which will probably not be
repeated.
Promoting a Clean-up of Crime Conditions
Part of the people-a regrettably small part-are interested
in good government all of the time, and all of the people become interested in good government part of the time-if the
press does its duty. Their close personal interests obstruct,
in most people's minds, their broader community interests,
though the latter may at any time become intensely personal.
Crime, for example, is left for the police to handle because it
is a general community matter; but it may become a serious
individual matter to any one in the community at any moment.
IProperly enough its control is left to the police, on condition
that such stimulus as human beings need to keep them at highest
efficiency be not withheld from officers of the law by their
employer, the public. For crime creeps insidiously into unsuspected places, it forms amazing alliances, it arranges incredible compromises with representatives of law and order.
The corrective is the periodic wave of reform accompanying an
aroused public opinion. The excitement "soon blows over,"
to be sure, but its effect is about the best that can be hoped f or,
human nature being what it is. It is f ar better than nothing.
The advance agent, likewise the personal conductor, of the
ref orm wave is the newspaper.




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 229
CAsE.-A prominent young man died from the effects of the
drug habit. His wife was willing that publicity be given to
the cause of his death in order to warn others.
The pathetic story of the man was told in detail. This was
followed., from day. to day, by feature stories on the drug
evil and news stories on local conditions, icuigsc   at
as the percentage of drug addicts in the reformatory and jail.
The too indifferent public was compelled to take cognizance of
the evil, to become concerned in preventive educational measures as well as in the strict regulation of pharmacists and
physicians.
Comment.-Progress goes up hill on an icy road., but the
aggregate distance covered by the steps forward is a little more
than that in the slips back, though it usually takes all day to
achieve a measurable gain.
CASE.-A disgusting case of debauchery ending in 'a death
became known to the newspapers of a Western city. They
were well aware that the group represented in the affair was
steeped in depravity and lawlessness.
The utmost publicity was given to the tragedy and the vice
conditions back of it.
Comment.-Protests at the publication of the revolting details were made by the ministry, by women's clubs, and others,
including a large section of the press itself. Through publicity a certain amount of retribution was brought upon the
chief offender; protective measures to improve conditions were
forced upon some of the interests involved; the incorrigible
element became, for the time, more careful; but the price paid
for these benefits was too great. Unpardonable offenses
against good taste and decency were committed by many newspapers, some of them acting sincerely on the theory that
nothing destroys infection like sunlight, others using that excuse as a balm for their damaged consciences, others brazenly
commercializing the filth.
It is a safe estimate that ninety per cent of the good results
could have been obtained by decently restricted publicity in
this case eliminating ninety per cent of the suggestive and
brutalizing details. And along with the net gain to the public
would have gone at least an avoidance by journalism of a
considerable net loss in public esteem.




230  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CASE.-A man who had lost money in a gambling den committed suicide at the door of the place.
Nothing about the incident itself called for more than brief
mention. A newspaper, however, saw a chance to make it the
peg on which to hang a big story on gambling conditions in
the city. It did so and inaugurated a clean-up campaign.
Comment.-Depravity in dark places is often momentarily
illuminated by the lurid flash of a criminal act. Sometimes it
is clearly the duty of the newspaper to prolong the period of
illumination by the aid of its own searchlight and to persuade
as many people as possible to see what is there.
CAsE.-Several bank failures were reported in a state having a law providing a depositors' guaranty fund and a state
bank examiner. Some of the failures were due to irregularities by bank officials extending over months or even years.
A newspaper with a wide circulation in the state felt that
the law or the administration of the law was at fault. It
handled the news of the failures from that angle, paving the
way for corrective measures.
Comment.-Every journalist, like every banker, realizes
that a bank is exceedingly sensitive to publicity. The public
is a trifle "jumpy" where its money is concerned. A run on a
sound bank has been caused more than once by an injudicious
newspaper. But in the present instance care was used not to
print anything that would shake confidence in banks. The
campaign was entirely constructive.
CASE.-A prominent lawyer was arrested on the charge of
bribing a juror. The matter was handled conservatively by
local newspapers.
Comment.-Like news of prosecutions for perjury and of
disbarment proceedings against unethical attorneys, this story
seems to be of the sort that would have beneficial effects on
the legal profession and the administration of justice.
CASE.-A judge gave notice that in the future those who
violated the speeding ordinance would be given the jail penalty
instead of merely a fine. The news was given prominent display.
Comment.-Lectures to prisoners, as well as warnings to
the public, uttered by judges from the bench, form construc



HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 231
tive news. Neglect by parents to exercise proper supervision
of children is sometimes commented on by a judge in words
that deserve to be printed prominently in every newspaper.
Even in matters somewhat outside the law, a wise judge with
the assistance of a newspaper may apply corrective ideas to
bad practices. For example, in dismissing a suit against a railroad f or damages based on the killing of a motorist by a train,
the judge described effectively the carelessness of many drivers
of automobiles in ignoring warning signs.
Statistics of Crime
Printing all the crime news of one large city would have the
negative effect of reducing crime to the commonplace. People
would be in danger of a deadening of their sensibilities and
an acceptance of the situation as normal. But the same objection does not hold as to printing crime totals. Such figures
are a cold appeal to the intellect. To be told the comparative
crime percentages in different countries and in different cities
and states can hardly be regarded as other than educational
in a positive way. The same holds true, of course, of such
studies in the subject as are made by sociologists or criminologists.
Expressions of Individual Opinion by journalists
From the pronouncements made from time to time by newspapers or by those in charge of newspapers, the following have
been chosen as typical:
1. Omit things that will offend nice people. Avoid coarseness
and slang and a low tone. The most. sensational news can be
told i f it is written properly. Thieves' slang and slang of all
kinds must not appear in the paper.
2. Keep the paper clean in language and thought. Profane or
suggestive words are not necessary. When in doubt, think of a
13-year-old girl reading what you are writing.
3. Handle sex crime, and revolting details of all kinds, so as to
offend good taste as little as we may, in the knowledge that many
of our readers are pure-minded girls and women and that an
intentional appeal to the salacious is indecent journalism.
4. Our course with reference to the crime of lynching is that of
opposition and reprobation.




232 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
5. You will avoid all that is yellow in journalism, at the same
time emulating the enterprise that characterizes the yellow journals.
6. The only place in print for a sordid tale from the underworld
is in a novel where it might serve for a setting for something worth
w.hile, just as slimy mud produces the fragrant lily. Standing by
itself in a newspaper it can serve no good purpose.
7. Crime stories must be written constructively.
8. Newspapers purvey crime news from habit, just as men and
women talk scandal from habit, and not because they think it
beneficial to the public or demanded by the public, except by the
morbidly minded.
9. The newspaper is primarily the handmaiden of history; day
by day it records what men say and do; sin, it realizes, does not
vanish because unremarked. Society eliminates sin by detecting
and denouncing it. Publicity is the greatest agent of restraint.
Who would welcome an ostrich journalism which, by sticking its
head into the sands would see no evil, hear no evil, and thus pretend
to believe that the community could do no evil.
10. The newspaper is a reporter of events. If it is less, it evades
its duty. But if it searches out crime, not for the plain record of
it, but to enlarge on it, ornament it, envelop it in the gilded robes
of romance, and flaunt it day after day before the eyes of the
public, then duty has been left behind, and such a newspaper joins
with the panderers to crime.
From an authoritative source within the ranks of journalism,
Editor and Publisher, comes a summary of the question which
shows how ridiculous are the attempts to dismiss the matter as
a great hullabaloo stirred up by impractical theorists:
Even blase New York was startled last week when a judge in
General Sessions court dismissed the jury and struck the name
of the panel from the permanent roll because these twelve men
refused to convict a habitual criminal on the evidence of the police.
It was the third time that this same procedure has been enacted
in the courts of Greater New York in the last few weeks.
Why? is the natural question that comes up in the minds of
thinking people. Surely this is a question that needs an answer
and certainly it demands that we pause and take stock of public
opinion and responsibility for it.
We do not need to go far to find the cause in New York. The
morale of the forces of law enforcement and order and government in New York City has been broken by a campaign of vilification and ridicule against established law and its enforcement that




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 233
has been carried on by some of the influential members of the
press without thought of consequences.
This campaign began in the spirit of partisanship in city politics
at a time when the entire nation was facing the after-the-war
crime crisis. Some New York newspapers with an eye upon the
coming mayoralty campaign, wilfully lied and deceived in an effort
to prove that wholesale murders and robberies were a local problem brought about by the inefficiency of the city police department,
when it was a national problem with which the forces of law and
order were contending in every city and village in the United States.
Murderers and robbers were pictured under glaring headlines
as dashing heroes, and the police were pictured as cringing cowards
dominated by crooks. Courage was given the criminal element;
public confidence in the forces of law and order was broken; and
the morale of the individual peace officer was shattered. To-day
we are reaping the result of the breaking-down of our entire system of law and protection.
Turning from the first principles of Americanism, based upon
respect for the law of the majority, some of the newspapers are
glorifying law breaking and evading; the press has devoted itself
to holding law, order, justice, its protectors, up to ridicule; it has
made the murderer, the highwayman, the bootlegger and the crook
its hero and bedfellow.
We have no comment to make upon the activities of those who
would modify or strengthen the prohibition and the definition
clauses of the Volstead Act, but we do contend that these newspapers in giving encouragement to law-breakers of all classes, and
in breaking down public confidence in law and its enforcement,
are a menace to the nation.
It is time that the owners and responsible heads of these newspapers, as well as those of like character in other cities, come to a
realization of the evil they are doing. The fact that it is now
becoming hard to find juries that will convict habitual perpetrators
of crimes against society, is not a reflection on the citizenship of
New York City, but upon the moulders of public opinion.
And again from the same source:
It is but natural that divorces, murders, suicides and the most
sordid of local crimes have a certain local news value. What that
value may be is a matter that only the local managing editor can
properly judge; it is also possible for a divorce, murder, suicide
or other crime to be carried out of the sordid and filthy by its
dramatic, romantic and unusual appeal and made news wherever
it is told, and literature if properly written. This is not the kind
of stories of which journalism ever need be ashamed, but there




234 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
certainly can be no admiration or respect on the part of master
journalists at any time for the craftsmen who pander to the lowest
passions by spreading sex filth all over the front page of a journal
accepted as decent and respectable.
We have had an abundance of this kind of journalism in the
last few months, in some cases outcasts of society have been made
into national characters with the same place of importance in the
news columns as the leaders in government, education, religion,
business and industry. In Chicago a dissolute woman shot and
killed a drunken rubber salesman who was unfaithful to his wife
and family-just a drunken killing, but it made a national sensation; a New Yorker of unsavory reputation sues for divorce naming several co-respondents-it has nothing of news value, but by
the use of the words "bathroom," "bedroom," and "pink nighties,"
it is carried to every American fireside from the Atlantic to the
Pacific---common filth sold as news.
Last week news was flashed across the country that a New York
banker had sued for divorce and that a counter suit had been
entered by his wife. Neither party, it was announced, could be
located and the lawyers for neither side would talk, but for ten
days the story in all its salacious details was played all over the
first pages of the metropolitan press and real news of importance
to the education and upbuilding of the world has gone on the floor
wasted-either because nobody of ability to write it entertainingly
had handled it or because the sense of proportion of many editors
has been destroyed.
The present wallowing in crimson news is a disgrace to American journalism and the intelligence of the American people. It
is creating a new and damaging national impression of the purposes
and ideals of the newspaper as an educational and informative institution.
And from another professional journalistic periodical, the
Fourth Estate:
The effect of newspaper publication of items concerning infractions of law has long been debatable. The best minds agree,
however, that while such information constitutes "news," public
opinion is so normally set against crime that its portrayal in print,
unless deliberately put in seductive guise, is not conducive to
development of lawless tendencies.
A strange situation, however, has been brought about by published reports of the innumerable and rapidly increasing violations
of the prohibition enforcement laws. The outcome has been, in
the opinion of some, to develop an attitude of mind on the part




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 235
of the public which tends to do away with reverence and respect
for the law.
The only part played in the development of this attitude by the
press is the fact that the published reports show the widespread
prevalence of the violations of the law, which coincides with the
general feeling of tolerance, if not actual sympathy, toward the
violators. When sincere men of the writing profession set down
their experiences the accounts become all the more convincing.
Arthur B. Reeve, a well known detective story writer, is one
of the many who have set down their experiences. Reeve served
as foreman of the recent grand jury that investigated cases for
trial in the eastern district of New York. He said that fifty per
cent of the cases could be traced directly to prohibition. His outstanding impression was the striking difference between that grand
jury and the one of two years previous. In the former the great
majority of offenses were of a serious nature, and were seriously
considered. In the last, they were looked upon with a lenient eye.
Group judgments as to Crime News
Typical of the expressions of purpose that have crystallized
in journalistic codes are the following by widely separated
organizations:
From the canons of the American Society of Newspaper
Editors:
A newspaper cannot escape conviction of insincerity if while
professing high moral purpose it supplies incentives to base conduct, such as are to be found in details of crime and vice, publication of which is not demonstrably for the general good. Lacking
authority to enforce its canons, the journalism here represented can
but express the hope that deliberate pandering to vicious instincts
will encounter effective public disapproval or yield to the influence
of a preponderant professional condemnation.
From the admirable code of the Oregon State Editorial Association:
We will keep our writings and our publications free from unrefinement, except so far as we may sincerely believe publication of
sordid details to be for the public good.
From the code of the Kansas Editorial Association:
In no case should the reckless daring of the suspect be lionized.




236 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Opinions from Outside Journalism
Criticisms of the press for its exploitation of crime and
vice vary in tone from those so temperate and fair as to beget
serious thinking on the part of the editor, to those so caustic
as to provoke only antagonism. As an example of the former,
the following may be chosen. It comes from one experienced
both in journalism and in other social activities, Washington
Gladden. It assigns to the editor large responsibilities for
social betterment.
In collecting and presenting the news of the day, the habit
largely prevails of fixing the attention upon the evils of society;
of keeping the seamy side of life uppermost, of exploiting crime
and vice and scandal.
We are often told that publicity is a cure for social evils, and
to a certain extent this is true; but publicity can be made, and, I
think often is made, a most effective means of propagating vice
and crime.
Of course there are vast differences among newspapers in their
ways of presenting the dark side of life; it may be presented in
a way that is instructive and monitory, or it may be presented in
a way that is suggestive and demoralizing. One of the great mistakes in dealing with it is in making too much of it; giving it a
place in the news of the day which is wholly out of proportion to
its real importance. I think it is quite possible that the newspaper
which avoids salacious and disgusting details, may still, in the disproportionate emphasis which it gives to the facts of vice and
crime, encourage its readers to think worse of their fellow men
than they ought to think, and may thus strengthen that unsocial
tendency of which we are speaking.
Is it not a deplorable fact that anything which tends to discredit
one of our fellow men should be regarded as good stuff, while that
which tends to remove such discredit, even when it is known to be
unjust, is much less likely to find space in the news column? Is it
not true that one of the deepest needs of our social life is the need
of a kindlier judgment of our neighbors; the need of a disposition to
see the good side of everybody; the need of cultivating faith in
men, and the habit of saying the best things we truly can about
everybody we know? Would not a public opinion suffused with
such generosity and good-will give us juster laws, a more stable
social order, a more prosperous and peaceful commonwealth?
And has not the newspaper a very large responsibility in securing
such conditions?




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 237
Likening the daily newspaper to a stage, a caustic critic has
described the spectacle presented to the audience as follows:
At one end of the stage a man in a mask is blowing open a safe,
in the background an embezzling cashier is boarding a train for
Mexico, in the middle of the stage two stalwart gentlemen are
chloroforming a helpless old woman, to the left a youth is drowning a girl whom he has first dishonored; at front, in the limelight,
a drunken man is beating his wife's brains out with a bootjack.
All this movement of life, so varied, so striking, so engrossing,
can be seen for one cent and put before the eyes of children without taking them into the street.
Or, as another authority on crime puts it, "Debauchery of
the public press in sensational portrayal of murder cases,
divorce suits, etc., for pecuniary gain, is little short of criminal."
And from another authoritative source:
The yellow journal is a positive agent for vice and crime. The
condition of morality, as well as of mental life, in a community
depends on the newspapers. A people is profoundly influenced by
whatever is persistently brought to its attention. Any article of
commerce-a food, luxury, a medicine, or a stimulant-can always
be sold in immense quantities if it can be persistently and largely
advertised. In the same way, advertising crime, vice, and vulgarity, on a scale unheard of before in the annals of history, has the
same effect-it increases crime, vice and vulgarity enormously.
Or a pungent paragraph like the following:
Our press is fast becoming no more than an open sewer contaminating our very atmosphere with its exposure of putrid "news"
which should be allowed to flow underground to the sea of quick
oblivion. For crime is not made odious by constant exposure, but
it is made to appear common; and what seems common is bound to
be regarded with little aversion, or even welcomed as a solution
of a difficulty.
Quantity of Crime News
It is natural that a student of the subject should make
measurements of the actual amount of crime news printed in
newspapers of different types, but the figures are not highly
signific-ant. Quality means immeasurably more than quantity.
Sometimes, indeed, statistics show that a larger percentage,




238  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
as well as a larger number of columns, of such news appears
in a relatively conservative paper than in a paper of the sensational type. And the measurements show great variations
in the same paper from day to day. This, of course, is inevitable so long as crime varies in amount and in news interest
from day to day.
A recently compiled table covering a representative list of
newspapers for a month shows an average of about four columns of crime news out of an average of ninety columns of
news-excluding editorial and advertising-or a percentage
of 4.4. The lowest amount for any one paper on any one day
was 1.6 columns, and the highest amount, 6.2 columns.
Obviously no crime wave nor sensational murder trial obtruded
itself into this table. Every newspaper reader notices that
some days when he picks up his paper he finds every top-head
story on the front page dealing with human catastrophe or maladjustment, while the next week he may remark the total
absence of such news.
One investigator who compared papers in 1881 and in 1893
concluded that the amount of "gossip" increased in that period
but the space devoted to crime and criminals had increased in
only one New York paper. Another study of 240 newspapers
in 1910 revealed that news of crime and vice occupied 3.1 per
cent of the whole space, with fluctuations from nothing to
19.8 per cent. Still another investigation of about the same
date resulted in the pronouncement that of the reading matter
in newspapers, 22.8 per cent was demoralizing, 16.8 per cent
unwholesome, 21.2 per cent trivial, and 39.2 per cent worth
while.
Statistics on the different kinds of negative news, murder,
divorce, suicide, gambling, fraud, burglary, blackmail, vice,
etc., are, for the most part, void of consistency or meaning.
The fact that any given newspaper published more crime
news, or less, in 1923 than it did in 1893 is also almost meaningless because the difference may be due to many things besides the policies followed by the paper.
So the value of figures in this field must be discounted. The
only thing they tell us that is worth remembering is that, in




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 239
general, less crime news is published to-day than was published twenty years ago, or five years ago, for that matter.
To go farther back of that, with quantitative measurements, is
useless because of the uncertain differential that more distant
times require.
The essence of the problem is qualitative. If too much
crime news is being published for the public good, the trouble
at bottom is that the wrong kind of news is printed. Lessening of the quantity alone would not greatly help matters. Indeed, it is conceivable that the quantity might even be increased
with benefit, if the news printed were of the right kind rightly
handled.
A Comparative Study
The methods used in reporting crime are no different, of
course, from those used in other fields. But a student of the
subject will derive profit from a comparison of the news of
the same incident as presented in different papers. If he is
riot quite clear as to the characteristics of a sensationally
written story as compared with a conservative one, he will find
such comparative study illuminating. Diction and style, he
will find, have quite as much to do with the effect as choice of
materials. Primarily the question underneath all the discussion in this chapter is one of what may, and what may not,
with propriety be put into a newspaper, but involved with it
at every step, whether explicitly mentioned or not, is the question of manner. Content and form cannot be separated.
Facetiousness in a report of a crime is extremely dangerous.
It can hardly be so guarded as not to seem to make light of the
offense, to present it as a conventional matter. Particularly
in the frivolous handling of domestic unpleasantness, perhaps
accompanied by violence, the newspaper humorist, including
the cartoonist, has much to answer for.
The Road to Improvement
An interesting diversity is noticeable in the more or less
plausible recommendations made for the betterment of newspapers in respect to practices discussed in this chapter.




240 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
A "'Mental Health" Board
A psychologist, speaking before a society of medical jurisprudence, advocated the establishment by law or custom of a
"Board of Psychology" to exclude from newspapers such reports of crime and vice as would not, in their judgment, prove
deterrent in their effect.
The practical difficulties of such a plan seem to exclude it
from serious consideration.
Penalties by Law
Efforts have been made to set up legal control. Usually,
though not always, they have failed of enactment.
The general question of legal restrictions is examined in a
later chapter. Here it is necessary only to venture the opinion
that the most promising opportunities for experiment in the
exertion of influence by law towards betterment of journalism
are in this field of the news of crime and vice.
Disapproval by the Public
In one direction the corrective function of public disapproval is as actively exercised as need be desired, namely, in
the direction of criticism. In the other direction, calling for
withdrawal of patronage from the offending journal and the
support of a better one, conditions are not so healthful. To
utter criticism requires less self-control than to refrain from
buying a sensational newspaper. The public would rather recommend restraint to the editor than practice it. Nevertheless
there seems to be a growing number of people who appreciate
that the drawing of the issue between decency and license in
journalism drafts on one side 'or the other every purchaser
of newspapers and every advertiser.
Individuals and groups, however, who express themselves
only when goaded by the impulse to censure, may be admonished to be diligent also in commendation when opportunity
is afforded. If they require the journalist to discern the good
as well as to expose the evil, they should set him a good example. Nor should they wait until they can find an altogether




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 241
perfect newspaper. Even the merest flash of ideality deserves
recognition.
So much for the influences of melioration outside of the
profession of journalism itself. Within the profession, the
most potent force is that of leadership by journalists having
a clear vision of their responsibilities. The words and the
acts of such individuals gain, in time, the sanction of the group
in the form of codes of ethics or canons. As these codes gain
in potency and prestige the desire for enforcement may be expected to bring into being such agencies-practice committees
or state boards-as may promise the best results.
More Careful Practice by Journalists
There are more than a few editors who are maintaining a
policy in line with the standard recommended by one of the
most prominent:
If I could write a code for all the newspapers of America, I
would ban everything of a vicious character except that which is
necessary as a public warning. If I ran a newspaper to suit my
own ideals, there would not be a police reporter on the staff.
And as another puts it:
The world is not such a bad place after all if we are given a
chance to reflect on some of the good things that are occurring
daily. It is stressing the hideous and the morbid that tends to
make us cynics and misanthropes.
In similar vein is the declaration of a publisher who, after
thirty years' experience as reporter on a metropolitan daily, acquired a newspaper of his own and turned his back on much
of the practice that had been familiar to him. His success has
proved that profits are not inconsistent with decency. He does
not suppress the news of evil, but he gives the headlines to the
good:
Instead of playing up misdemeanors, crime, scandal and other
forms of unpleasantness, my idea is to centralize on the wholesome
and the upbuilding, the substance of life rather than the fleeting
shadows, to specialize on such things as civic virtue and civic
pride, community betterment, public improvements, the problems of




242 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
the farmer, diversification and co6peration, to iterate and reiterate
the splendid advantages we possess in our climate and soil, the
importance of better roads and to support in every way the activities of churches and schools, to boost and not knock, and above
all to be clean.
The optimism of one city publisher is expressed thus:
Our paper is fifty years old. In its earlier years, the front page
was devoted almost exclusively to stories of exciting nature, war
news, accidents, duels, crimes. Many happenings were reported
which we would not consider fit to print to-day. Any one who
looks back in the files of an American newspaper will find that
there is less sensationalism to-day. We use big headlines but our
paper does not devote the space to gruesome stories that it did in
an earlier day. We do not report ordinary police court cases.
We do not handle accusations of crime unless they come through
the courts or their truth is evident.
The following dispatch from a city in Texas was recently
sent out by a press association:
As a concession to the spirit of "peace on earth and good will
toward men" some of the larger newspapers of the state have
voluntarily agreed to move all news of crime off their first pages
in the holiday season. In one of the larger of to-day's newspapers
the crime news was moved over to the sixteenth page.
There is nothing radical about the idea. It has interest as
a partial recognition of an important principle. Consistency
would perhaps have relegated some of the "news" to the page
after the last.
A quotation from an editorial in a great American newspaper,
which in its fine career of more than a century has exemplified
much of the ideal in journalism, the New York Evening Post,
may well close this chapter:
The cub reporter's first assignment on a daily of the future, let
us hope, will no longer be an explosion in an ash can, or a talk
with the manager of an actress who has lost a pearl necklace; he
w ill instead, perhaps, be assigned to an interview with the professor who has evolved a new theory for the reductio'n of juvenile
criminality, or the president of the society for the development of
communal housekeeping. Headlines of the future may be: "Last




HANDLING NEWS OF ANTISOCIAL ACTS 243
Windowless Room Disappears with Tearing Down of East Side
Tenement," or "Infant Mortality Cut in Half." Here would be
room enough for fine writing and picturesque adjective and
"human interest stuff." Not merely the sensational or accidental
need monopolize the gifted reporter's pen. The events that touch
the real life and future of the race may ask for the exercise of
quite as much art, with the added advantage that they are of lasting significance in the upward march.




CHAPTER VIII


SOME BUSINESS-ETHICAL PROBLEMS
With the type of business problem which has only a minimum of ethical significance and with the problem which concerns the public very little, an inquiry like the present has
nothing to do. How to establish a base rate for advertising;
whether to use a sliding scale of rates or a flat rate; how best
to gain subscriptions-these and a hundred like questions that
crowd into the publisher's day may be classified as purely business matters. But there are problems of a different character
which resemble closely those in the editorial departments.
First let us consider some that arise in connection with advertising.
Excluding Offensive Advertising
Among the notable changes in the advertising policies of
newspapers, which have taken place in less than a generation,
is the change of practice in regard to unpleasant or disgusting
advertising. It does not matter whether it be the subject of
the advertisement or its illustration or its wording that is in
danger of giving offence, it can not gain access to any but the
more careless of the smaller publications. Such are the advertisements of cures for loathsome diseases, for books of a prurient nature, for marriage agencies, etc.
Before it was prohibited by law, the advertising of whisky
and other intoxicants was classed as advertising offensive to
large numbers of people. Tobacco advertising is in somewhat
the same position to-day. Many of the larger farm papers
exclude it entirely, thereby foregoing a revenue as high as
$50,000 annually for one publication. But the policy is not
so much one of conscience as one of business prudence. Publishers and careful advertisers have reached the conclusion
244




SOME BUSINESS-ETHICAL PROBLEMS 245
that any advertisement which offends readers lessens their
responsiveness to all advertising and lowers the value of the
medium. Maintenance of the prestige and "Pulling power"
of a newspaper is a primary concern of the publisher.
When the question of decency arises in regard to local advertising, it is usually the advertising of a moving picture film
or a traveling entertainment of some sort. Film advertising
has often been as disgusting as could well be imagined and
constitutes one phase of the problem of the moving pictures.
The question as to whether a newspaper can consistently advertise a play while, at the same time, denouncing it editorially
raises a nice point. It is the question as to whether the editor
is sure enough of his opinions to feel justified in assuming the
r le of public censor in addition to that of editorial critic.
Refusing Dishonest or Untruthful Advertising
The history of advertising contains many chapters devoted
to frauds. The same is true of any accurate history of business. Advertising was on a low level because business was
on a low level. Its ideals have improved with those of business, though in the last decade it has made independent effort
towards improvement in standards.
A large majority of the present generation of publishers
deem it necessary to satisfy themselves that an oil stock or a
mining stock or a land investment proj ect is not a swindle
before they will advertise it. Their predecessors were not so
particular. The modern publisher scrutinizes even his local
advertising. He likes to know that a fire sale is genuine and
that bargain claims bear some resemblance to truth.
With respect to patent medicine advertising and the advertisements of quack doctors, the metropolitan press is usually
very careful; the country press less so. Some large newspapers
will not accept advertising of medicines taken internallym-on the
theory that they belong to a discredited class even if they are
not themselves fraudulent.
In thus undertaking to protect the public, newspapers have
been assisted, and sometimes led, by the movement, at first
national and now international, for truth in advertising. The




246 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
movement, fostered by the Advertising Clubs of the World,
with "Truth in advertising" for their motto, has gained results
in the form of honest advertising laws in a large majority of
the states, Better Business Bureaus in about forty large cities,
and a national Vigilance Committee with many local branches,
spending vast sums annually in detecting and prosecuting
f raudulent advertisers.
A section of the "model statute" against untruthful advertising holds the publisher liable along with the offending advertiser. The educational influence of this provision in quickening the publisher's sense of responsibility has doubtless been
large.
Conditions are still far from perfect. Impossible cures and
impossible bargains are still offered through the columns of
newspapers, but decency and self-interest are winning their
fight, if it is safe to judge by a curve plotted on the high points
in the history of advertising during the last fifty years.
Guaranteed Advertising
Practically all newspaper publishers declare that their advertising is guaranteed, in the sense that, to the best of their
knowledge and belief, it is truthful. Few of them, however,
publish any specific statement to that effect. Still fewer specifically guarantee to protect the purchaser of any article advertised to the extent of insuring return of his money if the purchase is not satisfactory in respect to the statements in the
advertisement.
The general reluctance of publishers to assume direct financial liability in such cases is due largely to the fact they do not
have time nor facilities to make investigation of statements in
the advertising copy submitted to them by merchants. Such
censorship, too, is irritating to most business concerns, and the
publisher, especially the publisher of the small newspaper,
finds it impractical to undertake it.
The pioneer in this field was the New York Tribune which,
more than a decade ago, announced its policy of guaranteeing
all its advertising. The Tribune's guaranty reads:




SOME BUS INES S-ETHICAL PROBLEMS 247
You can purchase merchandise advertised in the Tribune with
absolute safety, for if dissatisfaction results in any case the
Tribune guarantees to pay your money back upon request. No red
tape. No quibbling. We make good promptly if the advertiser
does not.
Some years later a similar policy was adopted in England
by the London Daily Mail and the Evening News. The guaranty in this case was qualified slightly:
Should any reader be dissatisfied with goods purchased as the
result of advertisements in the paper, the Daily Mail will promptly
refund the whole of the money paid for them, if it is shown upon
investigation that the goods were not truthfully described in the
advertisement and do not represent fair value for the money paid
for them.
In the case of the Tribune., the machinery for rendering the
policy practical included a "Bureau of Investigations," and an
"Ad-Visor Department" in the newspaper itself. The expense
involved in administration was considerable; damage suits by
some aggrieved advertisers were incurred; but after several
years' trial the plan was endorsed as generally satisfactory to
all concerned. It has had a considerable influence on the advertising methods of other newspapers, large and small, some of
which have inaugurated similar policies.
Quantity and Proportion of Advertising
The rights of the reader are to some degree involved in the
amount of space devoted to advertising if this is allowed to
affect the quantity of news published. In large newspapers
carefully made up, such is not the case. An absolute minimum of news is always maintained. In the larger papers it
runs from fifty to a hundred columns. If the volume of advertising is large, more pages are added according to a fixed
schedule. The average ratio of news to advertising in 144
evening papers measured for Editor and Publisher in June,
1923, was thirty-seven to sixty-three. The maximum percentage of news was eighty-eight and the minimum, thirty-three
The practice of making quick variations in size cannot so
easily be followed by the smaller paper, the mechanical equip



248 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ment of which does not admit of great flexibility as to number
of pages. In its case the exclusion of advertising becomes at
times a matter of fairness to the reader.
Some progressive publishers, however, have gone a step
further in raising the question as to the propriety of indefinite
increase in the size of newspapers. And not such bulky papers
burdensome to the reader? And since they result from the
acceptance of very large advertisements, do they not indicate a
situation in which a small group of advertisers control a major
portion of the paper's revenue, and therefore threaten the
paper's independence? Are they not largely responsible for
the growing tendency to regard newspapers as mere commercial
undertakings?
Affirmative answers to these and similar questions bring up
the further problem-and a most difficult one-as to the
remedy. Possibly the state of the paper market in the not distant future will compel action. Increase in rates in order to
reduce volume of advertising, without loss in revenue, is the
measure usually advocated.
Protecting Local Advertisers
A favorite policy of the small publisher is to refuse to print
advertising of mail-order houses, as a measure of protection
for local merchants. The principle involved is that of loyalty
to the group having common interests. As to the interests
of the larger group composed of the paper's readers, the publisher usually feels that they are not really at stake; that the
consumer who buys goods by mail to the detriment of the
business of his community is really pursuing a policy unfavorable to his own interests.
Similarly, newspapers in small towns usually refuse to publish advertising from near-by larger towns and from cities.
Occasionally a publisher asserts independence in this matter
declaring that he does not feel justified in withholding from
his readers the news of the larger markets. So far as the
question has ethical content it seems to call for an answer
favoring the broader policy. But practical business considerations may seem to argue strongly the other way.




SOME BUSINESS-ETHICAL           PROBLEMS       249
"Cooperation" with Advertisers
The theory of "co6peration" is that if a commodity is good
enough to be advertised by a newspaper it is good enough to
be the subject of descriptive articles designed to educate the
reader in its use. Home fire extinguishers, hog feeders, milk
aerators, rubber gloves, lightning rods, fire pots, electric alarms,
-any of these might be the proper subject for an article. The
fact, then, that an advertiser of one of the commodities requests
that an article be published in "co6peration" should not raise any
issue of propriety. Such is the argument, and it carries much
weight, especially in agricultural or other class papers.
The only problem is to find the place at which to draw the
line. There is such a thing as laying siege to the reader in an
overzealous manner. There is such a thing as filling too much
space with these purposeful articles, however interesting and
practical.
A form of cooperation much more questionable is that in
which the newspaper fills its show windows with brands of
merchandise being advertised in its columns. Any proceeding that emphasizes in the mind of the public the commercial
side of journalism and obscures the professional side is to be
deprecated without qualification.
A useful and legitimate form of cooperation, developed to
large proportions by some newspapers, is the survey of the
paper's territory in order to determine the possible market
for certain commodities. The number of stores of different
sorts, the buying ability of each economic class, the competitive
situation with respect to any given article, the ability of the
paper to create sales in the special case under investigationall such matters are studied by trained investigators of the
bureau and a decision given which often eliminates the paper
from consideration by the advertiser. This service the paper
performs, not from any ethical prompting, but on the cold
business principle that its prosperity will be greater if it avoids
having any dissatisfied advertisers-refuses the business of
any but such as are sure to get satisfactory results from their
advertising expenditure.




250 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Free Advertising
If free advertising appears as advertising, the question involved is merely one as to the publisher's disposition towards
philanthropy. But free advertising is usually printed as news.
This brings the readers into the problem. Generally speaking, their interests are not in harmony with those of the myriad
seekers for free publicity.
Clubbing the Advertiser
A newspaper which has a monopoly of an advertising field
or dominates it, is subject to a strong temptation to exact that
measure of advertising patronage to which it feels entitled,
always, of course, justifying its demands on the ground that
the business interests involved need the publicity. A paper
which yields to this temptation is sometimes guilty of using
methods which are described as "clubbing." One is blacklisting in the news department, another is unfair discrimination
as to rates, still another is zealous "boosting" of competing
concerns. All are inconsistent with high business standards.
A closely related practice is the granting of exclusive advertising contracts., for which a high rate is obtained. The unfairness of the practice condemns it. A safe rule is to give
no advertiser a contract which will not be duplicated for any
other advertiser.
Fair Advertising Rates
An ethical question is raised when a newspaper takes advantage of a political situation to charge exorbitant rates for
political advertising; or when it lowers its rates in some locality
to a point below cost in order to destroy a competing local
paper; or when it gives discriminatory discounts.
Exceptional cases that raise questions of ethics are:
1. When, through a printer's error, a price in an advertisement is quoted too low, it is a theory of some that the advertiser should sell the article at the price advertised and that the
newspaper should make up the loss.
This seems hardly fair unless gross carelessness or failure




SOME BUS INES S-ETHICAL PROBLEMS 251


to follow instructions regarding proof, etc., is shown. The
public is hardly entitled to buy $625 pianos for $6.25 as advertised at one time by the Toronto World.
2. When an advertiser seeks to use- his regular space to attack the policies of the paper in local matters, the question as
to just what it is that advertisers purchase from the newspaper
becomes acute.
The Detroit News told such an advertiser, "You can say anything once in the news columns, but your advertising space
was purchased for business announcements only." He cancelled his regular advertisingr contract-temporarily.
3. Rain insurance was taken out by one newspaper to protect it against the loss that would be entailed in repeating a
number of real estate promotion advertisements should rain
on the day of the opening render the advertising ineffective.
The insurance feature in itself was a harmless publicity
"stunt" but the engagement made by the paper to re-run the
advertising in case of rain was decidedly unfair to other advertisers who were in much the same position but enjoyed no
such guaranty.
4. Front page position held by some advertiser for a long
period renders it difficult sometimes to adopt the modern policy
of exclusion.
5. The sort of blunder that seems worse than a crime is
the failure of an advertising medium to carry intelligent advertising of its own services-or to carry no self -advertising
at all.
Problems in the Circulation Department
The public is affected, of course, by the subscription price
of its newspapers; but there is no sure basis on which to rest
a judgment as to whether that price is right or wrong. How
much is a newspaper worth to a family? What proportion
of the cost of a newspaper should the subscriber pay? What
is a fair profit for a publisher to make? These questions can
not be answered dogmatically. In too many instances the
publisher has been content with far too little return for his
labor. He has sold his weekly paper f or one dollar a year
and his country daily paper f or two dollars a year and his
advertising space for ten cents an inch or less. He has eked




252 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
out an existence, sacrificed any possible business standing in
the community, and waived the prestige a newspaper must
have to lend weight to its words. Sometimes senseless competition has been responsible for his failure. Sometimes business incompetence. The consequences being what they are,
such failure seems almost reprehensible.
Subscription Contests
The cost in self-respect and dignity and the usual accompaniment of bad feeling are of so serious a nature as to place the
subscription contest-beauty, popularity, or what not-in a
doubtful light. It is under grave suspicion of not being a
legitimate newspaper enterprise.
Premiums
Generally speaking, a premium offer is a device that cheapens
a newspaper and does little to bring substantial growth. But
it can hardly be regarded as ethically bad.
Honest Circulation Statements
The dark age of the circulation liar has passed. Instead
we find the larger newspaper going to great trouble and expense
to make not only carefully audited statements of circulation
as regards quantity, but also careful analyses of circulation
showing "density" or "coverage" in its territory and character
or quality in respect to its classes of readers. These facts are
no more than fair to the advertiser who buys, not space merely,
but potential interest and buying ability on the part of readers
of the paper. Misrepresentation of circulation to purchasers
of advertising space is, in some states, a misdemeanor.
Smaller newspapers have felt the influence of this movement; indeed, some of them were pioneers in it. They have,
in some states, set up a central office with a paid secretary
one of whose duties is to issue lists of newspapers within the
state containing accurate circulation figures.
The use of sensational methods to sell newspapers, especially Sunday issues; imitation of successful methods of competitors; pursuit of class circulation rather than general circula



SOME BUS INES S-ETHICAL PROBLEMS 253
tion-these and other similar topics are of minor interest f rom
the point of view of the public. Matters covered by postal
regulations, such as arrearages of subscribers, may be regarded
as satisfactorily taken care of, f or the present, at least.
Salaries Paid to Reporters
This matter involves a business problem that affects the
character of the paper and its service to the public. Reporters,
uneducated and inexperienced, can be obtained anywhere f or
small salaries. Most newspapers employ them willingly. In
so doing they entrust to unfit hands many private and public
interests and, to some degree, the prestige of the paper. It
is a short-sighted policy-not even one of enlightened self -interest. When newspaper offices were the only training grounds
for reporters, the situation was different from that to-day with
more than two hundred colleges teaching journalism-and those
that do not teach journalism turning out educated men and
women many of whom would be attracted to newspaper work
were it not known to be so woefully underpaid.
The Ideal of Usefulness or of Dominance
Since every man tends to live according to his privately
constructed or personally adopted hierarchy of values, it is
particularly fortunate when journalism attracts a man with a
broad social consciousness.
As to dominance, Jason Rogers has said:
The price of dominance in the newspaper business is greater
than most mortals have ability or inclination to pay. In many
cases its attainment has left badly shattered men prematurely old
to enjoy the fruits of the conflict for power and money. In others
of the more sane type of construction we see old men or the off -
spring of founders floundering on to less influential status..But usef ulness, even a large measure of usef ulness, exacts
no such penalty.








PART II
THE THING WE CALL JOURNALISM








CHAPTER IX


THE NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM
A watchmaker needs to be a skilled artisan, but not necessarily
a thoughtful man. He can make good watches without ever
having speculated as to the human values of his product. He
need not have stopped to consider how watches promote order
in the world, establishing a dividing line between those who get
to their appointments promptly and those who make excuses,
and stirring up a considerable volume of insistence that meals
be on time and trains run on schedule. The watchmaker, as
a watchmaker., is concerned only with the technique of his
craft, with the careful coaching of a handful of wheels, springs,
and such miscellany, in the pretty art of revealing the progress
of the earth's turn-over. When his watch and the rest of the
universe seem to be going along harmoniously together, his
work is done.
So with the maker of bathtubs, or automobiles, or tooth
paste, or what not, social values lie beyond the limits of his
immediate interests. He must understand the human need
that he undertakes to satisfy and must master the processes in
providing that satisfaction; but he need not work out a
"philosophy" of his vocation, if he is one who prefers the
close-fitting style of mental horizon.
But it is different with the makers of newspapers-as almost everybody knows except the makers of newspapers. And
some of them know it. Some of them realize that Journalism
constitutes so large a factor in social and political well-being
that society has acquired, through its dependence coupled with
its rights of self-preservation, a proprietary interest in newspapers. Some of them know that journalism bears heavy
responsibilities of a professional character. But other publishers and editors profess to be engaged merely in the manu2ý7




258 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
facture of a commodity. They take pride in their mastery
of the processes of production. They study their market.
They are expert caterers to public taste. They can prescribe
'the right change of diet f or a profit and loss statement that is
under weight. All the ills to which the publishing business
is heir they can diagnose correctly, and they can prescribe the
remedy or perf orm the operation indicated. But as to what
it all means they are not curious. As to the propriety of practising journalism on the level of the pill-peddling doctor or the
fee-grabbing lawyer, rather than on the higher levels of the
professions, they have no concern.
It was unusual enough to be printed as news that, "A little
group of men in the editorial department of the Baltimore Sun
has begun a study of newspaper problems. They meet to
discuss such matters as, 'What is the social function of the
newspaper?' 'How do we gauge the public interest in news?'
'How should crime, accident and scandal be handled?' 'The
problem of propaganda f rom without,' and a score of other
like subjects."
Why should not little groups of men in all newspaper offices
discuss the same questions? Whenever two or three who make
their living by the practice of journalism have an hour of leisure together, why doesn't the talk turn on criticisms of the
newspapers and the answers thereto? When larger groups assemble, why do they usually discuss everything except questions
of journalistic practice? The answer, of course, is obvious.
They are mainly interested in less elusive things, such as
profits, wages, the technique of their work, the commonplaces
of the day's grind.
Notwithstanding all this, however, there is evidence that a
deal of thinking along broader lines is going on in the journalistic mind. The "cases"-most of them supplied by practising
journalists-that constitute a considerable part of this book may
be offered as a supporting "exhibit." The codes of practice
formulated by editorial groups, by individual newspapers, and
by journalists here and there, present further evidence.
In more than two hundred colleges in the United States,
little groups of students are talking about these things among




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 259
themselves and with their teachers of journalism. The newswriting classes in hundreds of high schools take up such questions incidentally. The public at large is interested as never before in its newspapers and its rights of criticism and control.
It thinks much, talks much, and writes much about journalistic
standards and practices.
And this ferment means something. Some dare to think it
means that journalism is in a fair way to become actively
rather than potentially a profession, if not on its own motion,
then on the motion of the party of the second part, the public,
which is finding that it needs a more serviceable type of journalism than the manufacturers of newspapers as a commodity are
giving it.
Most beginners in journalism, whether in newspaper offices
or in colleges and universities, undervalue the importance of
other things than skill. Scoring a beat is to them the summum
bonum. By what means it was done is no matter. A bit of
cheap but flashy enterprise bulks larger for them than a
steady policy of public service. Even in matters of style
and form, of routine in the regular day's work, the ideas of
the beginner are usually limited to what he has learned from
two or three of the more experienced; and as he begins to form
opinions on matters of practice, standards of right and wrong,
professional conduct, he is hedged about in the same way.
There is no place to which he can go to find out easily the
variations in newspaper practice, the reasons why good practice
is good and bad practice is bad. His ideals rise to the level,
perhaps, of the ideals of those with whom he works. He
absorbs the "traditions" of the office, or of the class room. He
has little opportunity to compare and sort out and measure
for himself the notions of editors and publishers, apologists and
eulogists and critics, who see the same things but from different
angles.
It is well, then, that the fundamental question as to the nature
and functions of the thing we call journalism be rather carefully
examined.
A newspaper is a business concern-but it is more than that.
How much more? Why?




260 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
A newspaper bears some resemblance to a public utility-,
but it is essentially different. Why must it be regarded as
being different?
journalism is a profession, or ought to be-but it falls short
in certain important respects. How much short? Why?
And what can be done about it?
Is it true that journalism is less professional than formerly;
that formerly the editor was paid for his services as a leader,
but that now he is paid for a commodity-his professional
services, if any, to be rendered gratuitously?
Having in Part I of this book considered particulars of newspaper practice, we may approach the more general questions
pertaining to journalism as a whole.
The. Newspaper Publishing Business
As an approach to the consideration of journalism as a
profession, it is well to appreciate the nature and magnitude
of the business of newspaper publishing, for it is obvious
that in journalism we find a different situation from that in
medicine or law or teaching or the ministry. None of these
-professions is sustained by a manufacturing industry engaged
in producing a commodity and selling it to the public, as the
publishing industry is engaged in manufacturing and selling
newspapers. None of them is directly dependent on a trade
or art, as the publishing industry is dependent on the art or
trade of printing. In their beginnings these professions were
essentially the same as they are to-day. They were forms of
personal service answering human needs. Newspaper publishing, on the other hand, in its beginnings was essentially unlike
modern journalism. It was not really journalism at all. Much
newspaper publishing to-day is not journalism-good journalism. But a growing number of thoughtful people in the last
two or three generations have seen the opportunity for a kind
of public service by newspaper men and women that would
merit being described as professional, and a growing number
of newspaper men and women have had the same view of
their work and have exemplified it in their careers-as
journalists.




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 261
Statistics of the Business
The newspaper publishing industry in the United States,
according to census statistics for the year 1919, comprised
about seventeen thousand establishments. Daily papers were
issued f rom 2424 of these, weeklies from 13,375, and semiweeklies, tni-weeklies, and Sunday papers from the remainder
of the list.
The circulation of the morning newspapers was slightly above
ten million copies a day, and of the evening papers a little
less than twice that much. The total number of newspapers
sold each day was thirty-three million, an increase during the
decade of thirty-six per cent. The circulation of Sunday
papers showed the greatest growth, from thirteen to nineteen
million net paid circulation, an increase of approximately fortysix per cent.
The volume of business in 1919 was $566,321,000, of which
thirty-four per cent represented income from circulation and
sixty-Six per cent, from advertising. The ratio of receipts
from circulation to those from advertising increased slightly
during the decade.
Executives and employees engaged in the newspaper business
numbered about 160,000.
A considerable number of newspapers are valued at more
than one million dollars, a few at ten times that much, a, large
number at more than one hundred thousand dollars.,Daily
papers in towns of ten thousand inhabitants are often sold for
more than ten thousand dollars.
One owner of a "string" of newspapers estimates his income
at one hundred million dollars a year, and his profits at a
million a month. Another string does an annual business of
twenty-five million dollars. A single newspaper in New York
City has given its volume of business as twenty million dollars
a year.
These statistics are too large to mean much, because they
cannot be visualized, but they supply a background for the
consideration of journalism as a profession and for the analysis of such a phrase, for example, as "the capitalistic press."




