The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-21
IT WOULDN'T WORK. MT. Bryan, in . recent address to news

paper men. used this language:
 believe the newspaper men, whether they write editorials or chronicle news. should present all the facts. believe that if a man only gives a part of . fact, that man is doing an injustice to his newspaper. the person whom he quotes and himself. A part of a fact is mis- leading and 1t may be. and in many cases is, a complete contradiction of the mean ing which the original utterance con- veyed.
 Theoretically. that is good doctrine. but how will 1t work if carried to its logical conclusion? If MT. A., who Is a prom inent and influential citizen, falls down and dislocates his nose. the newspapers will report the fact and people will sym pathize with him. but suppose the re- porter goes on and publishes the further fact that MT. A. was so drunk that he couldn't tell the sidewalk from a passing cloud, how would it work? Yet the facts are parts of the same. and the accident was caused by the other fact that Mir. A. had tarried too long at the place where they mix things. and consequently was seeing objects upside down. To print all
 
 right in theory. but a little rough in practice.
 Again, the newspaper will tell us that Mrs. B. lost a considerable sum of money. and all her friends and acquaintances will feel sorry for her, but if the paper finishes it's statement of facts by adding that Mrs. B. was setting in a little game
 h,x1 11kAi tuyo pairs. or something of the kind. would not the reporter stand a chance to be mobbed. and wouldn't the paper have libel suit on its hands? No doubt of it. though it | only published all the facts. The thing | will not work worth a cent.
 l The fact is that any wide-awake and influential newspaper saves more reputa- | tions than the general public has any conception of. Reporters are continually coming into possession of facts which. if given to the world, would create such sensations and cause such disturbances that the paper would be driven out of | business. Newspaper men "get onto" great many items of news that the gen. eral public knows nothing of. and which it will not publish because of the trouble which would result, not only to the paper itself, but to good people who would be affected by the publication.
 It may not be generally known, but it is nevertheless a fact that one of the most perplexing questions connected with the publication of a newspaper is to tell what not to print. Deciding what to print IS freouently hard. but to decide what to leave out is much harder. If an editor is fitted for his profession and takes pride in the reputation and success of his paper he wants to keep it thoroughly up with the times, and ito print all the news that is fit to print" as some of them express it. but many occurrences are really news. but the publication of all facts would be unvise and possibly. unjust. Even the stern and fearless Paul could say: All things are lawful for me but all things arc not expedient," and with the news oaper man 1t is much the same way. It might be perfectly lawful for him to pub fish facts which would break up family or disgrace a good man. but such publi- cation could hardly be called either ex- pedient or proper. And so we can come to the conclusion tht MT. Bryan's theory
 was good but might be disastrous in practice.