Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-05-19
A COMMON COMPLAINT.

lnefe nave been some very sharp
and pungent criticisms OF the course Of
certain public journals during the de-
bate In the United States Senate over
the railroad rate bill, and some unpar-
llamentary language has been used,
which. perhaps, was justified by the
circumstances, II IL exceedingly pro-
voking to public speaker, whether IN
the forum. on the platform. or I'm the
pulpit, to have his remarks wilfuny
distorted and so published as to ex-
press the very opposite OF that which
he uttered.
Sometimes a step further than this Is
taken, and the "entorprislng reporter"
inyents something altogether foreign to
the Views of the alleged speaker and 10
which he made no alusion whatever.
This IL not infrequently done right here
In Utah. Either the correspondents of
certain papers deliberately concoct re-
ports of public discourses that are the
very reverse of truth and reason, or
their letters are doctored and printed
with sensational headlines that are IL
beous IN spirit and In letter. It is one
OF those tricks and diversions of yellow
journalism that all decent people should
oppose and that ought to be denounced
and punished severely.
But here. a large proportion Of the
news-reading people have become so
accustomed to that kind Of press mis-
representation, that they pay little or
no attention TO those effuslons when
they appear In the columns OF certain
dispensers Of untruth and personal VII.
llficatlon. Occasionally something that,
to use common expression, lis made
out of whole cloth" is sprung upon
the public. and when its falsehood Ia
exposed by direct denial from the IN.
terested parties no acknowledgment
or error by the guilty Is made, but the
villainy is repeated with additional
trimmings, and the injured individuals
are laughed at for their pains at refu.
tation, and they are ieered and jollied
for attempting to cross swords with a
newspaper
II IL not uncommon for u certain class
of reporters who learn OF an expected
lecture or entertainment, 10 write II
up with fun particulars, although they
mako no attempt TO attend In nerson
and sometimes describe an event that
never took place at all, The Medical
Record, published in New York. recent
~ had an article concerning an elabo.
rate report OF a surgical operation that
appeared in a New York daily. It
says
This enterprislng Journal published
an interesting and clrcumstantlal ac-
count OF an operation for renal calculus
performed AT one ~ the hospitals by
well-kn0wn surgeon of this city. All
the details 81 the operation were graph-
ically aud, Ms II appeared the next day,
quite accurately described. Tho point
OF special interest In the article was
that the operation which Il described
was not performed until about twelve
hours after the article had been pub
lished."
That is an illustration OF the sub
iect we here touch upon. II is one out
Of many such occurrences, It Is some
thing IN the nature Of the fake inter-
View" which at one time assumed such
large proportions as 10 cast a doubt
upon all the purported utterances of
prominent persons waited upon by rep
resentatyes Of yellow newspapers. 1t
created so much III feeling and brought
about such pronounced exposure. that
a little more care has been exercised
lately IN attempting 10 palm upon the
public purported Interviews that new
er took place.
one thing Is sure; II the newspapers
that indulge IN such tactics do not re-
ceiye their just punishment through the
medium VI suits IN the courts. they be.
come so thoroughly unreliable that they
fade IN their public influence, and will
ultimately 40 TO the dogs" where
they viii find most congenlal company
Reliability Is the true strength OF Jour
nalism and liars will surely reap their
reward,