Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1903-03-18
- purY 81 NEWsPAPER.


papers are frequently made on the
ground that they misrepresent
things. That lie true. They FIRE.
queutly do. But the newspaper
which is trying faithfully to give
the reading public the news makes
remarkably few mistakes, when II
is considered how many state.
ments it Is called upon to make in
each issue. Those who are in the
habit Of charging inaccuracy in
newspapers should remember two
things: First, the average news
paper makes certainly not less
than ten thousand statements a
year. II none Of these were err
roneOus or slightly misleading, 1t
would be astounding. And Sec
Ondly, it is customary for one mis-.
take in a newspaper to provoke
more criticism than the nine
thousand, nine-hundred and nine
ty-nine correct statements. And
this very fact is much In the
newspapers favor. If the mis-
takes were so common they would
not excite 80 much comment. The
recOrd'iOr accuracy and truth as
held by a standard newspaper Of
good repute and enjoying a wide
circulation among an intelligent
clientalle would put to blush any
stump speaker, platform lecturer
or magazine lecturer in the land.
We once knew Of a man who en-
tered q newspaper Office and ex-
pressed indignation and grief that
the paper had disgraced his son,
for stating that the young man
was convicted of an Offense and
sentenced to jail for ninety days.
When questioned closely it was
admitted that the young man had
been both convicted and SEN
fenced, but that the term was only
sixty instead Of ninety days,
which the complainant probably
argued took of One-third Of the
disgrace. So far as we have been
able to learn most Of the leading
Southern newspapers are honest
and public spirited, and are try
ing to give the news, such as is
ft to print, wholly and fairly,
That is the function Of a newspa-
per, and any other plan Of opera
ton deserves not only q with
drawal OF patronage on the part Of
the reading and advertising pub
lie, but severe censure as we'll.
The Richmond Times-D Dispatch in
commenting upon the duty Of q
newspaper very aptly says:
"Fsirness is g newspapers re-
ligiOn. The editor may express
his opinions freely, and may argue
his side Of the case with more or
less partisan zeal. But when it
comes to reporting, it is the duty
Of the paper to present both sides
Of the case fairly, to print the
truth, the whole truth and moth
ing but the truth. Newspaper
men are human, and It is human
to err. They are not infallible,
and sometimes their own feelings
and p~reiudices creep unwittingly
into the report, but the trained
newspaper reporter is something
Of q machine, and it is his educa-
ton to give the news as he finds it
without fear or favor. The news
paper which pursues such q
course does nothing more or less
than it's duty; the newspaper that
suppresses facts in the report
which it makes, or cOlOrs the facts
or distorts them in such a way as
to make a wrong impression is
unworthy Of success, and sooner or
later, if it persists in such a course,
will be repudiated by the reading
public. The day Of the newspaper
organ is past. The demand in this
age is for the newspaper that
prints the news, all the news that's
fit to print, and both sides of every
story.