Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-04-16
Our Newspapers.


AS newspapers, SIMPLY, those of
America are the best in the world.
The entire globe is raked, and raked
clean, every day, of incident, move
ment, and event, to be blazoned upon
their teeming pages. Science, reli-
gion, politics, society, commerce, ag-
riculture, mechanics, all things of hu
man concern find place for every fact
and phase in their columns. The
lightnings are their messengers, win
moving the midnight wcrld with
their wings, and bearing in their
beaks from the harvest feds of
thought and action every precious
seed that has ripened and dropped
during the day. No cost of toll or
gold dismays them. Their servants
are on every battlefield, in the thick
of every mob, forest and in the des-
erts, on the mountains and on the
seas, watching kings, watching parli-
ments, sitting by the side ofan astron-
omer in his visils, recording the mes
sage of the pre- cher, counting the
steps of scientific progress, and bear
ing the product Of all this enormous
enterprise and industry, morning by
morning, to the homes of the nation.
The outcome of this worldwide in
QUESTION and exposition rises almost
into the realm Of miracle. We have
no words to express our admiration
of it-no phrases by which we can
measure the height and depth and
length and breadth of the largeness it
contains and the influence it exerts.
Thus much we can say with entire
truthfulness; thus much we do say
with thorough heal tiness. Topreside
over great American newspaper is
to hold and exercise one of the most
dignitied offices in the world. Now,
let us open the newspaper and see
how it looks. Freighted with the
worlds great affairs, loaded down
with the hopes, struggles, misfortnnes
crimes, triumphs and achievements
Of humanity, we expect to find it
earnest, dignitied and catholic. The
first thing we see is halfa column oi
sensational headings, addressed per-
haps, to the prurient curiosity of the
l'asest men. We open Western
paper, and we find over an item of
Intelligence, or of talsehood, concern
ing grievous scandal the word
"HELLw in as large letters as can
be squeezed into column. This is
followed by minor heads, every one
of which is intended to produce
sensation. Oftentimes the headings
mislead as to the real character of
the intelligence to which they are
the preface. All the news chroni
cled is wrought up into its most
startling forms. TO pique curiosity,
to raise feeling, to attract attention,
to appeal to the sense of the marvel
Gus, to be stunning rather than simple
and true, are the apparent motives OF
the conductor.
Is this an extreme case? We can
furnish papers by the hundred that
steady pursue this course as a matter
of policy. 1t is not enough that we
have party presses in religion and
politics that rejoice in scandal and
crime, and take greater delight in
them, and greater pains with their
details, than are excited by those af-
fairs which mark the advance of the
world in goodness and wisdom. 1t
is not enough that there are papers
which mould all things that they
touch to the personal purposes and
prejudices of their conductors. fla
thing is tame, it must be whipped
into startling appearance. If it is
sad-inexpressibly sad from its bad
ness-its badness must yield the re-
quisite sensation. Great and good
names are jested with. Topics which
involve the most precious interests of
the human race are tossed flippantly
about, like the balls of 4 juggler, to
attract the eyes of the gaping multi
tude. Subjects Of which children
can never know too little are laid be-
fore the family eye as tamiliarly as it
they were not stepped in shame. 10
receive the porld's news, in the spirit
and shape in which it is presented to
the millions of readers every day, IS
to suppose that all the worlds mo-
mlentous events are conceived in fever
and brought forth in Mysteries.
If anything were really gained by
this course there might be q poor
apology for it, but nothing ever was
gained by it. The papers which in
dulge in it most are least trusted. |