# The Washington Newspaper/Volume 6/Newspaper Ethics

Newspaper Ethics
By ROBERT W. JONES
Assistant Professor in Journalism, University of Washington
The newspaper is the rudder of the ship of state. History could be rewritten to show that wherever and whenever great events occur the influence of newspapers can be perceived. We of America have better newspapers than any other nation. We buy more papers per capita than any other nation.
The newspaper is the average man's reading matter. It is his school, his teacher, his leader. For all of us it is our point of contact with the rest of the world . The importance of the newspaper's service to humanity is self-evident. It is a service to the whole public, and a service rendered every day. Manifestly the ethics of such a profession are of great importance to us all.
Newspaper men themselves, some of the biggest and best of all time, have testified on the subject of newspaper ethics. When Alexander Hamilton founded The New York Evening Post, lie had some ideas on the subject. Hamilton was a man of reputation and renown, the friend of General Washington, and a journalist and lawyer of ability. The prospectus of the first issue of the Evening Post on November 16, 1801, said:
“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.” This is the basis of good journalism now, as it was then.
An English View
Lord Northcliff, editor and owner of The London Times, was credited with overthrowing the Asquith cabinet. Northcliffe was charged with ulterior motives in his criticism of official incompetence in managing the war, among them a desire to be a member of the cabinet. Here is a statement from an interview with Lord Northcliffe in The New York Times:
"Newspapers can succeed only when they are newspapers and nothing else ; that is to say , when they print the news fully and fairly on the one hand, ​and on the other, comment on it, having only the public interest at heart. No purse would be equal to the strain of owning a newspaper as a personal or political organ to promote the fortunes of its owner. Nor could such a paper ever appeal to the public in a way broad enough to form a base on which to build real newspaper success!"
Service is the key to the door of opportunity for the newspaper. The better it serves, the greater the newspaper's success.
The most obvious way the newspaper serves is in telling the news truthfully and fearlessly, in commenting on the news fairly, and in printing only clean and honest advertising. Less obvious is the part the newspaper plays in community life as a pioneer in searching out ways of community development.
Just as the long-rifle pioneers of the early nineteenth century followed the game trails and blazed the pathway of settlement "from civilization to down," so the newspaper must be for ever in advance, spying out a way. A systematic policy of cummunity leadership is the newspaper's greatest service, in the last analysis the most valuable function it performs.
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
The Kansas City Star has long been in the forefront in urging and leading progress in Kansas City and in the great southwest. The activities of The Star, in finding the path for community progress, were listed by the Star's staff. The editor and owner, William R. Nelson, died April 13, 1915. One year later The Star printed on its editorial page a review of Mr. Nelson's achievements with The Star. Among other things, the editorial review said:
"After his death his associates compiled a list of things in which The Star became interested under Mr. Nelson's directions. It is a fragmentary and disjointed list, not made for publication, but perhaps it may give an idea of the continuing policies of Mr. Nelson's paper."
Here is the list in part:
Make Kansas City a good place to live in.
Good roads generally, but especially in Kansas City, Jackson County, Kansas and Missouri.
Honest elections.
Good street car service; rapid transit. Wider streets.
Free public baths.
Free justice; lawyers to be paid by the state.
Prosecution to get a "record of convictions" is dead wrong.
Commission form of government.
Government tariff aid to favored manufacturers a special privilege.
Workmen's compensation and allied measures.
All taxations should involve the principle that those who get should pay.
No term franchise for public utilities.
Municipal ownership wherever practicable, but not as an invariable theory.
Help the farm women—hot and cold running water, a bathtub and a furnace in every farmhouse.
Oiled macadam for residence streets and country roads.
No booze in amusement parks or home neighborhoods.
Payment by benefited districts for street-car extensions.
Honest work in building country roads.
The Square deal; no more, no less.
Water mains throughout Jackson county.
Discourage the patronage of the quack doctors and the fortune tellers.
Oppose the loan sharks.
Abolish grade crossings.
Better rural schools and churches.
MAKE DEMOCRACY POSSIBLE
When James Russell Lowell delivered his address on Democracy in London on October 6, 1884, he paid his respects to the newspaper in these words:
"In a world of daily—nay, almost hourly—journalism, where every clever man, every man who thinks himself clever, or whom anybody else thinks clever, is called upon to deliver his judgment point-blank and at word of command on every conceivable subject of human thought, or, on what sometimes seems to him very much the same thing, on every inconceivable display of human want of thought, there is such a spend-thrift waste of all those commonplaces which furnish the permitted staple of public discourses that there is little chance of beguiling a new tune out of the one stringed instrument on which we have been thrumming so long .... As matters stand, it is beginning to be doubtful whether parliament and congress sit at Westminster and Washington or in the editor's rooms of leading journals, so thoroughly is everything debated before the authorized and responsible debaters get on their legs."
PAPERS MUST BE BELIEVED
The newspaper must be believed if it is to gain and hold readers; and it must have readers if its advertising columns are to be sold at good prices. Good business and good principles point the same way. A clean, straightforward newspaper attracts and holds readers. A corrupt newspaper that serves a political machine or some special interest destroys its stock in trade, the faith of its readers. Thomas Jefferson said: "I would rather live in a country with newspapers and without a government, than in a country with a government, but without newspapers." Democracy is not possible on a big scale without newspapers.
