Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-13
Journalism Then and Now.


Journalism Then and Now.
There is a tradition aHoat that one day in
March, 1s4S, the National Intelligencer,
journal that then held the first rank In
the public regard, appeared with two OF Its
four pages occupied by government ad-
vertisement Of mail lettings. and the other
two were filled with an exhaustive editorial
on the tariff, with the exception of three
stickfuls Of news matter at the bottom OF
a column, with a single-line heading in
small caps announcing a revolution In
France and the abdcation of Louis Philippe.
This story may be somewhat embroidered
statement of the facts, but 1t does not
greatly exaggerate the relative values Of
Importance in which editorial and news
matters were held by journalists.
The single city reporter engaged on the
Intelligencer used to complain that he was
limited by his employers to half a column
of respectable commonplace
But there has been progress in Journalism
in seventy years-nOt altogether for the bet
ter. The narrow, two-paged, half-sheet jour
nal has developed into the paper (Sunday
issue) of 100 pages or more, and containing
enough matter, if issued in book form. to
make fair-sized library. The reporter has
arrived in omnipresent force, and there Is
no paucity of news matter-such as 1t Is.
The Penny Dreadful.
Take a copy Of a modern up-to-date
Penny Dreadful. You will find 1t packed
with horrors, many of them so precious in
sensational atrocity as to require. for each,
five sets of job type headlines, and con-
densed recital of the main features OF the
enormity In great primer type in boxed
compartments. preliminary to the longer
narrative. The front page and several
inside pages are devoted to lurid depictions
of the great scandal-murder case, the
special thriller Of the day, with pictures
and biographies Of the woman in the case;
pictures and biographies of the villain who
pursued the woman in the case; pictures
and biographies of the more or less crazy
husband who killed the pursuing villain;
pictures and biographies of all the rela-
tives, friends and acquaintance of the
pursued woman, the pursuing Villain. and
the killing avenger; pictures and biogra-
phies of the judge the jury and the lawyers
in the case; pictures and biographies Of the
scores of alienists who deposed variousiy
that the avenging husband was crazy when
he killed the pursuing villain and sane the
moment after; or that he was born crazy,
is crazy now, and will be crazy all his
life. The paper will be spaced out with
minor horrors of considerable sensational
value There will be reports of Black
Hand assassinations, rapes, Opponents,
divorces, frightful railroad wrecks, massa-
cres of Jews in Russia, Christians in Tur-
Key; gruesome stories Of starvation and
corpse-eating cannibalism in China. and
manifold horrors and atrocities reported by
cable, telephone, wired and wireless teleg-
raphy. No quarter of the globe will have
escaped the Searchlight Of the enterprising
journal in quest Of malodorous, putrid hap
penings
A Carnival Of Crime.
The whole makeup of the paper is cal
culated to impress upon the reader the be-
lief that there Is an universal, world-wi
carnival of crime going all the time
There are pictures of hideous monstrosi-
ties in semi-human form-pig- pot
bellied, scowling NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. trust
officials, captains of industry and employers
of labor generally, as jumping upon the
common people with demoniacal glee: crush
ing them, grinding them and maltreatinR
them in every conceivable way.
The paper is pessimisitic and anarchistic
In every line. 1t incites the iaboring man.
by parade of his grievances to go out and
Kill somebody, preferably his employer, but
anybody in a position of authority, or mas
tership-a President of the United States.
a governor, judge, a captain of industry,
or any one who has by the work Of his
hands or brains made success in life.
There is nothing hopeful or inspiring in it,
This Is wicked world, growing worse
all the time. There is no honor among
men or women. The big fish are eating
the little fish, and the little fish are eating
the minnows, and the minnows are EATING
the spawn. 1t teaches to hate instead Of
loving one another.
At first glance the appearance of such a
paper as representative of modern Journal
ism has discouraging look, but on a closer
view, when 1t Is seen that the newspapers
Of this degraded class can be counted al
most upon the fingers of one hand, and
that the clean. RAne remit hla tourp 10