Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1868-08-15
An Outside View of Journalism.
By ONE NOT YET OF THE FOURTH ESTATE.


BY ONE NOT YET OF THE FOURTH ESTATE.
Doubtless the first copy of a newspaper
given to the world created great aston
ishment. There must have been much
running to and fro to learn of the new
marvel, destined to supersede old maids
of both sexes in relating news; much
asking and answering of questions as to
whence it came and who made it. The
owner must have felt many doubts cou-
corning the success of his enterprise, and
perhaps he often wished he had never
undertaken to be the founder of a new
profession. -..
People then bought a newspaper out
of curiosity to see the new, and read the
news; most men now buy newspapers
out OF mere force of habit, just as one
puts OH his hat when he goes out of
doors. A verymeager outline of passing
events, with scauty comment If any, was
all that constituted a newspaper i'll those
days. At the present time there are
newspapers of every shade Of belief and
theory; papers devoted to science, and
those entirely without science i'll subject
matter OF arrangement; papers devoted
to pictures and statuary, or to eating or
drinking radical papers, conservative
papers and papers without politics !;
catholic papers and protestant; spiriiu-
alistic papers, and infidel papers of a high
moral tone; meanly supported papers,
devoted to pure literature, aud popular
papers devoted to poor literature. In
short no man gets hold Of a new fact or
idea which he does not hasten to an
nounce to the world through the news
paper. Sometimes all established jour
nails refuse to publish the great discovery
and a new paper must be started for the
PRONUNCIATION of the new doctrine.
Everywhere can be heard the click of
the type in the stick, the rumble of the
press under the sidewalk, the shout of
the newsboy in the street. Myriads of
mills greedily devour the rags of the
world, that Oh them men may read the
rel l.ort of its daily doings. Perhaps of
every size and price, from the great blan-
kct-sheet city daily, costing a few pen
nies, to the little Idaho journal 10 larger
than this magazine page, worth five cent
in silver. There are daily papers, papers
published i'll the morning, papers publislI-
ed i'll the evening, papers that are always
being published, papers of all kinds at
all times abound on every hand like flakes
in January snow storm. .
Though papers are indeed, almost as
common as the air we breathe, l for my
part, can never stop to think of the
many and great agencies necessary to
the production of single issue of any
journal, that there does not come an awe
akin to that felt when one considers the
mystery of fire, and air and water, and
all that men call the common things of
life. As one feels at every sunset that
the world may never see another dawn
so, every time | read new Issue of a
favorite newspaper, it is with the thought
that before another day has come, some
thing may suddenly and irretrieyably
stop all printing presses.
How is it possible TO estimate the eff
feet for good or evil that may be produ-
ced upon a community by the habitual
perusal of these sheets blackened with
printers ink Examine leading journal
in great city. There are spread out,
in cne brief, comprehensive view, all the
scenes and deeds of general intereststhat
have occurred in twenty four hours, in
every nook ard corner of the great globe.
Does ruler die; does he effect loan,
or force one: does he make speech, or
declare war; does he win victory, or
suffer defeat; or does anything OF any
kind happen to him at any time, he may
know it sooner even than his subjects.
Do earthquakes make any lands liable to
annexation to the United States: does a
volcano give notice that another country
is ready to be sold; is there draught,
or freshet, or famine, or an abundant
harvest, or an accident OH the railway, on
the common road; does museum burn,
or college dub some illiterate nabob
with the title of Doctors of Laws, or
some prosy parson with that other one
of Doctor of Divinity; whatever occurs
there it all is Immediately in complete
description. We are kept constantly ad-
vised of every change of front of the
or