Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1880-11-20
INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM


grip. In. fact, it may now almost be
counted as thing of the past. The
spread of intelligence and the rapid
development and growth of indie
pendent thought and action among
the people is the death-knell of the
party "organ. Its occupation is
slipping away from it, and will soon
be gone. The people are seeking
their information from those Jour-
nails that are independent enough to
tell the truth even if it does 'shurt
the party"-journals that are not
tied down with narrow, contracted
party strings, and afraid to say their
souls are their own.
We like the ring Of the following,
which we extract from an article in
the Wheeling Register, on the sub
ject of independent journalism:
"The fallacy of the whole position
is in supposing that in order to have
any independence a journal must
neither favor nor support any politi-
cal party; it must not have any
opinions upon the great questions
which absorb the public mind dur
ing a campaign; and above all it
must not exercise the liberty Of ex-
pressing an independent opinion lest
it antagonize one or the other of the
contending parties.
1.-THE mistake is in suppOsing that
a public journal cannot heartily sup
port and advocate the platform of
political party and its candidates,
and yet be independent of that party;
that it cannot become the advocate
of party principles, without at the
same time becoming party 'organ;'
that it cannot have preferences for
particular party and at the same
time disagree in part with the policy
of that party; that, in fact, while
supporting a party, it is not free to
criticise and condemn what it does
not approve, as well as to commend
what it does approve in any other
party.
"Independent journalism is bound
to have opinions and principles In
common with one or the other exist
ing parties, and it is cowardly and
contemplate if it dare not express
them; but at the same time this does
not 10y any manner or means imply
that it is to become the organ of
that party, or of any person, clique
or faction, or of any part Of the pol
icy of the party which it does not
approve; it does not imply that it is
to become the instrument on which
any man, ring, confederacy or gang
Of jobbers could play any tune which
commended itself to their profit and
the public loss; to become the con-
duit or escape-pipe through which
any corrupt or scheming gangs could
vent their destructive poisons and
dishonest appeals.
"The days of mere organs have
passed never to return. The world
has moved away from that kind of
narrow and disreputable journalism.
An organ is of itself positive evil
dence of weakness and lack of indie
pendence. An organ with one tune
is necessarily monotonous and weari-
some. The people want something
better, something fresher, something
in keeping with the progress of the
age, something free and indepen-
dent, which can call its soul its own.
They want journal rejecting the
great interests of mankind, and not
blindly following the wake of a
party, or scheming in the interest of
any individual or faction.
independent journalism, in one
word, consists in publishing the
naked truth-in hewing to that line,
let the chips fall as they may-and
one of the most encouraging features
of modern journalism is that the
truth is always the most marketable
matter dispensed by the press"