The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-04-20
NEWSPAPER" EXAGGERATION

'Iake no notice of cXaggcratjons in
the American press - SO said j. Pier
| pont Morgan in an interview in Rome.
1t was good saying, but rather too
restricted. 1t could easily be made
more expressive by saying: 'Tako no
! notice Of exaggcratiops in ncwspa-
pers" Condensed still further it would
be better yet to say: ''Take no notice
of exaggerations.'
1t seems to be the fond illusion of
! some persons and of a certain class of
minds to harbor the idea that news.
! papers are fond of exaggerating mat
ters, and of stating things grotesquely,
/ and in way that will not bear
the examination of impartial reason
and fair investigation. Nothing, how
ever, can be fuythcr from the truth
| than this The fact is that newspa-
pers that are worthy Of the name
have not the least desire TO exaggerate
anything. Their chief desire is to
state the facts precisely as they are,
/ and comment upon them with under
standing and cundor. 1t is not the
/
there are exaggerations and misstate-
| ments, as a rule. Misconceptions, to
be sure, may arise in the best of
minds, and a newspaper man or
newspaper may be mistaken in right
| understanding Of given facts or ap-
/ pcarances; but as rule whatever is
exaggerated or misstated in a news
| paper is done so because of misinfor-
nation supplied by outside parties,
these themselves, perhaps, not IN the
least intending to exaggerate, but un-
Willingly doing so.
! Let us imagine, for instance, that a
man is struck by an automobile. He is
not hurt in particular, may have
bruise, possibly a broken bone; but
more likely than not, suffering no
real injury; bystander, seeing the
accident, makes. the comment: "That
might have killed him. " Somebody
within hearing Of his voice takes no.
tice of the words, ''killed him. and
not Of the words that went before
! He passes on the word that somebody
was killed by being struck by an
automobile. The newspaper gets the
account, tries 10 trace it, perhaps is
unsuccessful or is not able TO get the
| clue to the real facts. and has to
! print the best story it can, II prints
the rumor that man was killed by
/ being struck by an automobile, The
! newspaper is blameed as having exag-
geratcd a trivial affair. and has to
stand the brunt of the whole mistake,
/ when probably the fact is that the
newspaper took every means that it
could to get at the facts, and was
unable TO get them Precisely such an
occurrence as this happened in this
city not long ago. One of the news
papers printed the rumor that Il man
| had died from being iolted by an
automobile. IL was not true, and yet
there unquestlonably was such rumor
that night. 1t was in everyone 8
mouth that knew anything about the
accident at all, and seemed to be fairly
well VERIFIED but more diligent in
! quiry developed the improbability of
! the man S death, and the next day it
was ascertained that he was alive and
well, very little hurt.
This is merely typical instance,
one that occurred, in fact, not long
ago In this city, showing how news.
/ papers at times can do no better
/ than reflect the rumors that are cur.
rent, sometimes not having the oppor-
tunity or the time to get at the
| facts. They do not wish to ignore
what seems TO be real item OF news,
and what everybody says and so
unwittingly they are led TO circulate
rumors that have very little basis
III fact. The great trial Of the
newspaper mans life Is to get at the
facts from the cloud Of rumors that
come to him. The persons who retail
these rumors TO the newspaper man
may do so in perfect good faith; NAV
believe they are telling the fact; in
some cases they are telling the fact,
but the difficulty is that the news
paper man is often unable to find out
! just when it is fact that is being told
| to him or when it is mere rumor or
gossip; and the newspaper, not The one
who tells the story, has to face the
music when an error is committed.
Warning against accepting exaggera-
tions in American newspapers would
fit any other newspapers as well, and
1t would fit the mass of humanity a
whole lot better; because while there
has been no doubt reform since the
old days when, as a sage stated
the case, ~ said in my haste,
all men are liars there is
unquestionably a love of gossip and
rumor prevalent in the human mind of
all ages and at all times, coupled with
an indisposition or inability to sift
rumor and get down to fact. If there
could be such thing MS n community
| given over entirely to truth.tellinp,
utterly impregnable to any I'M.
founded rumor or gossip, where no