The Russellville Democrat., 1881-11-03
THE NEWSPAPER.
A Few Dots on an Interesting Subject,

than that which leads people into any
 other occupation or profession. If the
 excellence of newspaper is not meas
 uTed by it's proitableness, it is generally
 true that it does not pay its owner, it is
 valueless to the public, and as a rule, the
 successful journal pecuniarily is the best
 journal. The recognition of the fact
 that the newspaper is q purely business
 enterprise, will help to define the mutu
 al relations of the editor aud the public.
 His claims upOn the public IS exactly
 that of any manufacturer or dealer. On
 the other hand the public has no rights
 in the newspaper except what it pays
 for; even the 'old subscriber" has none
 except to drop the paper if it does not
 please him. Whether communications
 shall be published or not, rests with the
 discretion of the editor, having refer
 ence to his own private interest and the
 apprehension of the public good. The advertiser acquires no more rights in the
 newspaper than the subscriber. He is entitled to the space for which he pays
 by the insertion of such material as is
 approved by the editor, but gains no in- terest in any other part Of the paper. The newspaper being a strictly private enterprise, depends for success upon a
 qtid pro quo between all parties connect ct with it, and upon integrity Tn its
 management.
 The newspaper, which is the property of a private person, as much as a drug store is, is expected to perform for noth- ing services which would be asked of no
 other private person. There is scarcely
 a charitable enterprise to which it is not
 asked to contribute of it's space. which is money, ten times more than any other person in the community who are ten
 times as able as the owner O. the news paper to contribute. The journal is con
 sidered mean" if it will not surrender
 it's columns to notices and announce
 ments Of this sort. If a manager has 8
 new hen coop or a new singer he wishes
 to introduce to the public, he comes to
 the newspaper, expecting to nave his
 enterprise extolled for nothing, and
 probably never thinks it would be just as proper for him to % to one of the reg
 ular advertisers in tho paper and ask him
 to give up his space. Anything from Q
 church picnic to brass band concert
 for the benefit of the widow of the trian-
 gles, asks the newspaper to contribute.
 The party in politics, whose principles the editor advocates. has no doubt of its
 claims upon him, not only upon the edi- torial coluBns, but tue whole paper. It asks without hesitation that the news paper should take up its valuable space by printing hundreds and often thou
 sands of dollars worth of political au- nouncements in the course Of a pro- tracted campaign, when it never would
 think of getting its halls, its speakers, and it's brass bands free of expense. Churches, as well as parties, expect this sort of charity. l have known rich churches, to whose members it was a convenience to have its Sunday and other services announced, withdraw the announcement when the editor declined any longer to contribute 8 weekly fifty cents worth of space. No private per son contributes so much to charity, in
 proportion to ability, as the newspaper. Perhaps it wlll get credit for this in the next world; it certainly does not in this.
 The chief function of the newspaper is 10 collect and print the news; the second is to elucidate the news and comment on 1 il taud show it's relations; and the third is to furnish reading matter,to the gener- al public That news will be giyen that the people will be most interested n,and a success of the news printed depends on q preapprehensiou of these topics
 that the world will be talking about a. the time the paper appears. Some pa pers. which nevertheless print all tl1e news, are always days behind, do not appreciate the popular drift till it has l gone to something else, and err as much l by clinging to a subject after it is dead as l by taking itup before it was fairly born. l The public craves eagerly for only one ! thing al a time. and soon wearies of that; and it is to the newspapers profit to seize the exact point of a debate, the i thrilling moment sf an accident, the pith ] of an important discourse, to throw it. self into it as if life depended upon it, and for the hour to flood the popular curiosity with it, as an engine deluges a 1 fire, and thenews must be presented in an arrangement which will be at once at 1 tractive to the eye.
 i Our newspapers are overwhelmed with material that is of no importance. l The obvious remedy for this would be more intelligent direction in the collec- ! ton of news and more careful sitting and supervision of it when gathered. ! IL becomes every day more apparent to { every manager that sdch discrimination l is more necessary. There is no limit to ] the various intelligence and gossip that , our complex life offers; no paper Is big enough to contain it; no reader has time l enough 10 read it. And the journal must cease to be sort O. waste basket al the end oi telegraph wire. into which any l reporter, telegraph operator or gossip monger can dump whatever he pleases. | We must get rid of the superstition i that value is given to an unimportant
 item" by sending it ,O05 miles over the wire