The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1871-10-14
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tender q iraak spelory 70 sfsds
Of palief under such circumstances
d feek0ned dlshsnofable. Why
should . newspaper d. any thing
lest Does hot the gfeaieF power n
Ne words for good or evil ihsrsase
lis obligation 10 make amends lof
such = mistakei A gentleman In
such . case, i more careful n ~ Toe.
tee, II The injured person u his IN.
fefiof. But between . newspaper
aud M individual the odds are great.
ef than between any two private per.
sons. An honorable journal should
be AZ scrupulous In Fighting an IN.
advcrtant wrong 70 an individual,
rs a strong man Ia apologising to a
cripple whom he has accidentally
jostled.
Newspapers, indeed, are under pc
culiar temptation In this respect
The editor Of a weekly, and much
more OF a daily, Is absolutely obliged
to give currency 10 a host Of state.
ments as to which he has only here
say evidence. The most careful will
thus be sometimes misled. And il
is not pleasant to say frequently to
ones army OF readers, ave were
mistaken" But we think this does
net in the least lessen the obligation.
The injury to the editors self.love
IN such a retraction, is far smaller
matter than the consequence of the
false report to the injured party.
Why should journals which scout
the claim Of infallibility made by
church or pontiff, virtually set it up
for themselves There are some
papers known to us, of the highest
standing and much ability, whose
pride in appearing superior to mis-
take is so great that hardly in any
case will they make a manly admis-
sion of error. We submit that in
this matter a newspaper should be
judged just as a man is. 1t is held
TO be a very false pride, an ignoble
yielding to selfshness and vanity,
when a man, to appear seIf-consis-
tent, refuses to acknowledge his err
rors, even though they have injured
others. Is such a course less weak
and d~iscreditablo in a newspaper?
1t is perhaps of little use to press
the point Of decorum Of language in
controversy. The press, on the
whole, shows considerable advance
in this respect, and it is to be feared
that the chief of offenders are be-
yond the reach of remorstrance. -
Yet-to apply our leading idea
why should not the same principle
apply to journalistic as to private
conduct? Do epithets which are by
common consent ruled out of decent
private society, become more tole-
rable by being paraded before the
eyes of thousands?
To take a point in which there is
wider transgression, we do not see
why mo~desty-the want of which
makes a man n laughing stock
should find so small a place>in jour
nalistic virtue. Every paper has a
distinct personality Of its own.-
Though twenty or q hundred men
write for it, it comes before the pub
lie as a distinct entity. The edito.
rial we is accepted as the reprcscn-
tative of the spirit which controls
and inspires the whole organization.
Now, why should not the represen-
tative voice of his body have some
thing of The same reserve and deli
easy as to its merits that a mar has
about himself, or his family, or his
business firm? Why should it be
allowed by the canon of good taste
for a journal to hold up hands of
wonder and lift up the voice of praise
over its own surprising excellence ?
Our city dalies will on occasion de-
vote a loaded editorial column to
rapturous expressions about the
cleverness and ~liberality by which
they have furnished their readers
with some special tit-bit of news
We frequently find on the editorial
page of a weekly exchange a para
graph of glowing culogy on the ex-
cellence of the other pages. Do
such things, properly considered
meet the standard which manly and
delicate self-respect sets up for itself
A good editor cultivates a certain
relation of friendlincss and famili.
arity with HE constituents. The
army Of Unseen readers are to him
what the congregation is to the
preacher. They come to largely
trust him, and he in turn is inspired
by the thought Of them. Hestudie'
their wants and tastes. His effort
to please them is inspired by some