The Irish standard., 1908-07-18
"NEws is SIM"

NeWS is SIM"
Words Spoken by One Of Americas
Great Newspaper Men.
These words were spoken by one Of
Americas greatest newspaper men,
one who knows the newspaper bust.
ness from printers devir to editor
and publisher. one whose profit by ex-
perience has made him authoritative
among his fellows, says The Providence
Visitor.
What is sin? Sin is violation Of the
commandments of God. News"
therefore. is violation of the command
ments of God. Corolary-the greater
the violation of the commandments.
the better news" And so It is.,I.et
A, a laborer, sue for divorce, the news
papers report it in one line of small
type. Let B, wealthy banker sum-
mon his wife, a society woman" to
answer for inhdelity, the newspapers
give the minutest details on the first
page" Why? News is sin. Scandal
is sin. Therefore. the greater the scan
dal, the better the news"
A conclusion Immediately forces r.
self upon US; the American people love
more to learn Of scandals, of sin, of
murder, adultery, SANDER, robbery,
than of things that profit us, that en-
noble US, that make US better citizens,
that make us better Christians. that
regard the spiritual rather tkan the
material. that lead us to heaven rath-
er than to hell. This argues nationa!
degeneracy. But can we deny iacts?
Brown consorts with another mans
wife. He has raven locks, classic
brow. hazel eyes. a delicate mouth,
olive complexion"and perfect ply
sique; that excuses him when the
woman's husband has only scrubbing-
brush hair, cat eyes and Wizened
body. Bill murders Nancy in "back
street" because he lnagines she has
betrayed him.. Bill should not be hung
because the death penalty is offensive
to the good taste" of modern "hu-
manitarians." Because the murderer
or adulterer. has traits of character to
recommend himYsN becomes the duty
of the newspapers to defend him. The
newspapers do defend him, with the
result that he escapes prison or the
gallows. What does it matter that jus
tice is outraged so long as the public
taste. is satisfied. e"Public taste"-.
therein you find the policy of the news
papers. - ~
1t was not always so. There was a
time when the newspapers created
rather than followed public opinion,
Then newspapers served a useful p,,r-
pose. Then newspapers were, indeed,
the guardians of our national fabric.
Then newspapers deserved AMI We're
accorded the authority and prestige
which they commanded In orr day
the newspapers appear in different
light. They are controlled for the most
part by unscrupulous moneyed men.
who use them for selfish rather than
for national interests. who make of
them personal mouthpieces rather than
safeguards of our national traditions.
OF late years. especially, we may
note the change. Hearst, for instance,
may conduct a newspaper propaganda
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. whose
only purpose is to extol the life AMI
miracles of William Randolph Hearst.
Such self qualification will be cheer
fully permitted because at the Same
time Hearst caters. to the lowest in
stincts of human depravity. Hearst
defends "unionsm..i whether right or
wrong; hence Hearst's newspapers are
read by all union men. Hearst advo-
Gates anarchy: hence the Hears. news
papers are bought up by all the law
less classes. Hearst defends the mur.
derer and adulterer; hence the Hea:st
newspapers are devoured by ell who
love to read of scandal and sin. Hence
the Hearst newspapers have large cir-
culations.
All of which proves what we said
before, that the American people love
more to read of scandal and sin than
Of things that will prof. them tempo
rally and spiritually. In such prem
ises we need not wonder that the con-
servative newspaper is going, while
Hearst counts his subscribers by the
hundred thousands.