The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-10
CRITICS OF THE DAILY PRESS.

CRITICS OF THE DAILY PRESS.
Preachers, magazine writer's and the
editors Of weekly papers find the daily
press favorite subject for discourse
lately, and notwithstanding the fact that
far the larger proportion Of daily papers
are clean, dignified and of good repute.
the criticisms based on the faults of sem
sational journals are applied indiscrimi-
nately to all. Editor Mabie. of the Out
look, complains that there is no proper
editing of news furnished to the reader;
that upon his devoted head is poured,
day after day. a mass of Insignificant,
irrelevant, uninteresting details which
give him no real intelligence about men,
manners or current history. great
deal Of the matter published as news"
he declares. lis not news at all; it is
simply village gossip, signifying nothing.
1t is not only unimportant, but it is NOR
tally dull" What is news, he asks, and
himself answers that "evidently from the
standpoint of some editors news is MAIN
ly murder, arson, suicide, theft, adultery.
lynching ana all manner of unrighteous-
ness" 1t would be interesting to know
what sort of a paper Mr.. Mabie would
publish if he undertook to edit a news
paper instead Of a semi-literary, semi
religious weekly. If he resolved to omit
embarrassing details and all village
gossip, including accounts Of crimes, he
would speedily find his patrons leaving
him and subscribing for the vile opposi-
Lob, <oyl q,
what they want to know, not the things
the editor is interested in or that he
thinks his readers ought to care for. And
how does Mr.. Mabie know that the mat
tiers he finds dull are dull to other peo-
pie? Did It never occur to him that de-
tails which he finds "mortally dulr' may
be Of deep interest to his neighbors; that
Reinsurance man may be concerned to
hear Of a fire in a far-off town: that
particulars of a crime committed in a
village up the State may be genuine
news to hundreds of persons who once
lived in that village or have business
connections there; that the story of
murder or lynching, shocking though
it be, affords as real intelligence about
record Of a Christian Endeavor conven-
ton or the account of a school COM
mencement? He is an intelligent man,
and it ought to have dawned upon him
that II records Of crimes seem to lead In
a certain department. life in the small
villages, which compose large part OF
the field that any newspaper covers, is
portance in it's regular course; 1t does
not dedicate a church every year, nor
build schoolhouse nor establish IL
brary, and if one citizen kills himself or
another, or burns a barn the occurrence
is as much part OF the history Of that
town as any other, and should be chrOn-
icled.
1.-THE completion ofsthe Boston library
building" continues Mr.. Mabie, was a
matter of national Importance, full Of
significance to every intelligent man and
woman who cares for the higher civili-
cation of America 1t received good
deal of attention from the press; but
compared with the space devoted to
Holmes, the murderer. it was a matter
of very minor interest or Importance.
Evidently there is something wrong with
the editorial perspective; something de-
fective in the editorial Judgment of the
relative values of things. The public
wants more, not less. news; but it is NOR
tally tired of gossip, scandal and crime.
1t wants news; that is to say, facts that
are significant. illuminative. interpreta-
tive; facts that give intelligence" The
press of the country certainly did give
much attention to the Boston library.
People like the editor of the Outlook
were deeply interested in the descrip-
lions. Many more, who realized that the
structure was triumph Of civilization
tons dull and turned their attention to
other subjects, possibly the Holmes trial,
willing to wait until their eyes could be-
hold the glories Of the library.
Mr.. Mabie is not exact IN MS language.
He declares that the public wants" less
news of the kind 1t gets. He means, per-
haps, that it needs less. If he will watch
the readers of a daily paper Of this morn
ing he will probably find that even in a
staid Methodist community eight out or
ten will read the details, say, Of the Pearl
Bryan murder trial before they turn to
the reporter the General Conference pro-
ceedings; they Will doubtless look at the
baseball I. nrewvg BEFORE finding either Of the
other subjects.
The truth is, Mr.. Mabie. like most of
the critics, does not understand his SUBJ
ject He would supply such information
as he thinks the public ought to have;
the editor who knows his business sets
forth the news as it happens and gives
prominence to that which. according to
his experience, his readers are most
anxious to hear. If the Outlook should
be transformed into daily its editor
would tell a new tale a year later.
hTES AMI GREAT