The Washington herald., 1908-03-01


have to do with something which, though
II does got appeal to what We are ac-
customed TO call the better part or our
selves. appeals. nevertheless. to some
thing lying very deep down in US, some
thing of the nature Of impulse or appe-
lite, and almost as blindly elemental as
hunger itself. says Prof. W. I. Thomas.
in the American Magazine for March
An appetite Of this nature. at once so
powerful. so unanalyzable in conscious
ness. and so little amenable TO intel
lectual oversight, may be assumed. from
what we know OF the Avs of mental
development, to have a very early
origin. and 70 have been originally a
trait OF service 70 the species which &
charaeterizes-
We may as well confess that human
nature in this aspect is not pretty thing.
Man is the social animal" OF Aristotle IN
only a secondary sense. An animal red in
tooth and claw with ravin" has neces-
sarily a disposition deeply imprinted with
the traits OF anger, hate fear, and ex-
uitation in disaster 10 others. And even
when II is no longer a question OF
slaughter. social life itself has been
conflict fierce enough, a war Of each
against all, where a mans well-being is
not comRassed without regard 70 the de-
feat and death Of others
PIeasurable Shocks.
In the light Of these facts II becomes
plain that the yellow journal owes its
existence to the persistence in men OF
primitive emotions Of an essentially anti
social character. to the fact that emo
tons are pleasurable, no matter what
their origin. and that people will pay 10
experience shock.
But the yellow press does not stop with
the singing out and overemphasis OF sit
uations- II distorts incidents and situa-
tons so that they viii correspond 20 the
most crude and brutal conditions OF con-
sciousness and desire II peryerts facts
and manufactures stories purpoFting 70 be
true. for the sake OF producing an emo
tonal shock greater than would follow
on the presentation of the exact truth.
Following the method OF the artist and
caTicaturist. the experts OF the yellow
press produce an essential untruth by iso-
lRting and accomplishing certain fea-
lures OF the original without getting clean
away from the copy. BY this principle an
Individual or institution e. Isolated for
intensive and unremiting attention. Some
incident first brings a man into n0tiee-a
statement. not ineligible out OF its con-
text. JOculaTly meant, or Joeulsrly or mis-
ehievously handled by the press. and the
man is marked. n his position is such
that the Misrepresentation may injure
hIm, so much the better: that is the ideal
disaster situation
playing TIP" "A Murder Trial.
Such also is the sinister disposition OF
mankind that merely repeated and un-
hOnOrihc direction OF attention TO a man
viii make him ridiculous. Then when he
is brought into contempt he has absolute
ly no redress. because the journals that
discredited him, and through which alone
he could be rehabilijated. have no inter
est in restoring his reputation. but the
contrary; and he is thus irredeemably and
hilariously damned. without an Ohense
and without a hearing. Similarly. an in
cident-a murder trial or q scandals
singled out and by iteration and isolation
made the most important IN the world for
the time being IN the so-Called silly
season" incidents OF the most trivial na-
ture are handled as If the destinies OF
nations hung on them. and il is a bad
quarter OF an hour" for the yellow press
when a murder trial is not on. These
newspapers have thus become the organ
lied and capitalized expression OF gossip
The yellow journal does not differ from
certain legitimate ferns of art in the
material employed. but only in its man
ner OF handling the materials. Love.
hate. fear despair. intrigue. sentiment.
ar4r nd II ali 1a
subjects OF art as well as Of the yellow
journal; bu- art in the proper sense, as
1 have pointed out, handles its materials
from a generalized or ideal standpoint.
and with some conscious reference 10
the significance Of the type Of action.
On the other hand. TO reflect or mimic
the elemental emotions and secure
shock unmodihed by any conscious over
sight, IS A character bo.h Of the yellow
journal and Of that which We. Tor lack
OF a more definite terminol0gy. are ae-
customed TO call low forms OF art. In
this sense. there Is, Of course. yellow
art as we'll as yellow journalism. and
the yellow journalism is worse than the
yellow art only IN regard 20 those num-
erOus eases where actions are presented
as realities Both yellow Journalism and
yellow art represent. in reality. the ar
tistic aspect Of the drink habit.
ScandaI-mORgers as RefOrmers.
The yellow press has also a remark
able and mock-mOral attitude toward
those who view the horrible through
any other medium than its columns 1t
periodically exposes the nickel theater.
the film show, and the penny picture
slot. and in this connection steals from
It's vaudeville rivals their most shocking
features and presents them 10 It's read
ers under the pretext OF inaugurating a
reform. II is terribly hard on the ladies
who attend murder trials. while present
ing in the same issue the most sickening
details OF the murder. II Is down on all
morbid interests unless II has the expres-
sion OF them, and It's view seems 10 be
that nothing is Indecent so long as it
il printed.
Is the Public just Bahyr
The great hold that the yellow journal
has on the masses is to be explained bv
the fact thar the popular mind is essen
tally childish. There has always been in
the populace. as in the child. a greedy in
terest in materials representing the eIe-
Mental emotions. with no necessary re-
gard 10 their artistic presentation. Prin,i-
tive epic and ballad literature. stories Of
adventure. fable, gossip. and the modern
cheap magazine are expressions OF this
interest Children and the masses love
stories and always more stories. and when
one is finished. they say. Vow tell an
other. In this sense. az least. the re-
mark Of DR.. Chalmers IS true. that "the
public Is just a great baby" In demo-
cratic America. with its free schools and
immigrants, we have a I.reat population
that has really just learned 70 read. and
which, though lettered. Is childish. or.
that which amounts 10 the same thing
from the psychological standpoint-sav.