262 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Differences in Point of View
The editor who declares, as many do, "I am not a journalist;
1 am just a plain, plug newspaper man," may be telling the
truth, but he makes a peculiar choice of something to boast
about. Unwittingly, perhaps, he takes the position of a scoffer
at something which the most ordinary intelligence should recognize as being fine in its ideals, whether realizable or not.
To be sure, a man has a right to prefer being called a lawyer
rather than an attorney, or a doctor rather than a physician,
or a preacher rather than a minister, or a newspaper man
rather than a journalist. When it is a mere matter of terms,
there is no occasion for a quarrel. Splitting hairs is nonproductive labor. But the significance of the debate over
the name, "journalism," lies deeper than the mere term itself.
It is "a controversy over an ideal. The drawing of the line
between a business and a profession is not easy, but only a
silly sophistry maintains that therefore there is no practical
distinction. Who can tell exactly when night ends and day
begins?
True, it is not difficult to find the professional spirit exemplified in business pursuits as well as to find a purely
business concept of the professions. No importance attaches
to an arbitrary demarcation between the two. Perhaps most
lines of business have their professional aspects. But the
weight of the distinction lies in the recognition of what is
implied by the term, "professional," without regard to where
it may justly be used. The question as to whether it may
properly be applied to journalism, now or in the future, is a
question of life or death for an ideal vastly important to society.
The newspaper publisher who says, as many of them do,
"My newspaper is a business institution pure and simple;
I am nothing more than the manufacturer of a commodity
for public consumption," may be telling the truth as to his
own case;. but the one who says, "Journalism is nothing more
than a business,"' is clearly out of his depth. His pride in being a realist betrays him into a generalization that is absurd.
Many estimable editors who disclaim being journalists do so




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM. 263
because they f eel that the word is pretentious, that it is cant,
that it cloaks hypocrisy. Their preference for sincerity rather
than pose is commendable, but their unwillingness to admit
any responsibilities beyond those common to business in general
is, to say the least, excessively modest. In too many cases it
suggests slackness as regards a plain duty-the same sort of
obtuseness that is seen when a lawyer denies any obligations as
an officer of the court, or a doctor neglects observance of
quarantine measures, or a minister confines his services to the
reading of two pleasant essays on Sunday. Unfortunately not
all of those who hold formal membership in the professions
are genuinely professional.
Nothing in the foregoing is meant to deny a measure of usefulness to the efficient "newspaper man," or the man engaged
in the "business of publishing"; but he seems to be willfully
blind to his opportunities, and in so far as he disregards proper
standards, he is a liability to journalism.
Jason Rogers declares:
The saddest incident coming to one's observation, is to see
newspapers all over the country pass into the control of adventurers
in journalism for purely commercial purposes, newspapers bought
like so many horses, pigs or cows, and operated for mere moneymaking by men no nearer to the proportions of journalists than
are the traders of Baxter street.... The newspaper business
is not yet down to the level of the five and ten-cent stores run by
clerks, and yet that is what purely commercial interests are trying
to make of it. In our big cities it is next to impossible to secure
direct contact with the real men behind a newspaper. Employes
with no broad conception of affairs too often speak for our newspapers.
Professional journalism begins where the business of publish,
ing leaves off.
The Dim Beginnings
It was not until a century and a half after the introduction
of printing into England that the first newspaper appeared.
During that time some three hundred books had been published.
It was not until a half century after the introduction of print



264  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ing into America that the first newspaper appeared, and during
that period many books had been published. In both countries
the newspaper came as only a slight variation from what had
gone before. It was different from the books in having a
content slightly more timely; it was different from the pamphlets in having periodicity and a continuity of name and in
conveying news rather than opinion. But nothing distinctively
new was born into the world with the Weekly Newes or Publick
Occurrences or the Boston News Letter. They were the beginnings of journalism hardly more than the invention of
printing was the beginning of journalism. The professional
characteristics of newspaper publishing and editing developed
much later. The steps in this development are difficult to
trace; indeed they have not been satisfactorily described. It
is not essential to our purpose that an attempt be made to set
them down here. Our only concern is in the appreciation of the
fact that journalism to-day is something different in quality
from the business of publishing newspapers yesterday-or today-and must be regarded as apart from that business; and
that there is reasonable hope that, having evolved thus far,
it may develop further until such professional attributes as
it now lacks shall be added to it and it shall become as distinct
from the business of publishing as that business is from the
trade of printing.
The Newspaper as a Public Utility
At its best a newspaper is an instrument through which a
journalist or a group of journalists work out their professional
responsibilities to the public. But before considering it from
this point of view it is desirable to take note of the interesting
suggestion that a newspaper, apart from its function as a
medium of professional service, has many of the characteristics
of a public utility, a suggestion that gave rise to much profitable
discussion.
Public utilities supply the people with necessities and conveniences such as light and water and transportation. The
newspaper supplies them with a no less essential "commodity,"
views. How essential this "raw material of public opinion"




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 265
is to the community and the nation is easily appreciated when
one imagines a world without newspapers.
How essential a newspaper may be to the individual reader
is suggested by the following item:
It appears that through some fault in the routing of the mail,
an -out-of-town subscriber failed to receive several issues of the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The circulation (lepartment took tip
the matter as soon as it was brought to its attention, but before
it had been straightened out the subscriber filed a suit for damages
amounting to $19.50.
In his complaint he fixed the value of each copy at $1.65 or- at
the riate of $592.25 a year. He claimed he had suffered great
mental anguish through failing to receive the Star- Tclcgranz for
fourteen days, and the only thing that would restore his peace of
mind would be an award of $19.50 damages.
The publisher naturally regarded $592.25 as a rather high valuation to place upon a year's subscription to the Star- Telegram.
But from whatever angle the subject is viewed the publisher
of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ought to feel highly complimented. While $592.25 seems like an excessive valuation to be
placed on the yearly issue of any newspaper by one of its subscribers yet that amount is not at all unusual. A single issue
sometimes contains information that is worth many times $592.25
to a manufacturer, a retailer or an inventor, who reads it.
A newspaper supplies the people with a convenience, if not
a necessity, in the form of information about merchandise; and
affords merchants and others an approach to the minds of the
b~uyers of commodities and services. Whether or not it will
ever be illegal for a newspaper to refuse to carry a reputable
advertisement, as it is illegal for a railway to refuse to carry a
passenger who has a ticket and is fit to associate with others,
the fact remains that morally the obligation is as strong in one
case as the other. They are both "common carriers." Of
course, considerable latitude is afforded the newspaper in its
interpretation of the word reputable.
A newspaper does not use the streets as does a street railway, but it uses the mails and it exercises the right to convey
into the homes matter which may have the beoneficent effects
of good light and pure water or the evil consequences of poor
light and infected water.




266 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Frdm a Lawyer's Point of View
An attorney-general of Missouri, J. W. Barrett, speaking
before an editorial association, expressed a not uncommon view
as to the public utility character of the press:
You are the chief medium of communication between the people
and their official representatives. The people themselves c+o not
come to the seat of government, and do not witness the work of
their agents in public offices. They must know whether they are
being served or despoiled, but they cannot know except through
your reports. Accurate, fair-minded journalism is therefore indispensable to intelligent and effective self-government. You hold
in sacred trust for the body politic its functions of sight and
speech and a breach of that trust is treason.
Once we regarded railroads as private corporations. Then public opinion awoke to the fact that railroads are altogether of a
public nature; that they are the arteries through which flows the
nation's commerce and that they must be conducted for the benefit of all citizens alike.
So too we used to believe newspapers were private possessions
and that the editor could use his news columns just as he desired.
A few years ago, in fact, every newspaper was devoted to battling
for some particular cause and its readers who were supporters of
that cause seemed to want the news distorted to suit their prejudices. Now public opinion is realizing that an editor holds a
public trust, and that the newspapers are the arteries through
which flow public information and public intelligence-the very
life blood of the nation itself. The public conscience of to-day
fully understands and demands that the news columns must be
accurate in all things, and fair to all alike. The papers which
pander to political or other prejudices by false statements are dying
fast and they ought to die. The doctrine that politics is modified
warfare in which everything is fair belongs to a bygone day.
Newspapers, like railroads, are common carriers. There must be
no rebates, no discriminations, no partiality. Coloring the news
articles to keep them from contradicting the editorials is a criminal act, whether the statutes say so or not.
From an Editor's Point of View
While declaring that, "in a very vital sense the press in a
nation under democratic government is a public utility," the
editor of the Springfield Republican has pointed out the dangers
of acceptance of all the logical implications:




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 267
The Republican has examined most of the attacks on the Associated Press with lively interest. The tendency to regard a news
collecting agency as a monopolistic,public utility tha~t should be
regulated and restrained by the government like interstate railroads
is one of the notable aspects of recent criticism. In no case, however, has the idea been developed logically, so as to reveal clearly
the sharp contradiction bet~veen it and the principle of free
speech~ and free press, which is a bulwark of a democratic civilization. The superficiality of the anonymous writer on the Associated Press in the July Atlantic is particularly apparent in his
easy solution called "government restraint" for a news agency
which "has much in common with the ordinary public utility
monopoly," and which "should therefore be treated like a public
utility corporation."
Newspapers are already under the restraint of the libel laws.
Within a year the Republican has been the defendant in a libel suit,
which it lost. To establish a new form of government supervision,
regulation and restraint along the lines suggested, however, With
the inevitable government press commission to do the supervising,
regulating and' restraining, would mean nothing less than the revival of the medieval censorship, which still flourishes in such a
despotic and backward country as Russia or in such a capital as
Mexico City during a military dictatorship. "If its news were
none the less unfair," says the medievalist Atlantic writer, "some
arrangement could presumably be made for government restraint."
The Associated Press itself prints nothing. Individual papers
print the news furnished by it, and the owners of those papers are
legally responsible for the printing of (unfair) statements or inaccurate reports. Government regulations or supervisioA that begins before the news is printed is necessarily a government censorship in the United States quite as much as in Turkey or Russia.
And the supervision would necessarily have to begin before the
news was printed, if the government were to supervise the output
of the Associated Press. One can see in this plan nothing, in
effect, but a government official in every Associated Press office
censoring the dispatches sent to the newspapers taking the Associated Press service. How else could government regulations be
made practical and effective?
If the Associated Press were supervised, all news agencies
should be superviseld, whether they were large or small, codperative or proprietary. There are all kinds in this country. In principle, also, it is certain that the government supervision should
extend to every individual newspaper, because in its important
local field each newspaper does its own news gathering -and is
often the source of important news despatches sent forth to the




268 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
country. We shall not labor this point, but we are convinced that
direct government supervision of the publishing of the newspapers
themselves is as crying a need as government supervision of an
agency like the Associated Press. For the worst abuses chargeable to the press are to be seen in their rankest growth on particular journals often very widely circulated and rich enough to
gather their own news from the ends of the earth independently
of all other agencies.
Even if government regulation of the press were in the least
consistent with the constitutional guaranties of freedom of speaking and printing, the vicious absurdity of the suggested government censorship over news could be demonstrated. What is "unfair" news? Who can be presumed to be an infallible arbiter
of such a question? A military censorship in time of war is permissible and 'Often desirable, for obvious reasons. The military
censor of news dispatches cuts out anything that might aid the
enemy. But in the civil life of a democracy, no possible analogy
to a military system exists. A government censorship of news is
as repugnant to a free and democratic society as is a government
censorship of editorial opinions. For, under no circumstances,
could there ever be a fixed standard of what is the truth, or what
the facts may be, in relation to any happening of human concern
and interest. All incidents and events of whatever nature must
be reported through a human medium, and, in view of the unavoidable imperfection of ýall human mediums, it is nonsense to
set up a government supervisor as a judge of the truth in the
news of the day. The historic vice of official censorship, as every
one knows, is that the government censor has a government' bias.
Socialists occasionally complain of the Associated Press. Would
they submit to the press censorship of a government official representing a capitalist administration? Would capitalists or employers
be satisfied with the news that had filtered through the censorship
of labor' union or socialist government?
It seems ridiculous to discuss such a question in this generation.
The news of the day is history while it is hot, just out of the bowl
of chaos; and the truthful presentation of it is infinitely difficult
for the most conscientious observers. The historians perpetually
wrangle over the news even when it is in cold storage. No Protestant and Catholic writers could ever agree upon the history of
Martin Luther's rupture with the papacy. Republicans and Progressives are never likely to agree as to the simple facts of the
division of 1912 in the Republican Party. In view of the incontestable facts, freedom to gather, distribute and print news should
be unrestrained by an officialdom itself as sure to be biased or
iGelfishly interested as any or all of us concerned in these affairs.




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 269
There are as many news aspects to an event as there are possible
interpretations of it, and the most practical way of getting all
those aspects presented to the world is to maintain a free press.
But condemnation of the government regulation idea as an
undemocratic flareback to a medieval censorship commits no one
to the defense of the existing abuses of the press. In a very vital
sense, moreover, the press in a nation under democratic government is a public utility exercising functions of publicity indispensable to the success of government by the people. Yet it
cannot be regulated like a gas company, in the printing of the
news of the day, without re-establishing a government censorship
as fatal to the underlying principle of freedom in printing and
speaking as government supervision of public worship, would be
fatal to the cherished principle of the free exercise of religion.
An editor's appreciation of the~ special privileges enjoyed
by a newspaper and its character as a public institution is expressed in the following statement by J. H. Harrison, editor
of the Danville (Illinois) Commercial News:
An editor may own his newspaper, may have title to iý as property; he may claim the dividends,' if such there are; but there
is something else that is not his. And yet it is his greatest asset;
it is that thing on which he cashes in. I mean that quality which
we call "good will," or "influence," or "prestige," or "the power
of the press." That is only a trust in his hands, for which he
must render an accounting.
Every new subscriber is an addition to the trust, an added obligation. The reader yields to the editor the right and privilege of
leading, either f or good or ill. That editor who does not see it
in this light and who is not ruled by the consciousness of this'
great obligation is, I assert, not fit to be an editor.
It must be admitted that there are editors not thus high-minded.
There are editors who are like a small boy in possession of a piece
of artillery, which he would fire off for the fun of the noise, without comprehending or caring for the consequences of his act.
To succeed truly a newspaper must realize that it is a public
institution.
Terms of the Implied Contract
It is not difficult to frame a contract or franchise, after the
manner of public utility franchises, pointing out on the one
hand the privileges granted to the newspaper by the people of
the community, and on the other hand the obligations for good




270 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
service. Such a contract was published some years ago by
Adolph S. Ochs. The contract was to be entered into by the
"Guardians of the homes of greater New York, parties of the
first part; and the New York Times, party of the second part."
One clause of it follows:
The New York Times will be issued as a morning newspaper,
said newvspaper to be well edited, well printed and of the highest
class, and shall contain all the news that's fit to print, avoiding
sensationalism, scandal -mongering and all things that offend
against good morals and against good taste; encouraging good
citizenship and good government; a newspaper that can, with entire confidence, be admitted into the family circle for the benefit,
use and enjoyment of parents and children, of young men and
young women.
Twenty-five years later, Mr. Ochs, in the introduction to
a history of his newspaper, declared that the Times had kept
faith with the public:
So far as the management is concerned, we can say without
fear of any contradiction from the thousands who have been
employed on the Times, that never a line appeared in its colum-ns
to pay a real or imaginary debt, or to gain expected favors. It
owes no man or interest any support or good will that it does not
owe to every good man and worthy cause.
Danger in the "Utility" Idea
The conception of a newspaper as a public utility, in fact if
riot in name, represents a tremendous advance beyond the crude
notion that it is a mere piece of private property. But, at
best, this higher conception is only a stepping-stone to the more
adequate view of the newspaper as the instrument of the profession of journalism.
The utility idea contains the dangerous fallacy that newspaper
publishing is on a plane with other activities supplying commodities to the public-that it is primarily a business. It also
has concealed in it the false implication that the "commodity"
supplied to the public must be as nearly as possible what the
greatest number of patrons wants it to be. It also leads logically to the right of public control through censorship.




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 271
Professional Attributes in General
Very few of those who protest the right of journalism to be
called a profession deny that the professional ideal is worthy
and that if journalism could attain it without compromising its
freedom, the world would be gainer. For the professional
ideal introduces altruism and social consciousness as dominating
concepts.
If a formal definition of a profession is sought, it will be
found to run something like this:
A vocation in which a professed knowledge of some department
of learning is used by its practical application to the affairs of
others, either in advising, guiding, or teaching them, or in serving
their interests or welfare. The word implies (1) professed attainments in special knowledge as distinguished from mere skill,
(2) a practical -dealing with affairs as distinguished from mere
study or investigation, (3) an application of such knowledge to
uses for others as a vocation, as distinguished from its pursuit for
one~ s own purposes.
This definition is intended to describe the general characteristics of the so-called learned professions. To what degree
does journalism fit this description?
Professional Attributes of journalism
Let it be understood that nothing is to be gained by attempting to attach a professional label to an occupation which does
not merit the distinction. That sort of thing merely invites
ridicule. But with respect to journalism the question is pertinent and also important, for several compelling reasons:
1. Through several generations society has evinced a need
for such services as journalism, conducted in the professional
spirit, could provide. With the drift towards democratic forms
of government, and with the growth of social consciousness,
this need has become accentuated.
2. Experience has shown, more and more clearly, that journalism conducted on a nonprofessional basis, as a mere business, is not only of inferior utility but is fraught with dangers
to social well-being.




272 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
3. The growing number of men in journalism who welcome
the attainment of a full professional status by their vocation
represents an element worthy to exert leadership and not a
mere group of visionaries.
4. The objections made to the acceptance by journalism of
a formal professional status have to do mostly with details
rather than with fundamental principles, and with difficulties
that should not be regarded as beyond solution. Other objections represent a conservatism worthy of respect, but hardly, in
this age, to be granted complete dominance.
How, then, does journalism measure up to the specifications
for. a profession?
The First Characteristic
With respect to educational requirements, journalism resembles the ministry more than it does the law or medicine or
engineering. It has no such body of special knowledge as is
required in any one of the latter professions. An imposter,
however clever, would be unable long to pass himself off as a
lawyer or a doctor in active practice; but he might succeed in
doing so as a minister or an editor. Not all positions in journalism require the practice of any considerable technique. But
from the standpoint of what a journalist ought to be, the educational requirements are as great as in any occupation. What
they lack as to specialization, they more than make up for as
to breadth. The theory that anybody can be an editor is pernicious. It accounts for much of the disrepute that is attached
to the business of newspaper publishing. So long as a few
thousand dollars enables, whoever will to become the owner
and editor of a rural newspaper, and so long as a f ew million
dollars enables whoever will to own and direct a metropolitan
newspaper, and so long as a desire to be a reporter is all that
is required to write for a newspaper, so long will journalism
fall below professional levels of public usefulness.
But the fact that it does not always rise to professional
levels is a remediable shortcoming. It can be remedied in a
generation if those who appreciate the social need and the
journalistic opportunity bestir themselves.




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 273
The educational requirements of the journalist are as broad
as all knowledge. If he is a reporter he must understand the
subjects discussed by the people with whom he talks and whose
addresses he "covers." He should know something about
mnusic,, art, dramatics, for he may be called upon to write about
them. When he does not have a general knowledge of such
subjects as sociology, economics, history, the natural sciences,
philosophy, literature, and the arts, he can not grasp the significant; he can not interpret; he can only seize the flashy details
of human interest or the familiar commonplaces that tend to
make journalism a byword among people of culture. The
prestige of superior journalism suffers for the crudities of that
which is inferior.
One newspaper publisher appealed to his fellow members of
the International Editorial Association to make this pledge:
I will employ no cub who is not a graduate of either a high
school or a college. I will employ no person who does not intend
to make journalism a life work, and who has not demonstrated
unusual ability to write and to mix and cobperate with his fiellow
students. I will give preference to the graduates of the recognized
schools of journalism.
A city newspaper executive, not himself a graduate of a
college, declared that,
A liberal education is being looked upon more and more as a
requisite in the newspaper profession. I don't,' mean nece~sarily
a college education, but at least its equivalent. For a newspaper
man is a reader; if he hasn't done it while in collelge, he must- do
it outside and afterwards. He must acquire the process of analytical thought, either through a broad, general education or by
gradually assimilating it outside of college.
The newspaper executive in an editorial position, in addition
to the educational requirements of a reporter, needs a sense of
literary values which only broad reading affords. He must
be able to penetrate and understand the public mind, which is
not so much an intuitive faculty as a cultural one. He must.
have a sound philosophy of life, social sympathies, visiona11 of them representing the finest fruitage of education.




274 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Both the reporter and the editor need an understanding of
the. echnique of their vocation. Not merely the technique of
some one office in which they happen to be employed, but the
technique of the best types of journalism everywhere. They
need some such background for their life work as is afforded
by study of the history of journalism and of comparative journalism. They need, above all, well considered notions as to
the meaning of it all, the function of the newspaper, its responsibilities.
The journalist's own conception of his educational needs is
presented in the curricula of schools and departments of journalism, for the curricula were developed not by academicians
but by men active and successful in journalism. They were
developed from small beginnings by the experimental method,
and their breadth of scope and depth of specialization are such
as the requirements of professional journalism seem to demand.
As to the first characteristic of the professions, then, it may
safely be said that the responsibilities of journalism call for
as great educational attainments as any other calling and that
this fact is coming to be fully recognized.
The Second Characteristic
That journalism involves a "practical dealing with affairs",
needs no demonstration. That side of it has not failed of appreciation, though the directions in which the journalist's activities might be carried out have seemed to multiply beyond the
editor's vision even a generation ago. Little of the cloistered
life is permitted the journalist-too. little.
The Third Characteristic
In "the application of his knowledge to uses for others, as
distinguished from its pursuit for his own purposes," the
journalist easily establishes his right to be called professional.
And yet not so easily as seems to be imagined by some. Supplying the public with information is not necessarily anything
more than a business activity. It may be even a reprehensible
business activity, as in the case of a scandal sheet. Supplying
the public with a. newspaper that deserves to be described as




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 275
a high-grade commodity is without doubt a meritorious enter.
prise but may differ little from the business of manufacturing
and marketing a high-grade breakfast food or a popular
laundry soap.
The point at which journalism becomes the thing demanded
by the best interests of society-becomes professional-is the
point at which it undertakes to do things for which it is not
directly paid; things which are not "nominated in the bond";
which are not required of it by good business ethics; things
which only the professional spirit enables it to recognize as
obligatory.
A doctor might be a high-grade business man, giving a dollar's worth of service for every dollar received; but admitting
no obligation beyond that point-doing nothing towards improving the public health, rendering no service unless reasonably sure that remuneration was certain, always taking into
account his own interests-he might thus commercialize his
vocation and still be called a doctor; but no discerning judge
would pronounce him a professional man-only a masquerader
in a borrowed garb. So with the editor who commercializes
journalism. In spite of his good business ethics, he is condemned by his unwillingness to pay what it costs to give more
than good measure, by his unwillingness to accept professional
responsibilities-by his sins of omission.
Group Declarations
Each person, in proportion to his cynicism, discounts any
public declaration of principles by a group. It is true that
such declarations originate with the idealistic minority and
that the unanimous vote by which they are adopted represents,
besides this idealism, a large amount of indifference and a
larger amount of only momentary enthusiasm. Nevertheless
such pronouncements do erect a standard, they crystallize the
best sentiment in the group, they are likely to be educative.
In respect to the professional obligations of journalism, the
utterances of editorial groups are unmistakable.
From the canons of journalism adopted by the American
Society of Newspaper Editors:




276 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
o-The right of a newspaper to attract and hold readers is restricted
by nothing but considerations of public welfare. The use a
newspaper makes of the share of public attention it gains serves
to determine its sense of responsibility, which it shares with every
member of its staff. A journalist who uses his power for any
selfish or otherwise unworthy purpose is faithless to a high trust.
From the Oregon code of ethics for journalism:
We will regard our privilege of writing for publication or publishing for public consumption as an enterprise that is social as
well as commercial in character, and therefore will at all times
have an eye against doing anything counter to social interest.
From the preamble to the Missouri code:
The profession of journalism is entitled to stand side by side
with the other learned professions and is, far more than any other,
interwoven with lines of public service. The journalist can not
consider his profession rightly unless he recognizes his obligation
to the public. A newspaper does not belong solely to its owner
and is not fulfilling its highest functions if used selfishly.
From the Texas Press Association code:
We believe in journalism as an honorable profession and recognize the opportunities for service to the commonwealth.
individual Expression
Similar views held by individual editors and by persons outside of journalism are met with on every hand. The publisher
of the Wichita (Kansas) Beacon, Henry J. Allen, writes as
follows:
The Beacon-'s conception of a newspaper's duty is that it is one
hundred per cent its duty to print the news, but there are additional
percentages which it must assume in order to merit that moral
support of the community which we consider indispensable.
It would not be worth while to publish a newspaper purely as a
business proposition, even though it might prosper. The additional
percentages are concerned with those moral obligations which
come along with the privilege of talking to the public.    I
These percentages are concerned with the laying of substantial
foundations deep under the consciousness of the public.
The right-minded newspaper often does things that are for the




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISMV 277
time unnoticed. They may even bring censure, with no praise.
They may not cater to the passions or prejudices of the people.
But they do form a part of the moral fiber of the community.
Hidden deep under the surface they may never come to light except in times of great stress or emergency, when there is a rigid
test.
The newspaper that can not pass such tests cannot be called
anything but a money-making device, without ideals, without responsibility to the public.
It is sometimes a challenging responsibility to publish a newspaper. It is a thing that hammers continually-every daysoftly upon each door, like the falling leaves or snow. But the
accumulated weight is that of an avalanche.
As a builder, the Beacon must help lay the foundations of the
community. Those foundations are not concerned with bank accounts or stores of oil, wheat or corn or herds of cattle, nor with
wealth of merchandise. They are concerned with the great inner
purposes of the people, the purposes that concern the soul and fine,
sturdy citizenship. Where there is no vision the people perish.
Where there is no moral fiber, all the wealth of which Coronado
dreamed will not avail. Where opportunism, demagogy and blind
greed rule, there is where the nation begins to rot and weaken.
A statement by James Bryce, in his Modern Democracies,
may be taken as representative of that outside opinion as to
the functions of the press which is based on intelligent observation:
A newspaper wears two aspects; discharges two functions. In
one aspect it is a commercial undertaking. It sells news to those
who wish to buy news. It sells space in its columns to advertisers.
0**Its other aspect is that of a guide and adviser, seeking to
form the opinion and influence the action of the public....
No one will suppose that an indication of the dangers which misuse of the power of the press may bring implies any disparagement of the invaluable services it renders in modern free countries.
Without it, there could be no democracy in areas larger than were
the city communities of the ancient world. The newspaper enables
statesmen to reach the whole people by their words, and keeps
legislatures and executive officials under the eyes of the people.
Itself irresponsible, it enforces responsibility upon all who bear
a part in public work. It is because the press alone can do and
is doing so much salutary and necessary work that attention needs
to be called to any causes which might, by shaking public confidence in it, impair its usefulness to the community.




278 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Functions of journalism
The tasks of journalism are reviewed elsewhere in this book;
but an enumeration of its major functions may be permitted
here as pertinent to our purpose of picturing the tremendous
opportunities at the door of this youngest of the professions.
Any plan for grouping the functions of the press involves
repetition and arbitrary classification, but it is helpful in suggesting a variety of points of view.
Services to the Individual
Among those services which may be regarded as being of
interest primarily to the individual are: to lessen his isolation;
broaden his information; interpret for him the meaning of
events; afford entertainment; influence his action; give advice;
stimulate new interests; awaken his sense of responsibility;
champion his cause against injustice; socialize him; present
commercial opportunities; open his heart and pocketbook in
the interest of worthy causes; correct his scale of values and
his philosophy of life; cultivate his tastes; educate him in
sound finance; protect him from dishonest advertisers.
Services to the Community
Among the newspaper's opportunities for service to the community are: to improve health conditions; promote educational
facilities; support moral and religious influences; encourage
public improvements; throw light on the administration of
public affairs; unify community thought and interests; discourage factionalism; dispel rumors; afford a business clearing
house; "substitute the deliberative mind for the mob mind";
teach the community to play; maintain an open forum for the
discussion of public interests.
Service to Society
Even the smallest newspaper has its part in affairs far
broader than its community, such as: to advocate good government; to stand for law and order; to expose the weakness of
a law or an institution and assist in its improvement; to pro



NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 279
mote justice; to stimulate independent thinking on public questions; to point out the good in the world; to discourage sectionalism; to help remove the causes of class hatreds; to work
for peace between nations; to reflect public opinion; to make
good citizenship attractive.
It thus appears that journalism at its best has all the attributes of a profession and that in so far as its possibilities are
not fully realized society is the loser. In other words, if there
was no profession of journalism, the interests of society would
require that such a profession be created.
Having the attributes, how nearly does it meet the formal
requirements of a profession?
General Professional Requirements
While not contained in the formal definition of a; profession,
there are several characteristics that seem essential to the existence and maintenance of effective professional standards. It
is pertinent, then, to examine those forms by which other professions are governed and to inquire regarding their adoption
in journalism. They are the provisions as to preparation,
entrance, conduct, and supervision:
1. A large and increasing proportion of those entering law,
and practically all of those entering medicine or the ministry,
prepare themselves by a course in a professional school.
2. They are admitted to their calling by a license, following
a successful examination.
3. They subscribe, either formally or informally, to a code
embodying the standards of conduct in the vocation.
4. They are, in theory at least, held to a practical observance
of this code by an authority within the profession, having
legal recognition, which pronounces judgment in cases of
alleged malpractice and has power to exclude from the profession.
The Educational Requirement
The establishment of courses and departments and schools
of journalism which began in colleges and universities well
within the present century was not greeted with applause by




280 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
many newspapers. It is not necessary to inquire here into the
reasons for this opposition since it is possible to say that the
unfriendly attitude has almost entirely disappeared.
Such professional training is now offered, through what are
regarded as measurably complete curricula, in more than a
score of institutions. It is offered in abbreviated form in perhaps fifty colleges and universities. It is offered to the extent of two or three technical subjects, in addition to regular
college courses in English, literature, history, sociology, economics, etc., in more than a hundred other institutions of higher
learning. Mention might also be made of the fact that hundreds of high schools teach journalistic writing, though such
instruction is to be regarded as preparatory rather than professional. The number of students in schools and departments
of journalism runs into many thousands and the number of
graduates going out each year into the nlewspaper field is large.
Complete standardization has not yet been attained in journalistic education. The problem of affording practical experience on newspapers while in college is not solved. The
need for special courses in history, science, economics, etc.,
adapted to the particular requirements of the journalist, has
not been fully met. In fact the academic training of journalists is yet in its beginnings. But its value is now seldom questioned and its product of young men and women is not sufficient to meet the growing demand, based on the realization
among publishers and editors that journalistic training in college is so great an advantage as to be almost a necessity.
It thus seems fair to say that the educational requirement
is being more and more fully met each year.
Licensing
As to the second requirement, licensing the practitioner in the
profession, little progress has been made in journalism. From
time to time proposals in this direction have been made. Bills
setting up a licensing system for journalists have been introduced into state legislatures. They have failed of enactment
and such failure has seemed to give great satisfaction to practically all newspapers.




NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF JOURNALISM 281
Since our main purpose at present is to get a clear view of
the nature of journalism as it is, consideration of the merits
and the difficulties of licensing may be deferred until we take
up the subject of measures for the improvement of journalism.
A Code
As to the third feature, adoption of a code of ethics, great
progress has been made since 1910 when the Kansas Editorial
Association became the first such association to adopt a code.
Prior to that time individual newspapers had codes, which
were little more than office rules; individual editors announced
"Aplatforms" setting forth their conception of their responsibilities; and people in general told the newspapers what their
duties were. Since that time many organizations of editors
and publishers and newspaper writers have clarified their
ideals by putting them into printed form. Declarations by in-.
dividuals have increased in number. The subject of ethics has
acquired an unprecedented prominence in the newspaper world.
Formal assent to a code by one entering journalism is nowhere required, but an informal acceptance is taken for
granted.
Enf orcement
The f ourth f eature, a practice committee or board having
authority, does not exist in journalism. One newspaper maintains virtually such a committee in connection with its bureau
of accuracy and fair play, and others have something similar,
though usually the authority is in the hands of one man. But
no state or regional association has attempted to function in
this manner.
Summary
journalism, then, lacks the machinery for the enforcement
of its standards. It is professional in its nature and in its
spirit,,' but only partly so in its form.
But the responsibility for its shortcomings does not rest
entirely on its own shoulders. Two closely related facts determining that responsibility must not be overlooked: first, that




282 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
society has much to do with the development of any profession,
the very existence of which is accounted for by the prior existence of a human need to which it ministers; and second, that
the provisions for the conduct of any profession, are created,
not entirely from within, but through a-partnership of effort
by those within the profession and those outside. Standards
are not erected solely by those whose conduct is to be guided
by them, but by reciprocal influences having two sources, progressive thinking by practitioners within the vocation, and the
wisdom* of the general public.
The future of journalism is in its own hands, to be sure,
but not solely in its own hands. Every reader of newspapers
has something to say about. it, some responsibility. The possibilities of the future are inviting enough to encourage the most
earnest cooperative endeavor.




CHAPTER X


TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES IN JOURNALISM
Let it be here related how John Campbell, first American
editor, was on his way to the Boston post office one day in
1704, with the entire edition of his two-column, two-page
paper under his arm, when he happened to meet a queerly
dressed man, also with an armful of printed matter, but unlike anything John had seen before.
"Pardon me," said John, who had much of the intellectual
curiosity which has since made his town famous, "but what,
may I ask, are you carrying?"
"Oh, it's just the Sunday paper," replied the man. "I
brought one back with me to read on the way."
"Back from where?" inquired John, forgetting, in his wonderment, that those who stop to converse in the shadow of Old
South Church say, "back from whence."
"Back from the Twentieth Century," explained the man"1924, to be exact. I came by the Fourth Dimension and
Relativity Route. just got here. Nice little town."
"May I see that paper?" demanded John, oblivious to the
interesting scientific aspects of the situation.
He took the monstrosity in his hands-two pounds of paper
and ink, 144 eight-column pages; as much reading matter as
one would find in a dozen volumes of Cotton Mather's sermons-and Dr. Mather was not given to short ones either.
Editor Campbell looked it over and then gazed at the little
bundle of the Boston News Letter lying on the cobble stones
where he had dropped it. Finally he spoke:
"How did that ever grow into this?"
The man happened to know the answer, and he proceeded to
outline the story of American journalism. It took him four
hours, and the Boston News Letter would have missed the mail
283




284  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
that day if its editor had not also been postmaster, so that the
"limited" waited at the hitch rack out front until John got
around.
It was truly a marvelous relation the stranger made, ending
with the incredible but true statement that one edition of the
paper he carried required six hundred tons of printing stock
-enough to supply the Boston News Letter for fifty thousand
years.
"How did that ever grow into this?"
The question may be answered superficially by recounting
the achievements of inventive genius in providing the equipment for modern newspaper production-the paper mills,
presses, slug-casting machines, stereotyping processes, engraving methods. Or by describing the development in news
gathering facilities-the telegraph and telephone, the radio, and
the spry young reporters' legs. Or by tracing the educational
processes by which a universal reading public has been evolved.
Or by explaining the coming forth of that highly significant
factor in journalistic affairs, the advertiser.
But, after all, the modern newspaper is not merely two
pounds of paper and ink, nor is it only a bundle of information and opinion and entertainment and advertisements. It is
a living thing, a personality, an influence, a builder, and, at
times-let us concede something to the critics-a destroyer.
"How did that ever grow into this?" is best understood
through examination of the newspaper's essential character,
or, since character is most clearly reflected in habitual forms of
conduct, through observation of its habits or usages. The
habits of journalism are commonly spoken of as its traditions.
What, then, have been its traditions in the past, and what ones
are still dominant?
Every profession or business has its standard forms of practice, its controlling ideas, its formulae for solving its problems.
Not every member of any group will sanction or adopt all the
notions of all the other members of the group but there will
be enough unanimity to build up a central structure of practice
adequate to bear the weight of the vocation as a whole.
As generation succeeds generation the persistently effective




x


TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES                    285
concepts and their resultant practic'es achieve the standing of
"traditions" in the profession or business. The more general
of them constitute a sort of vocational philosophy, the more
specific make up the body of rules governing relationships within
the group and with the outside world. Some of them are
wholly within the realm of ethics, others are based on expediency alone, others are the sort of mixtures that may be
described by the term, "practical wisdom," The first take
written form sometimes in "codes" or "canons," the others in
"office rules" or "trade union rules."
Since we shall make a rather careful examination of these
codes and rules later, it is only necessary here to refer, by
way of illustration, to such general traditions in the legal profession as fidelity to the client's highest interest and respectful
attitude towards the courts, and to such specific rules as that
against soliciting professional employment; and in the medical profession, the general tradition that a physician must labor
for the alleviation of suffering without regard to the risk to
his own health or life or to financial return, and such specific
rules as that against splitting fees.
No body of tradition is so firmly knit as to resist change. It
expresses respect for the past, deference to the experience of
others and their ideals of conduct. In other words, it represents the conservatism of the group. But, like every other
living thing, it is constantly being modified by growth or deterioration, by progress or reaction. So, a transverse view of
any body of tradition will reveal some of it functioning at its
maximum of activity, some healthy but immature, and some
declining in strength; and a longitudinal or historical view will
show instances, here and there, of atrophy and death.
The first step in arriving at the social values of any occupation is to examine its structure of tradition, to understand
the standards approved in theory, and to appreciate the degree
to which theories are realized in practice. It is our present
task to discover the meaning of such a phrase as "according to
the best traditions of journalism"; to describe some traditions
of the past; to venture an opinion as to what traditions are
now diminishing in authority and what ones are growing and




286 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
are likely to rule the future. Such an inquiry should assist
the student of journalistic practice in judging the successful
or unsuccessful application of theories to present-day problems
of the newspaper office and likewise in appraising the recent
efforts, at crystalizing traditions into codes and canons.
Classification of journalistic Traditions
As the term, tradition, is defined and used, it covers not only
the beliefs and usages handed down from generation to generation, but also stories of notable exploits in a given field
of endeavor. Every newspaper office has its "traditions" in
the form of stories about great victories in the battle for news,
crises in the paper's history, editors and reporters of picturesque personalities. These, of course, have a place in the present discussion only by way of illustration. Our interest lies
in journalistic usages and beliefs. Moreover, it lies in the
traditions within the profession itself, more than in the impressions of the public as to what constitute the motives and
standards of journalism.
As a matter of convenience it seems desirable to classify
traditions in three groups: obsolete, obsolescent, and active.
The boundaries of these three groups are, to be sure, not
always clearly discernible, since even an obsolete usage may
still exert an influence in current practice. But looked at from
these progressive points of view the subject is revealed in
something of its evolutionary aspect.
The following rapid survey necessarily includes mention of
several topics which receive more adequate examination elsewhere.
Obsolete Traditions
The history of American journalism presents a number of
well-recognized characteristics or customs in the profession
which are no longer dominating.
Bohemianism
The old-fashioned reporter who posed as a romantic person,
with the picturesque dash and lawlessness of a musketeer, now




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES     27


287


has the unreality of a stage caricature. To some extent he was
a creature of the popular imagination, but he also had a real
existence and roamed the fields of metropolitan journalism in
the nineteenth century. Country journalism did not know
him, but it had his counterpart in the tramp printer who wandered f romn town to town, working a f ew weeks. in a place,
and usually celebrating the eve of his departure by a glorious
spree.
As the activities of men have been reduced to system and
order much of the poetry of lif e has been changed to prose, or
at least to poetry of another sort. The peddlers of an earlier
day were more picturesque, perhaps, than our modern merchant,
and the doctors, as Molie're saw them, more interesting than
our physicians. So the old-time oratorical pleaders bef ore
the bar, the circuit riders, the captains of finance, all have about
them a glamour lacking in their modern successors. Everything,
f rom war to courtship, seems to have substituted system for
dash, though we trust that true courage and gallantry have not
diminished. So in journalism, the reporter of the devil-maycare type has given way to a less adventurous young man,
though not less enterprising, and the bacchanalian reveler has
been succeeded by an individual who knows that steady nerves
and a clear head are necessary to his job.
In regard to the old type of reporter, Eric W. Allen has
written:
I have still a warm place in my heart for the old-time sea-going
reporters. They were able men, enthusiasts, and made a religion
of newspaper work-they would never call it journalism.
They could cut circles around the reporter of to-day in getting
a verbatim report of the secret discussion of the grand jury, the history of every ballot taken by a trial jury, the story of the bribe
money payments that swung an election, or the discreditable past
history of a prominent citizen.
When I began newspaper work nearly twenty years ago, this
old soldier-of-fortune type of reporter had not yet disappeared;
neither had the hell-roaring city editor, who prided himself on
his' ability to curse out a reporter and his willingness to "Ifire"l
him on very slight provocation. *Newspaper executives were not
infrequently admired in the local room in proportion to their tendency to go into perfect paroxysms of rage, to climb on'their desks,




288  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
tear their hair and then to rush through every department of
the paper like a cyclone, leaving terror and confusion and vacant
jobs in their wake.
Picturesque? Yes. But hardly adapted to journalism   as
now conceived.
Poverty
Postal regulations have helped to educate country publishers
in better business methods in handling their circulation accounts.
In fornier days few subscriptions were paid in advance, with
the result that the editor had a large number of debtors owing
small amounts which they were not much inclined to pay.
Collecting small bills personally over a considerable territory
was impractical and was also destructive of good will because
it was not the accepted custom. But the editor had a convenient collector in the newspaper itself. And he used it sometimes too freely.
The most obvious way to take the sting out of a request for
payment of a bill is to explain one's great need for the money.
And so it was only natural that editors should appeal to their
delinquent subscribers through vivid descriptions of their own
cramped financial circumstances. In such manner a kind of
traditional poverty invested the newspaper office. Any collection of old newspapers, and some not so old, will yield painful
examples of the editor's fears of the sheriff and his willingness
to accept farm product as well as money. No doubt there was
much truth in such statements, but it was a kind of truth which
to-day is not so freely advertised.
Neither is the condition so common as formerly. The attractions of newspaper publishing fifty years ago were relatively
great to those having no business ability to go along with
their ambition to become publicists. Publishing, both in the
city field and in the country field, has become a well ordered
business, whether or not it has become commercialized, in a way
damaging to the professional service of good journalism. If
one may judge by the titles of papers read by editors at their
conventions, the chief concern of these gatherings is the solution of business, not editorial, problems.




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES     28


289


Combativeness
The golden age of the fightingý editor seems to have passed,
but not without leaving a gory history of physical combats precipitated by provocative articles. That this violence should
have characterized journalism is not strange. It was representative of the spirit of the times.
Personal encounters have marred the records of some of the
greatest American editors. One book, published about the
middle of the last century, The Press Gang, gives the details
of twenty-four "editorial duels." It also devotes a chapter to
"Fights and Floggings of Editors," in which it appears that the
aggressive reader usually got the better of his journalistic
antagonist.
One editor is quoted as saying that, "An editor who never
earns a flogging must be timid and irresolute in the management of his paper."
In another book of that period, Marryatt's Diary, we are
told that a famous editor "has been horse-whipped, kicked,
trodden under foot, spat upon, and degraded in every possible
way: but all this he courts because it brings money. Horsewhip him and he will bend his back to the lash and thank you;
f or every blow is worth so many dollars. Kick him, and he
will remove his coat tails that you may have a better mark.
Spit upon him and he prizes it as a precious ointment. One
day after the punishment, he publishes a full and particular account of how many kicks, tweaks of the nose, or lashes he may
have received."
In more recent years a lessening of the fighting propensities
of editors is noticeable. Only occasionally is one found like
the fine old man who, until his death recently, was accustomed to exhibit to callers at his editorial office a variously bent
stove poker, every kink having its history of contact with the
person of some irate reader of his paper who visited the office
to have it out with the editor.
This tradition went out with the replacement, in cities, of
personal journalism by institutional journalism, and with the
general improvement in manners and taste everywhere. Occa



290 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
sional instances of the kind are heard of to-day but it is no
longer traditional that an editor is a fighter.
If an occurrence of the kind takes place to-day, it seldom
receives boastful mention in the paper, but is treated lightly,
as in the case of a widely known and widely built editor who
was attacked on the street by a woman wielding a horse-whip
and who described in the next day's paper his flight back to
his office at speed destructive of all fat men's records.
Newspaper Wars
That competing newspapers could live in peace, side by side,
was almost an absurd idea in old-fashioned journalism. Abuse
of one's "esteemed contemporary" persisted as an editorial
duty until finally it became both a joke and an offence in the
eyes of the public.
History records many famous newspaper wars, some of them
duels between equals, others coalitions of several weaker publications for the destruction of the strongest. That the nuisance has been abated seems to be due more to the protest of
readers than to satiety on the part of editors. It was discovered to be good business policy to cease giving the public something that it did not want, "the public" meaning, in this case,
the better class of people-the same people who object to much
that is still printed in newspapers. That portion of the public
which, for example, would be glad to have cockfighting a
recognized sport, delighted in editorial rows; but their approval,was found to be less important than the endorsement of better
citizens and their families. A few country editors keep up
the practice of vituperative combat, but their number diminishes steadily.
Perquisites
The propriety of an editor's acceptance of favors from public service corporations has been seriously questionedj in the
last quarter of a century. Federal legislation putting an end
to the free transportation evil has exerted a tremendous educational influence. That a journalist's obligation to the public
must not be compromised by obligations elsewhere is becoming




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291


a well-established principle, in theory and in practice. That
practice should lag behind precept is inevitable; but neither
in country nor in city journalism is the outlook to be regarded
as discouraging.
In smaller matters, also, the editor's desire to be untrammeled
seems to be awakening. He realizes that the potentialities of
his relations to public opinion should not be recognized by a
pass on the railroad and also that the same principle affects his
acceptance of complimentary tickets to public entertainments.
More and more, he insists on buying his theatre tic-kets and
those of his dramatic critic, if he has one. More and more,
his name on the list of supporters of any project means that he
has made a cash subscription and not a gift of free publicity
for which he received little credit.
The editor's self-respect and love of independence, together
with the assistance of legislative enactments, have wrought a
beneficent change in the matter of "perquisites." It is becoming plain that the editor who "sells out" in a conventional way,
accepted as respectable, is nevertheless venal and a traitor to
his primary obligations.
A journalist of thirty years experience, Henry Schott, has
described the change thus:
In those days the newspaperman was, as a rule, ill paid, if
paid at all. He was expected to be irresponsible and somewhat
doubtful in his habits. When he ate, he was supposed to be the
guest of some one; when he went to the theater he was a guest;
when he rode on the railroad he went on a pass. Advertising bills
were paid by merchandise. Everybody was willing to give the
newspaperman of the old days anything but money. Money
and the newspaperman were held as natural enemies.
It was a romantic picturesque existence, but it was far from
just. Look through the ancient files in small town papers and you
will find something along this line: "Mine host of the Leland
Hotel chalked the editor's hat yesterday. He is a prince among
men and conducts a hotel of which our City may well be proud."
All of which meant that the editor had come into the restaurant
of the hotel and received dinner without any money paid in return.
When the maid at the dining room door put a chalk mark in his
hat, it meant "no charge." To-day the journalist expects his
financial rewards from the paper itself.




