The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-12-18

Greater than the general public
believes 10 the editors responsible
~. He Is a public servant. working
harder and more often overtime than
the elected and titled public officials
of city ana state. but seldom being
paid a. well. His responsibility Is
heavy upon him. and he is always
conscious Of II, but the people do d pit
give him many chances to acutely rda-
lise and appreciate i. He Is not al.
lowed to grow vain. 'puffed up" and
Gonceited, SO often 10 the starch taken
out of him by the maddened reader
who has been provoked either be
cause something went In" or was left
out" that the vexed representative
Of the populace thought should have
been run" or mot rum" Thus be
fore the editor has opportunity to
realize his importance or appreciate
his responsibility he is upon his knees
repeating with the EpIscopalians,
I'VE have done many things which
We ought not to have done, and we
have left undone many things which
We ought to have done. and there Is
no health In u.s.
The average newspaper reader
Tor magazine reader for that matter),
cares no more about who writes the
news story or editorial that he reads
than does the restaurant patron con-
slider or give credit to the man who
baked the pie which he eats.
The editors work is not always
rewarded. He often blows his own
horn and is censured for it. but who
else would blow 1t for him? A few
address him as Colonel" others
trouble their tongues enough to call
him "Mr.". but the most Of them
address him by his bare name with
out handle or title, unless 1t be the
prefix odd" Editors boost sections
and build towns, but who Is there to
give them credit for II? His competi-
tor does not generally want to, and
when his fellow brothers of the
Fourth Estate In other cities do it,
modesty often prevents reprint.
How seldom do you see the name Of
the editor in print except In It's stero-
typed position at the mast head,
which serves more often to show the
knocker who to knock and the kick
er who to kick than the praiser who
TO laud.
The Editor Speaks to Many People.
The editor may always oe prepared
10 be more widely criticized than the
man who walks any other path of
life. There Is so much that is ex-
pected. His office and duty to the
people Of the com munity is SO impor-
tant, 30 Responsible" And it should
be so. The lawyer and the minister
talk to jury of twelve and court
room OF spectators or to a congrega-
ton of a hundred or more OF wor-
shippers, but the editor moves his pen
Tor to be more modern, punches his
typewriter), and addresses thousands
Of his own community as well as hun
dreds Of other sections and cities, If
what he writes chances to be good
enough to clip" The shortest line
may be the trouble maker If to write
n had been a mistake. Though the
little paragraph that made the man
mad" were hidden away between ad-
vertisements and pictures he is sure
70 see IL. Some of his friends will
see II and show 1t to him. and be-
fore many moments he will have been
told by his friends that he is mot
game" II he doesn't have that thing
corrected" or whip the editor.
But for some reason editors are
seldom whipped. They sometimes
whip. But more often the editor is
able to convince the angry reader
that the proverbial CORRECTING
would only serve to call attention to
the original story or paragraph which
would otherwise go uncorrecteJ and
unnoticed. and thereby the correction
of 1t would do more harm than good.
But appreciation of newspapers
does exist, yes it exists in marked
degree. and I should be the last to
intimate that all of the newspaper
mans life Is vain. Appreciation of
good journalism has been demon
strated to me in Pensacola in no I'M
certain way, and it Is just that that
makes the editors responsibility"
fascinating. / was glad when the
Journal invited me to write an ar
ticle under this title for it gives to
me an opportunity to express a re-