The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-07
TIE sANE OF NEWSPAPER GOSSIP.
Rights of a Citizen TO His Reputation
Discussed by an ditor.

Discussed by an ditor.
E l. GGdkins an Scribner's for Judy.
As long as gossip was oral, it spread, as
regarded any one individual, over a very
small area, and was confined TO the immedi-
ate circle of his acquaintance. 1t did not
reach, or but rarely reached. those who
knew nothing of him. 1t did not make his
name, or his walk, or his conversation
familiar to strangers. And what is more to
the purpose, IL spared him the pain or morti-
fcation of knowing that he was gossiped
about A man seldom heard of oral gossip
about him which simply made him ridicu-
lous, OF trespassed on his lawful privacy,
but made no positive attack on his reputa-
ton. His peace and comfort were, there
fore, but slightly affected by it.
In all this the advent of the newsr apers,
or rather of particular class of news
papers, has made a great change. 1t has
converted curiosity into what economists
call an effectual demand, and gossip into
marketable commodity. The old Paul Pry,
whom our fathers despised and caricatured,
and who was roundly kicked and cuffed on
the stage for his indiscretions, has become
great wholesale dealer in an article of mer-
chandise for which be finds a ready sale.
and by which he frequently makes a for
tune. In other words, gossip about pri-
vate individuals is now printed, and
makes its victim, with all his imperfectlons
on his head, known hundreds or thousands
OF miles away from his place of abode;
and, what is worst of all, brings to his
knowledge exactly what is said about him,
with all its details. 1t thus infiicts what is,
to many men, the great pain of believing
that everybody he meets in the street is per-
fectly familiar with some folly, or misfor-
tune, or discretion, or weakness, which he
had previously supposed had never got be-
yond his domestic circle.
It is no defense for this state of things to
say that the passion for notoriety of any
kind has been fostered to such an extent by
this wide diffusion of printed gossip that
there is large number Of people who do
not dislike it, but. on the contrary, put
themselves in the way of having their pri-
vate life explored by the press. They are a
small minority at best. and their taste must
be recognized as depraved one.
Next, we may ask, what does social con-
| sideration or reputation do for the individ-
| ual! What rights. privileges, or immu-
| mites does it procure for him apart from
| the satisfaction it may give his vanity or
selt-esteema 1t gives him, in the first place,
| the comfort which comes to every man and
to his family from the knowledge that his
neighbors think well of him. The extent
to which this enters into a mans happiness,
of course, varies in individuals, but, next
men out of ten. the chief reason for loving
life, for clinging to ones own birthplace
and country, and for reluctance to emf
CRATE or fix ones abode among strangers,
whose opinion of one has still TO be formed
A disgraced man is, to all intents and pur-
| poses, man beginning life of exile, and
one of the sorrows of early strug-
| Cling youth lies in the fact that
people have not yet formed any
estimate of the young mans character
or capacity. Reputation, in fact, sur
rounds man with an atmosphere of peace
and hopefulness which he enjoys uncon-
sciously very much as he enjoys health in
bright, clear weather; and his family live
| in it and benefit by it hardly less than he
| does himself
In the next place it gives weight to his
opinions in all matters in which he shares
his interest with other people. A man of
good reputation is listened to with a defer
ence which nothing but actual power can
procure for a man of poor reputation. His
advice, too, Is taken with readiness which
his ability or experience may not always
warrant, because there is a strong DISPOSE
ton in human nature to infer wis
dom from goodness conclusion which
is generally true in spite of the
| contempt often felt and expressed by
| practical men" for the opinions of moral
lists, like clergymen and philosophers, and
in spite of the frequent exhibitions of inca
pacity in ordinary affairs of life made by
men of undoubted purity and simplicity of
character. Influence, of course, follows
power, VIII sther it be the power Of wealth or
of Office, without much reference to the
character of the holder; but it is enor-
mously increased and strengthened by
popular belief in a mans sincerity, kindli-
ness and honesty, and may, by the same
help, survive the loss of both fortune and
| place.