292 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Anti-Feminism
That women had no place in journalism might, until comparatively recent years, have been spoken of as traditional.
The present feeling is not inhospitable to them. Women have
won recognition in several departments of the newspaper-reporting, special assignment work, advertising. During the
World War many women were employed on copy desks, and
at least one managing editor declared in print that he would be
glad to continue to maintain a copy desk entirely of women.
Some have achieved success as city editors and managing editors of smaller daily papers. Some are successful publishers
of their own newspapers. Some are widely quoted paragraphers. In two or three decades women have pressed far
beyond the boundaries of the society department which was
formerly the only precinct granted to them.
Obsolescent Traditions
Personal Journalism
In the cities, personal journalism has largely disappeared.
In the smaller cities and towns, personal journalism exists much
as it always has. Nothing has arisen to obstruct the public's
plain view of the country editor, and nothing seems likely to
arise in the near future except, here and there, the development
of newspaper chains which are largely impersonal because
based on nonresident ownership and, to some extent, nonresident management.
In the larger cities, however, the newspaper as an expression
of one dominating personality is almost extinct. As a medium
for leadership through editorial utterance by one man, it has
entirely passed away, and there are no signs of the approach of
a day when editorial giants will again rule in the metropolitan
fields of opinion.
Partisanship
The drift towards political independence in metropolitan
journalism and, to a less extent, in rural journalism, is steadily
lesseningy the number of party organs. Thus a conspicuous




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES


293


tradition of the first two centuries of American journalism becomes less authoritative. There are those who believe that the
change is a desirable one so far as the urban press is concerned
but that in rural towns a newspaper needs the nucleus of support that comes to it by reason of its unwavering allegiance to
a political party. It is, in a sense, an attorney for the party
and receives, in one form or another, a suitable retainer. It
is doubtful that this idea will hold out against the general drift
towards independence. The decrease in the number of papers
in both cities and towns operates to lessen partisanship. That
this decrease is altogether a good thing can hardly be established as yet, but it is an unmistakable tendency and must be
reckoned with.
"Coloring" the News
At no time have more than a small minority of newspapers
frankly supported the theory that they had a right to inject
editorial opinion into the news columns, but a far greater
number have pursued such a policy in practice. A recognition
of the essential unfairness of such procedure has gained much
ground in recent years.
It has been a general tradition in journalism that "the opposition" in politics or other matters need expect slight consideration. A welcome change is noticeable in this regard. It
is by no means uncommon for a newspaper to give a fair and
adequate report of a meeting held by an opposing political
group, or to give in the news columns an uncolored statement
of facts and arguments which in its editorial columns it denounces as fallacious. This mark of an increasing comprehension of the rights of the public is one of the most encouraging
signs of the times journalistically.
Giving the Public What It Wants
This vicious doctrine of irresponsibility, discussed at length
elsewhere, is listed here as an obsolescent tradition, with the
admission that its poison is still actively working in the vital
organs of the journalistic body and requires the most powerful
antidotes in generous doses.




294 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Provincialism
No observer in so broad a field as journalism can always be
sure of his conclusions. Possibly the wish of the present
writer is mother of the opinion. But it seems to him that
the newspaper's traditional bondage to false loyalties is somewhat relaxed. Fewer editors seem to make it the cornerstone
of their creed that their own town is the best town on earth,
their state the best state, their section the best section, their
country the best country in every respect, always right, and
with nothing to learn from any other nation in this world or
any other world. Patriotism is too fine a thing to be polluted
with cant and nonsense. Cheerfulness in making the best of
things as they are and optimism in the effort to improve them
are too precious to be adulterated with the imbecilities of a
vacuous oratory. Better things are expected of the journalist;
and the general increase in intelligence and education has improved his opportunity to be sane and yet not unpopular.
Venality
The charge that newspapers sell their influence to the highest
bidder is seldom heard to-day whereas fifty years ago it was a
favorite criticism. Along with this should be included the
charge of blackmailing propensities growing out of the weakness of some papers for gossip and scandal. Such practices
can be spoken of as traditional only in the sense that they were
popularly associated with journalism. All professions have
had their black sheep.
Office Holding
There may be some question as to whether the conception
of the newspaper as a stepping-stone to an elective or appointive office is obsolescent. Certainly the idea is prevalent
enough to-day. But the views and the examples of many distinguished journalists seem to have strengthened the idea that
the greatest success as an editor is incompatible with political
ambitions. Many excellent newspapers are owned by politicians, but they seem to lack something of the independence and




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES     29


295


disinterestedness and dignity required of the highest type of
journalism. A profession worthy of the undivided loyalty and
effort of the greatest of men loses something in becoming a
means of approach to public office. Any editor who takes an
office weakens his editorial influence by vitiating faith in his
sincerity.
Faking
No one de fends faking in the news columns with an
intent to deceive the reader. A story of a sea serpent's playful antics off some almost deserted bathing beach may occasionally be permitted to enliven the summer dullness of news,
but no one is deceived thereby. The old-fashioned "hoax"
is recognized as an expensive luxury. Likewise the manufacture of imaginative details in a story is seldom encouraged.
The reporter who turns in a story telling how, when a street
sweeper had been run over by a truck, a scrub woman held
his head in her lap until the ambulance came, is seldom ordered
by his city editor to dress the lady in silk and have her step out
of her limousine to do the act of mercy. Human interest
stories are often embellished by fancy *because they are accepted as entertainment features based on a shred of news only.
Faking is almost obsolete.
Yellow Journalism
A sharp distinction between "yellow" and "sensational" journalism is useful. The former is deliberately deceptive-as
when qualifying words in big headlines are printed in type too
small to be noticed, and in other ingenious ways. It is indecent. It is socially destructive. journalism that is merely
sensational is not unclean, nor antisocial, nor deceptive-except as an exaggeration of emphasis is misleading. Its purpose to arrest attention, to win the "Gee whiz!1" response from
the reader is not unethical except as bad taste is unethical.
Yellow journalism, as here defined, is obsolescent; sensational journalism occupies a large portion of the metropolitan
field. Sensational journalism is open to the charge of being
superficial, cheap, typographically ugly, blatant., raw, silly.,




296 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
and several other things, but its offenses are more against good
taste than good ethics. It becomes yellow when it crosses the
boundary of mere "jazz,"~ either in content or in form, and becomes socially demoralizino'.,
Active Traditions
Some of the controlling ideas in journalism to-day are comparatively new. Others have been dominant since the earliest
days of the press.
Among the latter are two or three which should, perhaps,
be described as functions rather than traditions. They constitute the very essence of journalism; but they are so closely
related to other aspects of the press that it seems desirable to
mention them here. These traditional functions are: spreading information, expressing opinion, and reflecting public sentiment.
Spreading In formation
This is, of course, the foundation on which the whole structure of journalism has been built. The need for which the
earliest papers supplied satisfaction was the need for news
of the outside world. Later the value of local news was
appreciated. To-day the scope of the reporter's curiosity is
as broad as the universe and as painstaking and systematic as
a miner's search for the "dust" in his pan.
As a notable example of the exercise of the news instinct,
historians of journalism point to the career of James Gorden
Bennett, founder of the New York Herald. He is sometimes
referred to as the "inventor" of news. His enterprise in getting foreign news from incoming ships, having matter put in
type on trains., introducing news of finance and of the churches,
and many other innovations is memorable. But enterprise
in news getting is characteristic of the smallest as well as the
greatest of publications. The supremacy of news has been
greatly accentuated since the beginning of the World War,
indeed it has been overemphasized by some whose view of
journalism might be expected to extend beyond the mere recording of objection facts.




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES


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Expressing Opinion
Hardly less fundamental than the purpose of news dissemination is that of giving publicity to opinion held by the editor
and offered as the right basis for the opinion of others. That
this function of the press is not now at its maximum of effectiveness must be admitted. Much doubt is expressed as to the
influence of the editorial page. Seldom does it dominate the
paper as, for example, Greeley's editorials dominated the
Tribune; but relatively few are the editors, even of small
papers, who turn entirely away from this traditional feature
of their work. The authoritative character of opinions in the
larger newspaper is enhanced through specialization by those
on the staff of editorial writers. Confidence in the sincerity
and disinterestedness of the editorial column is all that is necessary to maintain its prestige.
The unfairness to the reader of permitting an editorial writer
to express opinions he does not believe, on assignment from the
editor-in-chief, in accordance with the paper's policy, is gaining universal recognition. That the practice is unfair to the
editorial writer has always been sufficiently obvious. In newspapers having several editorial writers, the difficulty is easily
solved, since it is not necessary, of course, that each writer
agree with what other writers are saying for the editorial page.
In far less enviable position is the editor of the smaller paper
who does not happen to agree with the views of the publisher
by whom he is employed.
Reflecting Public Sentiment
In the phraseology of the newspaper world, past and present,
journalism is a reflector of the public mind. In some cases
the eye to receive the reflected image is that of a legislator or
an executive desirous of gauging public sentiment on some
pending measure; in other cases it is the eye of a foreign observer interested in the reaction of a people to some international situation; in yet other instances it is the eye of a politician
looking for clouds that betoken a storm or for a clear sky that
promises a safe entrance into his harbor. In all cases this




298 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
functioning of the press is in harmony with the other processes
of popular government.
just how much, in any individual case, the opinion in a newspaper is the original and independent opinion of the editor,
or the opinion of the editor as modified by other opinion, or
the opinion of the public as manifested directly in communications or accounts of public gatherings or interviews or resolutions adopted relative to some issue, would be difficult to
estimate. But, in the mass, newspaper opinion- is public opinion. Conspicuous exceptions in which the ballot boxes have
repudiated the newspapers do not invalidate the principle. But
the news columns of an honest newspaper should forecast such
a result, however contrary to the desires of the paper.
It sometimes seems that opinion reflected in the press is more
conservative than that of the public. This is especially true
in crises when f eeling runs high among the people, as when a
Maine is sunk in an unfriendly harbor. Responsibility has a
steadying influence, as is commonly remarked of any extremist
who accedes to power. The sensational paper that outdoes
even the most vehement radicals is rare.
Entertaining the Reader
The importance of the entertainment element in newspapers
bas been increasingly apparent in recent years. That it is the
duty~ of the newspaper to amuse its public is an interesting
point of view in contrast with the almost utter seriousness of
the older journalism. That this duty should ever be. regarded
as next in importance to printing the news is incredible only
so long as one keeps away f rom the Sunday newspaper of our
day. A writer in the Nation describing newspaperless days in
New York during a strike, said:
New York without its customary newspapers was a curious
sight to those accustomed to the solid rows of papers that usually
hide men's faces in the subways and on the elevated. People who
habitually sink their minds in the trivialities of the daily newspaper the moment they forsake their office cares and associates
were chagrined to find themselves face to face with their own
petty selves, forced through the weary ride homeward to stare




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES


299


at the advertisements as their only escape from a too familiar
ego. It was a revelation of the function of the modern daily
newspaper, which is not so much to give an account of the world
we live in as to provide a means of escape from that world-to
supply unreal entertainment as a relief from real monotony.
Exaggerated or not, the statement indicates a patent tendency in our journalism. One phase of the development is the
use of pictures to a greater extent than ever before. Pictures
telling the news, pictures for entertainment only, pictures of
interpretation.  Whole newspapers made up    of pictures.
Mechanical invention is responsible to a large degree for the
effort to relieve people of the labor of reading. To what extremes detrimental to the primary uses of journalism this
tendency may run is yet to be discovered, but it is a matter
deserving some thought on the part of journalists.
Accuracy
Rference to "the best traditions of journalism" embraces,
among other virtues of the news gatherer and editor, that of
accuracy. By some distinguished journalists it has been placed
at the top of the list of requirements for good reporting. Of
fifty editors who were recently asked to name the most important essential of good journalism, forty-six named accuracy.
To some it may seem that accuracy should be taken for granted,
like knowledge of the alphabet, but the practical consequences
of inaccuracy are so serious that its avoidance becomes a matter of ethical necessity. Accuracy is much more than an item
in technique.
With accuracy should be associated other traditional virtues
of conscientious workmanship in reporting and presenting the
news, such as brevity, clearness, simplicity, none of which, however, approaches accuracy in importance.
Speed
Obeying the mandate of those human instincts which place a
tremendous premium on news which is fresh and information
which quickly satisfies curiosity, journalism has long been characterized by pursuit of the maximum in speed. The public will




300 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
not tolerate suspense if it can help it. Its interest diminishes
as the cube of the time since the event took place. As a result
of the fact that a major factor in news value lies in its recency
and the further fact that even a partial satisfaction of curiosity
dissipates interest., newspaper competition has centered on
speed. Enterprise has spent itself in devices for getting the
news first. The most interesting stories of the newspaper
office relate to famous beats or to adventures in expeditious
news gathering.
In recent years something of the same competitive spirit has
infected the editorial department. The deliberation necessary
to the formation of sound opinions seems in danger of being
supplanted by snap judgment formulated and delivered on a
moment's notice.
journalistic traditions are not always consistent. For example, the ideal of maximum speed conflicts with that of maximum accuracy. The results in many cases represent compromise between the two. Of which interest the greater
sacrifice is made helps to determine the character of the news -
paper.
Infallibility
A charge which few editors-or other people either, for that
matter-can bear with much grace is that of being inconsistent.
It -amounts to an imputation of error, and none of us enjoys
being accused of making mistakes, either of opinion' or fact.
The result of this attitude is an assumption of infallibility
as a protective measure. It has characterized much of the
journalism of the past and is still anything but rare. The
editor who frankly admits that he has changed his mind or
who boldly announces that consistency is not his chief aim in
life is something of a curiosity. Perhaps it is unfair to ex-.
pect the journalist to shed too many of his human attributes,
but largeness of mind is a particularly desirable qualification
for his high calling. It will undoubtedly contribute to the influence of the journalism of the future if it not only disclaims
infallibility, as indeed most editors do now, but actually speaks
and acts in accordance with such disclaimer. Of all the silly




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES


301


fetiches worshiped by civilized men, consistency and its twin,
infallibility, are the most ridiculous.
Freedom
Perhaps the most precious tradition in our journalism has
been, and is, that it should enjoy freedom from censorship
or governmental control. Constitutional guaranties are invoked whenever any restrictions are suggested beyond the existing libel laws and those governing privileged publications and
rights as to transmission in the mails. It seems sometimes as
though this conservatism stands in the way of legal measures
which ought to be welcomed by responsible journalism as
promising improvement in the profession as a whole.
Courage
Among the universal human virtues, courage in the support
of truth is one of those which have been regarded as indispensable in good journalism. Honesty, unselfishness, and the others
make up the list of personal excellencies looked for in that
composite personality, a newspaper.
The most spectacular manifestation of courage is in the
crusading. in which newspapers, big and little, engage from time
to time. Deeply entrenched abuses may be attacked, reforms
advocated, bad men scourged from public life. Such activities are more exciting, but not necessarily more courageous,
than decisions quietly made and executed by newspapers of the
non-crusading type.
Several of the active tendencies in journalism have developed
within the last few decades, or at least have become conspicuous
during that period. Naturally they are not universal, but they
are, in some cases, gaining acceptance rapidly.
Professional Consciousness
In spite of the protest of some editors and publishers who
insist that journalism is nothing more than a business engaged
in supplying the public with a commodity, and in spite of the
ridicule of some who are afraid of being accused of idealism,
the conviction is rapidly gaining ground that only as it assumes




302 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
professional responsibilities can journalism justify its existence.
This feeling has expressed itself in the numerous codes of
ethics adopted in recent years by associations of editors and
publishers. It is now grappling with the difficulties of establishing provisions as to the preparation of young men and
women for journalism, their entrance into the vocation, and
their conduct while in it-such provisions as restrict the practice of other professions.
Decency
An effort to determine whether a news story about an antisocial act is likely to exert a constructive or a destructive influence is more commonly made in newspaper offices than formerly. While not forgetting the deterrent power of publicity
for criminals, the judicious editor is careful to measure the
suggestiveness of an article, its possible brutalizing effect, its
influence on the immature and the weak. He knows that
lessons in crime and vice sometimes creep into the newspapers.
He knows that many careful persons exclude newspapers of
a certain type from their homes. In a practical way, he takes
an interest in the psychology of suggestion and the ideals of
decency and strives to fill his columns with significant rather
than melodramatic news.
Commercialism
The growth of the industry of newspaper publishing until it
has become one of the greatest industries in the world has lent
prominence to the business side of journalism. The volume
of advertising has passed all imagined bounds, as advertising
has become more and more important in business. Even the
country newspaper has acquired a business standing which it
formerly lacked. The result is that critics of the press describe it as "commercialized."
The further fact that newspapers now attract capital seeking
profitable investment, and that millions of dollars are required
to buy a successful metropolitan paper, leads to the charge that
our journalism is "capitalistic."
Both of these criticisms contain truth and must be taken ac



TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES


303


count of by any one looking towards the future of journalism.
Business success should be provocative of good journalism because it affords financial independence; but in practice commercialism shows itself in conflict with the professional ideal.
Promoting Good Government
In the main, journalism has stood for good government.
Its searchlight is constantly thrown upon the official conduct
of legislators and executives and upon the police and the
judiciary. Abuses of this privilege of the press are not
difficult to observe, but the incalculable benefits from its proper
exercise raise a serious doubt that popular government could
succeed without it.
Historically, the second Samuel Bowles may, perhaps, be
pointed to as the most conspicuous and untiring editorial
opponent of corrupt manipulators in politics. His Springfield Republican lived courageously up to the standard outlined
by Bowles in the following statement, even to landing its editor
in jail for a day, much to the augmentation of his popularity
and honor:
The press really seems to be the best, if not the only instrument with which honest men can fight these enemies of order and
integrity in government and security in property..... American journalism is now but in its feeble infancy; but we have more
to fear at present from its good nature, from its subserviency,
from its indifference, from its fear to encounter prosecution and
loss of patronage by the exposure of the wrong and the exposition
of the right. A courageous independence and integrity of purpose, coupled with a fearless expression of truth as to all public
individuals, corporations and parties, are the features in its character to be most encouraged.
Initiating Reforms
A healthy discontent with conditions that might be improved
is the beginning of reform. The most powerful agency for
encouraging such discontent is the newspaper. Rare indeed
is the paper that does not claim credit for many improvements
inthe administration of public affairs. Enemies are made
in this way, to be sure. The finest endorsement claimed by a




304 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
dynamic newspaper is the hatred of those whose ambition it
is to fatten off the public. That the editor will make mistakes;
that a sense of power will sometimes beget arrogance; that a
personal enemy may sometimes be mistaken for a public enemy
-all these are possible, even inevitable; but there can be no
doubt as to the net profit to society from this traditional leadership exercised by journalism.
For inspiring historical object lessons in the exercise of
this newspaper function, we may study the career of the New
York Evening Post under the editorship of E. L. Godkin from
1883 to 1900, and the New York Tribune when Horace Greeley
was us'ing it to fight for the abolition of slavery and intemperance and for other warmly espoused causes.
Serving the Community
Newspapers have always been useful to their communities,
but in recent years they have discovered many new opportunities in that direction and have given their best efforts towards
a broad and systematic promotion of all community interests.
T he modern editor is coming to regard himself as an employee
of the public with definite obligations in the way of preparing
himself to give expert advice on community betterment. In
the manifold directions described elsewhere he is a counsellor
and an agent for his client, the public. Superimposed upon his
ordinary duties of citizenship are his special obligations to
supply leadership for the community.
Giving Advice to Individuals.That a newspaper may be useful in answering questions put
by individuals, but having general interest, is becoming a recognized fact exemplified in departments of health, general
information,, housekeeping, etc. Absurdities practiced by a
few silly editors do not invalidate the entire policy. A general
manager of the Chicago Tribune once declared that a woman
who conducted an advice department in that paper had received
more than fifty thousand letters in two years, and that other
similar departments stimulated almost as great response from
the public.




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES


305


Humanitarianism
Even the greatest newspaper sometimes takes a lively interest in a crippled child or a poverty-stricken family or a case
of cruelty to animals. A fine tradition of kindness seems to
be in the making, not mere sympathy in the abstract but in
specific cases by means of which the heart of the public may
be touched.
The phenomenal success of Joseph Pulitzer as publisher of
the New York World is sometimes ascribed to the breadth of
lhis sympathies. Cruelty and oppression in any of its manifold
forms roused him to action. In spite of his almost ruthless
driving force he was a sentimentalist when it came to appreciation of the needs of the weak and the unprotected.
Printing Propaganda
Perhaps the most recently developed newspaper practice,
and one that has aroused more disquietude than any other, is
that of admitting to newspaper columns, as if it had been
originated by the paper itself, news and even editorial matter
prepared by persons in the employ of others.
If the matter submitted is designed merely to keep before
the public the name of an institution or an actress or a politician
or a department of government, it is described as "publicity
matter" and is nowhere regarded as offering any serious
menace to public interests. Some city papers use enough of
this material to save the expense of two or three reporters, and
yet throw away great quantities every day.
But if the matter furnished constitutes a sort of smoke
screen under which some organization hopes to operate in,
safety at the expense of the public-if it is intended to mislead
public opinion--it is "propaganda," and by many competent
observers, both inside and outside of journalism, is looked upon as the most sinister menace to the integrity and influence
of the press.
Specific charges that propagandists for great financial interests have used the press to mislead members of Congress and
to deceive and influence state legislatures are made not merely




306 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
by individuals but by responsible organizations. "Newspaper
editors, in the kindness of their hearts, sometimes lend the
use of their editorial columns to their friends," declared a
recent statement from the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching, with half-concealed satire painfully damaging to the pride of any self-respecting journalist..Newspapers that lend themselves to the recognition of this
usage have done their utmost to defeat the primary purpose
of their support by the public.
N~ewspaper Enterprise
No tradition of journalism has attracted more admiration
than the one exemplified in its almost romantic accomplishments
of apparently impossible feats. The history of the press is
full of exploits in the day's work of the journalist, calling for'
endurance, courage, ingenuity, as well as resources in money
and influence. Delivery to the United States Senate of a copy
of the Treaty of Versailles while Congress was unsuccessfully
demanding a copy from the Department of State was a conspicuous modern case. Transmission of unbelievable quantities
of cable news in a limited time, delivery of photographs by airplane under difficult conditions, and similar achievements are
frequent matters of record. In such manner is much of the
newspaper's prestige created.
Business Integrity
While it is true that the business side of journalism should
be nothing more than a means of carrying out its professional
purposes, the methods employed in that department are of the
greatest concern. To the mind of the public the business conduct of a paper represents the true nature of the man or the
group back of it. Seldom dobs a starved paper command respect, or a paper that handles its advertising or circulation in
a slovenly manner.   This being true, the better business
methods that are coming into use in newspaper offices, big
and little, argue favorably for the increasing influence of the
press, always excepting the incursion of that worldliness which
is described as commercialism. Among the principles of better




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES    30


307


business in the publishing world, none is more enlightened
than the one that stipulates the absolute separation of the
business and the editorial departments.
Honest Advertising
The term "honest" may be understood to mean advertising
which is truthful and also decent. The files of old newspapers
reveal so much of the other kind that the faults of modern
advertising shrink into insignificance. Untruthful advertising
from the extreme of faking to the mildly deceptive, disgusting
and vulgar advertising, ugly advertising, all blot the pages of
journalism, but to a less extent to-day than even ten years ago.
Publications which do not explicitly guarantee their advertising nevertheless use much care in assuring themselves that
it is reliable.
Known Circulation
Discredit has often been cast upon journalism by the "circulation liar." Indeed the unwillingness of publishers to give
a truthful statement of the number of their subscribers became
proverbial.
The demands of business for elimination of the uncertainty
as to how much circulation a newspaper had to offer advertisers
and an increasing shame on the part of publishers at the low
rating of their integrity prepared the way for a ready acceptance of means of auditing circulations and an agency for
certification of reports showing number and distribution of
readers. This agency, the Audit Bureau of Circulations, has
achieved results that are important ethically as well as from
a practical business standpoint.
Other Modern Tendencies
Some of the present-day tendencies in journalism mentioned
by various observers, notably Will Irwin, in Collier's and Bruce
Bliven., in the Atlantic., are:
Greater uniformity or standardization.
Concentration by amalgamation of papers, dictated by the




308 THE CONSCIENCE 01~' THE NEWSPAPER
business office because of the fact that it is little more expensive to manufacture a paper for five hundred thousand readers
than for a tenth that many.
The organization in this country of scores of systems of
chain-operated newspapers.
The passing of the star reporter through development of
local news services using high-speed automatic electric
machines with duplicating devices in editorial rooms. The reduction 'of everything to a machine-like process.
The rising tide of syndicated matter-comics, features, fiction, poetry, editorials, advertisements.
The ascendancy of the afternoon over the morning paper,
due to its greater popularity as an advertising medium.
A continuing degeneration and flabbiness of journalistic
English.,A tendency to condense news articles into tabloid summaries.
The passing of rivalry from the editorial to the business
office.
Perfection of machines employed in writing and manufacturing newspapers-held accountable, by Mr. Bliven, for tendencies towards deterioration.
All of which challenge the interest of observers of things
journalistic.
Tendencies discerned through comparison of past and present are suggested by Chester T. Crowell of the New York
Evening Post, in the following from the American Mercury:
The American newspaper of to-day compares with its predecessors about as follows:
It is more useful to the average run of readers than ever before
in its history.
It is more accurate.
It is fairer.
It has less imagination, initiative or purpose (barring profit).
It is without equal for honest advertising and is struggling to
raise its standard even higher.
It has very little influence and doesn't give a damn.
The quality of its writing grows steadily more sloppy and
threatens to reach a point where translation will be necessary.
It is absolutely free of official domination, a fact so generally
recognized that no mention would be made of it here except to
invite comparison with Europe.




TRADITIONS AND TENDENCIES    30


309


Financial and advertising influence, when exerted upon it at
all, usually results in something that is silly rather than sinister.
Several notable characteristics of the modern press, such as
independence, institutionalism, willingness to correct errors.,
good taste, have been mentioned in the discussion of their
opposites among the obsolete or obsolescent traditions.
Other Traditions
We have not exhausted the list of "traditions" or usages,
but we have considered the principal ones that have had to do,
or still have to do, with the relations of newspapers to the
public.
journalism has interesting literary "traditions," so called,
with which we are not concerned except in passing. Not a
few newspapers take pride in having associated with their history names that are well known in our literature. Bryant,
Whitman, Poe, Froude, Whittier, Howells, John Hay, Eugene
Field, Richard Harding Davis are some in our own country,
and the list is much longer abroad.
journalism also has glorious traditions in politics, having
fought, in the main, on the side of the people against oppression and in favor of greater liberty. Garrison's Liberator is
only an extreme, and relatively recent,9 example of the sort of
thing that newspapers of differing types have emulated each
other in doing since before the middle of the seventeenth
century in England.
journalism has important historic traditions, not only by
reason of having exerted leadership in the making of decisions
on national or less far-reaching policies, but also because some
of its own great men have figured largely in public affairs.
Greeley did not become president, but a later journalist didand where the presidency is concerned perhaps the singleness
of devotion required of the journalist may rightly be waived.
Vocational Requirements
There is another group of ideas sometimes called traditions
but relating for the most part to the internal affairs of the
newspaper office. Such is the long-establi shed rule that a




310 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
reporter must make whatever personal sacrifice is necessary
to get a story for his paper. He may be injured in a railroad
wreck when off duty, but until he has dragged himself to a
telegraph office and sent the story he must not think of medical
attention for his own hurts. And that is only one actual case
of many exhibiting heroic devotion to duty. A reporter must
be as loyal to his paper as a doctor is to his patient or a lawyer
to his client. He must put its interests first; sometimes he
must even place his conscience in its keeping.
Journalism is a vocation full of complexities, and therefore
interesting; it is rich in traditions, old and new, good and bad,
plausible and contradictory, and in that it is no different from
the whole of human lif e.




CHAPTER XI.NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY AND POLICIES
In our progress from specific problems in journalism to
more general concepts, we have tried to understand something
of the nature and functions of this human activity, its traditions
and usages. These things pertain to the press as a whole.
Almost equally important is an examination of the individual
newspaper-the constituents which go to make up what may
be called its personality, and the manner in which it manifests
its controlling purposes.
The criticism has been made, by men whose powers of discrimination should have been more acute, that all 'American
newspapers are alike-as much alike as fruit stands or oil
stations; that they are inveterate imitators of each other, lacking the ambition or the ability to develop individuality.
The complaint would, perhaps, be unimportant even if true.
It is hard to see that any serious harm would result f rom a
standardization of the press-if the standard followed the
lines of the best possible model. About the only damage
would be to take some of the spice out of life, since there
is no romance in uniformity.' It is the great privilege of a
journalist to develop individuality in his paper, but it is hardly
a requirement o f duty to do so.
But the question is an academic one, because the allegation
is -obviously mistaken. Newspapers differ radically, not only
as to their deeper traits of character but also as to such superficial matters as "physiognomy" and "dress." Their personalities are morally, mentally, and physically distinctive. It
is possible to find a greatest common divisor of all newspapers
-qualities common to all-but in each case there is a large
remainder left, composed of those characteristics belonging to
the individual paper.




312 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Charles A. Dana's question, "What kind of a newspaper will
you make?" is still pertinent, though his subsequent analysis
seems inadequate: "That question may be divided into two
parts: will you make a newspaper for sensible people, or will
you make a newspaper for fools?"   Happily there are several
subdivisions of each class.
The great personal journal of the past in the United States
was the outward expression of the individuality of the editor,
as the personal journal of France and of our own rural communities and smaller cities is to-day. And while modern
metropolitan journalism has become institutional, yet many,
and perhaps all, so-called institutional newspapers embody
the ideas and the ideals of some one man, living or dead. The
editor of the Columbia (South Carolina) State has presented
this idea admirably:
The largest paper in the country, whichever paper that may
be, is as true to some definite aura of policy as the smallest one,
whose editor owns it, sets the type and brings muscle to bear
to turn the press. Every paper that amounts to anything is a
"one-man" paper-in the sense that it has somewhere a soul of
its own, which no interest can hope to buy without killing it.
And this soul is the joint possession of the paper and its readers.
For the people who read a paper, and thus make it powerful in
business and influence, are those who are lending it its soul. A
paper that breaks away from what its subscribers expect of it
might as well kill itself, as far as exerting any sort of moral force,
and be done with it.
There are plenty of instances in this country where millionaires
who knew nothing of newspapers have attempted to buy a journalistic soul with dollars. Every such experiment has been a melancholy failure, where it did not attempt to grow on the old stump
the flower of its owner's individuality. It were easy to cite instances of papers that twenty years ago carried tremendous
influence, that are now no better than clothing stores, or savings
banks, or butcher shops, or other things that the public patronizes
because it is used to them. Papers of this sort have not been
"sold"-they have been bought by somebody who got the worst
bargain in the world.
On the other hand, there is a small group of influential papers
in the country whose stock has changed hands several times;
whose founders have died; whose master minds have passed away;




NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY


313


that are owned, technically speaking, by soulless corporations; and
yet whose spirit still lives in all the vigor and personality of the
man or group of men that first lent them life and the blue fire of
faith.
Men who make newspapers are scarcely ever thinking about
the corporation that owns the plant. They are thinking about
the paper itself. They are sensing at every pore what the paper
stands for, and they are trying with such skill as they have to
deliver the goods. It may be a five million dollar corporation
that employs them, but, from managing editor to office boy, they
have the vision of the personality of the sheet. They can no
more get away from that than a circulation manager can afford
to miss a mail.
If the paper has no personality, then you will find a lot of lazy,
sneering, pessimistic individuals under the shell of a name that is
the paper-most of them longing for another job on a paper
where they can get busy and express-not themselves, necessarily,
because they are craftsmen who execute orders-but the papersomething that, right or wrong in the particular case, represents
something strong and true in the general purpose.
Writing about the same principle, but applying it to a particular newspaper, the editor of the Chicago Tribune said:
The New York Times, celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary
under the direction of Adolph S. Ochs, merits comment not only
for its journalistic success but for its reflection of the intellectual
development and capacity of the public which it serves.
As the celebration is that of Mr. Ochs's assumption of the paper's
management rather than of the birth of the newspaper, it is fitting
to consider it from a personal viewpoint rather than the impersonal. Newspapers have their own personalities. The reading
public looks upon them as dull or interesting, reliable or unreliable,
comprehensive or cursory, subservient or independent, selfish or
altruistic, practical or visionary, as if these qualities were innate,
sprung full formed from the presses, typewriters, and desks which
make up their physical being.
One seldom hears the editor of a newspaper praised or condemned as an individual. Praise or condemnation is directed
against the paper as a whole, as if it were the product of a single
mind and a single pair of hands.
The modern metropolitan newspaper, such as the Times, is the
product of some 2,000 minds and as many pairs of hands. This
being the case, it is the more remarkable that such a product
can and does take on the character of an individual and reveal that




314 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
character so consistently as to develop a personality recognized by
its readers, strong in its good qualities, consistent even in its
inconsistencies-in short, human.
Perhaps, after all, there is not so great significance in the
phrase, "the personal journalism of the past," as we have been
inclined to think. If the public now refers to what "the Times
says," rather than to what "Raymond says," it is nevertheless
speaking of a personality-a composite personality, but having
one dominating factor. A newspaper, some one has said, is
the nearest like man of all man-made things.
The variables that have to do with the creation of distinctive
types of newspapers afford interesting material for detailed
study. They may be surveyed rapidly from four points of
view:  (1) the appearance of the paper, (2) its intellectual
qualities, (3) its tone or spirit, (4) its moral fibre.
The Newspaper's General Appearance
In the same way that we form first impressions of persons
we meet., from their general bearing, their clothes, their neatness or slovenliness, their facial expression, and their manner
of greeting us, so we get a feeling for the personality of a
newspaper from its typographical dress, its make-up, its pictorial features, the kind of paper it is printed on, and the things
it says to us first through its headings.
The first impression may be described by one or more such
epithets as: cheap, flashy, smashing, refined, sleek, mild, chaste,
vulgar, ornate, sensational, conservative, somber, monotonous.,
diversified, slovenly, neat, harmonious, orderly, dignified.
If we make a list of the characteristics of a newspaper
which lead us to call it flashy, we shall have such items as:
colored ink, headings that offend the eyesight by their size
and discordant styles of type, big "ears," heads massed on
the front page by the device of "Jumping over" stories to the
inside -of the paper-one observer counted in a New Haven
paper twenty-nine stories carried over in this way-a hodgepodge make-up sometimes placing banner heads above the name
of the paper, pictures chosen for their sex appeal or sensational
quality, extra-width columns. crude comics., a (Ccaf eteria"~






NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY                   315
editorial page, and other ear-marks of haste, confusion, and
bad j udgment.
If we seek an explanation of the impression of refinement
made upon us by some newspapers, we shall note such characteristics as: white paper and black ink, good press-work,
liberal margins, a well-proportioned page, approaching in its
dimensions the "golden section" of the ancient Greeks, a
style of heads that suggests restraint and due regard for news
values, harmony of type faces, balance and rhythm in make-up,
a minimum of broken column rules, absence of advertising on
the front page and the "banking" of advertisements on other
pages, judicious departmentalizing, a dignified treatment of
illustrations and entertainment features, and other evidences
of care and good taste.
In like manner we may enumerate the particulars that go to
make up others of the general types mentioned.
A closer acquaintance with the paper, through familiarity
with its contents, enables us to form opinions as to the next
element which goes towards determining its character and
personality.
A Newspaper's Intellectuality
In order to reach a fair judgment here, we shall need to make
observations from three standpoints: (1) quality, (2) breadth,
(3) proportion. Our observations must include the whole
newspaper but will be centered upon the editorial page where
the quality of the paper's intellectuality is especially manifest.
The editor of the small paper and the staff of editorial writers
on the large paper speak daily to the more thoughtful and
influential of the paper's readers. Their task is fourfold: to
inform, to interpret, to convince, and to persuade. Entertainment is present but incidental. In the manner of their perf ormance they do much to fix the intellectual tone of the paper.
1. The quality of a newspaper's mentality is suggested by
such descriptive words as: dull, serious, sane, ponderous, flimsy,
penetrating, high-brow, low-brow, sparkling, keen, interesting,
stimulating, bigoted, brilliant, pale, clever, smart, powerful,
weak, cosmopolitan, exhaustive,- intensive.




316 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
To some degree these qualities are the product of style in
writing. Much has been said in condemnation and much in
praise of "newspaper English." It has been described as a
flood of corruption flowing into the pure waters of our language;
as a course in slang, popularizing barbarous words and eventually forcing them into the dictionaries; as careless, slovenly,
inexact. On the other hand, it has received high praise, some
of it from the recognized defenders of our speech, characterizing it as the language of the people; the recruiting agency
which brings in the new expressions needed by our widening
thoughts; the "most vivid and virile English written to-day."
We are not concerned with the controversy further than to
note that variations in newspaper personality are partly
traceable to style, of which there are many levels between such
extremes as that of the Sun under Dana and that of the sheet
written by an uncultured man attempting journalism after
having failed at everything else.
2. The breadth of a newspaper's intellectual interests reflects
both the breadth of mind of one man or a group of men behind
the paper itself and also the opinions held by the makers of
the paper as to the breadth of the intellectual interests of the
public which it attempts to serve. Seldom does a newspaper
attempt to appeal equally to all sorts of people. It selects
its particular public out of the mass. There are newspapers
which would rather satisfy the requirements of a comparatively
few readers than of the multitude.
Some newspapers that rank high in comprehensiveness do
so partly because their financial resources enable them to gather
the news from all parts of the earth and to employ specialists in many fields of human interest. This comprehensiveness
in turn contributes to their greater prosperity. Other newspapers, however, neglect news sources well within their reach,
as, for example, the often observed indifference to farm news
by the rural press.
The editor of a popular woman's periodical explains that
his success in interesting so many is due to the fact that he
has made a chart showing all the interests of women and, in
making up the contents of his magazine, he sees to it that




NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY


317


every interest has its satisfaction. Magazines in narrower
fields use similar methods. Newspapers, more or less consciously, are built up in the same way. One makes much of a
juvenile department; another places emphasis on labor news;
another runs an occasional page of genealogical lore; another
maintains an exchange department which supplies the paper
with literary features; another is strong in financial news or
foreign news, or the news of sports, music, art; and still
another tries to cover all. The paper that seeks comprehensiveness and the one that specializes are of quite different individualities.
3. The relative amounts of space and emphasis given to
different kinds of matter in tne newspaper are of the utmost
significance. Many statistical studies have been made in this
field. A broad classification of the newspaper's contents into
theý four divisions, news, editorial, entertainment features, and
advertising, and a measurement of their relative proportions,
presents such variations as the following: a paper usually called
sensational contained: news, 33 per cent; editorial, 2; entertainment features, 21; advertising, 44; a conservative paper: news,
54 per cent; editorial, 5; entertainment features, 7; advertising,
34. These two papers reveal strong contrasts but they do not
represent extremes in all departments. For example, advertising sometimes occupies three-fourths of the space in a newspaper.
Percentages do not show, of course, whether or not the
reader is receiving good measure. The figures giving the
number of different kinds of material reveal, in some instances, that the newspaper publishing an extremely high
percentage of advertising is, because of its large size, supplying the reader with more column-inches of news than its contemporary having a lower percentage of advertising.
Similar studies have been made of the space devoted to
different subjects in the news and editorial columns. The report of one such survey, covering 138 newspapers, contained
such items as the following (disregarding fractions): sports,
10 per cent; government, 10; business, 8; finance, 6; crime,
6; politics, 5; education, 4; society 4; noted persons, 3; re



318 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ligion, 2; literature., 2; agriculture, 2; theatre, 1; benevolence,
1; improvements, 1; weather, 1; less than 1: jokes, household
arts, science and discovery, fashion, amusements, invention,
divorce, transportation., art. Comparative studies of different
newspapers present wide divergence in such percentages.
The proportions vary, to be sure, from day to day. Sometimes they are accidentally inflated or diminished.
According to Roger William Riis, writing in the Inde pendent., measurements of five copies each of a score of American
city dailies, and of a representative group of papers from
three foreign countries, resulted in the following percentages
for the first seven American newspaper interests:
America England France Germany
Business..............    21       17       9       30
Sports................    15       17       3        3
Amusements...........     15        1      21        8
Politics................  10       9        6       11
Police News...........    10       6        8        3
Foreign News....           7       23      30       35
Arts..................     4        5       5        3
An English critic said, in writing to American journalists,
"Urged as you are by the double obligation of using the matter you receive and using it quickly, you do not compose your
paper, you fill it up." The conditions that furnish excuse for
such remarks are thus pictured by an experienced managing
editor, speaking of the influence of the machinery of production on'the newspaper's contents.
If any one could take a completed journal on Monday morning,
and with all the available material, used and unused, re-assemble
it from the beginning, he could exhibit vastly better judgment as
to its contents than appears in an actual newspaper. But this is
not the way it is done. It is the running judgment, through the
hours of the evening, that must control. The compositors must
have a steady stream of copy. If news runs light, a tolerant
standard of estimate prevails on the desk. If news, later in the
evening, runs heavy, the material once edited, and in type, must
ordinarily stand.
Was this story worth a column? It seemed so at eight o'clock,
when it was going into type.




NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY


319


Is this story worth only one-eighth of a column? It seemed so
at quarter past one, when we realized that every new inch would
compel the killing of the matter already in the paper.
Not only is the composition a continuous stream which compels
a current judgment as the news pours in, but the making up of the
pages and their locking proceeds apace. On pages nearly covered
with advertising, it is the aim to fill the spaces as early and as
effectively as possible, and then to lock the page for the night.
The standards of judgment as to brevity made at these early
hours have to stand. It accordingly happens that one page in
a newspaper will often seem edited on a basis of abundant space
and another with great penuriousness.
No commodity is more irregular in its flow than news. There
is no crop in the world which has big harvests and total failures in
more radical and quickly succeeding contrast.
Notwithstanding the correctness of the foregoing explanation, it remains true that, over a reasonable period of time,
the proportions maintained in the news are significant. They
reveal the mental make-up of the paper and help to distinguish
its personality from that of its neighbor.
A Newspaper's Spirit or Tone
Association with a human being soon reveals his prevailing
mood, his attitude towards life, his way of going about the
day's work. So with the newspaper. After we become acquainted with it, we describe its spirit or tone by such words
as: dynamic, pugnacious, optimistic, staid, serene, dictatorial,
calm, tolerant, arrogant, placid, oracular, dogmatic, satirical,
vehement, scolding, nagging, hysterical, impassioned, jovial,
cultured, whimsical, severe, rough, lively, aggressive, enterprising, independent, fearless, militant, subservient, commercialized,
visionary, practical, easy going.
The dynamic newspaper-to mention one type-is not satisfied to print the news and the interpretation thereof. It has
ambiticns to accomplish definite objects. It has the crusading
spirit. It likes to "blow the lid off."  It will be found conducting a campaign for better health measures, for pure food,
for postal savings banks, for the prosecution of a corrupt politician, for public improvements.
The scolding newspaper, somebody has said, takes the place




320 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
of a watch dog in the household; tie it to the table leg and it
will growl all night. It is mean-spirited, jealous and unfair.
The enterprising newspaper, given the means, sends a Henry
M. Stanley to Africa, or raises funds for a Statue of Liberty
pedestal, or sends some messenger and correspondent to an
Ireland of civil strife or a Russia of revolution.
The cultured newspaper brings good taste to bear in all
things. It approximates the requirements of Newman's
famous definition of a gentleman. It avoids undue excitement
over trivialities. It speaks much about those things of perinanent value in literature, art, and life.
And so, the spirit of each type might be described. Any one
who knows American journalism will be able to call to mind
examples of each.
It is not always easy for a newspaper to know itself. One
great newspaper employs a sort of consul to the port of public
opinion whose business it is to find out what the people are
thinking and saying about the paper.
Sometimes a newspaper is moved to tell what it thinks of its
own spiritual make-up. Such a confession is always interesting. The following was printed as an editorial in the Kansas
City Star:
Entering its fortieth year to-day the Star frankly confesses it
doesn't feel its age. It never has quite settled down. Its founder
incarnated the spirit of perpetual youth, its curiosity, its zest
for adventure, its hospitality to new ideas. William R. Nelson
had a very definite program always before him. But if he were
once convinced that the particular method he was working on
for realizing the program was ineffective, he was perfectly ready
to back off and try a new line of attack. An idealist, he was no
visionary, no doctrinaire.
This is the spirit the Star hopes to maintain as it counts the
years. It is glad it is alive at a' time like this, so full of tremendous problems. It doesn't believe there ever was a more interesting period in the world's history. It hopes to do its share as one
of the factors in making that complex and bewildering thing
known as "public sentiment." It feels there never was more occasion than the present to be suspicious of panaceas. Part of its job
just now is to call attention to the danger signal:
Stop! Look! Listen!




NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY     31


321


The Star has been brought up in the school of hard knocks. It
doesn't mind getting its head broken in a good cause. For from
the outset it has always been independent, but never neutral.
It appreciates the forbearance of those of its readers who differ
from it in opinion, yet continue to subscribe. It knows it must
try their patience sorely at times. But it hopes they are used to
it-and besides, it trusts to atone for what they regard as aberrations in policy by supplying them more interesting reading matter
than they can get in any other newspaper on earth.
So it makes its bow on this thirty-ninth birthday, feeling fit as
a fiddle and hard as nails, and hoping all its numerous family of
readers are the same.
A Newspaper's Moral Character
As in human relationships, long and intimate acquaintance
is usually necessary to enable us to f orm a just estimate of a
newspaper's moral fibre. When we have done so we characterize it as: yellow, reliable, honest, f air, venal, obstinate, tolerant,
persistent, decent, truthful, sincere, considerate, kind, clean,
generous, brutal. Such epithets are self -explanatory. They
are applied to a paper regarded as a reflector of the real character of the owner or editor or of the group in control. Sometimes this reflection is not wholly true. A newspaper often
seems to be better than those in control. Sometimes it seem-s
to be worse. The ethical yardstick is the really significant
measure of all journalism.
Looking at Foreign Newspapers
When we study newspapers abroad, we find some American
types carried to even greater extremes tha~n at home; other extremes are hardly represented at all; and we find yet other
foreign types to which nothing in this country exactly corresponds. We find strange contradictions, such as a staid, conservative, ponderous newspaper in London printing the scandal
and indecencies of the divorce court with shamelessness unequalled in our journalism. We find some features that we
wish might surmount the wall of nationality between them and
us, as American methods and ideals are crossing the boundaries
into England.
Everywhere are found diversities in newspaper individuality




322 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
-to the end, perhaps, that the fittest may survive and the
best possible types of journalism be evolved.
J. St. Loe Strachey, editor of the London Spectator, has described seven types of newspaper in English journalism:
1, The newspaper in which the function of selling honest
news predominates, and in which the desire to spread particular opinions takes second place. Representative, the Daily
Telegraph.
2. The newspaper of opinion, such as the Daily News and
the Morning Post.
3. The party organ, like the Daily Herald.
4. The newspaper which frankly plays the part of advocate
for some society or organization.
5. judicial journalism, exemplified by the London Times.
6. Pure commercial journalism-which really exists for its
advertisements.
7. Personal journalism, of which France affords the best
examples.
Expression of Newspaper Policies
Editorial policies, whether or not they are explicitly announced, are the working out of the individuality of the paper.-the translation of its character into action. Reticence in regard to them is observed by some newspapers while others
advertise their convictions and intentions in the form of general "platforms" or statements of specific aims.
Those lesser policies having to do with the production of
the paper may be taken f or granted, while we look at some of
the platforms and the editorial bills of particulars.
For almost a century and a quarter, the New York Evening
Post has carried at the top of its editorial column the following:
The design of this paper is to diffuse among the people correct
information on all interesting subjects, to inculcate just principles
in religion, morals, and politics, and to cultivate a taste for sound
literature.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch prints in its "flag" a platform
written by Joseph Pulitzer:




NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY      32


323


The Post Dispatch will always fight for progress and reform,
never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues
of all parties, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers., never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted
to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news,
always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong
whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty.
Such announcements are sometimes condensed into one sentence, like the slogan of the New York Times, "All the news
that's fit to print," or that of the New York Tribune, "First to
last-the  truth: news-editorials-advertisements,"    or the
Christian Science Monitor's "First the blade, then the ear, then
the full grain in the ear."
To these representative statements of purpose may be added
such pronouncements as the following which the Providence
Journal printed as an advertisement in a journalistic trade
paper:
We are bound to tell the truth as we find it, without fear of
consequences-to lend no convenient shelter to acts of injustice
and oppression, but to consign them at once to the judgment of
the world. It may suit the purposes of statesmen to veil the
Statue of Liberty. Governments must treat other governments
with external respect, however black their origin or foul their
deeds; but happily the press has no such trammels, and while
diplomatists are exchanging courtesies, can unmask the mean heart
that beats beneath a star, or point out the bloodstains on the hand
which grasps a sceptre. The duty of the journalist is the same
as that of the historian-to seek out the truth, above all things,
and to present to his readers, not such things as statecraft would
wish them to know, but the truth as near as he can attain it. Let
those who will, preach silence on crimes which they cannot deny
and dare not even palliate; we have been trained in another school,
and will not shirk from boldly declaring what we freely think.
In connection with a change in ownership, the Kansas City
Journal printed a front page announcement from which the
following are excerpts:
The Kansas City Journal and the Kansas City Post will not set
themselves up bumptiously as self-appointed attorneys for Kansas
City.
The efforts of these newspapers will be directed toward print



324 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
ing the facts, in order that the people may reach, and act upon,
their individual conclusions.
Newspaper abuse of power is as bad as any other form of
tyranny.
Freedom of the p~ress is guaranteed by our constitution, but
freedom of the press does not mean newspaper license.
It does not mean license to distort news facts.
It does not mean license to print misleading headlines.
It does not mean license to blacklist citizens.
It does not mean license to assassinate character.
It does not mean license to grab political power.
It does not mean license to manipulate public projects for
private profit.
It does not mean license to browbeat advertisers, to attempt to
make or break organizations, to ruin socially, politically or in a
business way any individual for personal reasons.
The Journal and the Post, from time to time, will advocate the
things believed best to advance the public welfare. But in the
final analysis, the public welfare is in the keeping of our citizens.
No newspaper's judgment is infallible, and we shall not sulk nor
vent our spleen if a majority does not agree with us.
Specific policies are enunciated through such means as
"boxed" statements on the front page, editorial announcements,
or even posters on the billboards. One newspaper keeps
posted in its editorial rooms a list of some sixty "continuing
policies" established by its founder. Several papers have issued
pamphlets on their policies, entirely separate from their style
books. Many declare their purposes in the newspaper trade
journals.
At the head of its editorial page, the Chicago Tribune prints
the f ollowing:
Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may
she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.Stephen Decatur.
And just underneath, this platform:
The Tribune's Platform for Chicago: (1) Build the subway
now, (2) Abate the smoke evil, (3) Abolish Pittsburgh plus, (4)
Stop reckless driving.
Following is the Enquirer's platform for Cincinnati:




NEWSPAPER INDIVIDUALITY


325


(1) Construction, without delay, of adequate railway freight
and passenger terminals, (2) Building of rapid transit system
with a workable plan of operation, (3) Extension of boulevard
lighting plan, (4) Development of park and boulevard plans, (5)
Lessening of the smoke nuisance, (6) Construction of a river-tolake barge canal, (7) Advancement of Cincinnati's prestige as
a national art center.
The Kansas City (Kansas) Kansan announces that it stands
for:
(1) Equitable freight rates and better railroad service, (2)
North and south traffic-way and more cross-town car lines, (3)
Industrial and retail trade development, (4) Completion of Seventh
Street viaduct, (5) Renewed Northwestern railroad freight and
passenger service, (6) Street and road improvements and garbage
disposal system, (7) Definite city planning program, civic center,
new court house, (8) Public parks and playground equipment for
children.
Reiteration of concrete policies tends to keep the paper consistently in line for specified objects-and watchful. For public attention is constantly directed to its position on given issues.
But there is much to be said against that unvarying consistency
on which this policy seems to rest. On the whole, newspapers
are much too loath to change their minds.
Whether or not a paper should advertise its policies seems
to be largely a matter of personal preference. But consistency,
or the abandonment of it, is a question of honesty and courage.
Practice both in regard to adopting and changing policies has
much to do with making manifest the character of any newspaper.




CHAPTER XII


NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE, ITS ORIGINS AND OBJECTIVE
Radically divergent views are expressed f rom time to time
on the subject of newspaper influence. Does it exist at all?
Is it as great as formerly? Is it increasing or diminishing?
Is it good or bad? Is it an important or even a proper f anction
of journalism? How is it established and maintained? These
are some phases of the subject that engage the interest of students of the press.
The manner in which public opinion is formed and the laws
by which it operates, its characteristics from the standpoint of
the so-called mass psychology, and its social and political significance have been treated in authoritative books and articles.
The newspapers' part in all this has been the subject of much
speculation and of some careful study. But the question is so
complex and so elusive that it will no doubt long continue to
entice and baffle. If we examine briefly the fact of newspaper
influence, its dual nature, the bases on which it rests, the measure of its potency, the directions in which it works, and the
technique of its operation, we shall at least have opened the
way for further study by those bent on exploring the manner
of the newspaper's entrance into the secret places of the human
mind.
The Fact of Influence
As to there being such a thing as newspaper influence, the
testimony of observers, back through all the decades since newspapers began, is overwhelming. Typical of the scores that
might be quoted is this expression by Henry Ward Beecher:
Do you ever stop to think that millions have no literature, no
school and almost no pulpit but the press? Not one man in ten
326




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


327


reads books, but every one of us, except the very helpless poor,
satiates himself every day with the newspaper. It is the parent,
school, college, theater, pulpit, example, counsellor, all in one.
Every drop in our blood is colored by it.
And it was not true in Beecher's time, as it is now, that one
newspaper and a fraction for every family is printed in this
country every day.
But there are not lacking those who insist that newspaper
influence is a myth, a superstition, a fiction created by those
who profit thereby.
The disagreement arises, as is so often the case, from the
presence of one of those trouble-making words that may be
used to signify either one of two things. In this case it is the
word, "influence."
"Newspaper influence" is an expression that has at least two
rather distinct meanings. Strange as it may seem, the person
who says that the newspapers have little influence-much less
than formerly-and the person who says that the newspapers
have great influence-much more than formerly-may not be
far apart after all-may both be right. The same thing holds
true in specific cases. With respect to almost any newspaper
it is possible to hear that its influence is great, or, from another
source, that it is less than nothing. Both statements may be
approximately true. What is needed to resolve the paradox is
a definition of terms.
General or Indirect Influence
According to one use of the word "influence," the press is
credited with being a tremendous factor in human affairs
through its function as a distributor of information. When
viewed in this light its power resembles that of the schools, or,
to go to nature, that of sunlight or rain. It is one factor in
the process by which change is brought about, but it does not
directly produce change. It is a sort of passive agency or
means to the end rather than a dynamic, compelling force.
Most people seem to agree that, in this sense of the word, the
newspapers of to-day are tremendously powerful-more powerful than ever before.




328 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CASE.-A student of journalism found that one issue of a
newspaper, picked at random, contained information on more
than four hundred topics-persons, incidents, and ideas. A
representative number of a newspaper of 1820 contained information on sixty topics.
Comment.-It is not safe to draw the hasty conclusion that
the greater scope and bulk of the modern newspaper demonstrates its greater significance in the thoughts of men. The
enrichment of the modern school curriculum does not necessarily prove the greater potency of our schools. The whole
content of our lives would need to be considered in connection
with that question of relative influence. Any attempt to measure the general influence of the press to-day and yesterday
would also involve determination of the relative credibility of
newspapers in the periods studied, as well as the extent of
newspaper distribution-the attention that newspapers received
from the people. These interesting questions in the field of
historical research await the student of journalism. It is
-sufficient for the purposes of the present discussion to state,,
in passing, these conclusions, to be taken for what they may
be worth: that people give greater credence to statements of
fact in newspapers than formerly; that they are relatively
more assiduous readers of newspapers; and that newspapers
play a larger part in their thoughts and acts.
The really significant matter presented by this "case" is not
the relative potency of newspapers now and in the past, but
the absolute potency of the newspaper of the present as a
medium of information giving its readers facts as to some
hundreds of topics, in each issue. How much of this information is built into the reader's life? How much of it is merely
apprehended for the moment, then lost from mind, leaving
no trace?
Theoretically no mental state can be without its effects.
Every thought makes emotional steam that presses towards
action Qf the will. Each of us moves in' a course which is the
resultant of myriad impacts from the present and the infinite
past. A super scientist might view one of us as a physicist
views the atom in its complex setting of world forces. But
we may be permitted to approach the matter here less from




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


329


the academic than the practical standpoint. By influence we
do not mean merely a logical relation of effect to cause but an
appreciable dynamic relation. To be said to influence the
reader, a piece of information in a newspaper must modify or
remove or reinforce some attitude of the reader's mind or some
belief, or must induce or strengthen or weaken or dissipate an
emotional state, or must result in actual functioning of the will.
Of the four hundred items in the paper mentioned, possibly
fifty made an appreciable impression on any one reader. Perhaps only ten. Not the same ten or fifty in the case of any
two readers, especially in view of the fact that in actual practice no reader peruses everything in the paper and no two
readers assimilate precisely the same items or articles.
In the case of one reader, an article about heavy travel to
Alaska may establish a permanent desire to make that trip.
An item about the drowning of children at a seaside resort
may reinforce the decision of a timid mother to take the family
to the mountains. An account of holdups on the streets of a
neighboring city may inspire a decision by the reader to carry
little money in his pocket when visiting that place. A story
of a bank failure may tend to divert some people's surplus
into old stockings or town lots. A story of heroism may double
the number of potential heroes in the newspaper's territory.
News about people of wealth may deepen discontent. Or, to
mention a more stereotyped example, a story from the political
world may influence the reader's vote. Foreign news may
determine his views on foreign policies and his vote, in case an
issue is presented to the voters. Business news may give suggestions for enterprise or investments. News of sports may
largely determine what shall be his form of recreation. Much
that is found in the modern newspaper has an influence towards
educating the reader's tastes. That means affecting his likes
and dislikes; and that, in due course, means influencing his
actions. And so on ad infinitum. Each person's philosophy
of life grows, to greater or less degree, from the pages of his
newspaper. His thinking and his feeling and eventually his
doings have their origins partly there.
Thus it is not difficult to see how, in its capacity as a vehicle




330 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
of information merely, the newspaper has tremendous influence
in our lives. But it is an influence which must be described as
indirect or general. The newspaper supplies information as
the product of its organization. Its reporters and headline
writers are the real custodians of its influence. Public opinion
is its by-product. Information always has dynamic content,
but a newspaper may be thought of as indifferent to the possible
effects of what it publishes. That is not its concern. It is
the medium of transmission merely.
In an agricultural state, an election may be influenced by discontent due to crop failures. A good rain at the psychological
moment has been known to change the whole aspect of things
political. In that case the rain must be credited with influencing the election, but not directly, as if, out of the clouds, had
come a voice counselling support of the optimists' ticket.
The process in the formation of public opinion by this indirect method has been thus described by Chester S. Lord,
for thirty-three years managing editor of the New York Sun:
The newspaper's greatest influence is not in persuading persons
who have learned to think for themselves. It is exercised on
that great mass of our population that has no other source of
information than the newspapers. In thousands of families not
more than two or three books are purchased in an entire year, and
these are likely to be books of fiction. Yet few families are without a daily newspaper. Usually one paper only is taken, and how
could it happen otherwise than that the household should come to
the editor's way of thinking when no other thought than his comes
to their attention? This condition applies to people in moderate
circumstances, employees, helpers, those who live by physical toil
or who do the simplest kind of clerical work. They are easily
influenced because they have not been trained to think or analyze
for themselves. They depend on the newspaper for information,
explanation, suggestion. They have little inclination or time to
study with diligence the great questions of the day, and have few
or no facilities for doing so in any event. They are not interested
in profound argument, but they accept conclusions readily. If
the editor be wise he will seek to know what proportion of his
readers are of this type.
The average newspaper reader does not think overmuch of
what he is reading, but he is highly receptive. His conclusion is
ikely to be affirmative. It is his nature to believe rather than to




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


331


distrust. He is easily led by artful groupings of fact-rather more
easily led thus than by argument requiring much thought. There
is not time in these strenuous days for the old-fashioned kind of
thinking. Quick conclusions are the vogue, and they are not the
result of profound thought. Rather are they the result of hasty
thought. This is attested by the rush from one party to another
by the so-called independent voter, or the sudden dethronement
of the public idol, or the restoration of a discarded hero to public
popularity.
Direct Newspaper Influence
Sun and rain produce conditions from which effects follow
according to natural laws, but a tornado or a flood or a fire
gets results immediately and without intervention of a sequence
of conditions. This latter is the sort of influence which most
people have in mind when they say that the newspaper lacks it.
They mean influence of authority. Influence by dictation.
They conceive of the old-time personal journalist as dominating
his- readers through individual prestige which enabled him to
say to them "go," and they went. His opinion was their law.
His wisdom was the light of their path.
Allowing for the inevitable idealization of the great figures
of the past, for the exaggeration of their power as viewed
through the lense of time, it yet seems obvious that no modern
newspaper has the following of the most popular of newspapers
in the era of personal journalism. This notion is incapable
of proof, but seems to have gained acceptance generally among
journalists. Whether the fact may be explained by the greater
intelligence of the public to-day, rendering them less subject to
direct influence, or by the emphasis placed on news rather than
opinion in the modern newspaper, or by the institutional character 'of the larger newspapers of the present-whatever the
explanation may be-the condition exists. Whether or not a
diminution in newspaper influence-direct influence-is a loss
to journalism or a loss to society, and in either case, what could
be done about it, are highly important and interesting questions.
But before approaching them let us consider a few cases of
direct newspaper influence and the views of editors concerning
them.




332 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CAsE.-A newspaper became convinced that the only cure
for the evils of its city government was the adoption of the city
manager plan. By articles, mostly editorial in character, it
compelled attention to the subject, and through continuance of
its campaign over a period of years it brought about, or was
largely instrumental in bringing about, the desired change.
Comment.-A fairly clear case of the influence of a newspaper's opinions and the supporting arguments. Jnformati~an
useful in educating the public appeared in the news columns
but the campaign was predominately editorial.
CASE.-The support by newspapers of draft measures in
1917 has often been ref erred to as a case in which direct newspaper influence contributed powerfully to the furtherance of
National interests.
Comment.-A similar instance was the assistance to the
Liberty Loan campaigns rendered by the press through editorial exhortation and enthusiasm. It seems safe to say that
at least the greater part of the press influence in these cases
was direct rather than accessory.
CASE.-The success of the Washington conference on disarmament is often attributed to the insistence by the press
that the proceedings should be public and to the publicity
given its deliberations.
Comment.-The claim has been vigorously denied, but seems
to have considerable plausibility. Similarly large claims have
been made as to the influence of newspapers in the adoption
of woman's suffrage, the provision for electing United States
senators by direct vote, the adoption of prohibition, and practically all other great public measures. Nothing short of
omniscience could determine how much the press had to do
with these historic events or how much of its influence was the
direct weight of its opinion.
Relative Strength of Direct and Indirect Influence
It seems desirable for the sake of clarifying the problem
to trace the distinction between the two main conceptions of
newspaper influence, and to hazard an opinion as to which is
the more potent.
Indirect influence is subtle and -therefore less likely to




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


333


arouse antagonism. The facts are presented and the reader
is left to draw his own conclusions. Conclusions thus drawn
have superior validity for the person forming them. They are
his own conclusions. On the other hand, the risk is taken
that, for some reason, the reader will not draw any conclusions,
or not the right ones. He will not sift conflicting evidence.
He will not make the necessary effort to get a comprehensive
view of the question. He will form snap judgments and pass
on to the next subject. Is it not better, then, to offer him a
ready-made opinion that has been carefully thought out, and
take a chance at his accepting it?
Direct influence is the result of outspoken, and perhaps
courageous, utterance which if judicious and sincere should
command respect. But because of a tendency in human nature,
to independence or suspicion or downright contrariness, dogmatic statements are likely to be rejected. People do not enjoy
being "told." At least, some people do not like it and others
pretend not to like it.
CASE.-In the New York City campaign in 1921, the candidate who was overwhelmingly elected mayor was opposed by
nine newspapers in that city and supported by two. It was
afterwards explained that:
In the first place, despite editorial opposition, the anti-Hylan
newspapers gave uncolored news reports of both sides of the campaign. Hylan's speeches, like those of his opponent, were reported accurately and fairly, including the Mayor's most caustic
criticisms of the newspapers on the other side. The issues presented by each candidate were given full publicity. In this way
the public obtained facts on which to base its decision on election
day.
In the second place, more paid political advertising space was
used in the newspapers than ever before in a New York City
campaign. Hylan and his fellow-Democratic candidates used far
more advertising than did the opposing tickets. They concentrated
their appropriation in the newspapers most bitterly opposed to
them, using space that ranged from full pages to "readers."
Comment.-Editor and Publisher declared that,
In the old days such a preponderance of editorial opposition



334. THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
and the circulation ratio was two to one against Hylan-would
have meant the certain defeat of any candidate for public office.
It was a clear cut demonstration that the people are coming more
and more to read. newspapers for the news and the facts on which
to base their own judgment rather than accepting editors' opinions.
They are relying more and more on the news columns and
advertisements to give them these facts.
CAsE:.-During a recent national political convention a candlidate for president protested vigorously because of a news
story purporting to show that his delegates were leaving him.
He would have been less exercised by an editorial in the same
paper urging his delegates to abandon his camp. In some
cases, at least, facts in the news columns are more potent than
opinions in the editorial page. An account of a fuse firer's
daily tasks, some one has said, would have more influence than
any number of editorials arguing that he ought to be better paid
for his dangerous work.
Comment.-One advantage of direct methods in the editorial
columns is that iteration is possible as it is not possible in the
n ews columns. And it sometimes seems that half the potency
of the advocacy of any measure lies in endless iteration, just
as it constitutes the secret of the effectiveness of much advertising.
So it seems there are advantages in both means by which a
newspaper exerts influence. Probably the sun-and-rain method
bas more to do with human affairs than the earthquake-andcyclone method. But each is compatible with the other and
one of the joys of the profession of journalism comes from
making the best use of both methods.
The question suggests itself as to which kind of newspaper
influence it is for which the advertiser is willing to spend vast
amounts of money. His judgment surely would be worth considering. At first thought one would say that he buys the indirect influence. The newspaper is merely a means of transporting his announcements to the public, with something added
for prestige due to the paper's reputation for printing only
honest advertising and the general credibility of anything that
it prints in its columns. But the known care of any particular
newspaper in respect to scrutinizing its advertising amounts




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE35


335


to a direct endorsement of the advertiser and accounts f or the
higher rate he is willing to pay. Moreover any advertiser would
be willing to pay handsomely f or explicit editorial endorsement
if such could honorably be obtained. Endorsement of a book
by a well-known column conductor is said to be worth more to
the publishers than many advertisements. Some of the, scandals of journalism have resulted from purchase of a newspaper's direct influence.
Influence through "Campaigns" or "Crusades"
A newspaper crusade is an undertaking in which direct influence is sought to be exercised for a specific object and sometimes in a spectacular manner. In politics it is an attempt to
arouse the mass of indifferent voters through emotional appeal
-the emotions in this case being such opposites as hate and
love, gratitude and revenge, self-sacrifice and cupidity, admiration and contempt.
In civic matters, crusades are usually aimed at improvements
of a public nature and are designed to dissipate, for the time
being, the normal inertia of the community.
The technique of a crusade is simple. It must be preceded
by such educational work as may be necessary to prepare the
way for a favorable attitude on the part of the public. In
other words, the major premise must be well established, the
principle involved must be clarified. Then the most favorable
angle of approach to the specific proposition must be discovered
-f or example, shall the newspaper be in the foreground or
kept out of sight? Decision must be made as to whether or
not the campaign is to be personal. If not, the climactic form
of the educational process must be worked out. But if individuals are to be "cast" in the characters of the evils attacked
or the good sought, they must be selected, and mobilization
planned with them in-view. Honest' appraisal must be made
of the f orces that may be depended on to help and of those in
opposition that may be won over, frightened into line, or defeated by frontal attack. Then the first gun is fired and the
action begins. The advance must not be too fast. Alienation
of forces here and there must be guarded against. tfact 'must




336 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
be combined with force. Perhaps the military figure describes
the proceeding less appropriately than the favorite one of salesmanship. After victory has been won, it is necessary to decide
whether the newspaper shall crow or cackle or keep still.
It is all very interesting. It is often productive-of good.
It lends  romance   to  an  already  fascinating  vocation.
It suggests the professional services rendered by a good trial
lawyer to his client, or by an aggressive minister to his church.
Conducted in the professional spirit for beneficent ends, it is
the finest fruition of the journalist's career. It is creative jour-nalism.
Many notable cases of newspaper crusading, past and present, might be described; but it will suffice here to mention the
purposes accomplished in a few instances:
Exposure of the Tweed Ring frauds.
Raising funds for the lighting of the Statue of Liberty.
A famous campaign against get-rich-quick concerns in New
York.
The sensational investigation of insurance companies.
Campaign against election frauds.
The campaign for pure foods.
Reform of an inefficient police department.
Campaign for Postal Savings Banks.
Adoption of city planning and zoning.
Changes to more modern forms of city administration.
Withdrawal from business life of a prominent man convicted of immorality.
Adoption of the sane Fourth.
Elimination of dishonest and indecent advertising.
Suppression of race track gambling.
Sources of a Newspapers Influence
In considering newspaper individuality a sufficiently complete
survey has been made of the characteristics affecting the impressions, initial and permanent, made by a paper on its readers
-the physical, intellectual, volitional and moral qualities that
enter into the personality of a newspaper, as of a man. Due
allowance is to be made for the exceptional cases in which an




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


337


unkempt newspaper-ill-shaped page, narrow columns, worn
type, bad presswork, garish colors, crude make-up, messy pictures, obtrusive advertisements, exaggerated type faces-may,
by reason of intellectual or moral compensations, exert, as may
a man of the same sort, a notable influence. Or for another
sort of exceptional case in which an intellectually defective
newspaper-poorly written news, ill proportioned news, silly
features, thin or dull editorials, ill-informed criticism-may,
because of its neat appearance or its admirable spirit, gain a
surprising hold on its public. Or for the paper that makes up
for a lack of dynamic purpose by a certain disarming cleverness. Or for the one that disguises its lack of moral stamina
by a certain persuasiveness of editorial expression or by its
eagerness to render services to its individual readers or its community.
The investigator of the sources of newspaper influence must
needs take into account such matters as the background of the
institution: age, importance, competition, business success,
ownership, personnel of staff, location in state or city or town,
site and appearance of building, business standing and methods,
size of circulation, amount and kinds of advertising. Such
things count towards establishing a certain reader attitude.
These sources of influence are manifold and their evaluation
is a matter too complex to be undertaken with any expectation
of arriving at exact measurements. But a few outstanding
considerations, often emphasized by journalists and by the
critics of journalism, may be mentioned by way of emphasis.
The influence exerted by a newspaper is conditioned partly
on the newspaper's performance and partly on the attitude of
the readers, for which attitude the newspaper may or may not
be responsible. The readers of any given newspaper may,
for example, be peculiarly susceptible, or the opposite, to influence by their newspaper in some direction because of the
weather, the conditions of the crops, the state of the public
health, general financial conditions, or some other matter beyond the control of the paper. This fact, and others similar,
complicates the problem beyond hope of any exact determination. But not all the conditions controlling newspaper influence




338 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
are accidental. Some of them are well within the sphere of
deliberate planning by the judicious publisher.
Confidence of Readers
At the bottom of the whole matter is reader confidenceconfidence in the ability, the fairness, the sincerity, and the
unselfishness of the newspaper.
CASE.-A successful publisher thus expressed a prevailing
opinion concerning a great city daily in his vicinity:
I have wondered sometimes if this great newspaper were drifting into a policy that might presage the sacrifice of its predominance; whether or not it hasn't neutralized its power and
influence by its non-partisan partisanship and the bitterness and extremity of its methods to defeat the evils it has so consistently
fought-sometimes permitting hatred to warp its judgment.
I don't believe a word of the accusations of pecuniary interest
we hear urged against the paper or the individuals connected with
it, in every campaign. I am sure that no money motives have
ever actuated it in any attitude it has taken on any public question.
But it has seemed to me to have sometimes permitted itself to
be prompted by prejudices into activities that have alienated the
support of, or discouraged the co6peration of, many whose help
is needed for the accomplishment of the good things it has always
striven for. Bitterness and animosities have been unnecessarily
engendered, making impossible a maximum of strength in support
of the good causes for which it has fought. And yet it is one of
the greatest newspapers in the world, and is so recognized in
both America and Europe.
Comment.-Aggressiveness and fairness, combativeness and
tolerance seem to be almost incompatible. In this case nobody
questioned the ability of the paper and few doubted the sincerity of its beliefs; but everybody challenged its fairnesshence its credibility-and many felt that it was actuated by
a selfish love of power and dictation.
CASE.-A city paper had a reputation among newspaper men
and others of handling its news without prejudice. Its editorial page was ably conducted. Nevertheless it was not successful. Its owner was connected with a public service corporation. It accepted much doubtful advertising in the effort
to make both ends meet.




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


339


Comment.-Rightly or wrongly, the people felt that the
paper was not disinterested in public affairs. Even a newspaper demagogue seems to have a better chance for public
favor than a paper that seems indifferent to the people's interests.
CASE.-A group of newspapers advertised as follows in a
trade magazine:
The newspaper which a man is ashamed to take into his home
has little value for advertising purposes. It is quickly glanced
through for its sensational features and then thrown away. The
paper which is most effective as an advertising medium is the one
which has the confidence of its readers. Long years of experience have convinced the public of the honesty of these publications
and their readers receive your advertising message in a believing
frame of mind.
Comment.-The foregoing statement is not more true of the
influence of advertising than of the influence of other parts of
a newspaper. Respect for the moral standards of a paper is
a prerequisite of reader-responsiveness-and this is said with
full cognizance of the fact that newspapers achieve circulation
through nastiness carefully disguised under innocuous headings
or hypocritically justified as public service. Any psychologist
who can measure the degree of the reader's "believing frame of
mind" can also measure the newspaper's influence.
CASE.-The leading newspaper in an Eastern state had an
unusual record of defeats in politics: its candidate for the
presidential nomination was eliminated, the candidate it subsequently supported in the election was unsuccessful, its choice
for governor of its state and for mayor of its city were rejected at the polls.  In fact, through a series of years, it
never seemed to be on the winning side.     Its competitor
issued a lengthy statement setting forth these facts and claiming that "vicious and unreasonable assaults and frenzied campaign methods" were responsible for public distrust, coupled
with the alleged fact that the paper in question had made a
"bogus ownership statement," and exaggerated claims as to
its advertising and circulation.
Coivmient.-The testimony of a rival need not be taken at
face value, but the fact that repeated defeats invite an attack on




340 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
prestige should be recognized. The public admires a winner,
other things being equal. Instances in which the newspapers
in a city, united behind a candidate, have been decisively defeated compromise seriously the public's regard for newspaper leadership.
CASE.-A small-town newspaper advocated street extensions, and paving into a residence addition promoted by a
speculator in real estate.  It was subsequently shown that
the editor had an interest in the project. His disinterestedness in any matter advocated by him was thereafter a matter
o f doubt.
Comment.-The small newspaper and its editor and owner
are virtually two terms of an equation. The influence of the
one is the influence of the other, with some small allowance
for the "psychology of print,"-the prestige of the printed
page-and for the fact that people recognize that a man's
newspaper is the man at his best. In this instance perhaps
water does rise a little higher than its source.
Success in business is also favorable to a publisher's influence unless there is question as to his business methods. A
man who is a f ailure in his own business loses his license to
discuss authoritatively the public business-a harsh f act, sometimes, but difficult to set aside.
Good Will of Readers
We do much to oblige those whom we like. Admiration or
affection warms us to a point at which response to the influence
of the person admired is easy. It is difficult to heed the advice,
however wise, of the person we dislike. The same holds true
of our newspaper, large or small. A friendly, fair, agreeable,
tolerant newspaper can lead us far, provided its wisdom and its
sincerity are established in our minds. We may fear a sarcastic
or cynical paper; we may respect an austere or domineering
paper; we may enjoy a humorous sheet; we may hate a growling, nagging organ of discontent. None of them will have
much influence over us in competition with a publication that
manifests what we regard as agreeable human qualities.




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


341


CASE.-A newspaper that conducts many personal service
departments is convinced that one result of the thousands of
contacts, by mail, with its readers is an enlarged influence of
the paper in all lines.
Comment.-If the thousands of letters received by the
various departmental editors are answered to the satisfaction
of the inquirers, a strong attitude of good will should result.
But is it true that all or even most of the advice given is
satisfactory? And how about the readers who look upon
such departments as cheap or mawkish? It is safe to say
that the business of giving advice can easily be overdone. It
does not always lead people to say "my" paper rather than
"the" paper.
With respect to the contacts and reciprocal relations with
readers, one publisher says: "One of our largest assets is the
friendliness of the readers and this is best developed by features
which give readers a chance to write their opinions or conjectures. Guessing contests and other contests are of this sort."
Prizes for names, missing titles, etc. are variations of the same
idea. Of some seventy newspapers questioned on the subject,
practically all declared that, "Whatever draws the newspaper
and its readers closer together is valuable," or, "A personal
response by a reader makes him feel a personal interest in the
paper," or, "The ideal relationship is that the reader should
look upon the newspaper as a friend. This is best brought
about by encouraging reader response in one way or another."
CASE.-A periodical advertised that its aim was to afford
its readers the opportunity of "crossing swords with it once
a week" to the end that it might contribute to "a purposeful,
instructed, articulated public opinion."
Comment.-An    admirable objective but an unfortunate
figure to describe the means of reaching it. At least it does
not suggest the wielding of much editorial influence. Provocation to antagonism may be zestful sport but it is surely less
productive of editorial influence than the spirit of "come, let
us reason together."
CAsE.-The Detroit News at one time had two men going
out among its readers asking criticisms of the paper and




342 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER


finding wherein it f ell short.- One man went directly, every
day, to persons mentioned in the news stories and inquired if
there were any inaccuracies, any unfairness. The idea was
not to wait f or the complaints but to proceed aggressively to
the business of creating and preserving good' will.
Comment.-Similar survey work has been done by other
newspapers in the effort to find out what people thought of
the paper, its f aults, its meritorious f eatures, its value to the
community, its influence. The testimony given by executives
of such papers has usually been that these surveys resulted
in enhancement of the newspaper's strength and popularity, in
spite of some baffling conflicts of testimony by readers.
CASE.-The Chicago Tribune, smarting under the criticism
of Oswald Garrison Villard, editor of the Nation, who described it as the world's worst newspaper, invited its readers
to tell what they thought of it, in letters of five hundred
words. It printed each day the letter it regarded as the best
and gave the writer a prize of $25.
Comment.-Not a bad way to handle the situation.
CAsE.-A newspaper publisher attributed his dominance in
his field to the fact that he had always boasted judiciously of
every achievement. He gave due publicity to material success,
as evidenced by increased circulation and advertising and added
equipment. He described each wonderful achievement of the
press association which served him and the enterprise of his
own reporters. By building up respect and admiration, he
built up good will.
Comment.-There is no doubt that the influence of the
press is furthered by the wonderment people feel at its more
spectacular achievements. The magnitude of the machinery
for gathering and printing the news is not a little impressive.
Inventive skill, enterprise, and speed still have power to thrill
as they are developed in a newspaper's broad reach for materials and almost equally broad distribution of its finished
product. It all spells prestige, and prestige spells influence.
Receptivity of Readers
A newspaper which has won the confidence and good will
of its readers has insured receptivity and responsiveness which




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


343


are the forms or manifestations of influence. At the foundation of all confidence or receptivity is the established credibility
of the paper-its reputation for desiring accuracy and truth.
Next to this is confidence that the newspaper knows what it is
talking about-is authoritative.
CAsE.-Newspapers often "fall for" some irresponsible
scientist who enjoys publicity and who supplies remarkable
stories of discoveries likely to be revolutionary in their effects.
Comment.-The influence of newspapers with men of science
seems to be inconsiderable. General skepticism seems to have
been induced by lack of judgment in respect to scientific news.
Receptivity is at low ebb,
CAsE.-George S. Johns, resident editor of the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, has related how for years that paper exposed
and fought boss rule and corruption in municipal and state
government. At one time it printed information of the sale
of a franchise for $1,250,000, giving the names of the men
involved in the deal. Ring rule prevented action by the
grand jury at the time. It was several years before prosecutions were begun; but finally public sentiment, under fearless
leadership, brought about a house cleaning.
Comment.-Receptivity and response are not always prompt.
There is a cumulative effect of newspaper influence as in case
of other forces. Education is a slow process. Persuasion is
not always equal to the inertia encountered.
Injudicious demands are sometimes made upon the receptivity of the public. A newspaper may grow impatient and defeat its- purposes. The editor moves quickly to a conclusion
and expects equally prompt consideration and decision by his
readers. Large bodies of people cannot often be swung in
that manner. Hysteria sometimes does it-the mob spirit;
but results in that case are not usually constructive.
CASE.-An editor in an anthracite coal district undertook
to compel the coal-owning interests of his county to pay taxes
on valuations adequate to insure decent civic government,
education,' sanitation, roads. His fight extended over a period
of thirty years, being finally rewarded by victory when thi
editor was sixty-seven years old.




344 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Comment.-An example of the "staying qualities" of some
editors who accept commissions as champions of public justice.
Difficulty of Making Measurements
The complexity of the problem of newspaper influence resides in the fact that it has two unknown quantities, two variables, two groups of imponderable factors. One is the source
of the power-the newspaper itself-the other is the objective,
the recipient, the reader. The nature, amount, and direction
of the influence is determined at the receiving end. It depends
on what is latent in the reader., his knowledge, temperament,
ideals, philosophy, conditions of life, and numberless other circumstances.
No -one would undertake reducing the subject to the f orm of
an exact science. Approximation is the best that can be hoped
for. Reasoning a priori we can proceed from our knowledge
of the nature of the press and our understanding of the nature
of human beings to some conclusion as to what will happen
when the two are brought in contact under given conditions.
But at best we are engaged only in a sort of glorified guesswork.
Or., we can proceed inductively from the human angle, studying effects, in the form of response to newspaper influence, and
endeavoring to trace them to their causes. We can ask people
to tell us when and how and why they have been influenced by
a newspaper or when and why and how they have resisted being
so influenced. We can subject them to questionnaires and
instruct them in the ways of self-examination. They will do
their best for us, groping doggedly along shadowy pathways
clf causation, from some concrete act., such as a vote cast against
a constitutional amendment, to the half-realized sources of the
purpose and the feeling responsible for the act. Usually the
bloodhounds of introspection lose the scent in some black bog
of the unconscious; but occasionally they arrive confidently at
a newspaper's door.
Once in a while a witness will testify that he never "caught
fire" except from spontaneous combustion, but even in such




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE34


3 4 5


case the combustion usually appears to have started in a pile
of newspapers. Any fairly keen observer of himself can at
least tell us to what extent the newspaper determined his
thoughts during a given day, what he talked about, what he
f elt about. Perhaps he can tell in what ways his day would
have been different if the world he lived in had been newsp~aperless.
All this is not very scientific, not very exact,, but it is the
best that investigators have been able to do and it at least gives
food for thought.
Not infrequently we are offered evidence as to the impotence
of the press. James Schermerhorn, formerly a Detroit publisher, points to the adoption of prohibition and of woman's
suffrage as two movements which he thinks were won without
any considerable co6peration from the press. He also calls
attention to the newspapers' diffidence in promoting sex hygiene, their failure to keep corrupt men out of office, to supplant industrial strife with industrial democracy, to further
world peace, to supplant war hatred by a spirit of conciliation.
More often, unfavorable criticism is aimed at positive evils
allegred to result from destructive or antisocial forces let loose
by the press-international distrust, class antagonisms, morbid
curiosity, indifference to social and political evils, mutual
suspicion of motive.
To attempt a mathematical formula for the problem, we may
say that influence equals credibility plus forcefulness divided
by prejudice plus inertia.
if, for example, a man throws open the door of your house
and cries "fire!" his influence is likely to be great-not his own
personal influence, but the influence of his message. If his
credibility is dliscounted by the fact that you know him for a
great practical joker, coupled,' with the added f act that it is the
first day of April, you may not act quite so energetically. If
his manner of speaking lacks something of sincerity, you may
even continue to sit in your rocking-chair. The quotient of his
credibility and forcefulness divided by your prejudice and
inertia is zero.




346 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Main Avenues of Influence
One direction in which newspapers are reputed to exert influence is in acquainting public men with the state of public
opinion on any question of the hour.
CAsE.-Typical of the testimony of public men generally is
this sentence from a letter written by a member of Congress:
Newspapers have a large part in enabling men in public life to
estimate public sentiment. For twenty years I made it a rule to
read the papers from my district and especially to read the news
as given by the country correspondents covering public gatherings,
meetings at which resolutions were adopted, etc.
Comment.-Indirect influence, but none the less important.
Similarly, many interests depend upon the newspapers, and
upon direct answers to questions sent to editors, to forecast
the probability of legislation on some subject. A survey as
to public sentiment respecting laws to restrict or prohibit the
use of tobacco in some form, accurately forecast the passage
of such laws in Utah and the repeal of similar laws in three
other states.
As to the direct influence of newspapers on public officials,
testimony reveals all possible shades of opinion. Most legislators enter indignant denial that they allow newspapers to
influence them, but at the same time insist that this fact is to
be regarded as confidential. Open denunciation or disparagement of newspapers is uncommon. On the other hand, appreciation of the press as an organ of public opinion is often heard
on public occasions and occasionally in private. A letter typical of many from politicians says:
The extent of the influence of newspapers depends on circumstances. I have run for office when all the papers opposed me
and also when they all favored me-and been elected both times.
I can't see that it made any difference. I think newspapers have
more influence in other directions than in politics. They are less
accurate in politics and the people know it.
Discussing this question, Chester S. Lord has said:
To-day the newspapers, with their simultaneous publication all
over the continent, their fast printing and quick delivery, keen




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


347


all the people instantly informed. They are able immediately to
reflect public opinion, thus making themselves indispensable to
the Government. Vast though our distances may be, we have the
healthiest kind of public spirit and response. The sentiment of
the nation is at the Government's disposal in a jiffy.
This was strikingly illustrated after one of President Wilson's
intimations to Germany that unconditional surrender must be a condition of armistice. The same edition of a New York newspaper
that contained the President's declaration also contained comments on that declaration made by more than two hundred different publications from Maine to California, and every one of them
insisted on unconditional surrender. The President knew instantly
that the people were with him.             V
For very many years it has been the practice of governmentsand yet more persistently the practice of political leaders-to put out
feelers through the press. A new policy, a questionable nomination, a new plan of taxation, may be contemplated. The Government seeks to feel the pulse of the people on its desirability. Hints
are given to the Washington correspondents that the policy or the,
plan has been suggested and is under consideration. The correspondents pass it along to their newspapers, well fortified with
those stale old prefixes, "It is said that," or, "Rumor has it that,"
or, "A person high in authority who does not wish to be quoted
hints that," and so on-giving an outline of the proposed action.
This is followed by another feeler passing out a little more information, saddled also on some fictitious persons. On any important question the public flashes a quick response. The proposal
in Washington, for instance, to double the tax on theater tickets
and admissions to places of amusement drew a howl of disapproval
that defeated the plan. The people didn't want their pleasures
taxed additionally.
The conclusions of so wise an observer as James Bryce are
worthy of consideration. The summary of his views as to
the influence of the press on the workings of popular governnient is stated as follows in his Modern Democracies.
Universal suffrage has immensely increased the proportion of
electors who derive their political views chiefly or wholly from
newspapers.
The causes which enable newspapers well managed, and commanding large capital, to drive weaker papers out of the field,
have in all countries reduced the number of influential journals,
and left power in comparatively few hands.
The influence upon opinion exercised by a great newspaper "as




348 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
compared with a prominent statesman or even with the debates in
legislative bodies, has grown.
Newspapers have become more and more commercial undertakings, devoted primarily to their business interests.
The temptations to use the influence of a newspaper for the
promotion of pecuniary interests, whether of its proprietors or of
others., have also increased. Newspapers have become one of the
most available instruments by which the Money Power can make
itself felt in politics.
The power of the press is a practically irresponsible power, for
the only thing it need fear (apart from libel suits) is the reduction
of circulation, and the great majority of its readers, interested only
in business and sport, know, little of and care little for the political
errors or te'rgiversations it may commit.
Press power is wielded more effectively through the manipulation and suppression of news than by the avowed advocacy of any
political views. It is more dangerous in the sphere of foreign
than in that of domestic policy, and is one of the chief hindrances
to international goodwill.
Democratic government rests upon and requires the exercise of
a well-informed and sensible opinion by the great bulk of the citizens. Where the materials for the formation of such an opinion
are so artfully supplied as to prevent the citizens from judging
fairly the merits of a question, opinion is artificially made instead
of being lfct grow in a natural way, and a wrong is done to democracy.
A distinguished newspaper correspondent, Philip Gibbs,
writing in the Saturday Evening Post has thus expressed his
view of the power of the press in the education of nations:
The easiest way of educating the mass mind of Europe would
be by the power of the press. If for a single month the newspapers of Europe could, by some miracle, devote themselves to telling the plain truth of what another war will be, and how easily the,interests and burdens of each nation could be readjusted and
reconciled by a little give and take, to the vast advantage of all
of them, with a simple plea for the comradeship of all common.
folk across the frontiers in the spirit of Christian charity, there
would be a tremendous, an emotional, a joyous response from
hundreds of millions of bumble men and women.
The press by united propaganda could lift up the very heart and
soul of Europe to a new vision of justice. It is the most powerful machine for the transmission of ideas and knowledge existing
in the world to-day. But it is a machine directed for the most




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE34


349


part in Europe by men of low morality, corrupt interests, political
cunning and ambition, and narrow minds. It is not a truth-telling
power, but, with some honorable exceptions, a machine of prodigious energy and influence devoted at the best to half truths,
limited aspects of truth, careful economies of truth; and at the
worst to lies, faked news, faked facts and figures, wicked, unashamed treachery to the ordinary standards of honor and fair
play.
Newspaper Influence on Taste
An advertisement of a newspaper, having distinguished traditions going back two generations, expresses the idea thus:
"Evil communications corrupt good manners." So runs the
old saw. It means that if you spend too much time with lowbrows you are likely to become a trifle depressed in the forehead
yourself.,
All of which has to do with newspaper companionship, for reading one newspaper regularly is actually being in the mental companionship of that group of editors, writers, and artists.
You can no more escape the influence of their thinking and
character than you can escape the effect 'of the air you breathe,
be it pure or polluted.
Do not deceive yourself into thinking that this influence is a
light matter. It is quite the opposite.
For the grown person this influence is important, wh-,ile for the
young the association with men and women of intelligence in
daily life is no whit more desirable than meeting good mental
society in the newspaper. Good taste and good judgment are
either fostered or lessened by the companionship which your
children find in their newspaper.
And in another advertisement in the same series, the subtle
character of this influence is described as follows:
The real, ever-present, always-working power of the press is
one of the most intangible of influences. It is not seen or touched
or heard. It is not even consciously exercised in the daily work
by the great majority of men who form the press.
Men, women, and children who read are not conscious of the
influence and would deny it if questioned.
But they can no more get away from the influence of their newspapers than they can get awvay from the influence of their homes,
their businesses, their friends, or their habits. The tone of the
newspaper you read is as important a factor in moulding your life
as any of these.




