The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-09-11
Perniclous Newspapers.

| Sunday Afternoon, an American mag
azine of great value, sharply arraigns
the newspapers which are prone to min
lister to grovcling tastes by publishing
very reprehensible literature 1t says
mot only do our newspapers offend by
the publication of the vile details Of
great crimes, but also by picking up and
spreading abroad little scandals, little I'M
pleasantnesses in society, little bits of
gossip that no sensible or honorable per
son wishes to know or would suffer HIM
self to repeat. Much of the space of
many weekly papers, and of not few
| dailies, is devoted to matters Of this de-
scription. The tittle-tattle of the neigh
borhood, that is not only silly but poison
Gus in the extreme, is gathered and
served up in an appetizing manner as
possible for the entertainment of the
whole community. If a woman behaves
indiscreetly, the fact, more or less embel-
lished and sufficiently disguised to whet
the appetites of the gossips, is likely to
appear in print tie next day. If man
commits an error of which he is pretty
sure to be ashamed, and concerning
which he would be glad of the indulgent
silence of his neighbors, there is no
mercy for him; he will have a chance to
read the record, good deal magnified,
in the local column. Domestic intellect
ties, with which the public has no bust
ness at all, afford material for spicy
items; business complications are worse
complicated by unauthorized reports con-
corning them; little troubles in the
churches, which those who have the care
of their interests are doing their best
to compose, are famed into grave dis
sensions by references to them in the
newspapers Sometimes, when the de.
tails of these small scandals are not
given, there are little hints and innuen-
does that serve to put all the prurient
and meddlesome noses in the communi-
ty on the scent for indecency or mis-
chief. What excuse or justification can
there be for the publication of such
items as thesel Who is profted by
reading theml What interest of intelli-
gence, of morality, Of decency, is pro-
NOTED by spreading abroad these misef-
ablo details of gossip The only reason
for printing them is that many people
like to read them; they make a sale for
the papers. But the taste that Graves
them is vicious and degraded one, and
the business of gratifying and stimulat-
ing such taste is Dad business.
What is thought of the woman who
goes from house to house in her neigh
borhood rehearsing bits of intelligence
like these2 What is said of the man
who devotes his leisure to the circula-
ton of the current rumorsl If it is dis
reputable for man to 60 about ringing
his neighbors' door-bells, and reciting to
them such scandals by word of mouth,
it is more disreputable for him to print
them in widely circulated newspaper.
The story that gentleman would not
stoop to tell in good society, no gentle
man ought to print in his paper. Med
ding and misunderstanding is just as
reprehensible in reporter as in any
other man. The fact that such stuff
makes his newspaper sell is poor justi-
tication. And until the managers of
newspapers learn to discriminate with a
little more care between the news
which the public has a right to hear and
the news which is simply noisome or in
furious scandal, the business of journal
ism will suffer serious loss of respect
and indifference"