The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-11-10
NEWSPAPERS.

the citizen with the perennial grievance,
who wants to show his sore toe to the pub
lie, or by the headless horseman who
wants to give his hobby fresh gallop.
Sometimes the communications of these
persons are rejected because of their innate
intrinsic worthlessness. not because the
editor is afraid to print their views, for
newspapers seldom refuse to print COM
munication Of public interest that is brief.
clear, impersonal and to the point. A
communication is sometimes so prolix.
vague, rambling, irrelevant in its argu-
nent and illustration as not to contain
any intelligent or even ineligible
opinions, and then it is discreetiy rejected.
newspaper Is no more TO be complained
of because it exercises this discretion
as . matter of business than . bank
can be fairly denounced because 1t de-
cides on its own judgment not to
discount all the paper that offers itself.
The bank always wants q good indorser.
A newspaper cannot always wait to settle
absolutely the authenticity of news before
1t prints it, but it is under no obligation
to the public to print all the news
and everybody's views without re-
gard to its own interest. The
remedy of man who dislikes news
paper is simple one-he can stop it, but
the injury of reckless and indiscriminate
publication to a newspaper is not SO easy
of remedy. A newspaper Is at once pr.
vate business and . public trust. 1t owes
nothing more to the public than all kinds
of legitimate business do. It owes the
public honest and fair dealing in a COM
and what it does not print, must be deter
mined solely by its own sense Of business
discretion and its own moral judgment.
1t must stand or fall by this decision.
There is much that takes place that it can
do no possible good to print, and will
probably do some harm. Illustrations will
suggest themselves to any considerate
man. In short, mixture of motives
some moral, others purely commercial, all
entirely honorable-may properly govern
the conduct of q newspaper. Few men
will publish over their own signature
communication seriously impeaching the
public worth and purity of a public
officer, but all these men would angrily in.
sist that newspaper was not ga fearless,
independent journal" if it declined to print
damaging personal charges that the author
refused to sign. The newspaper is not
ordinarily found IN the ''hero and martyr"
business, but it is about as brave as the
best Of those who gable about its
cowardice. and yet who are never heard of
offering their head as rest for
the apple the world shoots at. Grave pro-
test is common against the publication of
criminal matters in newspapers. Such
publication as they get in sensational
newspapers, where vice and crime are
gilded and robed in romantic colors, is
doubtless corrupting in its influence, and
yet on the ground that 'gaslight is the
best policeman" there must be decorous
record of deeds of darkness. The sleep
less vigilance of the press and its prompt
exposure of social offenders to the public
gaze has powerful restraint on the law.
less and turbulent; on both the knaves
and the fools. Men who care nothing for
conscience. care for reputation, influence.
commercial credit, that can be wrecked by
newspaper exposure of their misdeeds.
Turn on the gas" is a good sign for
newspaper to fight and conquer under.
but even gaslight needs prudent handling.
An editor cannot and does not complain
if in his public capacity his opinions
are mercilessly criticised, garbled
and maliciously perverted; II he is
extravagantly misunderstood and misre-
presented, and politician or public officer
cannot complain if his speeches and pub
lie actions are sometimes ridiculed, for by
competing for public honor and trust he
directly challenges public scrutiny and in
quiry. 1t is the notorious exception when
q man becomes the editor of a successful
newspaper that exercises any appreciate
influence on public opinion, if the man
recognizes no such thing as right or
wrong, heart or conscience, integrity or
humanity. No man can long afford to
play fast and loose with these eternal yer.
interest or vindictiveness prompts him.
Merciless personalities in politics are
sometimes manifested through the press
just as they are elsewhere in the organized
expression of human thought, feeling
and business. but no great newspaper ever
rose to influence and long maintained it
whose editor made his private piques, his
unquenohed personal animosities, his I'M
wreaked revenges and unsatisfied private
interests the pole star of his professional
life