350 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
In Cities and in Small Towns
Discussing the fields of influence open to large and small
newspapers, Chester S. Lord may again be quoted:
In the big cities the editor knows the quality of mind he is addressing better than does the writer in smaller communities. In
New York, for instance, every sheet has a different clientele.
Everybody knows which, newspapers by reason of their scholarly
editorial articles, criticisms, reviews and nonsensational news appeal to the highest intelligence. And every one knows the ones
that appeal to the non-thinking public. But in smaller towns the
newspaper goes to the wise and the unwise alike. The task of
pleasing everybody requires study, and here editorial writing becomes an art indeed. The scholar may sneer at the article that
pleases the man bf toil, and both may despise the suggestion that
convinces the man of medium intelligence.
The editor of scholarly instincts naturally wants to please the
highest intelligence among his readers, but the readers who really
think in a scholarly way are few. The great proportion of readers
care little for so-called polite literature; neither do they care for
profound instruction. They want the simpler sort of editorial
comment and are better pleased with that which explains than with
that which argues. They want their news adorned with breathcatching headlines in big type.
The opinion may be ventured that in respect to its general
influence-educational, unifying, socializing-the small paper
is quite the equal of its larger contemporary; but that in direct
influence it is inferior. Its opinions on national or international questions do not have authority based on special knowledge, and its views on state or local matters have little more
weight than the views of one man. Its influence in directing
attention to a given subject is perhaps more vital than in forming opinion upon it.
Nevertheless the increasing numbers of small papers which
are abandoning the editorial page are following a regrettable
policy. True, the editor of a small paper is a busy man; true
his editorial work is often done in slipshod fashion; true his
readers are primarily interested in local news items; but should
a man worthy to be a newspaper publisher relinquish the opportunity to exert a direct editorial influence? Should he
cheerfully "scrap" a great tradition of his vocation? Should




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE


351


he be content to merchandise information when he might accomplish something as interpreter and guide?
Waning Authority of Newspapers
The opinion that the power of the press is waning comes
often from within the profession itself. Writing in Everybody's Magazine of "The American Newspaper," George
Creel, chairman of the committee on public information during
the World War, said:
Measured in terms of power, the press has not half the influence
it had in the days when "extras" were unknown, and when editors
recognized their high responsibilities.  Election after election
proves conclusively that the press is not the controlling factor that
it believes itself to be or that timorous politicians imagine. And
the reason is that newspapers are too close to themselves and too
far away from people. The press employs none of the keen laboratory methods to which other industries turn more and more. Unlike every other selling organization, it makes no effort to study its
trade in order to find out what it needs or what it wants.
The case for the editorial is no better than that for the news
column. One can count on the fingers the editorial pages of the
country that carry weight. And there are good reasons. For the
most part, the average run of editors "den up" in their sanctums,
either spinning out of themselves like so many silkworms, or else
penning condemnation or approval based upon facts that another
man has gathered and into the truth of which they have not inquired. They are the victims of self-induced paralysis, they avoid
the living stream, and slosh around in the backwaters of life.
An English view by "K. P." is that,
The extent to which the public is really influenced is hard to
determine. That the press trust has a following is evident. On
certain occasions, as for instance at elections, it may be decisive.
An illustration of this is the victorious campaigns which the Daily
Mirror has on two occasions waged against the Conservative candidates in one of the London districts. A large and centrally
directed group of papers, mobilized for a limited purpose, and
developing all its allied publicity machinery, can admittedly stir
public opinion for the moment.
On the other hand, it is uncertain whether this influence is more
than momentary. There are many indications that the popular
press in our day has only the lightest hold upon its readers and




352 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
that in any case it makes no continuous contribution to the formation of public opinion. The great electoral successes of the British Labor Party, won without help from the press, seem to show
that the voting masses are to a great extent immune,to newspaper
agitation.
The lessening of newspaper authority is explained by some
as due partly to the growth of the movies and the development
of radio. Also to the greater number of publications and the
consequent mixture of voices; and to the diminished amount
of reading done on account of the attractions outside the home
accessible through the automobile.
Much has been written regarding the supposed loss of faith
in newspaper credibility as a result of the mobilization of the
press for strategic purposes during the war. The public
learned many lessons in skepticism. What the armies learned
is described by an English writer, C. E. Montague:
They felt they had found the press out. The most bloody defeat in the history of Britain, a very world's wonder of valour
frustrated by reckless misuse, of regimental glory and staff shame,
might occur on the Ancre on July 1, 1916, and our press come out
bland and copious and graphic, with nothing to show that we had
not quite a good day-a victory really. Men who had lived through
the massacre read the stuff open-mouthed. Anything, then, could
figure as anything else in the press-as its own opposite even.
Black was only an aspect of white. With a grin at the way he
must have been taken in up to now, the fighting soldier gave the
press up. So it comes that each of several million ex-soldiers now
reads every solemn appeal of a government, each beautiful speech
of a premier, or earnest assurance of a body of employers with
that maxim on guard in his mind, "You can't believe a word you
read."
If it appears that the romance of the old journalism has departed from us and that the newspaper leadership of our day
is less dramatic than in the seemingly more picturesque past,
shall we regard the change with apprehension or with complacency? Surely the latter, both from the standpoint of journalism and of society, for the old leadership, however dynamic,
was not more intelligent than the new, nor more unselfish. As
for issuing orders to its readers and having them  ofbeyed, a




NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE35


353


modern newspaper may be relatively impotent--modern journalism may have lost something-yet in other ways it wields
more influence than ever before. In so far as the attractiveness of the profession of journalism lies in its opportunities for
power, the profession was never more inviting to ambitious
youth than at present.
Comparison of the power wielded by a newspaper and that
of a statesman is an engaging undertaking but practically impossible of determination. The struggles between the Northcliffe press and Premier Lloyd George are historic but not
illuminating. Public opinion is so volatile that one wonders if
it does not sometimes reverse itself f rom one day to the next.
Another question that has been raised by, students in the
field of comparative journalism is the relative potency of the
influence of the press in this country and in others. Obviously
there is lacking to us whatever prestige accrues to a press that
is known as official or semi-official, but likewise whatever discredit comes to a press known to be subsidized or controlled.
We lack any great national newspapers such as are possible in
smaller countries, but a degree of unity results from the development of our great news gathering and disseminating organizations. Newspaper influence penetrates more thoroughly in
our country than in those having large masses of illiterates.
Our public is more homogeneous.
Influence of the Foreign Language Press
From time to time attention is drawn to the existence in
this country of a foreign-language press exerting more or less
influence on special nationalistic or racial'groups. In time of
war it is seen as a menace. Even in time of peace utterances
such as the following occasionally get into print:
Through this foreign press, which controls millions who read
nothing else, they are herded together for common action in political, social and economic affairs. They are mentally clubbed into
line, and have been trained for centuries to obey without independent thought. The publication offices of these newspapers are
factories, where anti-American opinion, concepts, and propaganda
are manufactured. Through them, there pours into this country
a flood of enemy alien sentiments.




354 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The opposite view is advanced by those who point out that
these foreign groups are more contented through having newspapers in their own languages and that they learn more about
American institutions from these papers than they could get
in any other way.
The question is one that merits the attention of research
students of our journalism.
The satisfactions in wielding journalistic influence are thus
described by Chester S. Lord who experienced them during a
long career:
The editor may exercise his gifts of persuasion in unnumbered
directions. The important activities of the world pass by him in
daily review. His mental vision may survey the field of human
thought, furnishing delightful subjects for consideration, for study,
for exposition. In all modesty and without vainglory he may re,
joice in the satisfaction of well-directed influence; may find pleasure in the responsibility of influencing public opinion; may take
pride in the endeavor to aid in the uplift of his fellow men.
What greater reward hath man than this?
He may pulverize presidents, cremate cabinets, scalp senators
and sandbag sin and superstition. There are no problems of statecraft, science, society or religion that he may not undertake.
Everybody likes to tell his neighbor the latest news and gossip,
and especially likes to add what he things about it. The newspaper editor tells his information to thousands and he finds additional satisfaction in telling it well. To take a hand in every
political shindy is uproariously good fun; indeed, notwithstanding
all its importance, its responsibilities, its dignities, there is 'more
fun in the newspaper business than in any other occupation known
to man.
Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying:
With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can,
succeed. Consequently, he who moulds public sentiment goes
deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.




CHAPTER XIII


PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY
Special consideration may well be given to that exercise of
newspaper influence which has for its object some specific
improvement in the community. Such effort is regarded by
some publishers as being outside the proper sphere of a news-ý
paper. It is difficult to appreciate that point of view. Fundamentally a newspaper is a vehicle of information, a general
educational influence, a marketplace for the world of commerce;
but what principle restricts it from also being a counsellor,
a champion, a crusader? Where is the incongruity in this
broadening of function, provided the primary obligation of
presenting the truth is not compromised? And it need not
be. Supplying facts and revealing truth are the minimum
requirements of good journalism. Service to the community
and to individual readers is thrown in for good measure.
The fact that the word service has been worn threadbare,
that it has been used blatantly by hypocrites engaged in exploitation has not destroyed its character as a good word. It has
no adequate synonym.
The Dynamic Ideal Not Modern
While newspaper leadership has followed many new lines
in these times and the varieties of service- rendered surpass
any dreams of the older journalism, yet the spirit of accomplishment wag present then as now. Writing of the New York
Tribune under Greeley and of its contemporaries, James H.
Wilson, biographer of Dana, has thus described their attitude
towards their time:
Nothing seems to have been too trivial, or too great for that
matter, for their consideration. Standing, as it were, like sentinels
on a watch tower, they caught the first signs of every social or




356 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
political disturbance, and took cognizance of every event which
promised to affect the public interest.
They were leaders, not followers, of public opinion. They were
teachers, not always wise or infallible, but always deeply in earnest
and full of enthusiasm; always striving mightily after the truth as
they saw it, and endeavoring to draw correct conclusions from it,
and in this noble work no opposition silenced, no danger daunted
them.
A type of subject sometimes dealt with editorially is
illustrated in the following from an issue of the Tribune
in 1855:
Eating at our railroad stations is a very unsatisfactory and unwholesome performance. The passengers should eat as the cars
roll on, leaving the time of stoppages for wood and water at their
disposal. At 7 A. M. the provider should step aboard with his
cooked food, which he deposits in a baggage half-car at the head
of the train, where he should have a stove to heat water and keep
his provisions warm. Then he should enter the forward passenger-car with food for four on a waiter, and the first four who wish
to eat should take this, pay for it, face their seats to each other,
and eat as deliberately as they choose. Thus all who want may b..
supplied.
It seems about time that we should also have berths fitted oil
our night trains.
Such editorial utterances, to be sure, bear little resemblance
to the thoroughgoing newspaper "campaign" of the present,
but the driving force is the same; only the methods are
different.
The New York World under Joseph Pulitzer employed the
persistent drive to accomplish some specific purpose. Rapid
transit, opening of museums on Sunday, reforms in corrective
institutions were some of its objectives.
From the day of its founding by William Rockhill Nelson, in
1880, the Kansas City Star has been a dynamic newspaper.
"The Star has a greater purpose in life than merely to print
the news. It believes in doing things," declared its founder.
The paper immediately set out to improve the streets, to encourage intelligent tree planting, to show the economy and
beauty of permanent stone bridges. Colonel Nelson's biographer records that,




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY  3


357


His first triumph as a defender of the faith was in preventing
the gift of the city's streets to a transportation company that had
demonstrated its unwillingness to furnish adequate street-car service. The greatest municipal achievement in which Mr. Nelson
aided-the parks-is inseparable from the interlacing and interlinking system of parkways and boulevards-streets of superfine
quality, demonstrating by the manner of their construction and
their systematic maintenance what intelligent road making might
mean.
In the Far West as early as 1882 the San Francisco Chronicle
undertook to encourage fruit growing on the Pacific coast.
It promoted the first demonstration of the use of electricity
for lighting purposes. It conducted experiments in weather
forecasting, for the protection of fruit growers, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Weather Bureau. It
campaigned against loan sharks in its city. It worked for
city beautification.
The newspapers mentioned in connection with public service
undertakings are usually large city dailies. That is only because such cases are more conspicuous. The small dailies and
weeklies of the country are quite as much devoted to campaigns
for specific ends as their larger contemporaries. And they
are not mere imitators. The ideal of direct service appeals
to the great majority of editors, whether their fields are large
or small.
Answers to questionnaires sent to several hundred editors
form the basis for the summaries in this chapter, and eighty
per cent of the answers came from editors in smaller towns.
The ideal of community service is emphasized by numerous
annual awards: the Pulitzer award for the newspaper performing the "most disinterested and meritorious public service,"
and the award for the best account of the services of the press
during the year; the Missouri Press Association's cup for
the paper doing the greatest good for its community, are examples. Turning the idea around, the Birmingham (Alabama)
News awards a cup to the citizen judged to have done the most
for his town during the year.
Let us now consider some of the principal directions taken
by these efforts at community service.




358 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Funds for Charity and Relief
Among the earliest and the most common of the activities
by newspapers, outside the strict limits of disseminating information, a-re those having to do with the relief of suffering.
CASE.-Free ice for mothers and babies in the tenement
districts is one form of relief work occasionally promoted by
a city newspaper,, the first instance of which is said to have
been the raising of a fund f or the purpose by the New York
Herald in 1892.
Comment.-T he newspaper, in a case like this, functions
as a provider of opportunity f or philanthropy as well as a
purveyor of ice to the poor. It places the opportunity f or
humanitarianism not only bef ore those in position to respond
in a large way but also bef ore those whose response can be
only in pennies and dimes. It educates the community in
charity and supplies a convenient outlet f or the sympathy it
arouses.
Among the other similar undertakings that might be mentioned are:
Fresh air funds, the purpose of which is to provide vacations in the country, during summer months, for children of
the poor in cities. The first movement of the sort initiated by a newspaper is said to have had its beginning in
New York in the Seventies through the efforts of the Evening
Post and the Tribune. Thousands of children have been sent
to the country each season since then, the total number being
estimated at 360,000.
Christmas funds, Goodfellow activities following a plan
originated by the Chicagro Tribune, Community Christmas trees.
Also in St. Louis a campaign by the Post-Dispatch to reduce
the price of Christmas trees by publicity as to prices received
by producers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Milk funds.
Funds for people suffering from some disaster such as the
Chicago fire of 1876, the Johnstown flood, the Galveston flood,
the San Francisco earthquake and fire, the earthquake in Japan.
Assistance for relatives of those killed in the performance,
of acts of heroism or in the line of duty.




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY


359


Promotion of establishments for social service and correction
and the maintenance of psychological clinics, sanitaria for
children, and juvenile courts.
Assistance for the "hundred neediest cases," a form of
charity inaugurated by the New York Times. It publishes a
brief description of each case similar to the following which
was "case 31":
John was 28 when he died of tuberculosis last summer. He
left his wife, Laura, with a four-year-old boy, a two-year-old girl,
and an unborn baby who arrived several months later. The two
little ones cling to Laura's skirts, as she holds the smiling infant
in her lap, and want to know when their daddy will come home with
things to eat. That is all they look forward to now. When
Laura is stronger and the baby older she will be able to do something to support them. Now, however, it is a throw between the
orphan asylum or the home she is anxious to keep for them.
"Total amount needed, $650."
For Industrial Benefits
The newspaper is proverbially a town builder and its efforts
frequently take the form of advocacy for some new business
enterprise either in the town itself or the neighboring territory.
CASE.-A newspaper decided that the prosperity of its
section would be increased by cultivation of sugar beets. It
printed educational matter; persuaded individuals to make
the experiment; and eventually saw its dreams realized.
Comment.-Agricultural colleges and experiment stations
recognize the newspaper as a most useful ally.
A complete list of such cases would be virtually a list of all
the different kinds of business undertakings. Some of the
more conspicuous examples are:
Bringing the dairy industry to a community.
Proving to a community the practicability of building a
cotton mill.
Shaming a community into providing suitable public buildings.
Helping to induce railroads to build new stations.
Supporting commercial organizations.




360 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Encouraging diversity and rotation of crops. For example,
an editor writes:
Alfalfa did not seem to thrive well here. We devoted considerable time to inquiry and learned that the reason alfalfa did not
grow well was because the soil lacked lime, or because the alfalfa
was not disced or otherwise divided. Every time we found a man
who was raising alfalfa successfully we told how he did it. We
printed stories about farmers who were making money off cows,
or chickens, or English bluegrass, or Kentucky bluegrass, and
tried to show that it was foolish to depend entirely on corn and
wheat.
Or, as another country editor writes:
We bring home to our readers the fact that only well-bred pigs
are profitable. We tell what some farmer is doing with a dozen
Holstein cows. We print stories showing the wisdom of vaccination for cholera. We advertise the farm experiment station in
our vicinity.
Or in the words of another:
Since grasshoppers do great damage to crops here, I make it a
rule to print, every three or four months, the poison bran mash
receipt so much used by farmers.
A- Southern paper won conspicuous success in an educational campaign against the boll weevil.
IProtecting business interests from needless loss. A bank
failure usually precipitates a delicate situation in which the
restriction of financial disaster to the narrowest possible
limits often depends considerably on the discretion of the
press.
Similar in character is the work of a newspaper in fighting
fraudulent concerns.
CASE.-The exposure of the Ponzi swindle in Boston, which
defrauded the public of millions, is credited largely to the
Boston Post and that paper received the Pulitzer award for the
most distinguished and meritorious public service rendered
by any newspaper in the United States in 1920.
Commnent.-The opening of the campaign required courage
since, at the start, Ponzi's position seemed impregnable.




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY  36


361


Campaigns to Compel Fair Prices
Reference is often made to the fact that the press has been
accused of deliberately shutting its eyes to profiteering carried
on by its advertisers. Credit for the success of the Food Administration during the war, and in a less degree for the Fuel
Administration, is accorded to the newspapers; but they are not
generally reputed to be watchful of the "spread" of prices
between producer and consumer. There are notable instances,
however, in which newspapers have gone so far as to become
distributors of goods in order to force prices downward, when
the operation of the law of supply and demand or of competition
seemed to be suspended.
CASE.-The New York Globe, after exposing the unreasonably high prices of meat in its city, without appreciable effect,
undertook to operate a chain of shops which it supplied f rom
its own fishing boats and from cargoes of frozen meat which it
shipped from Australia. The resulting effect on prices was
highly satisf actory.
Comment.-It seems incongruous that a newspaper should
engage in the meat business, and so it would be if the purpose
were profit; but in this case the purpose was the protection
of the public from injustice. Radical procedure seemed
necessary. It was a form of leadership justified by devotion
to the public interest.
To be sure, in all such undertaking the newspaper advertises
itself as a crusader. It endeavors to establish itself in public
esteem., That such should be its motive is not to its discredit.
The disposition of some critics to sneer at such activities as
being entirely selfish and therefore, hypocritical is contemptible. As well question the motives of any other public
benefactor. If selfishness is the mainspring of all our actions,
at least there is a better type of selfishness which, in the course
of serving our own ends, benefits others.
Newspapers in several cities have been engaged temporarily
in the coal business in order to reduce prices on grades of coal
used by the poor. Often a brief "demonstration" is enough
to accomplish the purpose.




362 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Guarding the Community Health
Since healthfulness is largely a matter of controllable conditions and since carelessness is usually at the bottom of any
threat to the public health, the newspaper has opportunity to
make good use of its educational and persuasive powers.
CASE.-A better water supply is frequently the object of
a newspaper campaign extending over many years.
Comment.-Success usually takes the form of a majority
vote by the citizens and is won by throwing every part of'the
paper into the fight-news, editorials, 'cartoons, advertising,
features.
Other measures having health significance are:
Food shows and cooking schools.
Abatement of the smoke nuisance.
Promoting the organization of efficient health departments.
Exposure of medical quacks.
Education in methods of combating contagious diseases such
as typhoid fever, and information to allay hysteria occasioned by such diseases as infantile paralysis.
Initiating and supporting a movement for a hospital.
Securing better methods of sewage disposal and of garbage
'Collection.
Helping.Educate the Community
Aside from its primary function of educating the people
as to current affairs, the newspaper recognizes its obligation,to assist every agency for popular enlightenment and the spread
of culture.
CASE.-Almost without exception, newspapers are champions
of the public schools, advocating good buildings and equipment and liberal salaries to teachers.
Comment.-They are also watchful of anything that threatens harm to the schools, as, for example, the high school
f raternities.
Other interests of like purpose close to the heart of the
community newspaper are:




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY


363


Public libraries.
Institutes of art.
Civic orchestras and bands.
Chautauquas, lecture courses, and concerts.
Teachers' and farmers' institutes.
Fairs.
Facilities for organized play.
Direct educational influence through the publication of scientific articles and similar material from authoritative sources.
The Fight against Ugliness
It seems as though only a small per cent of the inhabitants
of towns and cities stop to think about the beautification of
their surroundings, and a still smaller per cent makes any effort
in that direction. It is the function of the newspaper to induce
people to think together in such matters and to follow leadership in constructive movements.
CAsE.-Billboards are a conventional object for a newspaper
attack.
Comment.-Here the newspaper has a selfish interest in
regulating or banishing a competing advertising medium; but
this fact should not invalidate entirely its effort against
obstructions to the enjoyment of natural beauty and hazards
along city streets.
Similar in purpose are campaigns for,
The erection of monuments of various kinds.
The improvement of parks.
The broadening of streets.
The removal of overhead street signs.
Clean-up days or weeks.
Beautification of back yards by means of gardens.
Giving prizes for best kept lawns and best assortment of
flowers.
Beautification of cemeteries.
The planting of trees.
For Greater Safety
Congestion of population increases dangers from accidents,
largely because of modern developments in transportation.




364 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The safety council in cities is an effort to meet the situation.
Newspapers always work with such agencies and often receive
credit for initiating them.
CASE.-The Cleveland Press undertook to solve the traffic
problems of its city. It employed a high authority on such
matters to study the situation and present recommendations.
It waged war on automatic signals judged to be unsatisfactory.
Comrnent.-In the employment of a traffic expert the paper
did something that the city government might properly have
done. While the act could hardly be called an encroachment on
the city's rights, it seems a less typical newspaper service than
one in which education of the public is involved, as in the
encouragement of careful driving and proper use of the signals
o f the road.
The promotion of safety takes such other forms as:
Advocacy of the Sane Fourth.
Publicity for speeders and jay drivers.
The Task of Unification
Doubtless good ends must sometimes be attained through
bitter conflict, but bitterness between groups in cities or small
towns has not often proved constructive. Sometimes town
rows are intensified by rival newspapers, but generally a publisher recognizes that his duty and his interests urge him to
promote community peace.
CASE.-This instance from a small town is described by
Norman J. Radder of Indiana University:
What a newspaper can accomplish in reconciling factional differences in a community is shown by the achievement of the publisher of the Leonardville (Kan.) Monitor. While Leonardville
has a population of only 325, the people of the village and vicinity
were made of half a dozen different national extractions, five or
six different religious denominations, and all these elements were
lined up into two factions. One of the first things the new editor
did was to call a town meeting in his office. By personal effort
he managed to get some of the town leaders in business, finance,
religious work and society to attend. An organization was formed
which ever since that time has been meeting regularly and has




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY 36


365


resulted in cooperation in business, charity, and civic affairs where
before there was conflict and friction.
Comment.-Unification of town with surrounding country
is a similar objective for newspaper effort. A town in Missouri has afforded so fine a demonstration of what can be
done in this line-more than half of the members of its commercial club are farmers-that the plan is known as "the
Trenton idea."
From statements by editors may be gleaned such expressions
as the following:
Part of my effort as editor for the past twenty years has been
to keep down strife between the different business institutions,
especially the banks. It is doubtful if any town with more than
one bank has not had a bank "fight." This always serves to align
certain influential people of the town with one or the other of
these institutions, and when that condition exists there is not much
pulling together for the betterment of all.
Our paper has done a service to its community by refusing to
become the siege gun for two religious factions by getting the
combatants to see that the publication of articles for both sides
would only serve to put the community into a turmoil.
Broadening Our Sympathies
Better understanding between classes and groups, resulting
in greater tolerance and sympathy, is of prime importance
from the standpoint of social and industrial well-being. In
this direction all newspapers function as a matter of course.
In some specific cases they may deliberately choose the opposite,
pur.pose, intensifying misunderstanding; but in most instances
they undertake to interpret people to each other, in the interests
of all.
CASE.-A newspaper printed a series of articles explaining
the trials encountered in their daily work by men dealing with
the public. One on the policeman, for example, told of the
difficulties which such officers meet and urged co~peration by
the public.
Comment.-A refreshing variation from the campaign attacking the police.




366 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Other instances of the same general type are:
A "politeness campaign" was conducted by the Chicago
Tribune in the effort to induce people to treat each other with
more consideration. A prize of $50 was given each day to
the most truly polite person observed by the reporter on the
assignment.
The Springfield Republican once ran a series of, "How
would you like to be__" articles, beginning with the mayor
and including the chief of police, an armorer in the United
States arsenal, a tire maker in a factory, and many others,
giving an intimate picture of their day's work.
Closely related to these efforts is the newspaper's interest
in seeing and commending the good.
CASE.-A rural editor reports that his most effective instrument for "stiffening the moral backbones of his readers"
is the small editorial item such as:
Mayor Doe deserves much credit for his stand on the matter of
appointing a city marshal. He was between two fires but he
stood for the right.
Mr. Roe, our picture-show man, always gives us clean pictures
even though he could make more money out of a less desirable kind.
Our good people commend him for this.
Dr. Brown preached a splendid sermon Sunday night on the
matter of law enforcement. The community is with him on this
question and hopes for more sermons along the same line.
Comment.-" Pointing out the little acts of kindness that
usually go unheralded" is mentioned by another editor as one
of his greatest accomplishments.,4rousing Community Pride
One of the great forces towards community improvement,
as it is towards individual improvement, is pride in achievement. Every community has much to be proud of. Let the
paper advertise the fact. If people can be persuaded to take
the position of advertisers of their town, they will at once be
able to see its strong and its weak features. Any sales effort
must be preceded by analysis of "selling points." Such analysis is bound to have a reflex influence towards securing improvement of the commodity-in this case, the community.




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY


367


One such analysis often used by newspapers and civic
organizations to set people thinking about their town is, "Ten
Tests of a Town," by the.present writer. It is as follows:
TEN TESTS OF A TOWN
Questions that people ask about YOUR town
before they decide to make it THEIR town
1. ATTRACTIVENESS
Shall I like the town-its "atmosphere"? Does it have
the beauty of shaded streets and other beautiful features? Is it a quiet, roomy, airy, well-lighted town?
Does it have attractive public buildings and homes?
Is it well paved? Is it clean in every sense?
2. HEALTHFULNESS
Will my family and I have a reasonable chance to keep
well in that town? How about its water supply? Its
sanitary system? Its methods of milk inspection? Its
health department?  Its hospitals?  Is it without any
congested district?
3. EDUCATION
Can I educate my family and myself in that town?
How about its public schools-present and future?
Its institutions of higher education or of business
training?  Its libraries?  Its lecture and  concert
courses?  Its newspapers?  Its postal facilities?  Its
schedule of salaries to teachers?  Its investment in
school property?
4. PEOPLE
Shall I like the people of the town? Are they "home
folks" without false exclusiveness? Are they neighborly and friendly? Is the town free from factionalism? Does it have strong religious, fraternal, and
social organizations? Is it a law-abiding community?
Do the people use their public libraries and support
artistic undertakings? Do they keep their children in
school and not in factories? Are they good American
citizens?
5. RECREATION
Can I have a good time in that town-I and my family?
How about the theatres, museums, gymnasiums, parks,
etc.? Are there active agencies for providing good




368 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
entertainments, athletic contests, etc.?  Are inviting
opportunities for pleasure drives afforded by well paved
streets?
6. LIVING
Can we live reasonably and well in that town? Are the
best of modern conveniences available for its residentselectricity, gas, telephones, etc.? Are the housing and
shopping conditions favorable? Rents, taxes, and prices
fair? Hotels good? Home and truck gardens and
dairy products plentiful? Is it a good town in which
to bring up children?
7. AccESSnBmvrxY
Can we go and come easily? Does the town have adequate railroad connections and train service?  Street
car lines? Interurban lines? Well marked automobile routes and hard surf aced roads? Desirable proximity to other cities affording additional advantages?
8. BUSINESSI
Can I make good use of capital in that town? Are
there good banking facilities? Manufacturing interests?
Up-to-date stores? Good shipping facilities? Favorable labor conditions? A prosperous farming territory?
Fair real estate values?  Reasonably cheap power?
Active codperation among business interests?
9. EMPLOYMENT
Can I get a job in that town at f air pay and with good
prospects for the future? Can I count on co6peration
from organizations making it their business to help
introduce and establish new commercial interests and
to welcome new citizens?
10. PROGRESSIVENESS
Shall I find that' I am in a live town having a progressive city government, active civic organizations,
modern fire department, adequate police protection, organized measures for accident prevention, and a pulltogether spirit in everything-a town with a future?
The citizen cannot control the climate, natural scenery, nor
historic associations of his town; but if, in other respects, it
does not measure up to the standard that will be, applied to it
by intelligent town-buyers, he can get busy and help make it
rneasure UP.




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY 36


369


Miscellaneous Projects for the General Welfare
Among the various undertakings described by one or more
of the hundreds of, editors queried on the subject are:
Securing better fire protection.
Promoting such organizations as Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls.
Encouraging law enforcement by the police.
A campaign for better street paving.
Organization of community luncheons for the promotion of
civic spirit and of forums for the discussion of public questions.
Criticism of the courts for delays, technical evasions,
and failure to apply the law impartially.
Advocacy of municipal ownership of a public utility.
Campaign for a solution of the housing problem.
Persuading the city to acquire land for park purposes and to
develop it advantageously.
Securing the establishment of a public market.
Giving a "land show" to encourage "back to the land"
movement. Co6perating with churches in promoting their
own and the community's interests.
Conducting spelling contests and drawing contests for school
children.
Aiding the building of community houses.
Giving publicity to private and public improvements, as well
as to some things needing improvement.
Leading in a campaign to raise a bonus to assist in building
a hotel.
Stressing the importance of good lighting everywhere in the
town.
Advocating fire limits to change the town from wood to
brick or stone.
Services in Larger Fields
Community service should not be interpreted to mean service
within too narrow boundaries.
A public improvement, broader than the town itself, commonly advocated vigorously by newspapers is the good road.
The following instance is typical:




370  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
CASE.-A county was asked to build a rock road as a link
in a national highway. A petition was circulated. The editor
of one of the papers, who had lived in the county forty years,
refused to do anything more than print the news of meetings
on the subject. He advised the editor of the second paper that
either publisher would lose most of his circulation among the
farmers if the paved roads were openly supported. The
other editor, however, started a crusade for the roads. Maps,
statistics, news stories, interviews, editorials-all were used in
the fight. He printed the news of opposition efforts, rather
scantily perhaps, but more or less fairly. He had sense enough
to avoid abuse. His efforts were crowned with success. After
eighteen months the petitions bore the necessary number of
signatures. His paper lost two subscribers. It gained a considerable list as a direct result of the good road campaign and
made great strides in prestige because of the effort.
Comment.-Good work!
CASE.-The Detroit News, aroused by the sky-rocketing
prices of lumber in Michigan, published a series of articles
on reforestration methods. The material was issued in pamphlet form. A similar campaign was conducted by the Pittsburgh Post, the Milwaukee Journal and others.
Comment.-In like manner the News reprinted its important
series of articles on the inefficiency of the Patent Office at
Washington. "Thousands of copies of the pamphlet were
distributed," writes a member of the staff. "Obviously Detroit and the News had no special or direct interest in the condition of that Department, any more than Key West or Seattle,
San Diego or Portland, and there was nothing to expect from
the distribution of the pamphlet except recognition of service.
Despite the harsh statements of fact, important officials of the
department extended to the News and the writer of the series
their appreciation of the stories. The investment in the series
and pamphlet was large; the reward not immediately appreciable, but certain."
CASE.-The Memphis Commercial Appeal was awarded the
Pulitzer medal for 1922, given to the paper judged to have
performed the greatest public service in that year. Its service
was a campaign against the Ku Klux Klan.




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY


371


Comment.-In the previous year twenty-seven large newspapers joined in the publication of a series of articles prepared
by the New York World on the evils in the "Invisible Empire."
The Radio Service
Among the newspaper activities which are not strictly journalistic, the maintenance of radio broadcasting stations most
closely duplicates primary newspaper functions. In one sense,
such an undertaking puts a newspaper into competition with
itself, or substitutes a non-remunerative enterprise for profitable circulation building. No newspaper operating a station
has found it of any direct benefit to the paper itself. The
cost of operating a large station may run above $50,000 a
year. But the indirect benefits are thought to be large. Good
will is created-though one radio editor declares it to be evanescent: "Put on a couple of 'bloomers' and your audience
clamors for you to stay out of the air and let them tune in on
something good." Contacts with individual readers through
letters run as high, in some offices, as two thousand a week.
The general publicity gained is great. It is an amazing activity,
and the soul of a newspaper, as Henry Watterson has said, is
"activity, activity, activity."
Then too, the adoption of radio by the press was a protective
measure. It is teaching the public to get its news out of the
air; it kills the sale of sport extras sometimes; but these things
may better be done by newspapers themselves than by outsiders. Besides, the radio has potentialities as an advertising
competitor. In spite of this, however, it is safe to say that
radio broadcasting by newspapers is ninety per cent public
service bringing no immediate returns.
War Services
A book might be written on the war services of newspapers.
And yet they were not different in nature from those of
peace times, only different in form  and degree. Another
fruitful subject for study would be the after effects of the
newspapers' war'activities in stimulating keener zest for community service under normal conditions. But we must fore



372 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
go here any extended excursions into the historical backgrounds
of the subject. In passing, the fact may be noted that the
Pulitzer award for public service was given for the year 1917
to the New York Times "for printing in full valuable documents affecting issues of the war," and for 1918 to the
Milwaukee Journal, "for its strong and courageous campaign
for Americanism in a constituency where foreign elements
made such a policy hazardous from a business point of view."
The services of the press everywhere in exposing German
propaganda-for which the Providence Journal was especially
conspicuous-in aiding the Red Cross, in promoting bond
sales, and in a hundred other directions are too familiar to
require enumeration.
The/ Best Means to the End
In replying to the question, "Do you get the best results
from news, editorials, or personal work?" eleven per cent of
the eighty-three editors answering the inquiry specified the
news columns as being most effective in community service.
One reporter, Jack Lait, has written of the mighty power of
the human interest story. By using it judiciously his paper,
he declares, has "brought alms to the penniless, homes to the
homeless, hope to the hopeless, jobs to the unemployed, legal
aid to the disadvantaged, wheel chairs and crutches and medicines and physicians to the ailing, fresh air to the stifling, ice
to the fevered, clothes to the freezing, advice and cheer and
courage to the despairing, schooling to the ambitious poor,
opportunity to the timid, liberty to the worthy imprisoned,
public indignation and private endeavors toward avenging
wrongs and righting them."
Six per cent placed the editorial columns in the lead as to
getting results. Five per cent emphasized the importance of
personal endeavor outside the newspaper. The rest-a large
majorityý-maintained that success requires the combined use
of all these means.f
That one major campaign of a civic nature is enough for
one time is the opinion of the large majority of these editors.
The National Editorial Association once offered a prize for




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY 33


373


the best article on editorial responsibility. It was won by
Frank 0. Edgecombe, editor of the Geneva (Nebraska)
Signal, whose article closed with these words:
The editor who may unworthily use his power may debauch the
minds, the hopes and the ambitions of those who read his words.
He may raise animosities between neighbors, spread discord,
undermine public confidence, and kindle the fires of prejudice. He
may so mingle truths and half truths and he may so prey upon the
vain imaginings of unworthy souls that the very foundations of
the state may be disrupted. Contrariwise, he may clarify the public mind by a proper assembling of facts and by presenting proper
conclusions therefrom. He can caution the unwary, counsel the
indiscreet, teach the truth to the open minded and denounce the
perpetrators of evil and those who would corrupt private and public life. The editor must choose. He cannot serve two masters.
He cannot shirk responsibility.
Credit for Work Done
The editor may often be in doubt as to just how much his
efforts contributed to any desired result, and people seem
loath to give the newspaper credit. Its support of good
causes is accepted as a matter of course.
CASE.-An editor in a town of a few hundred people gives
this testimony:
For nearly ten years our paper has been fussing about ugly
telephone poles on Main street. just recently they were removed.
We don't know that our stuff moved the poles, but we think it
helped.
Up until two years ago we had one of those old ramshackle
country town bandstands at the intersection of two down-town
streets. We never referred to the bandstand without calling it a
"hick" bandstand. Finally folks got so ashamed of it that they
moved it away. I don't know that we brought this about but
certainly we didn't do any harm.
A year or so ago the principal streets of this town were paved.
Some of the paving became defective. The contractor had given
a three-year maintenance bond. We called attention to the fact
that this paving should be repaired before the termination of the
bond. At the next meeting of the Chamber of Commerce a leading
business man demanded the repair of the paving. He didn't gi-ve us
any credit, but the council has taken steps to have the paving repaired.




374 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Broader Responsibilities
Broader in scope than commnunity service a~ ordinarily spoken
of, though not different from it in kind, is the, impact of
newspaper influence upon matters of national or world import.. It is not of ten given to any single newspaper to play a
part on the world stage, but the press as a whole does play
such a part and it is desirable that we seek credible opinion
as to what that part is.
The Press and International Relations
In considering various views as to the fact of journalistic
influence in international affairs and as to its nature, the student will find such shades of opinion as the following:
First, that such influence hardly exists at all. This conclusion grows out of the belief that the press is too ignorant
in such matters to exert an influence; and that even if it does
shape public opinion on some issue the results are negligible
because of the fact that, except in rare crises, public opinion
affects foreign policies little. For decades whole peoples hated
the Turks, but the Turks apparently suffered no practical
embarrassment from that fact. Furthermore, it is pointed out
that government can always control or modify press influence
by propaganda, thereby insuring that such influence as may
be brought to bear upon government shall be influence created
by itself.
Second, that the influence exists, but not as a direct control
over the acts of statesmen. Only as an indirect agency operating through public opinion in critical times. And that
such influence is usually bad. The press is charged with being
chauvinistic; spreading a false doctrine of super-patriotism;
subordinating all questions of international justice to the one'
consideration of what may be the national interest; ignoring the
newspapers' sacred obligation to do everything possible for
peace.
Noting the fact that many newspapers prospered during
the Civil War, E. L. Godkin once wrote:
Every incident which can by any possibility lead to an international conflict is greatly magnified. Every blunder is converted
into deliberate insult. All foreign statesmen are made to plot




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY  37


375


against the United States.. 0.1. Until we. get a race of editors
who will consent to take a share of the diplomatist's responsibility
for the national peace and honor, the newspapers will constitute
a constant danger to the amicable relations of great powers.
Third, that newspaper influence in foreign affairs exists,
at least potentially, but that it must necessarily remain a blind
influence because success in statecraft requires secrecy. Secretary of State Hughes has admirably set forth that view in
its most liberal form. After referring to the weekly press
conferences with the President and the semi-weekly conferences with the Secretary of State, he thus presented his idea
of the matter:
There is thus the most direct contact with those who are the
principal purveyors of information, and the chief educators of
the public. This is a substitute for parliamentary interpellation.
It is in this manner that, in substance, account is rendered to the
final authority.
Open diplomacy must still be diplomacy, and it cannot be open
at the cost of losing its essential character and of frustrating its
proper purposes.
The press, in each country, in large measure is likely to voice
extreme demands and resist accommodations. Often the pseudopatriotic spirit is developed, most probably in the interest of local
politics, and efforts are made to prevent settlements by inflammatory appeals to passion in one or more of the countries concerned.
It is most desirable that such endeavors should not be facilitated
by the information of mere proposals, arguments and tentative
positions; by disclosures which at the best, pending the effort at
adjustments, can but afford glimpses of the situation. At least
we may appreciate the fact that peoples cannot deal directly with
peoples; that there must be negotiations, and that there must be
agents of negotiation; and that when these are selected as wisely
as may be practicable, there must be reasonable freedom to enable
them to secure results.
They cannot adequately perform their task under a fire of criticism or successfully conduct negotiations which are practically
taken out of their hands and directed by a clamorous public.
With these considerations, it remains true, there should be no
secrecy for its own sake; general policies should be made clear.
If there is to be less reticence in diplomacy, there must be, if not
a greater reticence, at least a keener sense of responsibility in
the discussion of international questions. Open diplomacy and
blatant and injudicious utterances will not go together.




376 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The sort of responsibility that the press might be expected
to feel is illustrated by an incident under the war censorship
in England. A note by President Wilson, forecasting his
"peace without victory" attitude had been published in England. It is related by Burton J. Hendrick, author and journalist, that:
When the correspondents filed their dispatches telling of English reaction to the note, the representative of the foreign office
spent half an hour considering whether the American correspondents could cable their country that the note had been received in
England with "surprise and irritation." After much discussion it
was decided that "irritation" could not be used and the message
of the Associated Press, after undergoing this careful editing by
the foreign office, was a weak and ridiculous description of the
high state of excitement which prevailed in Great Britain. The
fact that the British foreign office should have given all this
trouble over the expression sent to American newspapers and
should even have spent half an hour debating whether a particular
word should be used almost pathetically illustrates the great care
taken by the British government not to influence American opinion
against the allies.
Whatever sanction may be given by the press to the cautious
doling out of truth in time of war, such restrictions are not
popular with it under normal conditions. There was vigorous
editorial rejoinder to the statement by Secretary Hughes, previously quoted, one writer, under the heading, "Our Secretary
of Secrecy," declaring that:
Never before has the Department of State shown such contempt
for the rights of the people in matters of international intercourse
that endanger the future peace and prosperity of this nation and
the world. Secret diplomacy-plaything of the devil and agency
of war rapine and greed-rules supreme....
The press has done its best with the equivocal, double-edged
information that has been vouchsafed and it has seen itself denying under banner headlines the very facts that it asseverated the
day before. It has been a thoroughly humiliating period for editors and correspondents and the time has come to call for a new
deal.
A good way to begin would be by discontinuing the present use.
less so-called weekly question-and- answer conferences that Secretary Hughes holds with the Washington newspaper corps. They




i


OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY                    377
are a waste of busy newspapermen's time and seem to have developed the country's leading false rumor factory.
The editor who demands the right to print the whole truth
must be regarded as an extremist, in the present state of society.
The effects on a small community of an experiment by its
paper in telling the literal truth about everybody and everything have often L~een painted by the newspaper humorist.
Most journalists are able to appreciate that a nation is only
a community enlarged, and that there is such a thing as premature, indiscreet, and destructive publicity.
A newspaper correspondent, Harold Phelps Stokes, complaining of the difficulty of obtaining information from the
Department of State, described more satisfactory conditions
during the Peace Conference in Paris:
It was not generally known at the time, but it was the fact that
Colonel House was the mouthpiece for nine-tenths of the news
which came out of Paris during the later months of negotiations.
Here were international negotiations of the highest order of
delicacy being conducted day by day. And day by day Colonel
House walked into the newspaper conference and told the correspondents, with the most astounding frankness, the day's developments. It has been said that silence is the safest shield, but
House through his handling of the American correspondents at
Paris, showed that frankness and confidence may be made every
bit as sure a shield as silence.
In the effort to measure public opinion, newspapers have
sometimes taken a poll of their readers and others whom they
could reach with ballots. Such was the New York Herald's
poll on the desirability of America's presence at the Genoa
Conference., and the New York Globe's poll on the question
of this country's entrance into the League of Nations.
The world functions of the press have thus been summarized
by an English journalist, E. F. Lawson:
I~very nation -of the earth wants to know other people's opinions.
It is only the absence of a sufficient quantity of free and cheap
newa, which- enables the baser elements to maintain the influence
which they exercise on opinion.
We journalists are not accused of being, as a class, prone to




378 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
self-depreciation, but I honestly believe that we ourselves have
no conception of our power to secure the peace of the world.
A fourth view as to journalistic influence in international
affairs is that such influence is very great and that it is beneficent and that it would be still more useful if better informed.
John Galsworthy, the English author, thus expressed the
idea: "The exchange of international thought is the only
possible salvation of the world."
The failure of the press, with one or two exceptions, to
publish the secret treaties made late in the war has been
pointed to as a betrayal of world interests. According to one
writer, Irving Brant:
If the secret treaties had been dealt with on the basis of their
importance, it would have become necessary in order to keep
America fervently and effectively in the war, for every signatory
to those secret treaties formally to disavow their provisions. And
that was exactly what was needed, both to win the peace and to
make the war easier to win.
The purification of the war would have brought liberty-loving
people together in an unprecedented unity of purpose. As it was,
however, the secret treaties were exploited to the full in the Central
Empires.
An instance of a happier sort in connection with the
Washington Disarmament Conference has been described as
follows by Louis Wiley, business manager of the New York
Times:
When Japan balked at the proposed percentage of limitation on
her battleships, the newspapers announced it to the peoples of the
world. Rejoicing in the hope which the conference held out of
effective steps for the prevention of war, they were disturbed lest
their happy visions should be dispelled. Disapproval was openly
expressed, promptly and emphatically. The Japanese commissioners took warning, and a satisfactory agreement was reached
in a few days.
The insistence of France on a large submarine tonnage again
disturbed public opinion. France yielded and accepted the principles of the Root declaration on the limitation of submarine warfare. Knowledge of the position of France would not have reached
the public but for the newspapers.




OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY


379


The Press and the Law
No one questions that among the broader responsibilities
of the press are those growing out of its influence on (1) the
enactment of laws, (2) the execution of laws by peace officers,
(3) the judical interpretation and application of laws, (4) the
repeal or modification of laws.
As regards the first, cases without end might be described
in which, through information furnished to legislators, through
publicity given to obstructive tactics within the legislative body,
through the indirect influence of an aroused public opinion in
favor or against some measure, newspapers appear to have
had much to do with the making of laws. That the press has
sometimes abused its power, that it has made mistakes, is undoubtedly true; but not more true than that it has a legitimate
function in this field.
With respect to the second, third, and fourth points of contact between the press and the law, the only thing that need
be said here is that the controlling purpose must always be
to help preserve order and further justice. A newspaper's
conservatism is never more justified than in its treatment of
a social institution. Not that it always stands for the status quo,
but that it is careful to build at the same time that it tears
down. The press has been accused of encouraging anarchism
by its adoption of a capitalistic view of the rightness of might.
It has been accused of compromising the dignity of courts
and interfering with the free progress of trials. It has been
accused of bringing all law into contempt of the ignorant by
its flouting of some one unpopular law. In some instances
the charges have been well founded; but the fact that, in
general, newspaper influence has been constructive as regards
the law has not been controverted.
The Press and Social Unity
As the newspaper is responsible, to a considerable degree,
for the unification of its community, so in larger ways it is the
best medium for the socializing "advertisement of one person's
or one group's thoughts and purposes to other persons and




380 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
groups." At the bottom of it all lies the theory that we can
not hate -a man if we know him. Inter-sectional misunderstandings, inter-class distrust can be mitigated or intensified
by the press. To say that the efforts of the press 'should
always be towards peace is doubtless going too far. Few
people believe in peace at any price. But certainly its efforts
should always be towards understanding. This may lead to
conflict for the time being, but is the only hope of permanent
adjustment.
Other General Responsibilities
Among the other interests which are most often mentioned
as being largely in the keeping of the press are:
1. To uphold the ideals of democracy-liberty, equality,
education, tolerance.
2. To cultivate the intelligence of people, not merely by
giving them information, but by assuming what somebody
has called an obligation to the intellect. In holding the press
accountable for "the triviality of modern thinking," James M.
Beck, solicitor general of the United States, said: "A quarter
of a century ago men still enjoyed Sir John Falstaff; to-day
it is Andy Gump. We have lost a true sense of values, and
such loss has been in the past a significant sign of the decay
of a civilization." Journalists themselves have deplored the
crowding out of the truly significant by the merely ephemeral.
3. To labor constructively by maintaining along with
the passion for publicity a sense of proportion. If emphasis
on airplane accidents retards development in that field by
obscuring the f act that air mails carry out a high per cent of
their mileage without accident, the press should not forget that
the less dramatic is sometimes the more important.    The
journalist should accept some one's description of him as "an
ambassador abroad and a statesman at home."
4. To recognize the possibilities of journalism as literature,
its dignity as an art. George Bernard Shaw has said:
journalism is the highest form of literature; for all the highest
literature is journalism. The writer who aims at producing the
platitudes which are "not for an age, but for all'time" has his
reward in being unreadable in all ages; whilst Plato and Aristo



OBLIGATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY  38


381


phanes trying to knock some sense into' the Athens of their day,
Shakespeare peopling that same Athens with Elizabethan mechanics, Ibsen photographing the local doctors and vestrymen of
a Norwegian parish, Carpaccio painting the life of St. Ursula
exactly as if she were a woman living in the next street to him,
are still alive and at home everywhere among the dust and ashes
of thousands of academic, punctilious, archaeologically correct men
of letters and art who spent their lives haughtily avoiding the
journalist's vulgar obsession with the ephemeral.
I also am a journalist, proud of it, deliberately cutting out of
my works all that is not journalism, convinced that nothing that
is not journalism will live long as literature, or be of any use
whilst it does live.... The journalist writes about all people
and about all time. The other sort of man, who believes that he
and his period are so distinct from all other men and periods that
it would be immodest and irrelevant to allude to them or assume
that they could interest any one but himself and his contemporaries,
is the most infatuated of all the egotists, and consequently the
most unreadable and negligible of all the authors. And so, let
others cultivate what they call literature; journalism for me!
5. To reveal and uphold the ideal aspect of things, and
to fight sham and hypocrisy and boorishness. The charge
once made that "the Northcliffe press has destroyed almost
every vestige of the beautiful English manner which gave to
British public life a grace and dignity almost dogre-like" can
hardly be accepted at face value, but it serves as a negative
illustration of one aspect of press influence. Another that
might be mentioned is the treatment of marriage and other
serious matters as subjects for jests of such character as to
be antisocial.
6. To  advance economic justice.     A  veteran  journalist
declared in 1920 that in ignoring the high cost of living,
except superficially, American newspapers had, in deliberate
and cowardly manner, turned away from the greatest news
story of the time, every home being vitally involved in the
effects of profiteering..
In these and other similar respects the press bears heavy
responsibilities of a general character. It cannot escape them.