The newspaper cannot sit silent while questions of public moment are decided at the polls. To take a militant part in the problems of community life, to be a leader and not a follower, the newspaper must express its views on political questions.
UNDERSTAND YOU'R PAPER'S POLICY.
It is in handling sensational facts that the newspaper man must solve directly the question of what the editorial policy of the newspaper dictates. The answer will govern the writer's style, his handling of the facts, and his view of the situation . Can he swing free and "go all the way," or will it be advisable to "put on the soft pedal" this time?
The successful newspaperman "knows his paper," and has developed a feeling as to what his paper will or will not do if it faces a situation where the road forks. To choose the right turn of the road involves a knowledge of just what the newspaper stands for.
The average newspaper makes no direct statement of its principles for the guidance of its staff. The paper is content to let its editorial department get the drift of the paper's policies by seeing them in action, day by day. However, a statement of policy for the guidance of the staff makes for teamwork.
Here is a statement of policy which was prepared by E. G. Pipp, former editor-in-chief of The Detroit News and The Detroit News-Tribune, for distribution among the ninety or more persons who composed the staff of those newspapers:
The paper should be vigorous but not vicious; interesting but not sen​sational ; 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 depraving things of life .
We should work to have the word " reliable " stamped all over every page of the paper.
them yo 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.
CORRECT ERRORS CHEERFULLY
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 anv subject. If you wrongfully infer that a man has done something which he did not do, or has said something he did not say, you do him an injustice, -that's one. But you also do thous ands of readers an injustice, leaving them misinformed as to the character of the man dealt with . Correction should never be given grudgingly. Always make them cheerfully, fully, and in larger type than the error , if any difference .
If a reporter gets drunk, the people do not say there goes so -and - 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 Anyone 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 vour information and let them draw their own conclusions . Comment should be more along the line of enlightening by well -marshalled facts, and by telling the readers what relation an act of today has to an act of yesterday. Let them come to their cwn conclusions, as far as possible.
No issue is worth advocating that is not strong enough to withstand all the facts that the opposition 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.
HAVE A STRONG STAFF
A staff can be good and strong only by having every part of it strong. The moment it becomes evident that a man , either by force of circumstances 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 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 be no disappointment on the part of a reporter if his story is not found on the first page, but so he will feel 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 but dig deep enough .
The most valuable asset of any paper is its reputation for 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.
Everyone with a complaint should he given a respectful and kindly hearing. Special 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 LANGUAGE BEST
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. Let fairness be your measure. If you are fair, you need not worry about libel law's.
HEAR BOTH SIDES
Always give the other fellow a hearing. He may be in the wrong, but 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, 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 a man's either.
Keep the paper clean in language and thought. Profane or suggestive ​words are not necessary. When in doubt, think of a twelve-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.
GIVE FULL CREDIT
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 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.
The foregoing statement of policy Mr. Pipp prepared could well be adopted by any editor.
The late E. L. Tomlinson, president of the National Editorial Association in 1917, edited The New London Telegraph. He published the following statement of editorial policy which gives the ethical platform of the newspaper that stands for the best in journalism:
The Telegraph herewith lays its policy before its readers and the people of New London and vicinity:
This policy is to contribute, so far as lies within its power, to a true understanding of the conditions of life in New London, in Connecticut and in America; to aid as largely as it can in the betterment of those conditions; to foster the theory that individuals are dependent one upon the other for their happiness and that man cannot successfully live for himself alone; to extend and encourage charity toward error—and relentless opposition toward meanness and injustice; to render to the American nation the ultimate of service and to the honor and prosperity of this community the last ounce of honest effort; to treat local, as well as national and world events, from the standpoint of the many rather than of the few; to refrain from permitting its columns to be exploited by special interests big or little; to support in politics, absolutely without partisan bias, such men and measures as seem to it to hold the greatest promise for the good of all the people; to establish and maintain a reputation for authenticity; to subordinate the trivial and unimportant in the events of the day to the important and consequential; to tell the truth when the truth can be told without detriment to the general welfare—and to keep silent when it cannot; to play no favorites and seek no favors, and to make as few mistakes as possible.
Upon this policy the Telegraph pro poses to stand. With this policy it hopes to grow in strength, in merit, in the knowledge and respect of the people of this section and in influence for the good of New London and America.
The newspaper, if it is to perform its service, must be truthful, aggres​sive, fearless and fair. As Henry Watterson once said:
"A newspaper, like a woman, must not only be honest, but must seem to be honest—acts of levity, loose unbecoming expressions or behavior— though never so innocent— tending in the one and in the other to lower reputation and discredit character. During my career I have proceeded under a confident belief in this principle of newspaper ethics and an unfailing recognition of its mandates. I truly believe that next after business integrity in newspaper management comes disinterestedness in the public service, and next after disinterestedness come moderation and intelligence."
Over fifty years ago, on March 30, 1809, General Robert E. Lee, then the president of Washington College (later named Washington and Lee College, in his honor) made the first definite proposal to add a course in journalism to the college curriculum. It is gratifying to observe that the courses now taught follow in the main, the suggestion of that great Virginian.
In all the courses in journalism in the American universities, stress is put on the ethics of the profession. This is right. The results can but be a still higher plane. Newspapers of tomorrow will be taken more seriously by the reader, and the newspaper man of tomorrow will feel more clearly the responsibilities of his work.