The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-20
WING TO NEWSPAPERS.


fiicted by Hitchcock and Garfield.
| WING TO NEWSPAPERS.
Now that the government is prosecut-
ing the publishers of the New York
World on a charge Of criminal libel, the
proposition Of a member of the Yer
mont legislature to punish those who
give false information to newspapers
comes in the nick of time Ii goes with
out saying that if such a law were now
on the federal statute books and could
be enforced, cabinet meetings would be
under investigation and Secretary Loeb
would be retired from circulation for
the balance of his life. The newspape
depends upon the public for news, and
IL is compelled to hew to the line in
order to avoid being hailed into court
on a libel charge. Why should people
be allowed to lie with impunity to re-
porter and the newspaper be subject to
criminal prosecution for printing what
is given their representative as the
gospel truth?
The New York Evening Post conf
ments upon the Vermont idea some
what sarcastically. as follows:
"A depIorably small number of public
men feel any sCruples about deceiVing
representatives Of newspapers. when it is
their interest TO tell half-truths or falsify
absolutely. Official deniais' have come to
be in the majority of instances not worth
the paper they are written on. They are
| of identical value with the maids Not
at home 10 unwelcome visitors
Readers Of newspa pers who can re-
member back as far as the Swettenham
I incident. and the conflicting official state
ments preliminary to the sailing OF the
| battleship fleet around the world. viii
recall how untrustwOrthy subsequent
events proved the various announcements
I and denals Of those days to have been.
/ Hardly a day passes that similar in
/ stances are not encountered in relation to
/ less important affairs.
so much time ana energy are expended
in winnOwing the truth from the lies in
| the days news that most employees of
newspapers. even If they had the inciina-
/ ton. would not have the time to manu-
facture uHtruths. The trouble is not to
get fake stories, but to detect them and
/ keep them out of print
| There seems to be a popular impress
sion that all is grist that comes to the
| mill of a newspaper; that the editor will
publish, and does publish. everything
| brought into the office whereas the truth
/ Is carefully scrutinized as to its anthem
l ITCHY in the necessarily limited time OBJ
! tainable between one days publication
| and the next. In spite of all precautions
I untruths are unintentonally given circu-
I lation from time to time.
! Until some such law as the proposed
/ Vermont statute is enacted the victim
| lied editor OF publisher has no recourse
or redress. A law such as the Vermont
/ legislature suggests would rob newspa-
per work of most of its terrors. Nothing
| happier Guild be devised to protect newspa-
| per readers than law which would per
| nit newspaper correspondents and editors
] to bring into court men who have de
/ ceived them by disseminating false news
Government officials are not the only
sinners in this respect. though the Post
| expatiates upon the false stories given
currency concerning the sailing of the
feet to point a moral and adorn a tale.
| Lord, how the world is given to lying. -
said jolly Jack Falstaff, and the news
papers certainly get more than their
share of the untruths- Here is an ex-
ample of the situations which frequent
ly develop in the Office of almost any
newspaper. An individual gives a "sto-
ry'' to a reporter which is the exact
truth. 1t is written up with due care
and precision. and raises a commotion
among the readers. The editor is called
upon for his authority. gives it. and the
party Of the first part goes back upon
what he told the reporter And there
you are.
One happy thought in connection with
the punishment of those who lie to the
newspapers. Let the law be made ret
roactive, and take in the correspond
ents The Mole St. Nicholas liar is still
remembered and the Che Foo prevari-
cation should not go unpublished. There
was also an individual with more than
lively Imagination stationed at Market
Lake, Ida, during the Indian uprising
in the Jacksons Hole country in wyo-
ming. who is entitled to no mercy.
The use of the shorter and uglier word
may not be good form. but is justified
so far as the deceivers of the press are
concerned.