PART III
THE NEWSPAPER OF TO-MORROW








CHAPTER XIV


THE INFLUENCE OF CODES AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
It is no longer possible to say, as did Henry Watterson in
the Louisville Courier-Journal, in 1900, that "journalism is
without any code of ethics or system of self-restraint and selfrespect. It has no sure standards of either work or duty. The
journalist has few, if any, mental perspectives to fix his horizon; neither chart of precedent nor map of discovery upon
which his travel lines have been marked."
Mr. Watterson did not mean, surely, that individual journalists were without standards of their own; but that collectively they were lacking anything resembling a code.
The first step in progress towards professional standards
was a widespread appreciation of the need of such standards.
The second step was the formulation of codes by regional
groups of editors and publishers. The third step, the amalgamation of these codes, seems to be just ahead.
In the widespread discussion during the last decade, two
main points of view have been revealed: first, the belief that
such codes are practicable, and should be put into form, harmonized, and welded into one structure worthy of general acceptance; second, the view that efforts towards defining the
canons of journalism are absurd, or at least impractical.
Belief in the Practical Value of Codes
The following from an address by Casper S. Yost, editor of
the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, before the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, is representative of the first or optimistic
attitude:
To consider and perhaps establish ethical standards of professional conduct: the society has no more important purpose than
this. Each one of us no doubt has a conception of ethics as ap385




386 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
plied to journalism. Not a few of us have established and enforced ethical rules. But these, where they exist at all, are individual conceptions and individual applications and they vary
widely in nature and extent.
The standards one may conceive and put into effect may be far
above or far below those of another, and the newspaper that has
low standards or none at all may have as strong an influence upon
the general character and reputation of journalism, to put it conservatively, as that which has high standards.
The development and statement of definite moral standards has
been throughout the ages an essential factor in the progress of
civilization. There can be no general understanding of what is
right until principles of right are conceived and given form. And
there can be no general application of these principles until they
are commonly accepted. Only as such principles and standards
have been formulated and been ac cepted has civilization advanced
in the moral sense.
The ethics of journalism must be somehow expressed in definite
form, and somehow established as the rule of practice of an influential number of journalists, before we can have professional
recognition. Individual standards will always remain individual,
and continue to be as varied as individual nature, until the profession of journalism through collective consideration and action,
establishes a code of professional ethics by which all journalistic
conduct may be measured.
If we are to advance the profession of journalism we must give
particular thought to the imponderables, remembering that they
are the sources of character, of personality, of soul, and that only
*as we give spirit to journalism, and sustain that spirit, can it grow
in honor, in usefulness and in power.
The Oregon code was formulated largely through the initiative of Colin Dyment, for many years a journalist, and afterwards a teacher of journalism and college administrator in the
University of Oregon. In the course of a paper dealing with
the need of such a code he wrote as follows:
In m~iny states, and perhaps in most states, there are new ethical
stirrings in the minds of newspapermen that must find tangible
utterance.
This ethical commotion is a product of the sentiment that journalism should have more of a professional status. One sees the
sentiment gradually finding expression in trade publications, in
national periodicals, in the higher class magazines, in newspapers
themselves, and hears it taught assiduously in schools of journal



CODES AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 387
ism; and finally, as to-day, one finds the editorial associations of
states voting upon ethical codes.
The commotion is not confined to the editorial side; it is discernible in the circulation and advertising departments as well. Advertising and circulation managers give to their men rules of procedure
that men in the business office would never have thought of two
decades ago. The three seem to be moving up together, as should
be; and the promoting of the ethical impulse in each will probably
take tangible form in codes of widespread adoption.
Ethics as a guide to professional practice is being crystallized
more and more into actual codes. Journalism is not alone; it is
even one of the last. We have been slow to move, whereas, being
newspapermen, we should have moved first. For years the doctors, the lawyers, the architects, the teachers, the engineers, and
men of other professional occupations, have been working on codes.
Most men would instinctively know what is ethical if they stopped
to think; but many don't think, and some don't know, and still
others who both think and know do not care; so there becomes useful a sort of professional Sermon on the Mount through which
the public opinion of each profession may become uniform and
consolidated.
The business of an ethical code is to translate the best thought
of newspapermen into general precepts so that the public opinion
within the profession may be brought to bear upon those who
transgress. The medical code is plainly getting rid of the shyster.
just so, a journalism code of general adoption should be of efficacy
in ridding the profession of those who do not recognize the newspaper business as a semi-public institution in which the public has
an extensive right; but who instead look upon it merely as one
way of making some money and of gratifying personal ends. The
pressure of the public opinion within any profession is exceedingly
great.
Opposition to Codes
With respect to the Oregon code, a metropolitan newspaper.,
after admitting that there was nothing wrong with the rules,
said:
But why do the Oregon editors feel compelled to endorse them
-to sign on the dotted line, as it were?
Nobody has observed any special departures f rom ordinary
morality on their part, though, like the rest of us, they have 'been
no better than they should be and sometimes not quite so good.
That is because they are only human, and a proclamation of in



388 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
tention to be virtuous hereafter-well, in a way, it confesses past
wickednesses.
A bit of shallow satire quite beneath serious rejoinder.
A wholesale execration of the entire business of formulating
journalistic codes is that of H. L. Mencken, editor of the
American Mercury:
Every now and then the newspapers make it known that some
state editorial association in an obscure and backward state or some
convention of teachers of journalism-i.e., incompetent journalists
who have given up the struggle-has met to formulate a code of
journalistic ethics. Nothing more, of course, is ever heard of the
matter. If, as sometimes happens, a sonorous and pious code is
actually drawn up and signed in blood, it becomes as much a dead
letter the day afterward as the Seventh Commandment or the
Eighteenth Amendment. No American newspaper, so far as I am
aware, has ever made any serious attempt to carry out the terms
of any such code. The day one does so I shall be prepared to
hear that the governors of the New York Stock Exchange have
passed  a  resolution  requiring  stockbrokers to  observe  the
Beatitudes.
The truth is that journalism, if it may be called a profession at
all, is not a profession that is autonomous and privileged, and hence
it cannot adopt and enforce standards of honor. It may be, in a
furtive, disingenuous way, moral, but it cannot be honorable, for
honor presupposes absolute freedom. The man of honor does this
or refrains from doing that because he wants to, not because he
has to. The minute external pressure is brought to bear upon him
he ceases to be a man of honor, and becomes simply a moral man,
which is to say, a slave and poltroon. The thing that forces a
newspaper editor down to that level is the plain fact that he is
not wholly his own man. Over him stands a superior power,
without professional spirit and unreachable by professional discipline, to wit, the owner of his paper. No profession which stands
under the shadow of any such power can maintain true professional dignity and autonomy. Above all, it cannot maintain professional standards of honor.
Thus journalistic codes of ethics are all moonshine. Essentially,
they are as absurd as would be codes for street-car conductors,
barbers or public jobholders. If American journalism is to be
purged of its present swinishness and brought up to a decent level
of repute-and God knows that such an improvement is neededit must be accomplished by the devices of morals, not by those of
honor. That is to say, it must be accomplished by external forces,




CODES AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 389
and through the medium of penalties exteriorly inflicted. Perhaps
the most practicable of those forces is legislative enactment,
though its growing weakness, chiefly from over-use, is apparent
to all. Most of the offenses against decency that journalists commit-for example, the invasion of privacy, the spreading of false
reports, and various scarcely concealed varieties of blackmailwould be greatly reduced if they were made misdemeanors, and
even more radically reduced if the aggrieved parties were given
adequate civil remedies by statute. We have more different criminal laws than any other civilized people and the penalties they
carry are greater than are heard of anywhere else, but all the
while our statutes against libel remain the loosest and most useless
in the world. Even so, they would be infinitely more effective if
they were not so badly crippled by the interference of the bad
lawyers who sit upon our benches-most of them extremely sensitive to newspaper attack. These promoted shysters have polluted
the law of libel with so many ifs and buts that it is now practically
impossible for an aggrieved citizen to get substantial damagres from
a powerful newspaper. His own lawyer is commonly afraid to
push his case, even within the limits of the emasculated law. He
is lucky, indeed, if hie gets off without having judge and district
attorney join in railroading him to jail on some false charge in
order to curry favor with the defendant.
So, as might be expected, two quite dissimilar points of
view regarding journalistic codes are in evidence.
Fundamental Basis of Divergence in View
While indifference and opposition have played a large part
in retarding the progress of journalism towards a higher level,
they are not to be taken too seriously. Rig-htly understood they
represent nothing more than that conservatismi of human
nature which must be disregarded by those with a taste for
experiments in progress.
The disagreement is largely a matter of temperament. There
are good men in both camps, but they are different as to the
way they take hold on things.
For example, one type of man will hardly venture to drive
outside the' township without a road map in his pocket, and he,
consults it at every corner. His next door neighbor, on the
other hand, will pick his way across a continent practically by
instinct and enjoy every mile.




390  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Or again, when the party of the first sort feels that his bodily
machinery is getting out of order, he wants a doctor and a
prescription and the directions written on the label in plain
English. But the party of the second sort, who may be referred
to as the intuitionist, is satisfied with a swig out of the first
appropriate-looking bottle he can find in the medicine cupboard.
And perhaps both of them get well at about the same time!
One type of man wants everything down in black and white.
He may, without offence, be described as the ritualist, or the
rationalist, or the formalist. The other has no use for explicit
statement-the one-two-three way of reducing matters to a
regular order. He says he is satisfied with the "spirit of the
thing."
One man is a system "fan"; the other is too busy for system
-any system beyond the single principle that the way to get
things done is to do them.
And thus we find the admirable human race divided, more or
less definitely, into two types: the black-and-whiters and the
take-things-as-they-comers; or, as they might be designated,
the rule-and-regulationalists and the catch-as-catch-can easygoers. Both kinds are estimable people. Both are more or
less right. Neither has any call to feel hard towards the other.
The Position of the Editor
And now, from the standpoint of these two divisions of
humanity, consider the editor-for in spite of what folks think
and say about him, he is still allowed to remain in the human
race and exemplify its moods and differences.
In what ways does the editor manifest his portion of the
common heritage of "temperament" in the day-by-day pursuit
of his vocation? And why and how does it matter?
Obviously it does not matter how he asserts his temperamental predilections in what may be described as his personal
affairs or in his manner of doing his day's work, except as he
comes into relations with other people. He may be systematic
or erratic. He may be buoyant or phlegmatic. He may be a
two cylinder gas engine or a turbine. But as he enters into
relations with the community and the larger public he sheds the




CODES AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 391
insignificance that belongs to him as one unit among a multitude.
He takes on a social importance. He stands., without exaggeration, as the keeper of many, destinies. He no longer lives unto
himself. His rules of conduct become at once matters of some
moment.
Whether or not he would plead guilty to the charge, every
editor carries with him a philosophy of life-a bundle of principles of action which determine and explain his orbit-and
this philosophy is, from the nature of his function in the world,
a public matter. It constitutes his code, and from it are derived his habits of conduct. Orderly relations between people
are maintained only by such codes. Relations beget questions
of ethics; complex relations, such as a journalist accepts for
his part in life, involve correspondingly complex questions of
ethics.
The journalist who says, as some do, that he is not aware of
having to face any ethical problems is not even fooling himself.
He knows better, but likes the pose. The editor who says-as
one editor recently said with swaggering bravado-that his
ethical code consists of the one maxim, "Get the money," i's
merely momentarily befuddled by his own smartness. Like it
or not, the editor is still a human pack animal and his pack
bulges with ethical paraphernalia, some of it badly battered perhaps, some of it tawdry, some of it damaged by exposure to
all kinds of weather., none of it insurable at anything like its
first cost, but ethical contraptions nevertheless.
Now, however, comes the parting of the ways. Now comes
Old Mother Nature and separates the sheep from the other
sheep-the goats in the flock are really too few to count.
On the one hand she puts the intuitionists, who boil their
eggs by guess-and get them done about right, too. On the
other hand she puts the rationalists who have no confidence in
a boiled egg that hasn't been timed by the clock.
The one manages his paper-and sometimes says other editors ought to manage their papers-through an enlightened
expediency guided by a sense of justice. As one editor puts it,
"6 ýI handle each case as it comes up, following a certain 'woman's
instinct' as to what is the right thing to do." Or, as another




392 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
says, "I use only the Davy Crockett precept: 'Be sure you're
right, then go ahead."'"
But Some Editors Believe in Codes
The other type of editor has his ethical notions somewhat
carefully formulated to meet the exigencies of the publisher's
day. Perhaps he prints a sort of code under the flag on the
editorial page, or he placards it in the news room, or puts it
into a Style Book. In any case he talks and votes f or the
adoption of a formal code of ethics by the editorial association
to which he belongs. He gets things down in black and white.
The intuitionist rarely contends that there is any harm in
promulgating codes of ethics, though one editor did say recently that a newspaper which "flaunts a code is usually trying
to put something over on the public." If there is now and then
a hypocrite who cloaks unprofessional practices under a code
of ethics, surely there is also, now and then, an intuitionist who
does the "right" thing in the "easiest way." In all departments
of life explicit standards invite hypocrisy, but they do not
create hypocrites nor for very long afford them shelter. And
the black-and-whiter feels that there are weighty reasons-much
more important than his own personal preferences--why journalism should assert specifically its convictions as to the rules
that ought to govern its conduct.t
One of these reasons is, as he sees it, that the public is, to
a considerable degree, unfair to the newspaper because of ignorance as to conditions of newspaper production; because -of
indifference as to the editor's conception of his job; and because of an easy facility in shirking its share of responsibility
for the character of the press.
He believes that a better understanding in all these directions can be promoted by publicity for the editor's best convictions as to the place of journalism in the scheme of things and
the standards to be upheld by journalists. He believes in advertising one's good intentions. He believes that a code of
ethics is good advertising. He perhaps has a notion that a
better understanding between public and press might lead to
more of a partnership in developing the best possible social




CODES AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS 393
organ of publicity. He may even figure that anything that
builds up public confidence in newspapers builds greater prosperity for newspapers.
Or he may be chiefly interested in the influence of a code
within the newspaper world itself. In this world, as in any
other world, he finds some men equipped with broader horizons
than others. Some with better vision than others. Some who
are keenly appreciative of the professional aspects of journalism, and others who insist that publishers are engaged in business and nothing but business. He finds some who are not
a fraid to be called idealists, and others who are so intensely
practical that they need an active public opinion within their
own group to help them keep straight.
Publicly avowed standards, he feels, are a perpetual challenge to conduct, an educational force sure to bring results in
practice. Such has been the influence of codes in medicine and
to a less degree, in law, engineering, and teaching; why should
not the rule hold in journalism?
The discussion and definition of standards is the necessary
first step towards the invention of useful means for maintaining
standards-witness, for example, the ingenious methods of insuring accuracy and fair play, the successful efforts to improve
advertising, the effective machinery for securing dependable
statements of circulation.
In the face of these considerations is it not advisable to give
the black-and-whiters the benefit of the doubt? Even to encourage them a little?
One editor of a great metropolitan paper told an inquirer recently that the only code he finds desirable is "the simple doctrine
of Jesus Christ." Another put it this way: "We think of this
newspaper as if it were a person, an intelligent, courageous,
well-bred gentleman, giving the best that is in him to his employer, the public." No sentiments could be finer; no guiding
principles more worthy. But consider the efforts Christian
peoples have devoted to translating "simple" Christian doctrine
into forms concrete enough for practical human guidance. And
consider whether the ideal of gentility is not somewhat vague,
somewhat in need of more specific statement. After all, what




394 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
harm can the black-and-whiters do in trying to get things put
down rather definitely on paper?
Anyhow, they are hard at work on the job. The trend of the
times is with them. The trend in journalism is towards professional consciousness and better service to the public, and this
trend will be accelerated by codification of generally approved
principles.
And the intuitionist need not fear that definition of standards
involves reducing everything to routine. Let him enjoy his
laugh at the fancied editor of the future who when confronted
by a request for suppression turns to page seventy-seven of his
code book and finds out what to do. It is always f un to demolish straw men like that. But. really, the intuitionist will
always find use f or his "woman's instinct," because even the
best of human codes can throw light only a little way down a
dark road. Let him join with the black-and-whiters and see
what all of them working on the job together can bring forth!
For years advertising men shied at psychology-yes, jeered at
it. To-day, they claim it as their most intimate friend. Is it
too much to hope that before long even the most hard-headed
editor will get over being skittish and jumpy when somebody
mentions ethics and an 'ethical code?




CHAPTER XV


THE INFLUENCE OF LAW
No one seems to be in any doubt that there is room for improvement in journalism, but many serious doubts arise when
discussion of the means begins. A number of representative
journalists were asked whether in their opinion journalism
stands as high in public regard as medicine or law. A bare
majority answered in the affirmative. And yet those who recognized the unsatisfactory conditions seemed to be without any
program for betterment beyond that based on a general faith
that the world is getting better. Less than five per cent of all
the editors approached were willing to sanction remedial legislation of any sort.
Objections to Legal Measures
Legislating people to a higher plane, we are told, is the recourse of the impractical idealist. It does not work. Too
many laws of that sort are on the statute books already. Making laws is a sort of fad. And, more specifically:
1. Laws in further regulation of the press would be sure
to encroach on its freedom, and would therefore be unconstitutional. Present legal regulations of the press covering (1)
copyright, (2) privacy, (3) civil libel, (4) criminal libel, (5)
contempt are all that are necessary.
2. The persons who would make and administer such laws
are the very ones most likely to desire relief from surveillance
by the press, and therefore most eager to have some means of
control and intimidation.
3. journalism is regarded by those engaged in it as a business rather than a profession, and it is useless to attempt to
erect professional standards by law until practitioners take the
initiative.
395




396 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
4. Such legal standards, even in the case of medicine and law,
have not been productive of satisfactory results. They would
be still less so in the case of journalism, the services of which
are less essential to society.
5. Other means of betterment such as public opinion, schools
of journalism, adoption of codes of practice will take care
of the problem.
Some of these objections have been considered in discussing
independence, and the profession of journalism. Others will
be taken up following this short survey of the main suggestions
for further legal restrictions of journalism. We shall then be
in position to attempt valuation of such proposals and of the
general concept of press betterment through legal enactment.
Plans for Licensing Journalists
The most important of these proposals, because it is the one
that undertakes to go to the root of the matter, is the one embodying some form of licensing for practitioners of journalism.
In 1914, Barrat O'Hara, lieutenant governor of Illinois, himself a newspaper writer, introduced into the Illinois legislature
a bill embodying a licensing plan which Mr. O'Hara declared
to be as much for the protection of the conscientious journalist
as of the public. He conceived of it as a means of improving
the personnel of journalism which,, he argued, would remove
the need and the demand for restrictive laws aimed at this or
that particular newspaper abuse.
This bill provided for the creation of a state board of journalism, which should both issue and revoke licenses to practice
the profession of journalism. A license should issue when the
applicant had,
1. Reached legal age.
2. Completed the equivalent of a high school education.
3. Studied two years in a recognized college of journalism,
or passed the same period of time in a newspaper office as an
apprentice reporter.
4. Furnished the board with positive proof of good moral
character; and,
5. Successfully passed an examination, in writing, conducted
by the state board at regular intervals.




THE INFLUENCE OF LAW39


397


Adequate provision was made f or the beginner, who might
receive, on application to the board and proof of good moral
character and an education equivalent to, that in the ordinary
high school, a certificate as an apprentice reporter. As such
he might perf orm the usual work of the cub reporter, but
would be disqualified from passing final judgment on his own
and other person's copy. That is, he might write the items,
but the same would be read and possibly revised by a licensed
journalist before reaching the printer. Two years of such
training and restriction, with the natural looking forward to
the examinations ahead and the constant preparing for them,
could scarcely fail to bring out the very best newspaper qualities in the young aspirant. Or the same period might be spent
with equal profit in an approved and practical school of journalism.
A license, on the other hand, should be revoked:
1. Automatically, on the practitioner's conviction of a felony;
or.,
2. After due filing of charges and trial by a jury of his
fellow practitioners, for willful misrepresentation, malicious
writing of scandal, acceptance of money or other prize tendered
as bribe for the deliberate and unjustified coloring of news
items, or other conduct unprofessional, reprehensible and dishonest.
The bill received little support from legislators or newspapers.
Publishers of western Washington in 1921 took steps
towards the introduction of a bill in the legislature requiring
licenses for newspaper executives, but were told by legal authorities that such a law would be held unconstitutional in that
state.
The State Editorial Association of Pennsylvania, some years
ago, considered asking the legislature to establish a state department of journalism which should issue certificates for the
practice of*journalism on the basis of the state education of
journalists to be provided for in colleges or through home
courses directed by the department.
Another example of the kind of legislation proposed to re



398 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
strict the practice of journalism to persons duly licensed by the
state was a bill introduced into the legislature of Oklahoma in
1923, but not enacted into law. The title of the act was:
An act creating a board of examiners for newspapermen and
journalists; defining a newspaperman and journalist; providing
that it shall be a profession; providing for a license for those of
the profession so created; providing for the appointment of said
board; defining its duties; providing rules and regulations for the
licensee; providing for forfeiture of said license; providing fees
for said license; making an appropriation therefor and providing for the punishment for violation of this act, and declaring
an emergency.
Some of the more significant sections of the bill were:
No person shall practice the profession of newspaperman or
journalist in the State of Oklahoma without first having procured,A license- from the board of examiners for newspapermen and
journalists, as provided for in this act.
There is hereby created a board of examiners for newspapermen
and journalists, to be composed of five members. The dean of
the school of journalism of the State University shall be one
member; the president of the State University shall be one member, both of whom shall serve without pay; and three members
to be appointed by the governor, who shall serve during the tenure
of office of the governor appointing them unless sooner removed
for cause, as provided by law for the removal of other state officers.
The 'governor shall designate one of the three appointed by him to
be secretary of the board, who shall devote all of his time to the
business of the office of said board, and who shall receive a salary
of twenty-four hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly. All
of the members appointed shall have had at least five years' active
experience as newspapermen or journalists in the State of Oklahoma. Each member of said board shall take the oath of office
prescribed for other state officers before entering upon the duties
of office. The secretary shall not be connected with any newspaper or publication whatsoever while holding said office.
The board shall prescribe rules and regulations for the holding
of examinations for all applicants, and minimum standards to be
reached by all applicants before receiving a license to carry on said
profession. Any graduate of any accredited school of journalism
of this state or any other state may be licensed by said hoard in its
discretion, without an examination, but said board may require all
who apply for license to take its examination.




THE INFLUENCE OF LAW


399


The board shall have authority, and it is hereby made its duty,
to forfeit any license granted hereunder for the following reasons
and in the following manner:
(a) When it shall be ascertained that any applicant made any
false statements or representations in procuring his license.
(b) When any licensee is convicted of a crime against the laws
of the State of Oklahoma involving moral turpitude.
(c) When any licensee becomes an habitual drunkard.
(d) When any licensee prints or causes to be printed, or permits
the printing and publication of any story or news article about
any citizen of this state or nation which is not true.
(e) When any licensee prints, or causes to be printed, or permits
the printing and publication of any news article, story or editorial,
which either directly or by insinuation, falsely charges any citizen
of this state or nation with an act which hurts the standing or
reputation of such citizen in the community or state or nation,
either in a business or social way.
(f) When any licensee prints, causes to be printed or permits
the printing and publication of any news item, editorial or story
which is immoral or degrading.
Any one violating any of the provisions of this act shall be
guilty of misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars, nor more than one
thousand dollars, or by imprisonment.
Other sections covered procedure at examinations and at
trials for disbarment.
A more conservative plan, from the standpoint of invocation
of law, is that of giving legal recognition to such machinery
for the improvement of journalism as may be set up by a
national association or institute of journalists. This machinery would include provision for the education, examination, certification, discipline and disbarment of a journalist by authority
of the profession itself. Legal authorization afterwards would
make the plan effective.
As has been said by Rome G. Brown, a member of the bar
and also for twenty-seven years an executive of the Minneapolis
Tribune:
Such recognition and assistance by the law cannot be expected
until the profession itself shall have properly organized and established within itself a recognized ethical code which can be said
to be the expression as such of the entire profession itself. Its




400 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
standards f or admission should be established above any consideration of politics, creed, race or sex. Until recognized and authorized under the law and until it procures the cobperation of the law,
its discipline for misconduct could not extend any further than to
an expulsion of membership, but it should make its privileges of
admission to membership or of retention of membership with such
requirements that the badge of its organization would be one
sought by every journalist who had any hope or expectation of
rising in his profession. It should be an emblem of the dignity
and of the importance and high standards of a great profession,
and, therefore, not only a badge of honor to its possessor, but a
badge of marked distinction between the newspaperman who has
it and the one who has it not.
Until such organization is provided, the profession of journalism
never can have the recognition it deserves nor be safeguarded in
the maintenance and protection of the high standards of professional culture and professional honor which are its ideals.
The question is, how long will society have to wait for journalists to take the initiative?
The Need for a Licensing System
Pleading for the erection of standards in journalism, Mr.
Brown has thus described the need:
The most unprincipled, uneducated, untrained rascal who is able
to procure the use of a press and buy newsprint may issue daily
or weekly a dirty or yellow sheet, the only tendencies of which
are to pervert public morals, and call it a "newspaper," and call
himself a "journalist." This is true of the scandalous four-page
sheet displaying the spoils of the hunt of sex-gossip mongers as
also it is true of the purely yellow sheet or of the white sheet with
yellow streaks, whose publishers cater only to readers of depraved
tastes. The legal profession has its shysters, but the law and
codes of the profession set them apart as such. The profession of
medicine has its quacks and its confidence men, but they are
segregated, or may be so, both under the law and by the organized
action of the profession itself. And yet the great profession of
journalism is without any authoritative protection either under
the law or through its own organized action.
In this connection a remark by some one suggests itself, that
there is great need of a word that means to the newspaper profession what shyster and quack mean to the professions of law
rid medicine.




THE INFLUENCE OF LAW


401


William Allen White is one of a small number of editors
who have indorsed the idea of licensing journalists:
Until the people of this country get it well in their heads that
journalism is a profession which must be licensed and controlled,
as the medical and legal professions are licensed and controlled,
there can be no freedom of the press which is not liable to great
abuses.... The most important thing in a democracy is the
dissemination of intelligent information upon important matters.
Until a man is equipped to know what are important matters and
until he is trained to discuss important matters and disseminate
facts intelligently, democracy is in danger.... When the
newspaper business is socially controlled as medicine and law are,
the freedom of our newspapers will be an asset. As it is, our
freedom is a liability. Until journalism is recognized as a profession for trained men who have certain defined qualifications,
the newspaper business will vacillate. Sometimes it will be an
organ of predatory capitalism, sometimes the expression of class
demagogy-in both events a menace to stable government and
growing institutions.
As to the Difficulties of Licensing
R. Justin Miller, professor of law in the University of
Minnesota, thus analyzed the situation from the legal point of
view, addressing a gathering of editors:
You have no doubt asked yourselves the question whether examinations and licensing are possible in connection with the profession of journalism. Let me suggest that you do not reject it
as a possibility merely because of the difficulties which appear to
stand in the way. All of your difficulties are present with the
other professions, and many of them are still with us, even though
we have ostensibly definitely established the practice.
Let me speak briefly of the outstanding difficulties in your way.
First, there is the fact that the practice of the profession of journalism involves the possession of a large plant which in the case
of the larger papers and magazines are usually in the hands of
capitalists or large business organizations. These men frequently
are not inspired with the professional spirit at all, but are interested in the financial returns from the advertising section, carrying the other departments along as a necessary evil. It would, of
course, be impossible to put these men through examinations and
licensing, and it must be confessed that so long as the voice of
capital speaks so directly, there is not a proper chance for development of the professional spirit.




4029 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
The same conditions prevail to a certain extent in the other
professions. It takes a very substantial outlay of capital to equip
a modern city law office, with its library, filing system, and the
mechanical devices to be found therein. The same can be said
of the physician's office, with its X-ray machine, its examination
table, its library, its automobiles, etc. And the same can be said
also of the teaching profession. Although the teacher generally
finds his expensive equipment installed at the expense of the public,
he finds it controlled by boards of trustees, or regents who represent frequently the same type of business mind as the owner of
the newspaper plant.
Now, although the young lawyer or the young doctor can go to
a small town and open a small inexpensive office, or the young
teacher can rent a building and run his own private school, so can
the young journalist buy a hand press, set his own type, and print
a country weekly. If he wants to get into the big city organization
then, he must take what he finds and do the best he can to build
up the standards in which he believes.
The point I make is that he finds no different a situation than
does the young professional in any line, and that the man who
undertakes to improve the morals of any profession must take it
for granted that he is doomed to disappointment,' so far as making
any substantial change is concerned, when he works with the entrenched ignorance and prejudices of those business men who frequently control the plants of big city offices. This, however, does
not make it impossible to examine and license the new applicants.
If a concerted demand were made for legislation requiring such
procedure, it could no doubt be secured.
Evolution of Legal Requirements in the Profession of Law
Highly illuminating is the account of the steps in the development of the licensing system in law as described by Henry W.
Jessup, a distinguished New York lawyer:
At first an oath was deemed all sufficient. It is a sad commentary upon the profession itself that it took a century before the
American bar as a whole came to the consciousness of the fact
that it must, in addition to such oath, erect standards or canons
of ethics; that it must publish those standards to the community
at large, so that men could know, not only what they could expect
of lawyers, but what lawyers were expecting of one another and
what the courts could require of them. And it has taken nearly
a generation since this formulation of canons was first mooted for
the courts themselves to depart from the narrow precedents of




THE INFLUENCE OF LAW40


403


former decisions which tended to restrict their power over lawyers
to penal lines (that is to say, lawyers were to be disbarred only
if they had broken the statute of the state forbidding the doing of
some particular thing). But now judicial decisions east and west
are beginning to embody recognition by the judges that when a
member of the bar indulges in indecent solicitation of business, or
undignified advertisement of his wares, or in other breaches of
our canons, the courts will assume that such a lawyer may be
censured, suspended or disbarred for violation of the canons in
force in the profession. We have, thank God, reached the stage
when a lawyer must respect "the essential dignity of the profession" as well as the Mosaic Decalogue and the penal law of his
state.
It seems reasonably clear that the most serious difficulty
with any plan for licensing journalists-the only really serious
difficulty-lies in the danger that the machinery for regulation
might be used by politicians to punish and muzzle unfriendly
newspapers and newspaper writers. The Illinois plan perhaps has fewer safeguards in this direction than the Oklahoma
plan. Neither may be entirely safe. But does not the urgency
of the need justify experimentation-a persistent effort to solve
the problem? Important steps have been taken recently within
the profession of journalism to establish standards. Is it not
time for that profession to seek the codperation of the law.?
Minor Efforts at Legal Restrictions
Educational in value, and all pointing to the need of the more
fundamental enactments just considered are a number of laws
and proposed laws dealing with particular phases of newspaper
publication. They are all aimed at symptoms rather than the
disease itself. They are enumerated here merely as affording
an understanding of public sentiment towards newspapers.
1. The Michigan legislature of 1923 enacted a law excluding
certain information from newspapers:
It shall be unlawful for any person, or for the officers, agents,
servants, or employes of any corporation, directly or indirectly,
individually or by agent, servant, or employee, or by means of any
newspaper, poster, periodical, or other production, to write, print,
publish, advertise, deliver or distribute or offer to deliver or dis



404 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
tribute to the public or to any part thereof or to any person, any
statement or information concerning the making or laying of
wagers or bets or the selling of pools or evidences of betting odds
on any race, contest,' or game or on the happening of any event
not known by the parties to be certain or any purported event of
like character.
Public sentiment was strongly behind the bill as were also
most of the newspapers of the state. It passed by a practically
unanimous vote.
2. A bill was introduced into the United States Senate in
1913 making it unlawful to publish in the District of Columbia
details of crimes and accidents. The author of the bill supported it with lengthy arguments against the evil of anti-social
news, but said in closing:
It is an evil which I admit can not be overcome by law. It must
be met by a better and purer public sentiment that will demand
cleaner and more reliable journalism.... Federal legislation
on the subject must of necessity be limited in its scope and effect.
It would mean more as an example and as a national expression
of condemnation of corrupt and unreliable journalism and approval of clean journalism and a powerful stimulant of a better
and more exalted public sentiment than as a practicable, enforceable penal or restrictive law.
The State of Indiana has a law similar in purpose:
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, or offer for sale, or
to print or publish, or to bring into this state for the purpose of
selling, giving away, or otherwise disposing of, or to circulate in
any way, any paper, book, or periodical, the chief feature or characteristic of which is the record of the commission of crime, or to
display by cut or illustration crimes committed, or the acts or
pictures of criminals, desperadoes, or of men or women in lewd
and unbecoming positions or improper dress.
Any person guilty of violation of this act shall be fined not less
than $10 and not more than $200.
3. A Washington correspondent wrote a story regarding
alleged excessive use of money by a national political organization in the campaign of 1920. Summoned before a Senate investigating committee he refused to name the source of his information. After much futile questioning, he was excused.
Reporters and editors have been sent to jail for refusal to




THE INFLUENCE OF LAW40


405


divulge the source of their information. Newspapers conducting vice crusades have been threatened with legal penalties
because they published matters of common knowledge but not
of first hand information constituting legal evidence and because they refused to give the names of their informants.
Cases of this sort have given rise to the belief in the minds
of many journalists that information given to a reporter should
be recognized in law as a privileged communication duly protected as in the case of statements made to a lawyer by his
client or to a minister by a communicant.
Other suggestions made by individuals or groups outside of
journalism consist of advocacy for:
4. Further restrictions on "trial by newspaper."
5. Prohibition of publication of the details brought out in
divorce trials.
6. A law providing that, except in case of special permission,
a newspaper should not publish an interview until it had been
approved by the subject of the interview.
7. A requirement that errors shall be corrected in the same
position in the paper and with the same prominence as the
original article containing the error.
8. Compulsory publication of letters to the paper.
9. A law requiring accuracy through the provision that,
"Whoever shall publish in a newspaper a statement wilfully
misrepresenting the facts, or shall publish as facts statements
known to them to be untrue or shall publish erroneous statements through gross carelessness shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."y
10. A law, modeled on a Florida statute, providing that a
newspaper desiring to print an attack on a candidate for office
shall submit the article to him and grant him equal space for
reply in theý issue in which the attack appears.
Responsibility of News Sources
Recognition that at least a part of the inaccuracies in newspapers are due to careless informants was embodied in the
following bill introduced into the New York legislature in 1920
and enacted into law:
Any person who knowingly and wilfully states, delivers or
transmits by any means whatever to any manager, editor, pub



406 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
uisher, reporter or other employee of a publisher of any newspaper, magazine, publication, periodical or serial, any false and
untrue statement of a fact concerning any person or corporation,
with intent that the same shall be published, is guilty of misdemeanor.
The particular abuse at which the law was aimed was the
victimizing of newspapers by press agents of persons and concerns seeking favorable publicity for themselves, or unfavorable publicity for competitors, and undertaking to achieve it
by means of ingenious fake stories.
A similar law has been adopted in the State of Minnesota.
In neither state is the law anything more than an "educational"
influence.
It is not to be expected that all newspapers will agree on any
one restrictive measure-part of the public objects to sanitary
measures, quarantine, educational requirements-but unless a
guaranty of improvements can be given through some general
measure such as a licensing system, legal restrictions of a
specific nature are sure to be a perpetual threat, or worse, of
a dissatisfied public.




CHAPTER XVI


INFLUENCE OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
When the belief is expressed that college training in journalism is exerting a beneficial influence on newspaper practice,
some editors heartily endorse the notion, some agree to it
through courtesy, and others ridicule it. But practically all
of them profess to believe that in the not distant future the
influence of schools and departments of journalism will be
noticeable generally.
All of them admit that the demands made upon the young
reporter are so great as to call into use whatever he possesses
of ability and education. Indeed, as remarked by Paul Bellamy, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, they are often unreasonable: "We too often expect these young chaps to be equally
competent in one moment to interview a bishop of the church,
and in the next to cover a murder, and then go write a story on
the Einstein theory. It takes in too much territory."
Professional training in journalism began in colleges and
universities hardly more than two decades ago. While the
growth in the number of departments and students has been
rapid, the period during which the number of graduates annually contributed to journalism has been large is too short as yet
to justify great expectations. Many of these graduates have
worked up into executive positions, but, relatively, their number is small. Those who have acquired newspapers are, in
almost all cases, country publishers and editors.
Professional Education in Journalism
It would hardly be becoming in departments of journalism
to make broad assertions as to leavening the newspaper lump.
That achievement, if it ever is accomplished, should be heralded
by the press itself, which alone can lend authenticity to such a
407




408 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
claim. But departments of journalism may properly set forth
the aims cherished by them and the methods used in pursuit
of such aims.
To describe the service that such departments undertake to
accomplish for their students, it is necessary to analyze the
curriculum usually found in such schools. It is roughly divisible into three parts: general knowledge and training, technical
knowledge and training, principles and ethics.
1. The general knowledge and training received by a graduate in journalism is not essentially different from that received
by any student in the college of liberal arts and sciences. His
selection of courses may be influenced in certain obvious directions by his need for education bearing rather directly on the
present and his further need for comprehensiveness in this
field rather than specialization-though the function of the
school of journalism in supplying specialists, able to write
authoritatively on some one subject, is not to be overlooked.
This general education has already received the approval of
the newspaper world. The newspaper executive who still
places a discount on the college man or woman is something of
a curiosity. The benefits of the influx into newspaper offices
of college men and women, whether trained in journalism or
not, is too obvious to admit of discussion.
2. The technical knowledge and training in schools of journalism is afforded by courses relating to every important department of newspaper work-news, editorial, advertising, publishing, etc. The classroom work in these courses includes
discussions of theory, criticism of newspapers, practical exercises. Outside the classroom, students practise on a "laboratory newspaper"-or its equivalent-and write for outside publications. They read books and make investigations. All their
work is criticised thoroughly by teachers who know their subjects from a practical standpoint.
Few teachers of journalism claim that a student so trained
has greater facility in his work than an equally talented reporter
who has gained experience in newspaper offices. But he obtains his experience while in college, and upon graduation is
prepared to make more rapid advancement than would other



PROFESSIONAL TRAINING40


409


wise be possible. His broad view of newspaper practice is
also valuable in affording ideas for meeting the requirements
of his later work. He has studied and tried, in some cases, a
dozen ways of doing the same thing. His influence in journalism, therefore, should be towards the adoption of the better
methods. He does not begin by telling his superior how to run
the paper, but he has command of resources that count sometimes in a doubtful situation. He is by no means in the position of a man who has attempted to learn steamship navigation
by reading a book. On his departmental daily paper he has
taken his trick in the pilot house and knows the "feel" of the
wheel. He knows something about allowing for effects of
wind and waves and current, and can recognize signs of shallow
water. Possibly classroom "fogs" have prepared him to find
his way through the haze that sometimes gathers around the
newspaper executive's desk.
This technical education receives the endorsement of a growing number of journalists, and not usually because of any misconception that it is merely trade-school training. In the words
of Harrison Robertson, of the Louisville Courier Journal:
"In the future the majority of our journalists, our true journalists, are to come from our colleges and our schools of journalism. Young men who take journalism so seriously as to
prepare for it as they would prepare for any other profession
are those to whom we must look to establish journalism properly and permanently as the peer of any profession."
The Ethical Element
Ethics is necessarily taught in all parts of a truly practical
course in journalism. A diagram might be made showing the
per cent of each journalistic subject that is likely to be devoted
to a discussion of ethical questions. It would be found, perhaps, that in a course in reporting twenty-five per cent of the
time and attention of the class is given to matters of ethics.
The same is true of a course in copyreading. The percentage
is even higher in a course in editorial writing, and so on.
Specific courses devoted to ethics fall into two classes. The
first, ethics combined with history. "History and Principles




410 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
of journalism," is a favorite name for such a course. The
other group consists of courses bearing the name of "Ethics of
Journalism" or "Editorial Problems and Policies."~
Both types of course doubtless have, a place in any curriculum in journalism.
The special course in ethics comes in the last year. In this
course, all the ideas on newspaper problems which have been
assimilated by the student in his various classes are assembled
and organized and amplified into the beginnings, at least, of a
philosophy of journalism.
There are four kinds of material to be brought into such
a course. First, an introductory consideration of the general
principles of ethics. Second, consideration of the ethics 'of
journalism. This consists of the enumeration of the major
ethical problems that confront editors, and the discussion of
theories of ethics as applied to such problems. These two divisions of the course might be described as the theoretical or
survey section.
The third element of the course may well consist of actual
cases presented to the class by men and women engaged in
journalistic work. The instructor may gather this material
by correspondence. The facts in each case are given to the
class, briefs are prepared, and the decisions arrived at are compared and discussed.
The fourth element in the course is the result of the belief
that the best way to make a lasting impression on a student's
mind is by enabling him to put into practice the theory which
he has formed. To this end problems are assigned to each
student. Each student is asked to achieve some definite thing
through his laboratory newspaper. Most of the students in
the class have opportunity to work in one of the executive positions on the paper and their experience with questions involving newspaper policy are utilized in fixing ideals which might
otherwise prove evanescent.
Of course, newspapers are studied as to their policies.
Then, too, the student of editorial problems and policies must
labor to understand as much as possible about public opinion.
A. student of medicine must learn drugs and how to handle




PROFESSIONAL TRAINING


411


surgical instruments, but the equally vital subject for him is
the human body on which he expects to practice.
Not a Theoretical Course
"Do not students in schools of journalism give themselves
too much concern over questions of ethics in the newspaper
world?" asks one editor, with a regrettable trace of impatience.
Is it possible to feel too much concern about the kind of
world to which one expects to give his life? If students were
spending their time theorizing about an ideal world, the editor's
satire might be justified. But they are not. They are studying conditions as they actually exist. Their ethics class is not
one devoted to pleasant discourse, for the requisite number of
semester hours, on the evils of yellow journalism, the objections to editorializing the news, the dishonesty of news suppression, the social obligation to handle crime stories in a constructive way, and other similar subjects. Such discussion is
undoubtedly interesting. It may even be said to approach the
old-fashioned classroom  lecture as a "delightful form  of
respiration." But it is doubtful that such theorizing would
bear fruit in the conduct of the student five years later when
confronted by a real newspaper problem. The chief task before the instructor is to create an atmosphere of reality in the
class room. This is not difficult, for one reason, because of
the daily newspaper for practical work. And however great
may be the quantitative differences between the problems in
such a field and in the field of a great metropolitan newspaper,
qualitatively the questions that arise day by day are the same.
A story of a case of expulsion for dishonesty is a crime story
of the campus, and it is almost as serious a matter to the inhabitants of the campus as the story of a defalcation in a great
bank is to the inhabitants of a city.
All the aspects of the problem of suppression are presented
to the college editor.
Temptations to color the news are as urgent as they ever
become in a larger newspaper office.
Opportunities for sensationalism present themselves every
morning at the campus editor's desk.




412  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
And so on through the list of typical ethical questions.
All this being true, the problem of the instructor is merely
to bridge the gap between his class room and the office of the
paper.
It is all very practical. The editor who finds little difficulty
in disposing of requests for suppression can probably recall
that when he encountered his first demand of this sort, either
as reporter or as executive, he did not react with the ease and
assurance he feels now. It is not an easy thing to weigh with
judicial mind the considerations that bear on whether or not to
print a doubtful story: its value as news, its effect on public
opinion, its value as a warning, its injury to the reputation of
a woman, its influence on the future of a child, its punitive
value, its suggestiveness, its relation to proceedings in court.
Experience-sometimes expensive experience-teaches a journalist to weigh them. Would he not have profited by thinking
these things over and talking with editors about them and formulating ideas about them before he was confronted by his first
"case"?
As to an adequate supply of "clinical material," hot from the
newspaper griddle, editors and managing editors are always
helpful.
Professional education in journalism does not monopolize the
time of the student while in college. It merely affords him
opportunity to acquire, along with his general education, a semitechnical training in the vocation he expects to follow. This
helps him to correlate his general education with his professional requirements. It familiarizes him with the standards
in journalism for the maintenance and advancement of which
he as a college man is to be held responsible. It affords him
an opportunity to become acquainted    with the different
branches of his vocation and therefore to make a wise selection.
It develops his skill in technical matters. It creates a background for his life work.
Such, then, is the general character of the course in journali.sm. Until time affords concrete evidence of the flowering of
ý'his preparatory work when transplanted to the newspaper
nield, only deductively can its value be established, but it seems




PROFESSIONAL TRAINING41


413


to present a creditable case. Its general effect is thus forecast
by the editor of the Christian Science Monitor:
As a professional training becomes required of those who would
adopt journalism as the calling of a lifetime, that calling takes on
the character of a learned profession. Perhaps insistence on this
thesis is not important. If a man does good work, if he serves
that portion of the world with which he is brought into business
contacts efficiently, honorably, and well, it may be of the least
importance to know whether he is following a profession, a handicraft, a business, or a trade. And yet when the effort of those who
are endeavoring to set a high standard for the calling of journalism is impeded by the plea that they are seeking to subject it to
rules and regulations of conduct which should apply only to the
learned professions, the time comes to determine whether it is not
entitled to be thus classified.
No calling, no profession, demands a higher sense of responsibility to the general public than this. In none is every bit of education, academic or technical, so valuable as in the making of a
daily newspaper. In no profession are the opportunities so gi eat
for the man devoid of any professional sense of honor and integrity to prey upon the weaknesses of his fellow-beings, and in none
is the chance of the upright man for honorable and useful service
greater. If there be any calling which it should be the study of
its practitioners to elevate to the standing of a true profession,
and to surround with the protection of' a guiding code of ethics,
it is this calling of the journalist.
Other Points of Contact
The existence of newspapers, on the one hand, and schools
and departments of journalism, on the other, side by side in
the same field, or at least in the same realm of human interests,
creates a situation somewhat different from that in any other
profession. For here are two types of institution interested in
the same things, though from different angles, exerting a considerable influence on each other and likely to become more and
more interdependent.
Schools of law have no such complementary institutions.
Lawyers are not institutional in character-not even the greatest of law firms. The lives of individual lawyers are not subordinated to the lif e of an institution as are the lives of many
individual journalists. The lawyer can not regard the law




414 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
school as a force exerting influences on the future of a perma..
nent organization of which he is a part, for he is not a part of
any such organization. He cannot regard schools of law as
feeders for an institution to the future prosperity of which
he is devoted.
Likewise in the profession of medicine, almost the only re-.
lation that exists between the practitioner in the field and the
school of medicine is the relation of a graduate to his alma
mater.
Even in the field of religion where two closely related institUtions stand side by side-the divinity school and the churchthe situation is not comparable to that in the journalistic world.
As a result of this unique situation, there is more than the
one ch'annel through which schools of journalism may exert a
beneficial influence upon the press.
Fostering a Literature of the Profession
Casper S. Yost has pointed out that:
Journalism schools may also render a great service to the profession generally by fostering a demand for technical literature of
journalism. The other professions have great libraries of books
embodying the experience and the thought of their best minds
through ages. No doctor or lawyer, no preacher or educator
thinks of entering upon his profession without surrounding himself with a collection of such books. Journalism is virtually bookless.
The newspaper editor of to-day has no authorities that he may
consult, no experience but his own to guide him. There are for
him no accumulated stores of professional learning and wisdom.
No masters of the science or art of journalism have left a record
to aid. He must draw all that he requires out of himself. Journalism needs to be studied in the mass and the results of study recorded. It needs the storing up of individual experience to make
it accessible and beneficial to others.
It needs, in short, a literature of its own. Conceive, for example, the value of a critical history of journalism, showing its
development and the reasons for it, showing the part it has played
in the struggle for liberty everywhere, showing its influence in the
progress of mankind, its spiritual as well as its material progress,
showing the absolute necessity of the press, a free press, in the
dissemination of information, in the protection of public rights,




PROFESSIONAL TRAINING


415


in the promotion of public welfare, in the preservation of democracy.
What a stimulus it would be to every worker in the profession;
what a revelation it would be to the people. The newspaper is the
greatest instrument of public service that has been developed by
men. We need a larger realization of the quality and the obligation of our inheritance, and the people need a better understanding
of the value of journalism in the protection and advancement of
the public interests.
Educating a Critical Public
The responsible journalist whose interests are broader than
his daily balance sheets finds significance, and even cheer, in
the fact that schools of journalism are leading large numbers
of young people-and older people as well-to form a more
just estimate of the newspaper, to understand it better, to read
it more critically, to give preference to what is worthy. Here
is a force of gathering power which both from the inside-as it
comes to be exerted from the inside-and also from the outside,
in the form of an intelligently critical public, is bound to make
itself felt, in the direction of a national journalism that shall be
a more serviceable social organ.
In some states the good will between press and school is further advanced by reciprocal services of one sort and another.
For example, the school seeks the answer to some newspaper's
problem through surveys made by students; the editor conducts discussion groups in the school. The school strains out
the unfit and has on call competent beginners; the newspaper
gives them jobs.
Journalism as a Career
In considering vocations, the young man of serious mind is
attracted to those that promise him a well-rounded life.
One superiority that journalism has over other arts or professions is that in it men and women may use to good advantage all their knowledge, powers, and possessions. The whole
man may be on the job-must be on the job. Such breadth
and inclusiveness of opportunity makes strong appeal.
But the young man also looks -or the possibility of distinction in some special field.




