The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-10-06
A Newspaper Cntique

By newspaper man ought to strike the
public attention with some degree of force,
over and above similar production from
any other source. Henry Watterson, the
brilliant editor Of the Louisville Courier
Journal, wrote letter to convention Of
Indiana editors on the 23d of last month,
in which he says
"Gentlemela--I regret that my engagements
will not permit me to attend the Convention
Of Indiana editors to which you invite me.
Conscious Of my lack Of power to speak ade-
quately Of the journalistic calling, whose
shortcomings have for long time chiefly in
terested me, should nevertheless be glad to
urge its numerous and gross abuses upon such
Of my comrades as might care to listen 10 me;
its coarse and reckless personalism; its sense
less jabber of spurious wit; its general want
Of truthfulness and responsibility 1t is so
easy to handy ephithets, to squib and fb;
so hard to investigate patiently, and condense
in Eve lines Of pith Eve hours Of labor. do
not pretend that journalists are worse than
other men, but being more conspicuous, they
should be more circumspect, more thought
full, more dutifnl. The habit of disjointed
thinking is producing crop of irresponsible
writings which lowers the tone, abridges the
influence and impairs the usefulness Of the
press; so that the current newspaper seems to
me to be equally narrow and fragmentary,
wanting not a certain vigor, indeed, but ele-
waited and generous prompting. The journal
ism of the period IS thus almost destitute of
selErespect, and until it gains its lost moral
nature-at the expense perhaps of its vivacity
Its tendency must be downward. | beg
your pardon for speaking so bluntly; but OBJ
servant members Of the profession TO which
all of US are bound for life can hardly fail to
share with me sense of shame in the confess
sion, along with spirit Of hope that the flu
ture may have better things in store for US.
The foregoing critique, we take it, is
eminently just, in the main. We do not
know that We would modify it, except in
relation to the "fragmentary" allusion of
the piquant writer. The newspaper man
must learn the art of brevity, consequently
the newspaper must be fragmentary. 1t
has not the space of the magazine and has
no room for elaboration or discursive writ
ing. And it it had, its contents would not
be read in the hurry-scurry of this work
a-day world Menwill skim over the news
at their breakfast tables, while they are
enjoying their mullins and coffee. And as
soon as breakfast is over they are off to
the Office, the store or the counting room,
and have neither time nor taste for long
drawn editorials or verbose narratives or
extracts. Hence it is that only men bred
to the business of journalism achieve the
highest success. Hence it is that profound
scholars and scientists, eminent jurists,
lawyers and theologians, who can spin
their editorials by the column, more gener-
ally fail than succeed at the profession of
journalism. People do not want their in
terminable, windy ratiocinations, and will
not pay for them in newspaper form. The
paper which should publish them would
soon find itself in the hands of its credi-
tors.