Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1903-07-17
FRIDAY, July IL, 1908.
The Voice of the Press.

most TO do with determining the d. .
rection of national movements, and the
expanding of individual energy What /
is the origin of the sentiment, which, I
operating in human forces becomes the c
great dynamic power which is con- l
tinually making new record marks all
along the highway of progress Adj
hitting for the moment that the greater
forces are from without the man, and
knowing the multitude of harmonious
and conflicting ones which constantly
drive the individual into the arena OF
earnest strife, we may, with benefit,
thoughtfully enquire as to the quality
and quantity of one Of these forces
And we speak of them as voices to
which we listen for veal or woe. Hence
the enquiry, "What is the voice of the
press saying today, and how is it intiu-
encing the great public ?" Not long
since District Attorney jerome of Great
er New York said in substance that he
cared not for newspaper editorials as
long as he could command the leading
headlines; implying by the statement
that the men in the employ of the press
who touch and influence and lead the
mass of the people are not the men OF
brain and high literary capacity, who
spend the best of every day in the study
of all the questions Of the time, that
they may in editorial columns discuss
with carefulness and true analysis the
various issues which seem to be worthy
the critical attention of all citizens who
believe in order and government, but
they are those who can design in
startling headlines an attraction to the
reader. The thought implies decline
in the influence of the editorial columns
in comparison with a generation ago,
when there were comparatively few pa
pers printed. In the times when Greeley
and Raymond, Bennett and Bowen,
Dana and others led the thought of the
country almost by their masterful in
sight into the vital questions of the
present as effecting the future when
by their keen analysis, and lively wit,
and burning sarcasm, they made of their
weekly or daily editorials feast Of
good things, fund of knowledge, a
source of information to that degree of
thoughtfulness and study which tends to
make our citizens a body of well in
formed men and women /; in those days
the " Voice of the Press" was an infu.
ence, equal to the moulding of public
thought, and strong to determine ma
tional policies and direct the energies Of
the individual citizens.
If this statement attributed to At
torney jerome is the expression of &
condition actually existing, then we are
confronted by one OF two things: either
the quality of the work in which ST
many of us employ our best abilities
shows a deterioration from that of al
earlier time; or the demand of the pee
pie is not for that which invites to
higher level to be instructed, but is fo
that which merely entertains and amuses
The first proposition we are of cours
not inclined to admit as reply to tn
suggestion. Undoubtedly, in this strenr
Gus age, when men, and women too, ar
for many hours each day in the whir
pool OF activity, attending to that bus
ness of whatever kind which has com
to such pass of competition as
make of most business men, slaves, Their
has grown to full and forced maturit
the demand for those things which Civ
in fullest measure, change, rest, recr
alton. The brain needs play, not worl
And this has given rise to demand fc
that kind of presentation of news an
events which is attractive and sensation
al. The demand is not so much ft
accuracy of statement, and morality
subject, and critical relationship
cause and effect, as for the comic, I'll
humorous, or even the grotesque; thu
which relieves the tension is preferre
to that which calls for mental CO
centration and directness.
The newspaper of the day is n
perused by the mass of the people fl
what they can learn of national al
international politics and policies,
written by those who have trained the
minds and gained fund of informatc
along these lines, and are competent
speak authoritatively. They care IL
for articles which in soberness discu
the ethics of present life, religio
tendencies, scientific research, or high
education. To them there is no intere
in articles of review of the latest We
lures in the realm of literature. TIL,
turn to the columns which detail Il
stock market, or game of baseball
tennis or golf, horse race, or conte
of human endurance in the foot race
that of the bicycle. They read wi
care all about the latest fancy ball
official life reception. They are {
tracted by the headlines noting a mt