Arizona republican., 1903-07-11
THE BEST NEWSPAPERS.
Interesting Study of Their Character
 and Service.


 service which embodies conscience and devotion to high ideals. Individuals have to be proved, and so do institu- tions. and among the latter the news paper by right of opportunity and service has come to occupy it's great place. The newspaper not only deals in that most important thing. publicity. but it must be supported by the public. This is both an advantage and peril. It can labor with high ideals and un- Tagging purpose to promote that which 1t deems beet for society; or it can cater to those things which promise large material support. whether in news or advertisements, md seek pros perity on this lower plane of easy and C.tel immoral commercialism.
 Examples of both these types are fa- miliar to all. Both give the reader his news of the happenings of the world. But the one aims with steady purpose and broad aim to uplift. and is con- stant in assisting every cause which seekT to benefit society; the other choses dollars through a more or less fiamboyant sensationalism. and is careless about, ii not neglectful of. those triumphs of virtue and good liv- ing which are most truly characteris- tic of society, while eXalting the ab- normal and the criminal. The one seeks the true picture, the other, dis torted but profitable one. It is a mat ter of choice and of purpose-of char acter. The readers confidence in newspaper is and ought to be a matter of slow growth. In all the relations of life there Is much pretense of virtue where it is not possessed. But the years reveal the true as surely as they uncover the false. Tn the light of the public understanding men take their places and so do institutions and newspapers. Whether the purpose be true. the management honest, the ser vice rendered sterling or otherwise, is in time underst tood. Thus do people and things get their rating in the so- cial organism, and come to stand for what they represent in spirit and achievement.
 There is nothing in the relationships which men establish more vital and interesting than the alliance between Q newspaper and it's readers-certainly nothing which. on the side of the jour nal. should make stronger appeal to a deep sense of public duty. Honest service On the one side. and a proved faith on the other. establish the finest possible basis for mutual advantage. The newspaper so supported is assisted to such an opportunity to powerfully advance all those things which make for the bGtterment of society as TO other professional agency can com mand. Of all public trusts this one is most attractive. because in the nature of the case most pervasive and ever present. Its power for light and lead ing can be daily and unceasingly ap- piled wherever the men and women do read it, and it embodies and carries an atmosphere which no reader can es- cape.
 An important differentiation of the newspapers of the United States is made by Printers Ink of New York in its issue of the 24th, wherein are re ported the highly prized gold marks of quality. which are awarded by the American Newspaper Directory. What these marks represent IS thus ex- plained:
 'The gold marks of quality are ac- corded for reasons beyond the control of the publisher. nor do they represent any favor on the part of the editor of the directory. The symbol indicates that the paper bearing it has a pecu- liarly high standing with advertisers apart from its circulation. . (. When this symbol appears it is really q distinction conferred by the advertis- ing public
 Out of the 20.S45 periodicals published in the United States. only S7 are so dis tinguished. The Republican is on the list, and its associates in the eastern and central states are the Philadelphia Public Ledger. New York Times. New York Sun. New York Herald New York Tribune. New York Evening Post. New York Journal of Commerce. New York Staats-Zeitung. Brooklyn Eagle, Chicago Tribune, Boston Evening Transcript, Baltimore Sun, Buffalo Commercial. Buffalo Express. Cincin- nati Enquirer, Washington Star. Prov idence Journal and Hartford Courant. The editor of Printers Ink explains:
 Applied to newspaper. the gold symbol indicates a quality that comes from select circulation among readers of more than average intelligence and purchasing power. Each is a paper that has become famous and in fluential through the maintenance of high editorial standards. It is safe to say that a paragraph of any nature inserted in this list alone would come to the attention of the people who do the nations thinking, and that through no other list of periodicals whatsoever could a similar paragraph be brought to the attention of the same clientele"
 The list of newspapers given above does not embody an even standard as regards politics, editorial opinion, the presentation of news. or the govern ment of advertising. But 1t is note worthy to how great a degree it repre- sents the higher standards of news paper work in both the editorial and advertising departments, and that faith on the part of both readers and advertisers which only the merited confidence of worthy service can bring. Nothing could be plainer in the light of intelligent consideration than that the newspaper which is both read and trusted by readers of an exceptionally high class is the most desirable me dium for advertisers of the bstter sort as it is the desirable agency for the best and most helpful and farreaching newspaper seTvice.-Springfield Repub- lican