Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-05-07

ultimate SCOQ, MS personality ana MS
work have left their impress on his
time. His place in literature is as Sc
cure as the history of the Anabasis oil
Forty-nine.
INDIVIDUALITY IN COUNTRY JOURNALISM
How often is the remark made that
the day of personal journalism is one
of the past. The minds of older men
recall the time when The New York
Greeley edited it, or the Sun found ia
vor because Charles A. Dana wrote its
editorials. In like manner the person
atty of Samuel Bowles made the
Springfield Republican and James
Scott the old Chicago Herald, but In
modern times the great metropolitan
dailfes are mere composite products OF
giant corporations edited by many men.
in place of the Individual, and depend-
ing upon the perfectness of the corpor-
ate organization for their favor with
the public in place of the personality
of a great editor.
All this is true of the metropolitan
daily, out there yet remains a field for
personal journalism. What we are
wont to call the country" paper, but
which should more properly be termed
the county seat weekly. to distinguish
from the daily of the coun-
try town. offers the oppor-
tunity for individuality in journ-
alism still. The editor of the
county seat weekly is known personally
to practically all Of his readers, his
paper is looked upon as an expression
Of himself and If he is a man of marked
individuality his paper is known cor-
~respondingly. Few of these men will
attain national renown, It's true, fol
the nation is now a very large world
and the city daily is bound to confine
the weekly paper to its home field, but
In a single state the weekly editor of
strong individuality can achieve fame
beyond the county line.
Who of the editors of great dailies in
or out of Iowa is better known or more
widely respected as q man Of high
ideals In politics than Editor Funk of
the Spirit Lake Beacon? Burrell, for
forty years editor of the Washington
Press, has established himself in the
ken Of almost every Iowan as the phil
equal fame as a scientific journalist.
and Murphy, of the Vinton Eagle. as
the practical politician in journalism.
Each of these men occupying a small
field have forced their individuality,
thru their Country" papers,, beyond the
neighborhood bounds out over the
whole state.
The thought would arise that the
editor Of a daily newspaper a an
even greater opportunity for expressing
and advertising his individuality than
the editor of an obscure county seat
paper, and 1t Is true that Editor Per-
kins of the Sioux City Journal has. by
thirty years of work on the one paper.
made himself an old friend and close
acquaintance with almost every read
ing man in Iowa, but the general excel
lence of his paper, in its many departs
ments, has contributed to this renown
even more than the individuality of Mr..
Perkins. The Leader of Des Moines is
unq~uestionably the strongest type of
the "one man" daily paper in Iowa, and
yet this paper is known as the Lead
err" the much hated and widely re-
spected independent" more than as
ALLAN Dawson's paper" LATE Young
has made himself known more widely
as an orator and state official than as
an editor. Men know LATE who can't
name the paper he edits. The only case
In Iowa of a daily paper being known as
its editors paper was the Dubuque Tel
egraph under the editorship Of the late
J. S.. Murphy. Murphy was an enthu-
siast with one idea and his papers sole
apparent mission was to express this
idea. The Telegraph did not prosper
financially at its task, n it's sphere
of influence was thereby curtailed. On
the other hand such excellent dailies as
the Burlington Hawkeye, Ottumwa
Courier, Keokuk Gate City, Council
Bluffs Nonpareil, Cedar Rapids Repub-
lican, Sioux City Tribune, and
others we might mention,
are known from border to border
of their state and even beyond, yet
scarcely twenty men In Iowa outside of
their home counties EAR give the name
of :: single one Of their editors.
The fact of the matter is, the modern
daily has become a proposition far be-
yond the overshadowing personality of
one man.. The editor of a daily paper
who so centers his activities and con-
fines his efforts to a single corner of his
paper as to give his individuality
marked expression, finds that his paper
soon becomes 'lop-sided" and fails tn
gain circulation. The daily newspaper
of today must be complete in every de-
partment and excel in many depart
ments. It's editor must become the
!, ,, n a of r,ory r,a, thu 5iraotor ~