416 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Here again journalism is full of promise. More and more
do recognition and recompense await specially trained or specially gifted writers.
Again, the young man with a fairly sane scale of values
wishes a vocation in which some sort of balance may be maintained between the pursuit of his own selfish interests and his
purposes of altruism or social improvement.
journalism is fairly satisfactory as to the first and limitless
in regar'd to the second.
In the matter of individual tastes-likes and dislikes for certa-in kinds of work-journalism exhibits such diversities as to
afford a place f or almost any man, except the one who does
not care to participate actively in affairs beyond the range of
his individual concerns.
Like other vocations journalism runs on different levels.
At its best financially and otherwise, it is worthy of any man's
lifetime devotion. At its worst financially, it is about two degrees above the poor house. At its worst ethically, it is about
two degrees below the business of poisoning wells.
As to whether city journalism or country journalism offers
the greatest opportunities, there is surely no absolute answer.
The meaning of opportunity depends on a man's scale of
values-on his philosophy of life.
The opportunity to get rich is not opportunity at all to the
young man-by no means rarely f ound-who cares more f or
other things. And the opportunity to be a master builder of
community well-being in a small city is not opportunity at all to
the young man who gets more joy out of being an indispensable,
though perhaps small, factor in a great metropolitan newspaper
organization.
If the young man looks through the list of owners and high
executives of great city papers and great class publications,
marking those who began life as reporters without financial
means, he will perhaps conclude that the great rewards in journialism-measured quantitatively by number of dollars and
spread of reputation and influence-are reserved for those who
go to the cities. But, of course, he should compare this number with the total number of young men who started as re



PROFESSIONAL TRAINING                   417
porters. He should make an honest estimate of his own
chances according to the law of probabilities.
Then, if he looks over the list of country editors and marks
those who, starting as reporters without financial means, have
acquired a competence, and those who have a spread of influence as broad as their state, and in some cases as broad as
the nation, he may decide that, after all, opportunity is about
equal, measured quantitatively.
If he proceeds to a qualitative analysis of opportunity in the
two fields, he will perhaps find the advantage with the country
editor who is at least his own man and whose success or failure
is his own success or failure.




CHAPTER XVII


OTHER MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT
The adoption of standards by the profession of journalism
itself; legislation looking to the enforcement of such standards;
the development of professional education-these three influences seem to give most promise of reversing certain tendencies inimical to the press as a social organ. But there are
several other factors of which account should be taken.
Effects of Demands by the Public
Reference has been made in passing to the demands for betterment presented by individuals and groups. In one large
city, representative citizens signed an open letter to the local
editors asking that they be given papers fit to take into the home.
One national organization of women has a standing committee
on purity of the press. The pulpit is a frequent critic of the
press. Unreasonable as these criticisms often are; true as it
is that men buy the newspapers in which they know they will
find the sensational and the yellow, and then criticise the
papers for printing the stuff, nevertheless criticisms are salutary-and are so regarded by thoughtful journalists.
But criticism ought not to fall equally on the just and the
unjust as is the fashion with wholesale condemnation. And
the critic should come into court with clean hands-should express himself with the restraint and fairness and decency
which he demands of the newspaper. The injustice that editors sometimes see in trivial complaints was explained by one
editor in the form of a "statement of account between Mr.
Average Citizen and his newspaper." On the credit side were
itemized sundry expressions of good will beginning with the
notice of his birth and covering his various graduations, entrance into business, marriage, birth and death of child, mis418




OTHER MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT   41


419


takes not mentioned, etc. On the debit side was "a little editorial to which he takes exception; some little policy with which
he does not entirely agree; a little mistake of judgment on the
part of the paper, some very human failure which any one
might make." And Mr. Average Citizen regards the account
as balanced. "He owes his newspaper not a kindly thought,
and he will get even if it's the last thing he does. The newspaper was always crooked, anyway."
influence of an Official Pacemaker
A newspaper published by the national government, but
broader in function than the official gazettes of some other
countries, is a favorite suggestion of some advocates of reform;
but the career of the Official Bulletin of the United States during the World War has been so generally pronounced unsatisfactory that-fairly or unfairly-that form of experiment has
been rendered impossible for some decades to come. Nevertheless the proposal for a journalism by the state, so warmly def ended by Charles Walston, is by no means a notion to be entirely discarded.
The experiments with newspapers published by municipalities have been so disastrous that it is safe to say the Los Angeles
Municipal News, which lived one year, will be the last of that
type of publication for some time. The plans for that model
daily were thus described by its managing editor, George H.
Dunlop:
Each political party polling three per cent of the vote of the city
has the right to use one column in each issue of the paper, free of
charge, for the purpose of setting forth the views of that party
on public questions. The governing committee of each party
selects its own editor, to edit its column, and the matter he hands
in for publication is free from any censorship by the management
of the paper except that such matter must be lawful for publication. The mayor and any member of the city council may each
have the use of half a column in any issue of the paper.
The Los Angeles Municipal News is under the control of the
municipal newspaper commission, composed of three citizens, who
serve without pay. The commissioners are appointed by the mayor
and confirmed by the council.




420  THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Endowed Newspapers as Models
The dream of an endowed newspaper still offers an appealing
opportunity for philanthropy-liberal philanthrophy it would
need to be. Labor groups and political groups have experimented in this direction with some success, but their papers
have been endowed for purposes of propaganda. The hope expressed by some journalists is that an endowment may be made
for the opposite purpose-providing for a newspaper without
bias and without fear. Hamilton Holt has set the amount
necessary to endow a newspaper at five million dollars. He
suggests that, "The money to endow such a great national
weekly should be given outright to a board of trustees composed of the most eminent men of different political parties
and social classes, whose duties should consist in supervising
the finances and selecting the managing editor and seeing that
the journal lives up to its principles. The functions of the
board should correspond to those of the trustees of a university."
Demonstrations of the Ideal
From time to time ministers have undertaken to edit an issue
or a week's issues of some newspaper in order to demonstrate
how it should be done in accordance with Christian principles.
Charles M. Sheldon's "demonstration" with the Topeka (Kansas) Daily Capital, in 1900, attracted world attention because of the prominence of Dr. Sheldon. Other instances have
passed unnoted. Newspapers usually agree to such arrangements because of their publicity value rather than with any
genuinely constructive aims. The conditions governing the
performance are necessarily such as to make it little more than
a sort of hopeless gesture, with possibly some local value in
setting people to thinking. No such model has surpassed in
any respect the daily issues, year in and year out, produced by
at least one newspaper staff in America, and closely approximated by others.
A more ambitious undertaking was the American Daily
Standard, established in Chicago a few years ago, with care



OTHER MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT   42


421


f ul provision for gathering and publishing the news "in accordance with the principles of Christianity." The paper continued
three months, during which time it had the character less of
a general newspaper than of a vehicle for church news. In
discontinuing its publication its editor made this announcement:
The American Daily Standard has tried to meet the wishes of
those people who profess to he dissatisfied with newspapers as they
are. We have put out a Christian paper-a paper that was clean,
truthful and unbiased. The Christian leaders and high class business men of this town have failed us utterly.
James Schermerhorn, formerly publisher of the Detroit
Times., announced his purpose to conduct a Golden Rule newspaper. He sold it shortly after the completion of its twentyfirst year, declaring that ethical journalism lacks a constituency.
Little permanent benefit seems to come from these attempted
demonstrations, notwithstanding the entire sincerity of those
responsible for them. journalism needs, rather, to be continually responsive to the best influences of its own greatest practitioners. The examples furnished by its brilliant men have
always proved most potent in developing any profession.
Official Authentication of News
Much more acceptable than the idea of an official newspaper
is that of an agency of government or of the press-or several
such agencies-by which information may be dug out of hidden
or inaccessible places and digested into form suitable for the
uses of the press. Something of the sort is now done by press
agents in the various departments, but their methods have attracted the fire of critics both within and without journalism.
Each press agent is looking out for the interests of one department or one man. He is suspected of being a propagandist.
He comes between the newspapers and the sources of authoritative information. His "hand-outs" discourage investigation
of original news sources by reporters. In the minds of its advocates, Walter Lippman and others, the plan for a digesting
bureau would avoid these evils.
At least one privately maintained attempt in the same direc



422 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
tion has been made. The Citizens' Federal Research Bureau
was organized in Washington, in 1924, by Frank A. Vanderlip,
"to make a scientific, independent, and impartial investigation
of the federal government and place the findings before the bar
of public opinion," with the announced intention of making it
eventually a "newspaper organization, with a managing editor
and a staff of trained newspaper men as investigators."
Improvement in Personnel
Writing on "Why I'm quitting newspaper work," Harmon
Postlewhite declares that:
The trouble with the press is the men who feed its columns.
Without moral backbone, without ideals, without a sense of justice
or fair play, they are poisoning the minds of such people as put any
trust in the daily newspapers. In the minds of others they are
irrigating the seeds of distrust that make each man suspect his
neighbor. Living in a false atmosphere is in part responsible for
this reactionary attitude.
Unfair as it is to make so sweeping a statement, there is yet
ground for considering seriously the proposition: get better reporters and journalism will be better; and then as journalism
improves reporters will do better work since they will respect
their work more. A managing editor thus condemns one demoralizing practice:
I am fairly filled with indignation when I encounter in print,
day after day, cheapening lines penned by the men, themselves
insulted, who in turn spread before their readers the record of
their own mortifying experiences. Of course, we have disagreeable
things to do. We go up against all manner of men, often too,
under circumstances that are embarrassing, not to say degrading.
People who lack breeding or sense, or both, sometimes assume an
offensive attitude toward us, but why parade the fact before the
world? Why encourage other morons to do the same thing?
How can a reporter respect a job that requires of him crookedness in more or less flagrant form, from stealing photographs
to coloring a story? How can he help respecting a job that
requires of him scrupulous care, as in the submission of an
interview for the approval of the person interviewed, before




OTHER MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT


423


publication, a practice more and more in effect in newspaper
offices. "We preach to one another clean journalism and endeavor to practice it," is the succinct description one city editor
gives of the fine spirit in his staff.
Improvement in working conditions will reduce the percentage of those who intend merely to use newspaper work as a
stepping-stone. Few care to grow old in a newspaper office.
Schools of journalism will operate towards curing this evil;
but the only permanent cure is a higher scale of wages. Underpayment is responsible for a high rate of turnover in most
newspaper offices. The resultant burden of breaking in new
men, strangers in the field and therefore incapable of a high
degree of aCcuracy, is greater than an adequate wage scale
would be.
Another encouragement to pride in achievement is a liberal
policy as to "by" lines. The newspaper's traditional fear of
allowing a reporter or department editor to create a personal
following which might enable him to command a higher salary
is perhaps defensible on business grounds; but it is damaging
to journalism and stimulates "graduation" into vocations more
attractive to individual ambition.
Influence of Organization
The newspaper world, besides its many organizations for
business purposes, has a number of groups banded together
for mutual benefits and for improvement in the profession of
journalism. The Institute of Journalists of Great Britain was
perhaps the first to exert an appreciable influence; the National
Association of Newspaper Editors in this country is the youngest undertaking of the sort. At least two active organizations
are the outgrowth of the American system of journalistic education: Sigma Delta Chi, for men, and Theta Sigma Phi for
women. Both labor for the ideals of professional responsibility. Organizations of the labor union type have been attempted
with meagre success. It is difficult to see why there might
not be developed in this country an organization like the Institute of Journalists or the National Union of Journalists, in
England, both of which have operated successfully.




424 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Encouragement of New Papers
Resistance by the public to the tendency towards newspaper
consolidations has been urged as vital to the preservation of an
independent and honest press. Such consolidations, especially
in larger centers, are by some regarded as steps towards dangerous monopoly of the channels of public information. The opportunity of the public to exert influence in such matters seems
slight, beyond lending encouragement to newly established
papers, particularly the small personal organ, modeled after
the French press, which is regarded by some as a hope of the
future.
Improvement of business methods used by small publishers
is regarded as so important to the betterment of the papers
themselves that some departments of journalism offer the services of an expert free to any editor who will install a modern
cost finding and efficiency system in his plant.
Exchange of editors for a few months at a time has been
proposed as a constructive device for journalism.
Such are some of the remedial suggestions that have been
made. It is well that they should be hospitably received and
never dismissed until all hope of their utility is dead.
Measurements of Attainment
Visions of the ideal have fascination for some. Others find
them irritating. Aiming at the stars is to some an impractical
proceeding; while others look upon it according to the doctrine
of Edwin E. Slosson: "The reason why a star is good to aim
at is because you can never reach it. An ideal ceases to be an
ideal when it is realized. Whatever you may choose for your
ideal, be sure that it is so distant from the earth that there is
no parallax to confuse your sight."
Both an exemplification and a description of the ideal newspaper were made in 1908 by George Harvey at the time of his
Bromley lectures at Yale University. His ideal newspaper, the
Bromley Morning News, was issued as an exhibit to go with
the lectures. Both attracted wide attention.
Perhaps the most dignified and lofty statement of the char



OTHER MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT


425.


acteristics of ideal journalism is that prepared by F. N. Scott
for inscription on the building erected not long ago for the
Detroit News:
Mirror of the public mind; interpreter of the public intent;
troubler of the public conscience.
Reflector of every human interest; friend of every righteous
cause; encourager of every generous act.
Bearer of intelligence; dispeller of ignorance and prejudice; a
light shining into all dark places.
Promoter of civic welfare and civic pride; bond of civic unity;
protector of civic rights.
Scourge of evil doers; exposer of secret iniquities; unrelenting
foe of privilege and corruption.
Voice of the lowly and oppressed; advocate of the friendless;
righter of public and private wrongs.
Chronicler of acts; sifter of rumors and opinions; minister of
the truth that makes men free.
Reporter of the new; remembrancer of the old and tried; herald
of what is to come.
Defender of civic liberty; strengthener of loyalty; pillar and
stay of democratic government.
Upbuilder of home; nourisher of the community spirit; art,
letters and science of the common people.
Many others have tried their hands at painting the ideal
newspaper. One of them, Waldo P. Warren, has described
it thus:
The home newspaper. It is a paper which is so full of good
thoughts for every member of the family that it finds a warm
welcome wherever it goes. It is free from crime and scandal
and unwholesome things. It takes more pride in the quality of
its circulation than in the mere quantity. It is not boastful nor
too much given to finding fault. It wins the confidence of the
people by its simplicity, honesty, purity, and progressiveness. It
handles the news of to-day in a manner which appeals to the
better class of people and to the better nature of all people. It
emphasizes the hopeful features of the news. It has a permanent
location for its special features. It is an authority on whatever
it undertakes to exploit. It has a reputation for correctness. It
regulates its advertising pages by reasonable requirements regarding display and illustrations, so that the page represents a
pleasing whole.




426 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Measurements of Excellence
The frequent attempts to pick out the best newspaper in the
country, or in some one state, or in the high schools of a state
or group of states bespeaks the universal interest in the ideal.
The standards applied in making such judgments are enlightening. Points for consideration, recommended by H. F. Harrington, director of the Medil School of Journalism, are: (1)
public service, (2) news, (3) editorials, (4) editorial paragraphs, (5) feature stories and human interest yarn.s, (6)
typographical display, (7) use of art, (8) ethics, (9) criticism,
(10) personals, (11) merchandising and advertising. Jason
Rogers suggests the following: (1) general appearance first
page, (2) general make-up of the entire paper, (3) editorial
freedom, independence and sanity, (4) news merit, (5) loyalty,
(6) human interest, (7) information departments, (8) constructive initiation, (9) household grip, (10) children's departmrents, (11) business and financial interest, (12) policy toward
advertisers, (13) service to advertisers, (14) promotional advertising, (15) willingness honestly to cobperate with other
newspapers.
In reading the less recent expressions on the subject, for
example the article by Noah Brooks in the Forum for July,
1890, entitled "The Newspaper of the Future," one is liable
to become a trifle discouraged at the delay in the arrival of
the perfect newspaper expected so optimistically a generation
ago. But patience has always been accounted a special virtue
in those awaiting better things, remembering always that a
companion virtue to patience is labor for the desired end.
Whether or not it is true that "to travel hopefully is better
than to arrive," it is certain that we should travel hopefully.
If the present writer's ideals for journalism have, as he
hopes, emerged in this book, it would be superfluous to state
them formally here; if they have not, it would be futile for him
to attempt it. One thing is certain: the practice of journalism,
however accurately pictured in these pages, as it is to-day, is
bound to advance quickly beyond that description, rendering
much of the foregoing discussion obsolete. The sooner the
better.




APPENDIX


SOME CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM
Broader in its significance than any of its several predecessors-codes by state editorial associations and by individual
papers-is the code adopted April 28, 1923, by the National
Association of Newspaper Editors, and since indorsed by a
number of state associations and other groups.
The code was presented to the association by its committee
on ethical standards of which H. J. Wright, editor of the New
"Y ork Globe., was chairman. The association at that time had
in its membership editors and managing editors of three-fourths
of the daily newspapers in cities of the United States of more
than 100,000 inhabitants.
Because of its intrinsic excellence and the endorsement it
has received, it seems to take precedence over other codes.
CANONS OF JOURNALISM
The primary function of newspapers is to communicate to
the human race what its members do, feel, and think. Journalism,
therefore, demands of its practitioners the widest range of intelligence, of knowledge, and of experience, as well as natural and
trained powers of observation and reasoning. To its opportunities
as a chronicle are indissolubly linked its obligations as teacher and
interpreter.
To the end of finding some means of codifying sound practice
and just aspirations of American journalism these canons are
set f orth:
I. Responsibility
The right of a newspaper to attract and hold readers is restricted
by nothing but considerations of public welfare. The use a newspaper makes of the share of public attention it gains serves to
determine its sense of responsibility, which it shares with every
member of its staff. A journalist who uses his power for any
selfish or otherwise unworthy purpose is faithless to a high trust.
427




428 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
II. Freedom of the Press
Freedom of the press is to be guarded as a vital right of mankind. It is the unquestionable right to discuss whatever is not
explicitly forbidden by law, including the wisdom of any restrictive statute.
III. Independence
Freedom from all obligations except that of fidelity to the public
interest is vital.
1. Promotion of any private interest contrary to the general welfare, for whatever reason, is not compatible with honest journalism.
So-called newvs communications from private sources should not
be published without public notice of their source or else substantiation of their claims to value as news, both in form and substance.
2. Partisanship in editorial comment which knowingly departs
from the truth, does violence to the best spirit of American
journalism; in the news columns it is subversive of a fundamental
principle of the profession.
IV. Sincerity, Truthfulness, Accuracy
Good faith with the reader is the fundation of all journalism
worthy of the name.
1. By every consideration of good faith a newspaper is constrained to be truthful. It is not to be excused for lack of thoroughness or accuracy within its control or failure to obtain command
of these essential qualities.
2. Headlines should be fully warranted by the contents of the
articles which they surmount.
V. Impartiality
Sound practice makes clear distinction between news reports
and expressions of opinion. News reports should be free from
opinion or bias of any kind.
This rule does not apply to so-called special articles unmistakably devoted to advocacy or characterized by a signature authorizing the writer's own conclusions and interpretations.
VI. Fair Play
A newspaper should not publish unofficial charges affecting
reputation or moral character without opportunity given to the
accused to be heard; right practice demands the giving of such
opportunity in all cases of serious accusation outside judicial
proceedings.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 429
1. A newspaper should not invade private rights or feelings
without sure warrant of public right as distinguished from public
curiosity.
2. It is the privilege, as it is the duty, of a newspaper to make
prompt and complete correction of its own serious mistakes of
fact or opinion, whatever their origin.
VII Decency
A newspaper cannot escape conviction of insincerity if while
professing high moral purpose it supplies incentives to base conduct, such as are to be found in details of crime and vice, publication of which is not demonstrably for the general good. Lacking
authority to enforce its canons, the journalism here represented
can but express the hope that deliberate pandering to vicious instincts will encounter effective public disapproval or yield to the
influence of a preponderant professional condemnation.
The Kansas Code
The Kansas Editorial Association was probably the first state
organization to adopt a code of ethics. It was written by W.
E. Miller, editor of the St. Mary's Star, and was adopted by
the association at its annual meeting, March 8, 1910.
For the Publisher
In Advertising
D efinition.-Adverti sing is news, or views, of a business or
professional enterprise which leads directly to its profits or increased business.
News of the industrial or commercial development of an institution which in no way has a specific bearing upon the merits
of its products is not advertising.
Besides news which leads to a profit, advertising also includes
communications and reports, cards of thanks, etc., over the
space of which the editor has no control. Charges for the latter
become more in the nature of a penalty to restrict their publication.
Responsibility.-The authorship of an advertisement should be so
plainly stated in the context or at the end that it could not
avoid catching the attention of the reader before he has left the
matter.
Unsigned advertisements in the news columns should either
be preceded or followed by the word "advertisement" or its abbreviation.I




430 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Freedom of Space.-We hold the right of the publisher to become a broker in land, loan, rental, and mercantile transactions
through his want and advertising columns, and condemn any
movement of those following such lines to restrict this right of
the publisher to the free sale of his space for the purpose of
bringing buyer and seller together.
This shall- not be construed to warrant the publisher as such
in handling the details, terms, etc., of the trade, but merely in
safeguarding his freedom in selling his space to bring the buyer
and seller together, leaving the bargaining to the principals.
Our advertising is to bring together the buyer and the seller,
and we are not concerned whether it is paid for and ordered by
the producer, the consumer, or a middleman.
Acceding to any other desires on the part of traders is knocking the foundations out from under the advertising businessthe freedom of space. We hold that the freedom of space (where
the payment is not a question) should only be restricted by the
moral decency of the advertising matter.
We hold that the freedom of space denies us the right to sign
any contract with a firm which contains any restrictions against
the wording of the copy which we may receive from any other
firm, even to the ment~oning of the goods of the first firm by
name.
Compensation.-We condemn the signing of contracts carrying with them the publication of any amount of free reading matter.
We condemn the acceptance of any exchange articles, trade
checks, or courtesies in payment for advertising, holding that all
advertising should be paid for in cash.
We condemn the giving of secret rebates upon the established
advertising rate as published.
Rates.-All advertising rates should be on a unit per thousand
basis and all advertisers are entitled to a full knowledge of the
circulation, not only of the quantity but also of the distribution.
Statements of circulation should show the number of bona fide
subscribers, the number of exchanges, the number of complimentaries, and the number sold to newsdealers, and if possible the
locality of distribution, in a general way.
Position.-Position contracts should be charged a fixed percentage above the established rate of the paper, and no contracts
should be signed wherein a failure to give the position required
results in a greater reduction from the established rate than the
position premium is greater than the established rate.
Comparisons.-We consider it beneath the dignity of a publisher to place in his columns statements which make invidious




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 431
comparisons between the amount of advertising carried or the
circulation of his paper and that of his competitor.
Press Agents and Unpaid Advertising.-The specific trade
name of an article of commerce, or the name of a merchant,
manufacturer, or professional man with reference to his wares,
products, or labors should not be mentioned in a pure news
story.
We condemn as against moral decency the publication of any
advertisement which will obviously lead to any form of retrogression, such as private medical personals, indecent massage
parlor advertisements, private matrimonial advertisements, physician 's or hospital's advertisement for the care of private diseases,
which carry in them any description or suggestive matter, of the
same.
In Circulation
Definition.-Circulation is the entire list of first-hand readers
of a publication and comprises the paid readers, complimentary
readers, exchange readers, and advertising readers.
Compensation.-Subscriptions should be solicited and received
only on a basis of cash consideration, the paper and its payment
being the only elements to the transaction.
Newsdealers.-The purchase of a quantity of papers should be
made outright, allowing for no return of unsold copies.
Gambling.-We condemn the practice of securing subscriptions through the sale or gift of chances.
Comipliirenttaries.-Complimentary copies should not be sent
to doctors, lawyers, ministers, postal clerks, police or court officials for news or mailing privileges.
In Estimating
Definition.-Estimating is the science of computing costs. Its
conclusion is the price.
Basis.-We do not favor the establishment of a minimum
rate card for advertising which would be uniform among publishers, but we do favor a more thorough understanding of the
subject of costs, and commend to our members the labors of the
American Printers' Cost Commission of the First International
Cost Congress recently held in Chicago. Let us learn our costs
and then each establish a rate card based upon our investment
and the cost of production, having no consideration for the comparative ability of the advertisers to pay, or the semi-news nature of the advertisement.




432 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
Quantity Discount.-We consider it unwise to allow discounts
greater than 10 per cent from the rate of first insertion for succeeding insertions.
News,
Definition.-News, is the impartial report of the activities of
mind, men, and matter which do not offend the moral sensibilities of the more enlightened people.
Lies.-We condemn against truth:
(1) The publication of fake illustrations of men and events
of news interest, however marked their similarity, without an
accompanying statement that they are not real pictures of the
event or person, but only suggestive imitations.
(2) The publication of fake interviews made up of the assumed views of an individual, without his consent.
(3) The publication of interviews in quotations unless the
exact, approved language of the interviewed be used. When an
interview is not an exact quotation it should be obvious in the
reading that only the thought and impression of the interviewer
is being reported.
(4) The issuance of fake news dispatches, whether the same
have for their purpose the influencing of stock quotations, elections, or the sale of securities or merchandise. Some of the
greatest advertising in the world has been stolen through the
news columns in the form     of dispatches from  unscrupulous
press agents. Millions have been made on the rise and fall of
stock quotations caused by newspaper lies, sent out by designing
reporters.
Injustice.-We condemn as against justice:
(1) The practice of reporters making detectives and spies of
themselves in their endeavors to investigate the guilt or innocence of those under suspicion.
Reporters should not enter the domain of law in the apprehension of criminals. They should not become a detective or
sweating agency for the purpose of furnishing excitement to the
readers.
No suspect should have his hope of a just liberty foiled
through the great prejudice which the public has formed against
him because of the press verdict slyly couched in the news report, even before his arrest.
We should not even by insinuation interpret as facts our conclusions, unless by signature we become personally responsible
for them. Exposition, explanation, and interpretation should be




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM                    433
left to the field of the expert or specialist with a full consciousness of his personal responsibility.
(2) The publication of the rumors and common gossips or the
assumptions of a reporter relative to a suspect pending his arrest or the final culmination of his trial. A staff of reporters is
not a detective agency, and the right of a suspect to a fair and
impartial trial is often confounded by a reporter's practice of
printing every ill-founded rumor of which he gets wind.
Indecencies.-Classification: For the sake of cleanness and
order, crimes with which we will be concerned may be divided
into those which offend against the public trust (such as bribery, defalcation, or embezzlement by a public official); those
which offend against private institutions or employers (which
are also often defalcations and betrayals of confidence), and
crimes which offend against private morality most often centering around the family relation.
(1) In dealing with the suspicions against public officials or
trustees we urge that only facts put in their true relation and
records be used in the news reports.
No presumption or conclusion of the reporter should be allowed to enter, even though it has all the elements of a correct
conclusion.
Conclusions and presumptions should be placed in interviews
with the identity of their author easily apparent.
If an editor desires to draw a conclusion on the case, let him
sign it. Do not hide behind the impersonality of the paper with
your personal opinions.
(2) In dealing with the suspicions against agents of private
institutions, facts alone, put in their true relation, should again
be used.
But in this class of stories, suspicions and conclusions should
be confined to those of the parties directly interested, and no
statement of the party to the affair reflecting upon another
should be putblished without at the same time publishing a statement of the accused relative thereto.
The comment of those not directly involved should not be published previous to the arrest or pending the trial.
(3) In dealing with the offenses against private morality,
we should refuse to print any record of the matter, however
true, until the warrant has been filed or the arrest made, and
even then our report should contain only an epitome of the
charges by the plaintiff and the answers by the defendant, preferably secured from their respective attorneys.
No society gossips or scandals, however true, should ever be
published concerning such cases.




434 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
However prominent the principals, offenses against private
morality should never receive first-page position and their details
should be eliminated as much as possible.
Certain crimes against private morality which are revolting
to our finer sensibilities should be ignored entirely; however,
in the event of their having become public with harmful exaggerations, we may make an elementary statement, couched in
the least suggestive language.
In no case should the reckless daring of the suspect be lionized.
(4) Except when the suspect has escaped, his picture should
never be printed.
For the Editor
Views
Definition.-Views are the impressions, beliefs, or opinions
which are published in a paper, whether from the editorial
staffs of the same, outside contributors, or secured interviews.
A Distinction.-We hold that whenever a publication confines
the bulk of its views to any particular line of thought, class of
views, or side of a moot question, it becomes to that extent a class
publication, and inasmuch ceases to be a newspaper.
An Explanation.-You will note by our definition of news that
it is the impartial portrayal of the decent activities of mind, men, and
matter. This definition applied to class publications would he
changed by replacing the word impartial with the word partial.
In this section we will deal with impartiality in the presentation
of the decent activities of the mind of the community-with the
views or editorial policy of a paper.
Responsibility.-Whereas, a view or conclusion is the product
of some mind or minds, and whereas the value and significance of
a view is dependent upon the known merit of its author or authors,
the reader is entitled and has the right to know the personal identity of the author, whether by the signature in a communication,
the statement of the reporter in an interview, or the caption in a
special article and the paper as such should in no wise become an
advocate.
Influence (edit orial).-We should avoid permitting large institutions or persons to own stock in or make loans to our publishing
business if we have reasonable grounds to believe that their interests would be seriously affected by any other than a true presentation of all news and free willingness to present evely possible point
of view under signature or interview.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 435
Influence (reportorial).-No reporter should be retained who accepts any courtesies, unusual favors, opportunities for self-gain, or
side employment from any factors whose interests would be affected
by the manner in which his reports are made.
Deception.-We should not allow the presumed knowledge on
the part of the interviewed that we are newspaper men to permit
us to quote them without their explicit permission, but where such
knowledge is certain we insist upon our right to print the views
unless directly forbidden.
Faith With Interviewed.-An interview or statement should not
be displayed previous to its publication without the permission of
the author.
Bounds of Publicity.-A man's name and portrait are his private
property and the point where they cease to be private and become
public should be defined for our association.
The Oregon Code of Ethics for journalism
This code was written by Colin V. Dyment, an experienced
journalist and a professor in the school of journalism at the
University of Oregon. It was adopted by the Oregon State
Editorial Association, January 14, 1922.
Preamble
We believe in the teaching of the great ethicists that a general
state of happiness and well-being is attainable throughout the
world; and that this state is the chief end-in-view of society.
We recognize an instinct in every good man that his utterances
and his deeds should make a reasonable and continuous contribution toward this ultimate state, in the possibility of which we
reiterate our belief, however remote it may now seem.
We believe that men collectively should also follow the principles of practice that guide the ethical individual. For whatever
purpose men are associated, we believe they should endeavor to
make the reasonable and continuous contribution that distinguishes
the ethical man. And all the agencies and instrumentalities employed by men, singly or collectively, should be based upon the best
ethical practice of the time, so that the end-in-view of society
may thereby be hastened.
Of all these agencies the printed word is most widely diffused
and most powerful. The printed word is the single instrument of
the profession we represent, and the extent to which it is shaping
the thoughts and the conduct of peoples is measureless. We
therefore pronounce the ethical responsibility of journalism the




436 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
greatest of the professional responsibilities, and we desire to accept our responsibility, now and hereafter, to the utmost extent
that is right and reasonable in our respective circumstances.
Accordingly we adopt for our guidance the following code,
which shall be known as the Oregon Code of Ethics for Journalism.
L. Sincerity; Truth
The foundation of ethical journalism is sincerity. The sincere
journalist will be honest alike in his purposes and in his writings.
To the best of his capacity to ascertain truth, he will always be
truthful. It is his attitude toward truth that distinguishes the
ethical from the unethical writer. It is naturally not possible that
all writing can be without error; but it can always be without
deliberate error. There is no place in journalism for the dissembler; the distorter; the prevaricator; the suppressor; or the dishonest thinker.
The first section of this code therefore provides that we shall
be continuously sincere in professional practice; and sincerity
as journalists means, for example, that:
1. We will put accuracy above all other considerations in the
written word, whether editorial, advertisement, article, or news
story.
2. We will interpret accuracy not merely as the absence of
actual misstatement, but as the presence of whatever is necessary
to prevent the reader from making a false deduction.
3. In an ethical attitude toward truth,' we will be open at all
times to conviction, for the sincere journalist, while fearless and
firm, will never be stubborn; therefore we will never decline to
hear and consider new evidence.
4. If new evidence forces a change of opinion, we will be as
free in the acknowledgment of the new opinion as in the utterance
of the old.
5. We will promote a similar attitude in others toward truth,
not asking or permitting employes to write things which as sincere journalists we would not ourselves write.
II Care; Competency; Thoroughness
Inaccuracy in journalism is commonly due more to lack of mental
equipment than to wilfulness of attitude. The ill-equipped man
cannot be more competent as a journalist than he can as a doctor
or engineer. Given an ethical attitude, the contribution that each
journalist makes to his community and to society is nearly in ratio
to his competency. We regard journalism as a precise and a




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 437
learned profession, and it is therefore the second part of this
code that:
6. By study and inquiry and observation, we will constantly
aim to improve ourselves, so that our writings may be more
authentic, and of greater perspective, and more conducive to the
social good.
7. We will consider it an essential in those we employ that they
not merely be of ethical attitude, but reasonably equipped to carry
out their ideals.
8. We will make care our devotion in the preparation of statements of fact and in the utterance of opinion.
9. We will advocate in our respective communities the same
thoroughness, sound preparation, and pride of craft, that we desire
in ourselves, our employes, and our associates.
10. We are accordingly the active enemies of superficiality and
pretense.
III. justice; Mercy; Kindliness
Liberty of the press is, by constitution, statute, and custom,
greater in the United States than anywhere else in the world. This
liberty exists for our press so that the liberty of the whole people
may thereby be guarded. It so happens that at times the liberty
of the press is exercised as license to infringe upon the rights of
groups and of individuals: because custom and law have brought
about certain immunities, it happens that in haste or zeal or malice
or indifference, persons are unjustly dealt by. Yet the freedom
of the press should at all times be exercised as the makers of
the constitution, and the people themselves through their tolerance,
have intended it.' The reputations of men and women are sacred
in nature and not to be torn down lightly. We therefore pronounce
it appropriate to include in this code that:
11. We will not make "privileged utterance" a cloak for unjust attack, or spiteful venting, or carelessness in investigation,
in the cases of parties or persons.
12. We will aim to protect, within reason, the rights of individuals mentioned in public documents, regardless of the effect on
"good stories" or upon editorial policy.
13. We will deal by all persons alike so far as is humanly possible, not varying from the procedure of any part of this code
because of the wealth, influence, or personal situation of the persons concerned, except as hereinafter provided.
14. It shall be one of our canons that mercy and kindliness are
legitimate considerations in any phase of journalism; and that if
the public or social interest seems to be best conserved by suppression, we may suppress; but the motive in such instances




438 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
must always be the public or social interest, and not the personal
or commercial interest.
15. We will try so to conduct our publication, or to direct our
writing, that justice, kindliness, and mercy will characterize our
work.
IV. Moderation; Conservatism; Proportion
Since the public takes from the journalist so great a proportion
of the evidence upon which it forms its opinions, obviously that
evidence should be of high type. The writer who makes his appeal
to the passions rather than to the intellect is too often invalid as
a purveyor of evidence because his facts are out of perspective.
By improper emphasis, by skilful arrangement, or by devices -of
typography or rhetoric, he causes the formation in the reader's
mind of unsound opinion. This practice is quite as improper as
and frequently is more harmful than actual prevarication. Through
this code we desire to take a position against so-called sensational
practice by acceptance of the following canons:
16. We will endeavor to avoid the injustice that springs from
hasty conclusion in editorial or reportorial or interpretative
practice.
17. We will not overplay news or editorial for the sake of effect
when such procedure may lead to false deductions in readers' minds.
18. We will regard accuracy and completeness as more vital
than our being the first to print.
19. We will try to observe due proportion in the display of news
to the end that inconsequential matter may not seem to take precedence in social importance over news of public significance.
20. We will in all respects in our writing and publishing endeavor
to observe moderation and steadiness.
21. Recognizing that the kaleidoscopic changes in news tend
to keep the public processes of mind at a superficial level, we will
try to maintain a news and an editorial policy that will be less
ephemeral in its influence upon social thought.
V. Partisanship; Propaganda
We believe that the public has confidence in the printed word of
journalism in proportion as it is able to believe in the competency
of journalists and have trust in their motives. Lack of trust in
our motives may arise from the suspicion that we shape our writings to suit non-social interests, or that we open our columns to
propaganda, or both. Accordingly we adopt the following professional canons:
22. We will resist outside control in every phase of our practice,




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM                   439
believing that the best interests of society require intellectual freedom in journalism.
23. We will rise above party and other partisanship in writing
and publishing, supporting parties and issues only so far as we
sincerely believe them to be in the public interest.
24. We will not permit, unless in exceptional cases, the publishing
of news and editorial matter not prepared by ourselves or our
staffs, believing that original matter is the best answer to the
peril of propaganda.
VI. Public Service and Social Policy
We dispute the maxim sometimes heard that a newspaper should
follow its constituency in public morals and policy rather than try
to lead it. We do not expect to be so far ahead of our time that
our policies will be impractical; but we do desire to be abreast of
the best thought of the time, and if possible to be its guide. It
is not true that a newspaper should be only as advanced in its
ethical atmosphere as it conceives the average of its readers to be.
No man who is not in ethical advance of the average of his community should be in the profession of journalism. We declare
therefore as follows:
25. We will keep our writings and our publications free from
unrefinement, except so far as we may sincerely believe publication
of sordid details to be for the social good.
26. We will consider all that we write or publish for public consumption in the light of its effect upon social policy, refraining
from writing or from publishing if we believe our material to be
socially detrimental.
27. We will regard our privilege of writing for publication or
publishing for public consumption as an enterprise that is social
as well as commercial in character, and therefore will at all times
have an eye against doing anything counter to social interest.
28. We believe it an essential part of this policy that we shall
not be respecters of persons.
VII. Advertising and Circulation
We repudiate the principle of "letting the buyer beware." We
cannot agree to guarantee advertising, but we assume a definite
attitude toward the advertising that we write, solicit, or print.
We believe that the same canons of truth and justice should
apply in advertising and circulation as we are adopting for news
and editorial matter. We therefore agree to the following business principles:
29. We will cooperate with those social interests whose business
it is to raise the ethical standard of advertising.




440 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
30. We will discourage and bar f rom our columns advertising
which in our belief is intended to deceive the reader in his estimate
of what is advertised. (This clause is intended to cover the many
phases of fraud, and unfair competition, and the advertising of
articles that seem likely to be harmful to the purchaser's morals
or health.)
31. We will not advertise our own newspaper or its cir-culation
boastfully, or otherwise, in terms not in harmony with the clauses
of this code of ethics. (This is intended to cover misleading
statements to the public or to advertisers as to the whole number
of copies printed, number of paid-up subscribers, number of street
sales, and percentage of local circulation.)
32. We will not make our printing facilities available for the
production of advertising which we believe to be socially harmiful or fraudulent in its intent.
To the foregoing code we subscribe heartily as a part of our duty
to society and of our belief that the salvation of the world can come
only through the acceptance and practice by the people of the
world of a sound and practical ethical philosophy.
The Missouri Code
At its annual meeting in 1921, the Missouri State Press
Association adopted a code presented by William Southern, Jr.,
editor of the Examiner of Independence.
Preamble
In America, where the stability of the government rests upon
the approval of the people, it is essential that newspapers, the
medium through which the people draw their information, be developed to a high point of efficiency, stability, impartiality and
integrity. The future of the republic depends on the maintenance
of a high standard among journalists. Such a standard can not
be maintained unless the motives and conduct of the members of
our profession are such as merit approval and confidence.
The profession of journalism is entitled to stand side by side
with the other learned professions and is, far more' than any other,
interwoven with the lines of public service. The journalist can
not consider his profession rightly unless hie recognizes his obligation to the public. A newspaper does not belong solely to its owner
and is not fulfilling its highest functions if devoted selfishly.
Therefore, the Missouri Press Association presents the following
principles as a general guide, not a set form of rules, for the
practice of journalism:




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM \1441
Editorial
We declare as a fundamental principle that Truth is the basis
of all correct journalism. To go beyond the truth, either in headline
or text, is subversive of good journalism. To suppress the truth,
when it properly belongs to the public, is a betrayal of -public faith.
Editorial comment should always be fair and just and not controlled by business or political experiences. Nothing should be
printed editorially which the writer will not readily acknowledge
as his own in public.
Control of news or comment for business considerations is
not worthy of a newspaper. The news should be covered, written
and interpreted wholly and at all times in the interest of the public.
Advertisers have no claims on newspaper favor except in their
capacity as readers and as members of the community.
No person who controls the policy of a newspaper should at
the same time hold office or have affiliations, the duties of which
conflict with the public service that his newspaper should render.
Advertising
It is not good ethics nor good business to accept advertisements
that are dishonest, deceptive or misleading. Concerns or individuals
who want to use our columns to sell questionable stocks or anything
else which promises great returns for small investment should
always be investigated. Our leaders should be protected from
advertising sharks. Rates should be fixed at a figure which will
yield a profit and never cut. The reader deserves a square deal
and the advertiser the same kind of treatment.
Advertising disguised as news or editorial should not be accepted. Political advertising especially should show at a glance
that it is advertising. It is just as bad to be bribed by the promise
of political patronage as to be bribed by political cash.
To tear down a competitor in order to build up oneself is not
good business, nor is it ethical. Newspaper controversies should
never enter newspaper columns. Good business demands the same
treatment to a competitor that one would like for a competitor to
give to himself. Create new business rather than try to take
away that of another.
Advertising should never be demanded from a customer simply
because he has given it to another paper. Merit, product and service should be the standard.
Subscription
The claiming of more subscribers than are actually on the paid
list in order to secure larger advertising prices is obtaining money




442 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
under false pretenses. The advertiser is entitled to know just
what he is getting for his money, just what the newspaper is
selling to him. Subscription lists made up at nominal prices or
secured by means of premiums or contests are to be strictly avoided.
Summary
In every line of journalistic endeavor we recognize and proclaim our obligation to the public, our duty to regard always the
truth, to deal justly and walk humbly before the gospel of unselfish service.
Texas Press Association Code of Ethics
The following expression of ideals by the Editors of Texas
was adopted in 1921. It is also the code adopted by the South
Florida Press Association.
We believe in journalism as an honorable profession, and recognizing the opportunities for service to the commonwealth we do
hereby establish the following code of rules and ethics for government of professional practice as obligatory on every member of
this association.
To give due credit for all matter copied from other publications;
To investigate all questionable advertising offered, and refuse
space to misleading, dishonest or illegitimate advertisements;
To use every endeavor to elevate the standards of Journalism,
and to so conduct our own papers that competitors may find it wise,
profitable and conducive to happiness to emulate our example;
To strive for no success that is not founded upon the highest
conception of justice and morality;
Not to publish or claim circulation in excess of actual figures;
Not to cut prices below published rates;
Not to speak disparagingly through editorial or news columns
of competing papers or editors;
Not to attempt to engage help employed by a competitor without
first informing the competitor and giving him an opportunity, if
he so desires, to retain that employee;
To discourage the growing evil of the space grafter by every
legitimate means;
To resolve to perform every duty incumbent upon us as members
of this association, and to accept no office or duty unless with the
full determination to do our best to fulfill the requirements imposed;
In dealing with our fellow members and competitors to endeavor
to put into practice so far as humanly possible, the precepts of the
Golden Rule, thereby cementing the ties of fraternal relationship
that should exist between members of this body.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 443
The South Dakota Code
The following code of ethics was adopted by the South
Dakota Press Association at a meeting, February 17, 1922.
We of the profession of journalism, especially of that department
which has to do with the publication of newspapers, deem it fitting
that a code of ethics be set down to embody those ideals of service
and that sense of propriety and honor which should imbue the motives and guide the actions of all who enter upon this profession.
This code of ethics is founded upon the basic principles of truth
and justice. It is to be kept as nearly inviolate as is possible in
the alignment of human aspirations with the golden rule of conduct,
"whatsoever ye would that men do unto you, do ye so unto them."
Service
The profession of journalism occupies the place of an essential
service in its relations to the public. Its implied contract with the
reader invites trust and accepts the responsibility of dependence.
To merit this mutuality of interests the newspaper owes and must
give adherence to high standards and these recognized ideals of
motive, heart and conduct.
Truth and Honesty
The foundation stone of the profession of journalism is truth.
Unwavering adherence to "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest," must be the constant aim of men and women
who publish newspapers.
News should be uncolored report of all the vital facts accurately
stated, insofar as possible to arrive at them.
Editorials should be sincere discussion based upon true statements
in the premises from which honest arguments may be developed by
orderly deduction.
Advertising should be decent and honest in its selling intent and
free from misleading or untrue statement.
Fairness and Accuracy
The profession of journalism must be fair in all its dealings with
the public. Society exists and our laws are made under a government deriving its powers from the people and depending upon their
approval for its stability and continued existence.
To the end that this continue to be justly so, it is of first importance that the whole people be kept fully and fairly informed.
1.The printed word is the most widespread and useful medium of




444 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
contact with the human mind and the newspaper the most powerful
agency for broadcasting information. Upon those who practice
this profession rests the sacred duty of keeping these mighty means
of communication with mankind pure at the source, undefiled of
intent and f ree of bias.
The profession of journalism is the greatest factor in influencing
human judgment. It is of first importance therefore, that judgments be formed after a fair presentation of all facts accurately
stated. This accuracy is not only to be an absence of misstatement
but the orderly presence of all the pertinent truths.
In accuracy partisanship or the taint of propaganda has no part
and cannot be present in fair journalism.
Sincerity and Decency
Sincerity of purpose as well as of writings characterizes the
ethical journalist. Honest convictions inspire his written words.
Back of them is the sincerity of desire that actuates all high intent.
With full realization of this the members of the South Dakota
Press' Association accept our responsibility in truthfully reporting,
in directing the thoughts and shaping the conduct of society. In
all sincerity and to the utmost extent that is right and reasonable
in our respective communities, we pledge our efforts to this end.
Guaranteed the freedom of its press, the profession of journalism
recognizes that liberty is not license. It, therefore, reserves to itself the right of decision in what shall be printed and what shall be
omitted.
This is done to safeguard our publications from unrefinement, to
protect within reason the rights and reputations of individuals and
to free our papers from sordidness, except as we sincerely believe
publication to be for the good of society.
We deem suppression to be a righteous function of ethical journalism to enforce omission of undue matter based upon an honorable intent to serve public good and not selfish purpose.
Advertising which is indecent in word or motive, the aim of
which is to defraud, or which serves no useful purpose, has no part
in the publications of the sincere member of the profession.
Honor
The honor of the profession is above the publication of an untruth upon an unworthy motive or upon a biased discussion based
upon the false premise of a half truth entered upon for personal
gain or party advancement.
The honor of the profession should be dear to all in a realization
that individual character and conduct reflects good or ill upon the




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 445
profession. If, then, private honor never be smirched by private
act or omission, the honor of the profession remains unsullied.
Recompense and Respect
As the servant is worthy of his hire, journalism is entitled to
fair recompense in proportion as it serves. This must be evidenced
by a demand which should be sufficient to establish all useful publications upon a sound business basis.
This is a prime essential because it is a fact that the publication
successful through honest endeavor and free of entanglements of
financial obligation and political debt has broader scope toward
service, freer acceptance of its opinions and a larger opportunity
for usefulness. Success in service is the end sought for and only
to be rightfully obtained through integrity, industry and a clear
vision of the function of the true journalist.
As the profession of journalism demands of its members that
they be honest, fair and just to all, they in return shall demand fair
treatment,, justice and respect from those with whom they deal.
The Washington Code of Ethics
Approved by the Washington State Press Association, 1923:
I Will Be
Truthful in News
Truthful in Editorials
Truthful in Advertising
True to All My Obligations
Honest with My Competitors
True to the Ideals of Journalism
Mindful of the Value of Sincerity
Faithful to Community, State, Nation
Firm in Publication of Clean News
Honorable in all of My Dealings
Thorough in all of My Studies
Unselfish in all My Services
Faithful to all My Friends
Fair to all My Critics
The same association also established the following code of
rules for government of practice by members of the association:To give due credit for all matter copied from other papers or
magazines.
Not to speak disparagingly through editorials or news columns
of competing papers or editors.




