The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-04-30
CASE OF INENCISABI.E SUPPLIES
SION OF LEGITIMATE NEWS.

CASE OF INEXCISABI.E StPP1tfS-
SION OF LEGITIMATE NEWS.
The New York World reads n needed
lecture TO the Philadelphia newspa-
pers which agreed not 10 print a
| word about the Gimmei crime last
| week. He had committed the most
horrible ofense in the catalogue
OF crimes and when IL became public
he committed suicide. The story
or SO much of Il az was printable
appeared in nearly every newspaper
in America except those in the Cit
where the millionaire miner lived
There the papers agreed together 10
suppress the news and all reference L.
il and appealed To the New York news
| papers 10 suppress The news. They
not only suppressed he horrible crime
but also suppressed the fact that the
millionaire criminal sought "a escape
prosecution by Offering Il big bride to
the officials. adding attempt 10 corrupt
| the courts to his other crime. The
; new Director Of Public Safety in
Philadelphia sought 10 prevent the
sale of New York newspapers in Phila-
1 dciEiild DN ISSuiiiB VI htiS ma Ht
boys We're not to cry aloud the on
tents Of the papers they We're trying
to sell and by having policemen or
der them to move on The New
York World makes his appropriate
comment:
New York newspapers nave their
fauits. but uniting To suppress legiti-
mate news in regard to the arrest OF
any man merely because he Is rich ~
not one of them. Refusing To print
news that might corrupt public morals
can always De justified. but no such
motive actuated the Philadelphia news
papers. They were not concerned
about public morals. but solely about
the tact that the man under arrest
was wealthy and influential.
This is not a new policy for the
socalled newspapers of Philadelphia
to pursue. The same thing was done.
also with the assistance OF a public
official, when Frank X. Nipple. presi-
dent of the Real Estate Trust Com
pany of Philadelphia, committed sui
eide last year. Is it astonishing that
the newspapers which the public can
not trust to print the news without
favor should have SO little power for
public good in a city corrupt and
contented p"
| The Baltimore News quotes the
above from the World and
in the course Of a sensible editorial.
says:
The matter is of far more thar
iocal interest; and this is especially
SO because it involves not only the
general issue of wealth and influence
but the far more acute issue of adj
Vertls1ng. lt.ha to be acknowledged
that the modern as an
independent organ OF publicity and
pinto rests upon a peculiar basis.
1t may almost be said to be n pyra-
mid standing on it's apex. 1t appeals
TO the great public, the hundreds or
thousands who form it's audience. the
whole of the in which IL
clrculates. But, under modern condi-
TONS, the enormous capital. invested
in 1t and the lavish expenditure re-
CURED for its daily maintenance all
rest upon the assumption of advertis- !
ing support. Even more than this is
the case. for as a rule, the great bulk
OF It's advertising revenue is derived
from q very small number of business
establishments. To offend any one Of
these means a serious financial loss:
TO incur the hostility of many of them
is to face the possibility OF disaster.
And In the face of this. the newspa-
per, If it is to be what a new spaper
should be. has got To be independent
of the influence Of these very people
on whose support it depends. whose
good viii 1t is anxious to secure in
every proper way, but whose desires
II is every now and then called upon
natly TO refuse to grant If il is to
preserve paired its independence
and self-Tespect.
This matter Of genuine indepen-
dence presents two problems which,
to most people. are very pulling. The
trst Is, What difference does il make
whether q bit of news is suppressed
now and then or not? The answer j.
that 1t makes little or ne difference.
probably, IN the individual instance.
but that ii makes all the difference
In the world in the spirit of the whole
newspaper. You can't compromise ,
your business yirtue-for that is what |
this thing is-without weakening all
along the line. You can't have the /
same confidence in yourself, and your
readers can't have the same conf /
dence in You. If you know and they
know that at a pinch. you will make
your editorial management i'm any par |
ticular subservient to your advertising
interests. But the other problem is
apt to be regarded as much more
puzziing still: How can the newspa-
per afford 10 carry out this policy? |
won't IT lose its advertisers. one af-
ter another. as time goes on? Well. /
IL seems not. The newspaper that has
a thorough hold OIL public confidence
mas got something to offer To adyertiS-
ers which is worth every dollar they
put INTO ii, and more. Keep right on
commanding this great asset, and you
Will find d market for your wares, [
II not with this man, then with that.
You will educate the public to appre-
ciate your Independence, and you will
get the advertisers themselves to rea-
lize that il is a policy which ought TO
command not only their respect but
their good will. 1t requires some back !
bone. and it requires some time. to
fight it out on this line but il is
not a Quixotic course, and there Is
every reason TO believe it to be as
sound In business policy as il is con-
sonant with q SATISFACTORY ideal al