The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-12-06

! ana the jury Tor Inc IfSnteo15Hefs nf
/ the conclusion reached.
/ Whatever the exact facts may have
been, 1T Is clear from the evidence adj
5sduced that the report OF the finding Of
the child said to have been turned out
LOT doors was true, and that there were
! circumstances connected with the af-
fair that led the managers of the pa
per to believe that all they had pub
lished in, relation to it was correct.
There was no Indication Of malice to-
ward the Fenstermaker family. There
was no proof that either OF the per-
sons who gave the information which
was published concerning their treat
n1ent of the child, had any animosity
against the parties or any personal mo-
tive in lnaligning them.
If a newspaper were to refrain from
publishing particulars of such occur
rences until every detail was examined
and determined to be exactly correct.
the public would have to wait long
thine for the news and 1t would be
pretty stale before it was dished up
| for them. Public journals have to de-
pend largely upon reports brought to
| them, and rely on the statements of
persons whom they believe to be truth
| full, and also to act quickly when judg-
ment has to be exercised as to the ac-
curacE Of that which is related.
When "a paper which is the epitonae
of the doings of the neighborhocd and
the nation, with tidings from various
parts of the globe, has to be made UP
every night, much of it in great haste,
it is not wonderful that mistakes are
sometimes made and persons impro-
perly referred to- 1t is rather Won
derful that so few errors are fallen
into and so few individuals, compare
lively, are injured in their feelings and
reputation.
Personal reference cannot be avoided
in daily journal of events. Often it
is unpleasant to those who have to be
mentioned. But when there is no in
tention to harm anyone, and the pur-
pose is, ito give the news, to promote
good order, sound morality, and the
public welfare and to spread intelli-
gence, a generous public will not be
censorious if unintentional injustice is
sometimes done. particularly when
there is a disposition as far as possi-
bic to repair it on better information.
Legally. malice is presumed when an
injurious statement published about a
person is untrue. But fair jury Will
always take into account the absence
of wrong intent when that is made APP
parent by evidence, and the circum-
stances warranted the belief of the
publisher that the statement was true.
AS a rule, newspapers are made up
with a sincere intent to publish facts
only. Reliability is one of the princi-
pal aims of respectable public jour-
nails. Sometimes, of course, personal
bias influences their utterances; but
it is absolutely true that correctness
is aimed at earnestly, and errors are
usually unintentional mistakes which
sometimes are unavoidable.
The liberty of speech and of the
press is one of the most important
rights enjoyed in free country. 1t
should be vigorously maintained, and
only when malicious intent to injure
is plainly manifest should a public
journal be held pecuniary responsible
for alleged damages to private charac-
ter. The verdict in the Fenstermaker
case was justified by the evidence and
vindicates the defendant while it casts
no reflection upon the plaintiff.