Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-09-19
Newspaper Reading.

murder or other crime in newspaper
for two years. By way of curiosity, I
counted the number of such things in
single issue of paper Of last week
and found it to be thirteen" The
above remark was made by lady who
reads the newspaper, but more for the
purpose of learning important news and
cultivating her mind than to crafty q
vitiated taste, and fill her thoughts with
details of current tragedy and brutality.
She had grown so far in intelligence
and virtue as to have proper disgust
for the recitals of crime with which the
columns of most of the journals are
filled, being strong enough also in will
and determination to refuse what she
would neither enjoy nor profit by.
She and all like her ought to be CON
graduated. They have made an i'm
pOrtant advance towards what must be
the practice of the more discriminating
future.
1t is the dream of enthusiastic Jour-
nalists perhaps it is only a dream
that newspaper editing and writing will
ere long be conducted upon q plan of
dignity and refinement of which at
present we have no example. When
the people forsake their craving for
stories of crime, wishing to read only
the instructive and helpful, and when
the highest art in journalistic training
has been reached. then. they think, the
newspaper will be as healthy in its in
tellectual tone as q passage from the
histories of Froude or Macaulay. 1t is
possible that such time may come.
There is not, however, at the present
much sign Of it. The current news.
paper enterprise is devoted to provid-
ing "news," and what is this bat to
give an account of current transactions +?
Ii there be murders, thefts and suicides,
why shall not the public be told of it.,
and thus be kept informed Of the state
of society, and the signs of the times ?
Aud INDUCING in this reasoning and
acting upon this principle, editors and
proprietors of the public prints fill up
their columns with matter the entire iu-
tluence of which is pernicious. Who
ever, therefore. subscribes for news
paper because he wishes 10 know the
news of the day, must understand that
a large portion Of what he pays for will
be stories of revolving crime and ex-
aggerated descriptions of whatever is
most loathsome in society. To say he
will not have q paper furnishing such
details, is equivalent to declaring he
will do without the news, and shut
himself off from communication with
the outside world.
There is nothing left, therefore. for
people to whom such things are often
sive but the elective plan of reading.
They must agree to school themselves
to the practice OF choosing the good
and refusing the bad. II they can do
this, the blemishes and deformities
which come in their way will do them
no other harm than that of offending
their taste and exciting their indigns-
ton. But it is upon this class of cleo.
tive readers that we must depend for
the reform of the future. If it grow
until at length it can WELD q proper in.
huence, it will provide for itself clean
and healthy kind Of journalism. and
leave the unclean aud degrading to the
vicious classes, to be used along with
the other garbage from which they have
their subsistence.-United Presbyterian.