New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-08-30
british JOURN ALISM.

"
A KENTUCKY CRITIC MISUNDERSTANDING OF
VARIOUS LONDON JOURNALISTIC ENTERpRisR
or TIE PENNY PREss--POwER or p" THE TINES
rSorrsu coRRR srOsDEyTs-JoURsAIISM Oh ris
LATE WAR.
rysox ryv MGR, Ar CORRESPONDENT TIE TRIBuEEi
LONDON. Aue. 1e.-Mr. Watterson's comments IN
his letters IN The Louisville Coaier-J0mHat on En-
olish newspapers are made the text OF an art,oeia
| The Anglo american Times which American Journals
will find worth their attention. The ARg0-A"''soo"
Times, let me first say. occupies an excepuonAi
position among papers Of the class Indicated by us
title. Ii is paper which an American In Europe.
who wants TO keep up his knowledge Of home aiisirs'
will find really helpful 1t gives you good summary
| of American news done into readable paragraphs.
| as much personal gossip a well regulated mind
| (which all Americans have can want selection OF
articles from American papers on the leading topics
of the week in which the last steamer left Its own
editorial articesand they are its Distinguishing fes-
ture-are careful and almost always able discussions
| ON American or Anglo American matters. They ara
40 well done that wish could prescribe course of
! them to the average English journalist
| who is in the habit Of dealing with SIM
| liar subjects For thing, they would
| show him the advantage Of knowing something
about the subject As an American living abroad, L
freely acknowledge my obligation to this papc Its
views of home politics not such as should want
to approve always, but they are worth reading and
| don't read any paper which can dispense with;
which is presume, every journalists case. Its
editor is Col. Douglas Muter, formerly commanding
the Goth Rifles crack regiment, with which ne mas
served in Canada. Australia, China. In lndia during
the mutiny, and elsewhere, if that be not enough.
suppose it was in this sort of cosmopolitan life that
Col. Muter got his natural English insulanty
of canacitv for taking inter-
national views of things American things especially.
Where he learned journalism cannot imagine, but
learned il he has and his opinion about English
neyspapers is the opinion Of an expert, as Mr. Wat
terson's is and based moro extensive acquaint-
ance with them than Mr.. WattersOn would claim.
Ihaye not had the advantage of seeing Mr.. Wat
terson's letters in full All that know about them
is derived from brief extracts in American papers,
and have seen comments on them here except
Col Muter's. What have seen, however, seems to
me much too sweeping. Mr. Watterson has put his
finger on some of the weak places in English Jour
nalism its strong points appear to have attracted
less of his attention. In the case Of The Tines crti-
cism of certain kind is easy and inevitable. Every
journalist sees and feels that The Times is deficient
in certain qualities which have contributed great
deal to the success Of the penny press IL Is not
sensational either in the good or bad sense Of the
word If you look through The Daily Aeps or
The Teleqrdph you will see almost every morning
some current affair treated with evident effort
TO make it attractive to the reader, or to tho
possible reader-to help sell the paper as ITS man
ager would say. No matter what is uppermost
great Strike Review, Ministerial Crisis, Rail-
way Accident, there is a marked difference between
the way is treated in The Times and the way II is
treated in the two leading penny papers Inc I'mes
account is likely to be brief to be formal reads
| - L. ...I haa nm
air as if published on compusion as if the thing
were bore. and to be disposed of as quickly as
possible. The necessary information is given, and
little else The telegraph and Daily Necs Will perhaps
FIJI page or two with the very sub Jet, written
ND and written out till quantity it almost equals
three-yolume novel, and in its romantic interest
| surpasses il, IL there be news, topic that IN
timely answers as well-seasde life, for instance.
which Just now is in-seas0n. correspondent on
sults his book discovers possible some place
that has not been described before, and describes 1t
| "a if it were something between Venice and the
| Sandwich Islands. The process is understood IN
| America; perhaps was borrowed from there. III
] explain It to American readers, it is only TO give
them clear notion of what The Times does not 90
Whether 1t is good bad thing to do is not the
question.
There can however, be no question that The Times
leaves undone some good things which American
journals have long done. and which of late years
The Timess two young rivals have also found 1t
worth while to attempt. The ARgto-AmerioaH says
with much Justice:
1t is surprising to find such journal content with
copying the kilograms Reuter- sends content with ex
tracing the Old fogy list OF papers, beyond
which t never travels; content with Ignoring all She
news il misses but which the other metropolitan papers
publish 81 If that had reality; content with making
up the paper II the foreman Of the comDosingroom
took the gaeys they to hand with the contents
which fitted easiest into the columns
The apparent carelessness of the great journal
about news is difficult to understand 1t was not So
in other days. Part of its immense reputation was
built up on its success in collecting intelligence, and
stories Of its enterprise and lavish outlay stir
current False economy cannot be the secret 1t
still sends out its correspondents with-as the
spondent of another journal rather too pompously
said of hImsef-the rank of an ambassador and the
nav of prince. But the chances are that that very
correspondent, with his Incompatible opport@l-
ties. will be beaten day after day by men
who are no ADLER than himself nor even more ener-
Qetic, am getting into very wide field when L
begin 10 discuss matters of this SORT and the per-
sonnet Of the London papers is so well known that 1t
| 10 difficult TO write freely without giving oifense
But do not think the recent failures of The Times
were wholly or mainly the fault of the men whomit
sent abroad II Forbes himself had been on tho
staff of The Times he might never have become
famous, nor journalism have been enriched by his
uneoualed energy and unsurpassed genius man
does about what he supposes is wanted of him. HAD
Forbes remained on The Morning 5duertiser to which
| he was attached during the first weeks of the war
of 1870 neither he nor his paper would have pronted
bv the occasion. 1t happened to HIM to be discoy-
cred by the manager of The Daily Necs, whose appe-
tite for news was sharp, and whose sense OF tho