The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1874-10-16
Trying TO PLEASE HvERYBoDY,
Running a Newspaper in Marietta or
Elsewhere

1
One of the most desirable, and at
the same time impossible, things 10
this world to accomplish is to so con-
duct newspaper as to meet the
particular views of every individual
reader. We have never attempted,
and do not intend attempting, such
an absurd undertaking, but that
does not preventa large number of
Ithoughtless people from thinking
Ilthat we ought to run a newspaper in
the particular channel they have
mapped out Every outsider re-
|Iligiously believes that if he just had
good chance 10 shed an unlimited
quantity Of ink for some newspaper,
he would show weeping world
what honest, independent, high
toned journalism really meant.
Others there are who do not aspire TO
WELD pen, but at safe distance
from a printing office venture to
suggest as to how d newspaper should
be managed and conducted. These
people never pause TO- consider that
in an ordinary paper there are sevo
raj thousand readers with several
thousand Different brains and several
thousand different opinions. To uni>
versally please one tenth or even
one-hundredth of those readers,
would be a task that no man, with.
an ounce of common sense, would
undertake or even try to accomplish.
That which will confer great pleasure
on one reader, or one class If read
ers, will give the greatest offense 70
others. The chap who gets up the
broadcast grin while reading the
names of victims in the police re-
ports, is the first one, when he comes
before the Mayor, to rush to the edi-
tor and vow vengeance if his name
appears in print. It's all very
amusing when another fellow is rid
iculed, but bring the matter home
and right then be thinks newspapers
ought to be abolished and journal-
lists consigned to the Dry Tortugas,
the black hole of Calcutta or H
avana.
An unfortunate individual hap
pens to love, not wisely, but too
well, and b arrested on the trifling
charge of bigamy, why, Of course
the newspaper man mustn't notice
"the little affair" 1t is all right,
you know, and the criminal cannot
have his feelings hurt by the men.
iion Of name he has probably con.
ferred on a half dozen unfortunate
females. So with murders, robbers
and every other class Of evil doers.
Their friends don't like chronicling
Of fact with which every body is
familiar. Some clamor for the pub
LEGATION Of certain articles and others
desire them 70 be suppressed. One
man wants you to draw your blade
and cut right and left, while another
cannot submit to the roughshod way
in which you dash through the
world. Some like pious reading
and another wants as much SEN
satibnaI licentiousness as can be
crowded into your columns. Ger
tain readers take exception to the
prominence which you give TO the
Jews and their synagogues, and an
other narrow reminded bigot con-
cludes that you are a close com
iiunionist because you elaborate a
Sabbath School festival And this
Is an example in brief of what q
journalist has to encounter. The
generality Of readers never appear
to think that the editor Of a paper
does not Away follow his own in
clinaiions 10 inserting or preparing
matter for his columns. Having an
litter aversion for astronomy, he
must, Of necessity, write a lot Of
STUFF concerning the transit Of Venus,
and at the same time he don't care
a roupee whether Venus .ransits Or
not. Again he will denounce the
currency imitation question, when
at the same time he hasn't got 4
ragged shinplaster in his possession.
And SO on to the end If the chapter.
But the JouRsAI. in trying to be
a newsy and acceptable paper. &C.
qaiesces in no wrong, defends the
right, hates corruption and seelksto
encourage those things which best
promote the peoples happiness and
prosperity.
.-----4-------&---.i