The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1896-05-07
MORAL SIDE OF THE NEWSPAPER,
AN INTERESTING PAPER FROM y
PREACHER AND EDITOR.

AN INTERESTING PAPER FROM y
PREACHER AND EDITOR.
Some Reasons Controlling Ncwspn
pcrs tho Wrong Wny-Thc Power
and Responsibility ofthc Press.
Tho following address on "The
Moral Side OF tho Newspaper" was de-
livercd boforo tho annual meeting OF
| the State Pross Association by Rev.
| w. L. Jacobs of Clinton:
Every paper has moral side. Some
unfortunately an immoral side always.
| occasionally it is tho patent outside
| that ls immoral in news notes and ads,
and sometimes the not SO patent inside.
The writer on one occasion advertised
horse race In his patent outside and
apologized for it on his inside.
But, after all, tho question OF tho
morality or immortality OF a paper cir.
cuiatcs about tho personality OF it's
| editors. All editors arc not piOus mon.
Somo fow (very few get drunk after
tho paper has gono to pross, and thcn
invoke all tho adjectivencss of thoir
dictionaries, versus drinkirg, in their
next issue. We know an editor, who
wrote, u was on jag last week.
Pm sorry. The public will please
excuse the imperfection OF our make
up that week, as we were quito locked
up" SO he was.
AS a rule editors are the best inform
ed people in the community. Unfor-
tunately no man can know everything.
That accounts for the terrible mis-.
takes mado in writing up church do
ings. Preachers laugh at these things,
but the editor can't soc tho joke. Still
the editor might be Il splendid "eccle-
siastical reporter,' and yet not run a
nils q fine pulpit, and had botter not
be thero.
=" If the moral man" Of the newspa-
per Is always it's editor, tho moral sido
OF newspaper must necessarily be tho
Wow the editor takes OF all tho higher
interests OF tho community in which
he lives.
Now, his viows on moral subjects are
very apt to be warped by several con-
siderations.
lst. His own lack of q clear-cut in
ception OF moral duty. a man that
lies will lie in print. A slanderer
takes pleasure in "sharp, keen, Incl
slve vltuperatiOn." a wild, reckless
editor may write hightoned discourscs
occasionally, aping the goodness ho
he has not, but the rule will be the
other way.
2. Pccuniary considerations are often
all powerful. Vile ads are printed
because they pay. Tho bulk Of any
community is disposed to sensational
Ism, and honco vile things arc often
reported in full. How can q man take
clear-cut ecclesiastical vicws, for
instance, as TO Sunday editions of his
paper, If the Sunday edition is the
| best paying one Of the week.
90. Fear often has great dcal to do
| with an editors work. He does not
wish to lose subscribers at any time,
and hcnce cven the mad fury of u
| ynching bee may be condoned, or at
least not very severely dealt with, SO
many patrons having Il quasi conncc-
tion with it--not indeed that editors
are alone in this. They perhaps but
| reflect the tone of the community.
4th: Politics largely affect tho views
an editor takes on many moral qucs-
tions, notably that of prohibition or it's
correlative, the dispensary. Party
lash is powerful incentive to an cdi-
tor to keep the straight and narrow
path of political duty. We recently
heard Judge Cothran remark that
he never knew a minister who
became lawyer to honor his profess
sion, but per contra, a lawyer who
entered the ministry was always an
ornament to 1T. However that may be,
we can say that religious paper that
enters the political arena is always
unreliable, but that political paper
with strong moral and religious prin-
ciples Is reliable and honorable
power in the community.
Other forces, OF course, operate on
the editor, as many winds on tho sail,
to trim 1T this way and that. But a
few considerations deserve thought
just hero.
l. "A newspaper is tho most powerful
agent in any community for good or
Ill. The preacher only reaches the
church going, and tho teacher the
young. The editors reach everybody
MOREOVER thorc is certain latent
force in cold typo with multitudes,
especially OF the half-lcarncd, that
nothing else has. Who has not hoard
tho vulgarism, [ seen it in the pa
per-" as an end OF all argument. Tho
editors tripod is the grandost pulpit in
the universe. Crowned heads hayo
found it ncedful to bow before the re-
porter's pen. Think Of ono great news
paper sending forth half million
issues daily-its editorials read prob
ably by twice that number of persons.
So great is this power that we venture
the assertion that were all the papers
OF this country to agree to plunge this
country into a war with EIrOpc, and
to persist in it within week the thing
could be accomplished.
2. Power always entails RESPONSE
bility. Newspapers, therefore, ought
to have highly developed conscicnccs.
Instead Of bcing wcathorcocks, instead
even of being leaders, they should
have always at heart the supremest
good of the community, and should
preserve it, regardless Of money con-
slderations, political influence or sell
fish schemes. Independcncy in politics
or religion may be an error, but the
man who declares himself independent
OF his own selishness and persists in a
course OF right, as straight as an ar
row, will bo always the trusted and
hon0red leader.
! In the present State OF South Caro-
| lima social order, there arc many points
deserving careful study in the sane
tum as to the course to bo pursued.
We think that we can point With q