The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1894-10-05

WHAT NEWS PAYS BEST /?

THE following is Il paper read before
the National Editorial Association at As
bury Park. n. j.. on July 3d, 1894, by the
Editor of THE ENQrIRER, and printed III
the Chicago "Printcr-J ournalist.'
1t may be assumed that in news gather
ing, as in everything else, the same rule
holds good, That the best pays the best.
| The man who can turn out the best work
of any kind, generally gets the best pay.
| To be able to do something better than
other people is sure criterion of success.
| The battle of life in all its relations, re-
solves itself into a search for the truth.
The editor of the weekly who seeks for
truthful items and discards sensationalism
is sure to meet with good fortune. The
discovery and promulgation OF truth is the
highest and noblcst inspiration of human
itv The old Greek felt the instinct and
was conscious of the inspiration when he
gave utterance to the injunction, Know
thvself" To know oneself is the first step
in the achievement of any great undertak
ing, and, knowing ourselves, we learn to
know others and can be true to them. The
philosophy Of the prccept is beautifully
and forcibly expressed by Shakespeare:
''To thy own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day.
Thou can st not then be false to any man
The editor who is true to himself will
be faithful in performing all the duties
pertaining to his profession. fhe studies
himself, he will come to know something
of the nature and tastes of his readers.
The hearts of the American people, par
ticularlv in the rural communities, are true
and pure. To the vast ma Ority of them,
therefore, the first essential of good news
is truth. If we publish truthful, whole
some news in our columns our papers will
soon be appreciated. No man can expect
to make Il favorable impression upon his
associates who is not truthful, and no
newspaper can hope for permanent sue
cess that is not reliable. contend, then,
in the first place that the news which pays
best is reliable news \ man reads for
information, and the publication that
leads him astrav is Il false guide and for
feits confidence. When a paper has for
feited the confidence of its readers it soon
loses its patronage. Let it be remembered
that the highest function of Il newspaper
is to instruct and elevate The weekly
circulating, as it does, largely in Christian
homes, where it is read by the young
as well as the mature, and where
it Is thoroughly and carefully read, should
exclude everything of a vicious, immoral
or sensational nature, An epitome of the
weeks doings, cullcd from the best sour
ces, carefully and judiciously edited, can
be made an attractive and useful feature
Such summary will give in convenient
form exactly what the busy man, the
farmer, the mechanic, or even the pro-
fessional man wants after his work is
done. He has no time or inclination to
wade through long paragraphs of scnsa-
tional or highly colored reports for simple
facts. People like to see their names in
print. 1t is profitable, therefore, to make
personal mention whenever it can be done
in good taste. l emphasize the words
good taste" The weekly should strive
to make good friends, and increase its
popularity by winning, like the ladies, as
many hearts as possible This can be done
by saying nice things of nice people in
nice ways. In local matters, the taste the
care and experience of the editor can be
most elfectually exercised. The items
should be given in clear, pithy, language
They should, above all, be substantially
true and void of offensc" No editor can
afford to allow an uniuStitiablc reflection
through his columns upon any man or
measure. If YOU are working for Il profit
guard against this. The public good may
sometimes require certain things to be
published, which the docrs thereof may
prefer to keep quiet. But have the cour-
age to fulfil the mission you have under
taken. Publish only what can be proved
and YOU are safe. Let the truth be the
polar star, reliability the talisman and our
papers will awaken interest, win friends
and surely bring us profit