The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-04-07
JOURNALISM.

power rs that Of journalism should be
welded in the interest of Ch,istan mor,sl.
aud under constant sense OF tho response
bilty which religious obligation involves
That the daily Journals Of this CITY have
improved immensely in this respect within
the last ten years, as well rs in enterprise,
ability and general courtesy, no ono who
has gwen the subject any attention can
doubt; an" it is equally certain that, with
the improved taste and increased culture OF
the mass of the people, this improvement
Will continue. The daily press may not be
AL 1t should bo-hut the same defect char.
acterlzes every other profession and every
other human institution. All we csn rc;,.
sonably expect to ask is that its tendencies
should be i'll the right dircction-t..at ii
should be growing better, instead Of worse
and we think this may be very safely and
very confidently asserted Of the daily press
OF tins city, taken as Il whole in alI the re-
sp"etahle Journals due regard is uniformly
paul To the religious obScrvanccs an, feel.
'hS' OF ail dcnomina:ions-a fair prolp
tIon Of space is given to religious intclii
gencc obligations of Christian duty
are fully recognized, even if not always
inIly met, and in their discussions Of plb-
i'c affairs Christian morality is almost uni
tormly accepted as the basis of their iuIy.
mcnts and opinions. We believe this t, be
true "t large potion OF the daily news
papers OF this cily--;nd it is becoming
more and more true of them all.
Exception is taken, we are aware, to the
character OF much Of the intelligence that
Is pnIlished-to the details given Of muir
dcrs, police cascs, divorce trials, tGc. In
part this complaint is doubtless iuSt-anl
there is room and need for Improvement in
nearly ;il our newspapers in this rcSprc,.--
l'ut 1t Is not fair to overlook the reason Of
this iauIt, nor to place the responsibility Of
1t too exclusively upon the press. |, be-.
longs mainly to the community. A news,
paper must be published upon business
principles; it can only exist us it is sus.
tanned by the community. 1t is very easy
to sneer at publisher for serh:n" primarily
to increase llls circulation but it. would
oe just as sensible to snccr ut Il merchant
Tor endeavorng to extend his trade, Or ut a
physician for seeking to enlarge his practice.
HE public support is absolutely essential
to IL newspaper, unless for party or other
purposes of their own, individuals are vii
ing to contribute the money which i, re-
I"'res; and in that case it becomes mis-
sionary work instead Of Il business oncra
ton.
Now, it is clear and mdeniaLle fact,
that the great body of the people wan, Il
newspaper for the news. They want to
know what is going on in the world, and
II is the b''aneess Of their newspaper to
tell them. If it docs they will take it; if
not, they will stop it and take another. -
And lamcntablc as the fact is, i; ncverthc-
less Is fact, that crime, in lis vuious
forms and successive stages, fills a very large
page i'll the daily history of the world-and
cannot be ignored without ignoring very
large and IL very important part of the cur
rent intelligence. Equally true is it tha,
n'ne persons out Of every ten in every com.
munity read the narratives of GREAT crimes
with much more avidity dian they read nc.
counts Of benevolent and religious move
mcnts. or any Of the more ordinary and
less exciting incidents Of daily life. The
tragic element, in life as in fiction, has a
strong hold upon the imagination, and very
lew persons, whatever their moral and re-
i'glous character, are iuscnsib!e to its fasci
nation.