The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-05-30
Newspaper Pie,ur,a of I.if.

1 NSWHRaR0t EtSkofNe oA Lie
 tGeo. William Curtis, tn HarperS Magazine. } 1 The disproportion between the actual and the apparent public interest in mat. ,eTs which occupy a large and conxpicu. ouS place in the newspapers has been oktea uaeEsscEe9. TAe srace allotted to a subject and the method of lreAtn,ent are decided by the editors viem of the pToh- able taste oi the readers of his particular newspapers, by its general character and dadiuonss and by certain accepted theo- ries- Among such theories is the view that the public is always deeply inter- eSted in persons and personalities, aSa consequently in scandals and crimes. Another ot the controlling theories is tha, the public always wishes to be en. seitalned, and consequently great atten. ton is devoted to the record and criticism ot entertainments, of theatres, operas concerts and athletic games of all kinds, and. for the same reason, to bright and 1 sparkling selections from new books and curIent magazines. Another theory is that in party organs the pasroas desire no mercy upon the enemy, and that the other side, being the evil one himself, shaii be painted in the biacksst possible colors, and caricatured with the utmost power of contempt and riiicule.
 Theories of this kind are not ha,tesing to the public, yet 1t is observable that theories ot ano,her and more honorable kind do not generally prevail That the reader wishes to know the truth, for in stance, that he does not wish to read im- pertinent details of private lie, as he would not peep through key-hole, that he does moi believe everything ths; hs sees in newspaper, and that he con- cedes to others the same sincerity in opinion and expression of which he is conscious in himSeli-theSe are not among the working theories of the press The impression which the newspaper often leaves upon the observer is that Il has not high respect for the public. IL often toadies and deprecates and fiattcrs, indeed, bu: its extravagAnce betrays 1t. There is certain tone of inialiibiiity also, which Is entertaining, and which seems to spring from the same conviction which led the older sinner to advise the younger, My hoy, you will have to lie a good deal, but remember to lie steadily and consistently"
 These theories in the conduct of \ newspaper naturally prevent it from being what it is often asserted to be, daily portrait of the world. The number oi persons who go to theatre in the even ing, or 10 a ball or concert, Is very small part of the population of a city The accidents and crimes of day arc comparatively few. But how large a pio- portion of the attention of the newspapers these command The last present human nature in an unattractive aspect, and they tend to foster the cheap cynicism of the club-window philosopher. But of the constant, wide-spreadlng, effective chari. ties, the unsiring good works that are everywhere done, even the more hu- mane and generous side of the dancers and the diners and the play.goess, of that activity of the daily world which best justihes its name of ChFistendon,, how sc ant the record, and how dispropor. tionate
 Ii England had been the England which the memoirs of the last century describe, 1t would have vanished like Sodom and Gomorrah. The England of ,he memoirs and the novels and the playS was but little England-the Eng land of the court, of a certain class in the cities. of certain persons in the country. But the character a=d the virtues which wrote no memoirs and did not 20 to vsuxha!! CT S.. lanes, and which de- sp,sed Lovelace, these, indeed, continued q the older England; but, like the heroes before Agamemnon, they had no poet, no newspaper.
 Therefore, if any man Is disposed 10 lose heart because in the daily newspaper picture of life business seems to be mere gambling, and society mere ostentatious extravagance, and politics only furious party spirit, let him remember that the madness of the exchange is not the chiei business of the American people, that the profuse recklessness of fashion IS not American society, aud that the rlbaldry of party organs is no; American politics The newspaper of lie can not preserve the true proportions of the original. 1t ii photograph with disturbed focus. The nose or the ear Or the mouth is exag. gerated. The moderation, the honesty the humanity, of the ci,y are not much noted in the newspaper, which must sup ply the news "spIcy and piping hot But there are glimpses enough of il there and you have only 10 follow the clew anc you will reach the, kosaaond's bower 0 lite as beautifus and devoted as that 0