446 THE CONSCIENCE OF TEE NEWSPAPER
Not to engage help employed by a competitor without first informing the competitor and giving him an opportunity, if he wishes,
to retain his employee.
Not to cut prices below published rates.
To investigate all questionable advertising and refuse space to
misleading and illegitimate advertisements.
Not to publish or claim circulation in excess of actual figures.
To strive for no circulation or success that is not founded on
the highest justice and morality.
To use every endeavor to elevate the standards of journalism and
to so conduct our papers that competitors may find it wise, profitable
and conducive to happiness to emulate our example.
Following are some of the individual newspaper codes:
Editorial Ethics of the Philadelphia Public Ledger
Always deal fairly and frankly with the public.
A newspaper to be trusted and respected must give trustworthy
information and counsel. It is a serious thing to mislead the people.
Understate your case rather than overstate it.
Have a sure voucher for every statement, especially for censure.
There is a wide gap between accusation of crime and actual guilt.
Deal gently with weak and helpless offenders.
Before making up judgment take care to understand both sides,
and remember there are at least two sides. If you attempt to
decide, you are bound to know both.
Do not say you know when you have only heard.
Never proceed on mere hearsay. Rumor is only an index to be
followed by inquiry.
Take care to be right. Better be right than quickest with "the
news" which is often false. It is bad to be late, but worse to be
wrong.
Go to first hands and original sources for information; if you
cannot, then get as near as you can.
It is the reporter's office to chronicle events, to collect facts; comments on the facts are reserved for the editor.
Let the facts and reasoning tell the story rather than rhetorical
flourish.
Don't be too positive. Remember always it is possible you may
err.
All persons have equal rights in the court of conscience, as well
as in courts of law.
Never add fuel to the fire of popular excitement.
There is nothing more demoralizing in public affairs than habitual disregard of law.
Uphold the authorities in maintaining public order, rectify wrongs




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 447
through the law. If the law is defective, better mend it than
break it.
Nearly always there is law enough. It is the failure to enforce
it that makes most mischief.
There is no need, and therefore no excuse, for mob law in
American communities.
Numerous as bad men may be, remember they are but few compared with the millions of the people.
The public welfare has higher claims than any party cry.
Grace and purity of style are always desirable, but never allow
rhetoric to displace clear, direct, forcible expression.
Plain words are essential for unlearned people, and these are
just as plain to the most accomplished.
The Brooklyn LEagle's Policies
I. The Brooklyn Eagle is primarily a home newspaper. It
prints all the news, but aims to emphasize what is helpful rather
than harmful. It believes in enterprise, but not in sensationalism.
As a three-cent newspaper it must uphold the highest standards of
newspaper making. In particular it must always be truthful, accurate and fair.
2. "Brooklyn First" is a cardinal principle of Eagle policy. This
newspaper is a Brooklyn institution. It is also a public service
institution. Whatever helps Brooklyn helps the Eagle. The more
you know about Brooklyn and about the Eagle the better you will
serve both.
3. The Eagle ranks as one of the world's greatest newspapers.
The world is its province and its interest extends to the activities
of human-kind everywhere. It is through being liberal and cosmopolitan that you can best contribute your share to preserving
the Eagle's reputation as a broadly representative newspaper.
General Rules
The cardinal principle of good newspaper work is accuracy.
The Eagle demands it and will insist on getting it. Verify your
facts. Don't depend on some one's say-so, but go to the reference
books.
Get names right. Nothing does a newspaper more harm than
misspelled names. A list of names frequently used in the Eagle
is included in this book. Supplement this with a list of your own.
Carelessness in this connection always bars promotion and has led
to dismissal.
Be fair. The Eagle wants to make friends, not enemies. Don't
suppress any part of the truth for fear of spoiling a good -story.




448 THE CONSCIENCE OFTHE NEWSPAPER
Get both sides. Don't let any one use the Eagle to vent a grudge.
Give the man or institution under attack a chance to make out a
case.
When a person is charged with crime or has done something immoral or discreditable do not intrude the names of prominent relatives who are in no way involved. In writing obituaries do not
emphasize unfortunate incidents in the lives of well-reputed persons.
Beware of the seekers after free publicity. Remember that
space in the Eagle is worth twenty-five cents a line. What you give
away the Eagle cannot sell. Don't help press agents cheat the advertising department.
Always hesitate to write anything that will offend the members
of a race or sect. You may offend 20,000 Eagle readers with a
single word. Do not mention the nationality or religious belief
of a person under arrest unless that is an essential and inevitable
feature of the story. Don't emphasize locality in fire or burglary
stories or in news reports which give a special section an unsavory
reputation.
Read the Eagle from the first page to the last. Only in that way
can you become familiar with its style, its policy, and its special
hobbies. If you discover errors, report them; if you have suggestions, make them. Read the other local papers and note how they
handled your story. If you notice any important difference of
fact, length or emphasis, call it to the city editor's attention. To
be known as a "live wire" is to be in line for promotion.
Beware of your own prejudices. Your personal likes or dislikes have no place in a news story. If you feel strongly on some
subject try your hand at an editorial or write a letter for the
Forum page, But keep your news reports free from editorial comment.
Never promise to suppress a news story. News which you secure
as an Eagle employee is the Eagle's property, and your superiors
are the final judges of what shall or shall not be used. Requests
for suppression or omission must always be carefully reported and
reasons given, but your answer to the request must be nothing
more than the promise that you will transmit it.
Always accept news items or suggestions from outsiders gratefully. Some may be worthless, but an attitude of encouragement
ultimately wins help that will prove invaluable to you and to the
Eagle.
The Christian Science Monitor's Code
1. Good English. A feature of the Monitor is the wide field
covered in its news service and the various departments; therefore
space in its columns is valuable-each word should be to the point
and tell its own storya




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 449
2. Terse, crisp writing is not necessarily devoid of the picturesque, and is far more forceful. In three words, "boil it down."
3. Aim at simplicity; express your thoughts so clearly that "he
that runs may read." Faulty construction; long, involved sentences, in which the original subject and predicate are hopelessly
entangled in a labyrinth of modifying phrases and clauses, and the
pronouns have become of doubtful lineage-all these are faults
to be avoided. Use words of one syllable rather than those of
many-the latter may serve to show off your learning, but the
average reader hasn't a dictionary at his elbow or the time to use it.
4. You are writing for an English-reading public, of whom only
a minority are college-bred men and women-don't lose sight of
the majority. It often happens that the exact shade of meaningit may be the pith of your "story"-can be conveyed only in the
original tongue-use it then, by all means; but as a rule only such
foreign words and expressions as by long and familiar usage have
become a part of the English language have any place in the columns of a daily paper.
5. Nauseating words. Never use expressions that suggest nauseating ideas; as "burned to a crisp," "gutted."~
6. Avoid such tautological expressions as "marriage nuptials,"
"funeral obsequies," "suffocated to death," etc.
7. Slang. Slang is undoubtedly a large element in colloquial
language, yet it must be excluded from the columns of the Christian
Science Monitor. Even in interviews it must not be used unless
sanctioned by the EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. When the paper speaks
for itself the use of slang is prohibited. This caution is given the
second time that all may mark its imperative nature.
8. News, not opinions. The news columns are for news; not
for opinions except as these are reported as news. Attempts on
the part of the reporters or correspondents to usurp the editor's
functions and pass judgment upon the merits of propositions should
be suppressed, no matter how big a hole the omission makes in a
story.
9. Beware of irmputations of wrong-doing in connection with
mysterious disappearances. Comment is not justifiable unless public interests are involved, and then good authority should be had
for any statement made.
10. Reports of failures or anything affecting commercial credit
should nevrer be used upon hearsay.
11. Accuracy. Editors and reporters in preparing their "copy"
must write PROPER NAMES so plainly that they NEED NOT'
BE mistaken, and also when possible should use printed matter in
the casts of plays and programs. One of the primal points in satisfactory performance of duty for the Christian Science Montitor is




450 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
accuracy. This is made possible in the various departments by competent work in the editorial and reportorial branches. Write out
in full both the first and last names of persons; initial for middle
name.
12. Verify all quotations, especially from the Bible, whenever
time will permit.
13. Heads. Indicate style of head by number. Make careful
count, so that the head as written may fit the style. Head-lines
must be an index to the story, not a characterization of it; descriptive, not opinionated; concrete, not abstract; and alliteration, claptrap, and sensationalism are PROHIBITED. General readings
such as "Held for Court," "Sent to Jail," "Sued for Damages," will
not be tolerated. Avoid such headings as "Killed Her Own Children," "Frantic Mother's Horrible- Death"; "Lake Steamer Lost
in Storm," "Wild Waves Gather a Harvest of Death."
14. Above all. Remember that you are preparing copy for a
Christian Science publication whose standard is Truth and whose
policy is absolutely devoid of sensationalism.
The Springfield Republican's Rules
Interviewing
Never put within quotation marks in your copy what people say
to you in an interview without,
First: An understanding with them that they are to be quoted.
Second: Letting them know just what words you attribute to
them.
This is the only safe rule to follow when the subject is at all
controversial or involves private or personal interests.
When people are quoted, the paper is placed in the position of
assuring its readers that the quoted passages were literally spoken;
consequently, inaccuracy in quotation is unpardonable.
Direct quotation in an interview, unless permission is given to
use that form., can be avoided ordinarily by using indirect discourse.
For instance, you may write; Mr. Smith, in discussing the subject,
said in effect that... etc.
Reports of public addresses should never be put within quotation
marks unless the exact language of the speaker is reproduced.
Before interviewing a person, decide on a series of questions on
the subject about which you wish to inquire. If the person interviewed talks willingly, follow him through. If he does not, stick
to your original questions. If the assignment presents difficulties,
before you attempt to consult the city editor about the best method
to pursue. Try to familiarize yourself as much as possible with
the subject about which you are to talk with him.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 451


Obituaries
Be very careful about writing obituaries. Make every possible
* effort to get the facts and write them accurately. Omit reference
to aspects of the dead person's life, unless the circumstances are exceptional, which would pain or aggrieve the surviving relatives and
friends. Good will may be cultivated for the paper by writing
appreciatively regarding the dead person's good qualities and
achievements.
Miscellaneous Instructions
Read over your article so as to be sure that the reader will get
the picture you have in mind.
Do not depend on the editor to correct your mistakes; correct
them yourself.
Never try to write a humorous article on the suffering or death
of an animal; nor, in the case of human beings, where the incident
involves disgrace, humiliation, or sorrow to them, their relatives,
or friends.
Carefully estimate every piece of news you get. There is ample
space for important news. Unimportant news should be disposed
of as briefly as possible.
Wrong things will from time to time be done and wrong conditions will develop in this as in every other community. It is the
function of an honest newspaper to print the news without fear or
favor. Publicity brings correction. But no report should be
written that can be interpreted as revealing a petty malice on the
part of the reporter or the paper in attributing wrongful acts to
any person. The Republican has been published in Springfield for
nearly 100 years; it believes, with pride, that the standards of the
community are high and that it has contributed to their maintenance by a fearless news policy. The Republican, however, is not
out to "get" anybody in order to gratify animosities. The paper
wants friends, not enemies.
Standards of The Detroit News
The paper should be:
Vigorous, but not vicious.
Interesting, but not sensational.
Fearless, but fair.
Accurate as far as human effort can obtain accuracy.
Striving ever to gain and impart information.
As bright as possible, but never sacrificing solid information
for brilliancy.
Looking for the uplifting rather than the depraved things of life.




452 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
We should work to have the word reliable stamped all over every
page of the paper.
The place to commence this is with the staff members: first getting men and women of character to do the writing and editing,
and then training them in our way of thinking and handling news
and other reading matter.
Nothing here is intended as a reflection on the present staff or
the paper we have been getting out; we have a good staff and a
good paper; the aim is to improve both as much as possible.
If you make an error, you have two duties to perform: one to
the person misrepresented and one to your reading public. Never
leave the reader of the News misinformed on any subject. If you
wrongfully infer that a man has done something that he did not
do, or has said something that he did not say, you do him an injustice-that's one. But you also do thousands of readers an injustice,
leaving them misinformed as to the character of the man dealt with.
Corrections should never be given grudgingly. Always make them
cheerfully, fully, and in larger type than the error, if any difference.
IIf a reporter gets drunk, the people do not say, "There goes Soand-So," calling him by name; they say, "There goes a News reporter." That reflects on the entire staff; that robs the paper of
a certain amount of its standing, of a certain amount of its reputation for reliability. No one has confidence in the work of a
drunken man. Any one on the editorial staff who gets drunk
once or who wilfully prints a misstatement of any kind should not
be retained on the staff a minute.
The American people want to know., to learn, to get information.
To quote a writer: "Your opinion is worth no more than your
information." Give them your information and let them draw their
own conclusions. Comment should be more along the line of enlightenment by well-marshalled facts, and by telling the readers
what relation an act to-day has to an act of yesterday. Let them
come to their own conclusions as far as possible.
No issue is worth advocating that is not strong enough to withstand all the facts that the opposition to it can throw against it.
Our readers should be well informed on both sides of every issue.
Kindly, helpful suggestions will often direct officials in the right,
where nagging will make them stay stubbornly on the wrong side.
That does not mean that there should be any lack of diligence in
watching for, and opposition to, intentional crooks.
A staff can only be good and strong by having every part of it
strong. The moment it becomes evident that a man., either by
force of circumstance or because of his own character, does not
fit into our organization, you do him a kindness and do justice to
the paper by letting him know, so he can go to a calling in which!.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 453
he can succeed, and he will not be in the way of filling the place
with a competent man.
Make the paper good all the way through, so there will not be
disappointment on the part of a reporter, if his story is not found
on the first page, but so he will f eel it must have merit to get into
the paper at all. Avoid making it a "front-page paper. "
Stories should be brief, but not meager. Tell the story, all of it,
in as few words as possible.
Nature makes facts more interesting than any reporter can
imagine them. There is an interesting feature in every story, if
you will dig it out. I f you don't get it, it is because you don't
dig deep enough.
The most valuable asset of any paper is its reputation f or telling
the truth; the only way to have that reputation is to tell the truth.
Untruth, due to carelessness, or excessive imagination, injures the
paper as much as though intentional.
Every one with a complaint should be given a respectful and
kindly hearing; especial consideration should be given the poor
and lowly, who may be less able to present their claims than those
more favored in life. A man of prominence and education knows
how to get into the office and present his complaint. A washerwoman may come to the door, timidly, haltingly, scarcely knowing
what to do, and all the while her complaint may be as just as that
of the other complainant, perhaps more so. She should be received
kindly and helped to present what she has to say.
Simple, plain language is strongest and best. A man of meager
education can understand it, while the man of higher education,
usually reading a paper in the evening after a day's work, will read
it with relish. There is, never any need of using big words to show
off one's learning. The object of a story or an editorial is to inform or convince; but it is hard to do either if the reader has to
study over a big word or an involved sentence. Stick to plain
English all the time. A few readers may understand and appreciate
a Latin or French quotation, or one from some other foreign language, but the big mass of our readers are the plain people and
such a quotation would be lost on the majority.
Be fair. Don't let the libel laws be your measure as to the printing of a story, but let fairness be your measure. If you are fair,
you need not worry any about libel laws.
Always give the other f ellow a hearing. He may be in the
wrong, but even that may be a matter of degree. It wouldn't be
fair to picture him as all black when there may be mitigating circumstances.
It is not necessary to tell the people that we are honest, or bright,
or alert,, or that a story appeared exclusively in our paper. If true,




454 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
the public will find it out. An honest man does not have to advertise his honesty eternally.
Time heals all things but a woman's damaged reputation. Be
careful and cautious and fair and decent in dealing with any man's
reputation, but be doubly so-and then some-when a woman's
name is at stake. Do not by direct statement, jest, or careless reference, raise a question mark after any woman's name if it can be
avoided-and it usually can be. Even if a woman slips, be generous; it may be a crisis in her life. Printing the story may drive
her to despair; kindly treatment may leave her with hope. No
story is worth ruining a woman's life-or man's either.
Keep the paper clean in language and thought. Profane or suggestive words are not necessary. When in doubt, think of a 13 -year-old girl reading what you are writing.
Do not look on newspaper work as a "game,"~ of pitilessly printing that on which you are only half-informed, for the mere sake
of beating some other paper, but take it rather as a serious, constructive work in which you are to use all the energy and diligence
needed to get all the worth-while information for your readers at
the earliest possible moment at which you can do so and have it
reliable.
Nothing should ever be taken from another publication without
giving full credit. Merely crediting a piece of writing to "Exchange" is not fair.
Elections coming on Tuesday, no candidate or party should be
permitted to print new charges or statements later than the Friday
before election. No paper should print anything about anybody
without allowing ample time for an answer.
This is not intended as a set of rules. Rules kill individuality,
and nothing is so valuable on a newspaper staff as good, strong
individuality. This is intended as an expression of what the News
and the News Tribune should be, leaving it to each to enter into
the spirit of the work, shaping his mental attitude so as to help
bring about the results desired.
Instructions to The Hearst Papers
Make a paper for the nicest kind of people-for the great middle
class.
Don't print a lot of dull stuff that they are supposed to like and
don't.
Omit things that will offend nice people. Avoid coarseness and
slang, and a low tone. The most sensational news can be told i f it
is written properly.
Talk as a gentleman should. Be reliable in all things, as well as
entertaining and amiable.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 455
When a wrong picture is brought in by a reporter, or a wrong
picture is used, through lack of care or neglect; or when grossly
inaccurate statements are made by a reporter, or copyreader, such
copy reader or reporter will be asked to hand in his immediate
resignation.
Do not exaggerate. Care must be taken to state accurately the
truth. If an eight hundred thousand dollar transaction is descrihed,
do not call it a million dollar transaction. If someone dies leaving
two million, do not say he left ten million.
Make the paper helpful and kindly. Don't scold and forever
complain and attack in your news columns. Leave that to the
editorial page.
Be fair and impartial. Don't make a paper for Democrats or
Republicans, or Independent Leaguers. Make a paper for all the
people and give unhiased news of all creeds and parties. Try to
do this in such a conspicuous manner that it will be noticed and
commented upon.
Please be accurate. Compare the statements in your paper with
those in other papers, and find out which is correct. Discharge
reporters and copyreaders who are persistently inaccurate.
Don't allow exaggeration. It is a cheap and ineffective substitute for real interest. Reward reporters who can make the truth
interesting, and weed out those who cannot.
Please sum up your paper every day, at the evening conference,
and find wherein it is distinctly better than other papers. If it is
not distinctly better you have missed that day. Lay your plans to
make it distinctly better the next day.
If you cannot show conclusively your own paper's superiority
you may be sure the public wNill never discover it.
A succession of superior papers will surely tell. When you beat
your rivals one day try hard to beat them the next, for success depends upon a complete victory.
Guiding Principles for the Dayton Journal
This newspaper must first of all be clean, it must be fair, it must
be honest and without malice in its opinions and expressions, and
it must at all times devote itself unflinchingly and fearlessly to the
public service in the interest of the masses of the people.
It must always combat evil and injustice.
It must always fight for progress and reform.
It must never tolerate corruption.
It must be in sympathy with the poor and the unfortunate.
It must stand for good government, civic patriotism, and the
public welfare.
For Dayton it must always stand, with unselfish devotion, for the




456 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
achievement of the first ideals, of every high purpose, of every
enterprise, of every step in the march of progress.
In National affairs: the truest patriotism, and the American principles of freedom, equality, tolerance, and undying love of country.
The New York Globe's Ideals
A complete, accurate, dependable newspaper.
A fearless and independent newspaper.
An interesting newspaper.
An uncontrolled newspaper.
A newspaper ever seeking improvement.
A newspaper made primarily for those who buy it.
A newspaper with intelligence and with a soul and a heart.
A progressive newspaper.
An optimistic newspaper.
A successful and prosperous newspaper.
The Sacramento Bee's Code
The Bee demands from all its writers accuracy before anything
else. Better lose an item than make a splurge one day and correct
it next.
Equally with that, it demands absolute fairness in the treatment
of news. Reports must not be colored to please a friend or wrong
an enemy.
Don't editorialize in the news columns. An accurate report is
its own best editorial.
Don't exaggerate. Every exaggeration hurts 'immeasurably the
cause it pretends to help.
If a mistake is made, it must be corrected. It is as much the
duty of a Bee writer to work to the rectification of a wrong done
by an error in an item as it is first to use every precaution not to
allow that error to creep in.
Be extremely careful of the name and reputation of women.
Even when dealing with the unfortunate, remember that so long
as she commits no crime other than her own sin against chastity,
she is entitled at least to pity.
Sneers at race, or religion, or physical deformity, will not be
tolerated. "Dago," "Mick," "Sheeny," even "Chink" or ia,
these are absolutely forbidden. This rule of regard for the feelings
of others must be observed in every avenue of news, under any and
all conditions.
There is a time for humor and there is a time for seriousness.
The Bee likes snap and ginger at all times. It will not tolerate
flippancy on serious subjects on any occasion.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 457
The furnisher of an item is entitled to a hearing for his side at
all times, not championship. If the latter i's ever deemed necessary, the editorial department will attend to it.
Interviews given the paper at the paper's request are to be considered immune from sneers or criticism.
In every accusation against a public official or private citizen,
make every effort to have the statement of the accused given prominence in the original item.
In the case of charges which are not ex-officio or from a public
source, it is better to lose an item than to chance the doing of a
wrong.
Consider the Bee always as a tribunal that desires to do justice
to all: that fears far more to do injustice to the poorest beggar than
to clash swords with wealthy injustice.
Code for the Tampa Times
In our determination to make the Times a great and good newspaper, let us be animated by a spirit of charity toward the weaknesses and shortcomings of our fellowmen so long as their actions
are more injurious to themselves than to the public welfare;
Printing nothing that will injure or reflect upon the reputation
of any man or woman without thorough and painstaking investigation of the facts, remembering that it is better to miss a good story
than to run the risk of damaging the name and reputation of an
innocent person.
Abhorring the gossip monger and the purveyor of neighborhood
scandal.
Handling sex crime, and revolting details of all kinds, so as to
offend good taste as little as we may, in the knowledge that many
of our readers are pure-minded girls and women, and that an intentional appeal to the salacious is indecent journalism.
Refusing to create sensations out of trivialities, or allow motives
of any kind to inspire overplaying of the news.
Vowing solemnly to ourselves that ours shall be an honest and
truthful newspaper in which shall be printed nothing but well established facts, emphasizing constantly that guessing is unpardonable
and the printing of irresponsible rumors a journalistic crime.
In all of which meriting, as individuals, the respect of our associates and the public by fairness to our enemies, cleanness in our
purposes and unswerving honesty every minute of every hour.
As the character of an individual is built by his thoughts and
actions, so is the character of a newspaper built up by the printed
word.
The good name of the Times must be kept above reproach.




458 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE. NEWSPAPER
The Late President Harding's Creed for the Marion Star
Remember there are two sides to every question. Get them both.
Be truthful. Get the facts.
Mistakes are inevitable, but strive for accuracy. I would rather
have one story exactly right than a hundred half wrong.
Be decent, be fair, be generous.
Boost-don't knock.
There is good in everybody. Bring out the good and never
needlessly hurt the feelings of anybody.
In reporting a political gathering, give the facts, tell the story as
it is, not as you would like to have it. Treat all parties alike. If
there are politics to be played, we will play them in our editorial
columns.
Treat all religious matters reverently.
If it can possibly be avoided, never bring ignominy on an innocent man or child, in telling of the misdeeds or misfortunes of a
relative.
Don't wait to be asked, but do it without the asking; and, above
all, be clean and never let a dirty word or suggestive story get into
type.
I want this paper to be so conducted that it can go into any home
without destroying the innocence of any child.
Charles A. Dana's Creed
Statements made in an address to the Wisconsin Editorial
Association, 1888:
There is no system of maxims or professional rules that I know
of that is laid down for the guidance of the journalist. The physician has his system of ethics and that sublime oath of Hippocrates
which human wisdom has never transcended. The lawyer also has
his code of ethics, and the rules of the courts, and the rules of practice which he is instructed in; but I have never met with a system
of maxims that seemed to me to be perfectly adapted to the general
direction of a newspaper man. I have written down a few principles which occurred to me. These, with your permission, gentlemen, I will read for the benefit of the young newspaper men here
to-night:
Get the news, get all the news, get nothing but the news.
Copy nothing from another publication without perfect credit.
Never print an interview without the knowledge and consent of
the party interviewed.
Never print a paid advertisement as news matter. Let every
advertisement appear as advertisement; no sailing under false colors.
Never attack the weak or defenseless, either by argument, by in



CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 459
vective, or by ridicule, unless there is some absolute public necessity for so doing.
Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the
whole truth, or the only truth.
Support your party if you have one, but do not think all the good
men are in it, and all the bad ones outside of it.
Above all, know and believe that humanity is advancing, that
there is progress in human life and human affairs, and that, as
sure as God lives, the future will be greater and better than the
present and the past.
Mr. Dana, at Cornell University, 1894, said:
Never be in a hurry.
Hold fast to the Constitution. Stand by the Stars and Stripes.
Above all, stand for liberty, whatever happens.
A word that is not spoken never does any mischief.
All the goodness of a good egg cannot make up for the badness
of a bad one.
If you find you have been wrong, don't fear to say so.
In other words, don't loaf, don't cheat, don't dissemble, don't
bully, don't be narrow.
The journalist's Creed
By Walter Williams
I believe in the profession of journalism.
I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees
for the public; that acceptance of lesser service than the public
service is betrayal of this trust.
I believe that clear thinking, and clear statement, accuracy, and
fairness are fundamental to good journalism.
I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his
heart to be true.
I believe that suppression of the news for any consideration other
than the welfare of society is indefensible.
I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would
not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one's own pocketbook is
as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another;
that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another's instruction or another's dividends.
I believe that advertising, news, and editorial columns should
alike serve the best interests of the readers; that a single standard
of helpful truth and clearness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of journalism is the measure of its public service.




4650 THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEWSPAPER
I believe that the journalism which succeeds best-and best
deserves success-fears God and honors man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion, or greed of power; constructive,
tolerant, but never careless; self -controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers, always unafraid; is quickly indignant at
injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege, or the clamor of
the mob; seeks to give every man a chance, and, as far as law and
honest wages and recognition of human brotherhood can make it
so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic, while sincerely promoting international good will, and cementing world comradeship;
is a journalism of humanity, of and for to-day's world.
E. W. Booth's Suggestions for a Code
At a meeting of the code committee of the Michigan Press
Club, Edmund W. Booth, editor and publisher of the Grand
Rapids Press, presented a "preamble" and "ten dangers and
difficulties to be considered in the formulation of a Code of
Ethics for newspapers."
Preamble
The daily newspaper in America, being the publication most generally read by all classes of people and being by common consent a
public servant, having abilities for promoting the interests of government and of the public welfare, it therefore becomes a matter
of honor and of duty that editors and reporters, as well as publishers, shall strive at all times for the freedom of the press, themselves kept free from all interests or alliances tending to hamper
free expression, shall seek for truth and accuracy in all published
statements and shall contend for fairness and for justice toward all
individuals, interests, or issues dealt with in the newspaper columns.
The Dangers and Difficulties to Be Met by a Code of Ethics:
1. Coloring news to fit some interest or party.
2. Filling space and warping public opinion with capnned propaganda.
3. Reporters or editors having a divided interest by receiving pay
for outside services, or acting as press agents.
4. Holding of corporation stock-banks or utilities.
5. Editorial opinion controlled by advertisers or sold for a price.
6. Promoting crime by powerful suggestion in news.
7. Harming public morals by printing details of divorces and
scandals.




CODES OF ETHICS FOR JOURNALISM 461
8. Treating serious subjects flippantly. The tendency to become
a newspaper cynic.
9. Suppression of news that the interests of the public call for
printing.
10. The passion to win in a controversy leading to working injus-.
tices on opponents.
A Code by the Public
While the public has not withheld criticism of the newspapers, it has seldom attempted to construct a program for
betterment. Such a constructive effort was made some years
ago by the Citizens' Protective League of Denver, and the following proposed rules were inserted in the form of an advertisement in Denver newspapers:
1. That no news story, editorial, or advertisement be published
which is unfit for a fifteen-year-old boy or girl to read.
2. That fake stories, misrepresentations, and exaggerations of
all kinds be eliminated.
3. That stories of divorce, murder, suicide, and other forms of
crime and immorality be kept in the background.
4. That the petty quarrels and constant warfare between the
newspapers be permanently discontinued.
5. That stories which, though having some basis of fact, might
be hurtful to Colorado or to any city in Colorado, should not be
exploited in a sensational manner.
6. That malicious or unwarranted statements injurious to Colorado, or to any legitimate industry of Colorado be barred from
publication.








INDEX


Abbot, Lyman, 128
Accuracy, 12, 299
group judgments as to, 32
in the headings, 29
individual expressions on, 30
means of promoting, 32
obstacles to, 16, 299
Accuracy and Fair Play, Bureau
of, 32
Advertisers,
clubbing, 250
co6peration with, 249
protecting, 248
Advertising, 244
excluding offensive, 244
guaranteed, 2, 6
quantity of, 247
rates, fair, 250
refusing dishonest, 245, 307
Advertising influence, the, 116 -123
Advice, giving, 304
Allen, Eric W., 141, 287
Henry J., 276
American Daily Standard, 420
American Mercury, 308, 387
Anderson, Maxwell, 136
Anti-feminism, 292
Anti-social news, 187-243
Armistice, news of the, 26
Armour, Ogden, 62
Associated Press, 25, 45
Atlantic Monthly, 121, 164, 307
Audit Bureau of Circulations,
307
Authority, phantom, 59


Barrett, J. W., 266
Beacon, Wichita, 276
Beecher, Henry Ward, 326
Bee, Sacramento, 456
Bellamy, Paul, 407
Bennett, James Gordon, 296
Bias of the reporter, 18
Blacklisting, 166
Bliven, Bruce, 307
Bohemianism, 286
Booth, Edmund W., 460
Boston News Letter, 283
Post, 360
Bowles, Samuel, 303
Brant, Irving, 145, 378
Brisbane, Arthur, 143
Bromley Morning News, 424
Brooklyn Eagle, 447
Brooks, Noah, 426
Brownell, Atherton, 147
Brown, James Wright, 135
Rome G., 108, 399, 400
Bryce, James, 277, 347
Burlington Republican, 30
Business-ethical problems, 244 -254, 306
Campbell, John, 283
Canons of journalism, 427
Capitalism, anti-, 140
Capitalistic press, the, 135
tests for, 137
Carelessness, 16
Censorship, honor-bound, 111
Century Magazine, 26


463




464


464               INDEX


Charity, funds for, 358
Chesterton, Gilbert K., 129
Chicago Tribune, 169, 304, 313,
324, 342, 366
Christian Science Monitor., 413,
448
Chronicle, San Francisco, 357
Cincinnati Enquirer, 324
Circulation,.251
honest statements of, 252
known, 307
Cleveland Plain Dealer., 407
Press., 364
Cobb, Frank I., 149, 171
Code of ethics, 427
Booth, E. W., 460
Brooklyn Eagle, 447
Christian Science Monitor,
448
Citizens' Protective League,
461
Dana, Charles A., 458
Dayton Journal, 455
Detroit News,, 451
Hearst papers, 454
Kansas Editorial Association,
429
Marion Star, 458
Missouri State Press Association, 440
National Association of Newspaper Editors, 427
New York Globe., 456
Oregon State Editorial Association, 435
Philadelphia Public Ledger,
446
Sacramento Bee, 456
South Dakota Press Association, 443
South Florida Press Association, 442
Springfield Republican, 450
Tampa Times, 457
Texas Press Association, 442


Code of Ethics (Continued)
Washington State Press Association, 445
Williams, Walter, 459
Codes in journalism, 281
influence of, 385-394
opposition to, 387
Collier's, 42, 307
"Coloring" news, 57, 293
editors' views on, 66
group judgments as to, 69
heads, the, 60
interpretative, 64
Columbia State, 312
Combativeness, 289
Commercialism, 302
Commercial News, Danville, 269
Community service, 355-373
beauty, 363
credit for., 373
education, 362
health conditions, 363
pride, 366
safety, 363
unification, 364
Correction of errors, 175-186
editors' views as to, 176
public opinion as to, 177
under standing head, 184
what is "adequate," 181
Courage, 301
Courier-Journal., Louisville,, 113,
385, 409
Courts, independence of, 108
Creel, George, 351
Crime news, 187-243
better practice as to, 241
brutalizing effect of, 205
conservative policy, 192
emphasizing penalties, 216
group judgments as to, 235
opinions regarding, 231
outside opinions as to, 236
quantity of, 237




INDEX46


465


Crime News (Continued)
radical policy of handling,
188
statistics of, 231
Criminal, helping convict the,
224
Criticisms of the press, 3-11, 14
attitude toward, 3
main currents of, 5
sources of, 4
Crowell, Chester T., 308
Crusading, 165, 335
Daily Capital, Topeka, 420
Daily Mail, London, 247
Dana, Charles A., 312, 458
Darrow, Clarence, 224
Dayton Journal, 455
Detective, newspaper as, 221
Detroit News, 127, 129, 370, 425,
451
Times, 421
Diary, Marryatt's, 289
Duffus, Robert L., 132
Dunlop, George H., 419
Dyment, Colin, 386, 435
Eagle, Brooklyn, 447
Edgecombe, Frank 0., 373
Editor and Publisher., 41, 134,
224, 232, 247, 333
Editorial, articles properly, 63
Emporia Gazette, 97
Endowed newspapers, 420
English journalism,
faking in, 42
freedom of, 102
spread in, 27
Enquirer, Cincinnati, 324
Entertainment element, 298
Error, degrees of, 182
Errors, as a result of speed, 22
correcting, 175-186


Errors (Continued)
opportunities for, 15
through informants, 20
Essary, J. F., 147
Ethics, not theoretical, 411
training in, 409
Evening Journal, New York,
143
Evening Post, New York, 242,
304, 358
Everybody's Magazine, 351
Fact, guessing at the, 25
in the news, 12-37
Facts, truth back of, 191
Fairness, as to advertising, 159
as to communications, 152
in correcting errors, 175
to competitors, 174
to the "opposition,"' 156
towards officials, 168
Faker, the newspaper, 46
Fakes, advance story, 42
newspaper, 37-49
Faking, newspaper, 37-49, 295
by the rewrite man, 45
near, 43
not confined to cities, 38
pictures, 43
press agent, 40
styles in, 38
to advance a policy, 42
Ferguson, Fred S., 111
Fitch, George, 125, 128
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 265
Forum', 426
Fourth Estate., 153, 234
Franklin, Fabian, 124
Freedom of the press in America, 103, 301
Freedom, the meaning of, 102


Galsworthy, John, 378




466


INDEX


Gazette, Emporia, 97
Geneva Signal, 373
George, David Lloyd, 169
Gerdes, John, 106
Ghent, W. J., 140
Gibbs, Philip, 348
Giving the public what it wants,
123-132, 293
Gladden, Washington, 56, 178,
236
Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, 385
Globe, New York, 361, 427, 456
Godkin, E. L., 304, 374
Gossip, 172
Grand Rapids Press, 460
Grasty, Charles H., 121, 164,
178
Greeley, Horace, 297, 304, 355
Harding, Warren G., 9, 458
Harrison, J. H., 269
Harvey, George, 424
Haskell, H. J., 49
Heads, accuracy in the, 29
Health, guarding   community,
362
Hearst papers' code, 454
Hendrick, Burton J., 376
Herald, New York, 296, 358
Holmes, O. W., 109
Holt, Hamilton, 126, 420
Homes, wrecked, stories of, 213
Hornblow, Jr., Arthur, 26
House, Jay, 131
Howard, Roy, 65
Hughes, Charles E., 375
Humanitarianism, 305
Ideal newspapers, 420
Ignorance of the reporter, 19
Impartiality, fairness and, 152 -187


Independence, 101-151
danger in, 115
in times of national peril, 110
meaning of, 101
of advertisers, 116
of commercialism, 132
of courts, 108
of factions, 115
of friends and enemies, 150
of political parties, 112
of propaganda, 141
of the public, 123
Independent, 126
Individuality, newspaper, 311 -321
Industrial benefits, 359, 361
Infallibility, 300
Influence, newspaper, 326-354
avenues of, 346
direct, 327
in cities and in small towns,
350
indirect, 327
measurements of, 344
on taste, 349
sources of, 336
Informants, deception by, 22
errors by, 20
International relations, the press
and, 374
Irwin, Will, 42, 149, 307
Jefferson, Thomas, 104, 171
Jessup, Henry W., 402
Johns, George S., 343
Journal, Dayton, 455
Kansas City, 323
Milwaukee, 370, 372
Oregon, 114
Providence, 323, 372
Journalism, as a career, 415
as a profession, 271
beginnings of, 263




INDEX


467


Journalism  (Continued)
nature and functions of, 257 -282
personal, 292
prejudices against the word,
262
professional training in, 407
Kansas City Journal, 323
Kansan, 325
Star, 49, 226, 320
Keeley, James, 15
Lait, Jack, 372
Lansing, Robert, 179
Lawson, E. F., 377
Law, the press and the, 379
Lee, Ivy L., 143
James Melvin, 66
Legal restrictions, 395-406
minor efforts at, 403
objections to, 395
Lehmann, Frederick W., 107
Libel, law of, 105
Liberty of the press, meaning
of, 105
Licensing journalists, 280
difficulties of, 401
need for, 400
plans for, 396
Lincoln, Abraham, 354
Linthicum, Richard, 34
Lippman, Walter, 147, 421
London Daily Mail, 247
Times, 26, 152
Lord, Chester S., 330, 346, 350,
354
Los Angeles Municipal News,
419
Louisville Courier-Journal, 113,
385, 409
Marion Star, 458
Martin, Frederick Roy, 45


McCormick, Robert R., 169
Measurements of excellence, 426
Mencken, H. L., 388
Mental health board, 240
Miller, Charles G., 150
R. Justin, 401
W. E., 429
Milwaukee Journal, 370, 372
Montague, C. E., 352
Municipal News, 419
Nation, 298
Nelson, William R., 356
News, Birmingham, 357
News, demand for unadulterated, 60
distortion of, by selection and
emphasis, 51-55
official authentication of, 421
opinion in the, 59
suppression of, 71-100
News, Detroit, 127, 129, 370,
425, 451
News Letter, Boston, 283
Newspaper, the, appearance of,
314
as a public utility, 264
foreign types of, 322
individuality of, 311-321
influence of, 326-354
intellectuality of, 315
moral character of, 321
tone of, 319
Newspapers, endowed, 420
ideal, 420
official, 419
News sources, responsibility of,
405
New York Evening Journal, 143
New York Evening Post, 242,
304, 358
New York Globe, 361, 427, 456
New York Herald, 296, 358




468


468               INDEX


New York Sun, 37, 330
New York Times, 270, 313, 359,
372, 378
New York Tribune., 246, 297,
304, 355, 358
Northcliffe press, the, 381
Noyes, Crosby S., 190
Oclis, Adolph S., 270, 313
Office holding, 294
Official paper, the, 419
O'Hara, Barrat, 396
O'Malley, Frank W., 27
Opinion, expressing, 297
in the news, 59
Oregon Journal, 114
Organizations in journalism,
423
Outlook, 36, 128
Partisanship, 292
Party organ, the, 113
Perquisites, 290
Personal journalism, 292
Philadelphia Public Ledger, 446
Pittsburgh Post, 370
Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 407
Player, Cyril Arthur, 127
Policies, newspaper, 322
Post., Boston, 360
Pittsburgh, 370
Post Dispatch, St. Louis, 322,
343, 358
Postlewhite, Harmon, 422
Press agents, 144
Press, capitalistic, the, 135
foreign language, 353
freedom of the, 102, 103, 105
Press., Cleveland, 364
Grand Rapids, 460
Press Gang, the, 289
Press, the, and social unity, 379
and the law, 379


Professional conduct, 98
Professional training, 407-413
Profession, attributes of a, 271
consciousness of, 301
journalism as a, 271-277
requirements in a, 279
Propaganda, 141, 305
declarations regarding, 148
distinguished from publicity,
142
since the war, 142
stemming the tide of, 148
Providence Journal,' 323, 372
Provincialism, 294
Public demand for unadulterated
news, 60
Public, demands by the, 418
giving the, what it wants, 123,
132
Publicity as punishment, 215
Publick Occurrences, 37
Public Ledger, Philadelphia, 446
Public opinion regarding newspapers, 14
Public sentiment, reflecting, 297
Public utility, newspaper as,
264-270
danger in idea of, 270
Publishing business, the, 260
statistics of, 261
Pulitzer awards, 357, 370 372
Pulitzer., Joseph, 31, 33, 305,
322, 356
Pulitzer, Ralph, 15, 46
Quill, 132
Radder, Norman J., 364
Radio by newspapers, 371
Readers, good will of, 340
receptivity of, 342
winning confidence of, 338
Redmond, John, 30




INDEX


T69


Reform, initiating, 303
Reporter, the, bias of, 18
ignorance of, 19
salary of, 253
Republican, Burlington, 30
Springfield, 266, 303, 366,
450
Republic, St. Louis, 107
Responsibilities, broader, 374
general, 380
Riis, Roger W., 318
Robertson, Harrison, 113, 409
Rogers, Jason, 134, 253, 263
Romantic, glamor of the, 201
Ross, E. A., 136, 137
Rules, intra-professional, 10
Sacramento Bee, 456
St. Louis Globe Democrat, 385
Post Dispatch, 322, 343, 358
Republic, 107
Star, 23, 35
Salaries of reporters, 253
San Francisco Chronicle, 357
Saturday Evening Post, 27, 68,
190, 348
Schermerhorn, James, 345, 421
Schott, Henry, 291
Scott, F. N., 179, 425
Services  for the  community,
355-373
Shaw, G. B., 380
Sheldon, Charles M., 420
Signal, Geneva, 373
Sinclair, Upton, 61, 121
Slosson, E. E., 19, 424
Smith  Munroe, 178
Southern, Jr., William, 440
Speed, 22, 299
in English journalism, 27
Springfield  Republican,  266,
303, 366, 450
Star, Kansas City, 49, 226, 320
Marion, 458


Star (Continued)
St. Louis, 23, 35
Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, 265
State, Columbia, 312
Stokes, Harold Phelps, 377
Suicides, news of, 209
Sun, New York, 37, 330
Suppression of news or opinion,
71-100
arguments against, 78
arguments for, 77
divergent theories as to, 73
exaggerated  notions regarding, 72
group judgments as to, 98
Swayze, Bob, 114
Swope, Herbert Bayard, 154
Tampa Times, 457
Taylor, Frank W., 36
Ten tests of a town, 367
Times, Detroit, 421
London, 26, 152
New York, 270, 313, 359, 372,
378
Tampa, 457
Topeka Daily Capital, 420
Traditions of journalism, 283 -310
active, 296
classification of, 286
historic, 309
literary, 309
obsolescent, 292
obsolete, 286
political, 309
Tribune, Chicago, 169, 304, 313,
324, 342, 366
New York, 246, 297, 304, 355,
358
Truth, and its enemies, 50-70
back of the facts, 191
the fundamental virtue, 36




470


INDEX


United Press Associations, 65
Venality,. 294
Villard, Oswald Garrison, 342
Virtues in journalism, major, 6
Vocational requirements, 309
Walston, Charles, 419
Warren, Waldo P., 425
War services by the press, 371
Wars, newspaper, 290
Watterson, Henry, 150, 385
White, Isaac D., 12
Lee A, 15, 129
William Allen, 87, 118, 401


Wichita Beacon, 276
Wiley, Louis, 378
Williams, Walter, 459
Wilson, James H., 355
Woodrow, 111, 376
World, New York, 12, 15, 32,
154, 305, 356, 371
World's Work, 169
Wright, H. J., 427
Yellow Journalism, 295
Yost, Casper S., 385, 414
Zenger, John Peter, 104


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