The San Francisco call., 1897-01-24
NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE.

Mr.. Yerkes of Chicago is not man
whose reputation adds any weight to his
words. but nevertheless he occasionally
says something of sufficient gravity 10
need no adventurous aid 10 add to its sig
nifcance. One of these sayings OF self
contained weight he has just expressed in
the question, How can we expect out
siders TO hold good opinions of our city
when our own newspapers do their utmost
to discredit 1t?
The question is the more remarkable
coming from a Chicago man and referring
to Chicago news papers. In times past the
press of that city could be accused of al
most anything rather than of discreditlng
aught that was said or done in Chicago.
The question, however. is pertinent to
more cities than the one to which it IS ad-
dressed. For example, it is directly
pertinent TO the press and the City of San
Francisco.
The judgment of outsiders concerning
any community is more affected by the
newspapers Of that com munity than by
anything else. 1t is mainly through the
press that in our time community makes
itself known to the outer world. Its
culture, its morals, its politics, its busi
ness and its aspirations are all supposed
to be expressed or reflected in the news
papers which 1t supports and which it
sends abroad. If, therefore, these papers
discredit the city, how can an outsider be
expected to hold good opinion of itP
That eulogists OF the press have at times
undQly exaggerated Its influence cannot
be doubted, but nevertheless that infiu-
ence is much greater than Is sometimes
supposed. Mems minds are largely col
ored by what they read every day. II
they rise in the morning to read in the
paper at their breakfast table words OF
sanguine cheerfulness and good i'm port,
they VIII 60 forth to their days work
bright and confident, trusting in them
selves and willing to trust largely to
others. If, on the other hand, they are
met IN the morning with sensational re-
ports of crimes, scandals and folies, and
with reiterated charges of corruption,
wrongdoing and dishonesty in every pub
lie official from highest to lowest, the
effect cannot fail to be depressing. The
reader will begin to doubt the virtue Of
his fellow-cltizen, the excellence of the
community in which he lives, and so far
from being ready to help public enter
prises will be inclined to regard each and
all of them as a job whereby some cunning
rascal is going to defraud the public.
The question ought to be asked every
day in San Francisco, how can we expect
outsiders to hold good opinions of our
City when our own newspapers do their
utmost to discredit it? There are papers
which live, move and have their being
only to publish the vilest sensations which
crime can furnish, or faker concoct when
crime is not forthcoming. Such newspa-
pers delight in magnifying every possible
error into an actual offense against honor
and morality. They are eager to seek out
rumors of quarreIs in private families, or
differences of opinion among officials, and
exaggerate them into scandals and charges
of dishonesty. Where such papers ale
supported the fame of the community is
rendered evil by the way in which it is
made known, and anything like a public
support of large municipal Improvements
is prevented by exciting in the minds of
the people belief that no one in office
can be trusted to undertake them.
To the question asked by Mr. Yerkes
there should be added anoi her: How can
we expect outsiders to hold good opinions
of our City when we support newspapers
which discredit it? Sensational journal
ism cannot live by the Sums alone,
though it may appeal to them for support
and patronage. In tain sense every
subscriber TO an indecent, libelous, mallg-
nant and disreputable journal is an Of
fender against the welfare of the City.
Newspapers have influence wider than the
circle by which they are read. They affect
public opinion concerning the community,
and those which devote themselves to
spreading a broad evil reports are injurious
not only to its fame abroad, but to its ad-
vancement at home.