Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-04
PRESS POWER FOR GOOD
OR EVIL, SAYS BLIGHT
Minister of Los Angeles Fellow
ship DeIivrs Sermon on the
Newspaper

"The daily newspaper is the most
powerful influence for good or evil in
modern society,"" declared Reynold E.
Blight, minister of the Los Angeles
Fellowship, yesterday morning. 1T
enters every home, and every intelli-
gent person, without regard to sex,
religion, race, opinion or prejudice, is
influenced more or less by the news,
the editorials or the special articles of
the press. The average man may be
able to influence a dozen or two peo-
pie. The minister if very successful,
may reach few hundreds. The editor
talks to unnumbered thousands. His
positive suggestions are impressed
upon ten or a hundred thousand minds
and they can't talk back. The preacher
breaches once a week; the editor ham,
mers away every day.
zone of the most misleading of pop
ular delusions is the assumption that
a newspaper is a public institution,
existing for public ends. A newspaper
is a private concern, existing to further
the interests, financial or otherwise, of
private individuals. Occasionally, but
ali too rarely, a newspaper is main
ta,ned for the furtherance of worthy
cause, or to promote the public well
fare, but generally the business office
determines the policy of the paper, the
editorial principles and often the color
of the news service.
"Too frequently the paper is for sale
advertising space, editorial page and
news columns-to the highest bidder
and becomes the subsidized agent of
corrupt influences, special privilege and
machine politics. Such newspaper is
a curse to the community, is subversive
of decent government, and is demor-
alizing influence in Office, home and
workshop. There is a popular, super
stitious reverence for the editorial
writings of our great dailies. A sort
of authority inheres in the dogmatlc
assertions of the leaders, and it takes
a positive mind to Withstand the af-
firmative appeal or discern the
sophistry and casuistry in the plausible
argument on the printed page
s"When this mighty power is used to
further the base purposes of political
chicanery personal grudge, selfsh
ambition or political villainy, it is
impossible to oVerestimate its baleful
effect. It's editorial columns reek with
slander, lies and perversion. Its ad.
vertising pages become the agents OF
debauchery and vice. Its news service
becomes unreliable and positively mis-
leading; scandal, blackmailing stories
and sensationalism running riot !ts
special articles are false in their in
formation and vicious in their purpose.
lv q city of size without one-is worse
than a pestilence, carrying its viru-
Ience into the homes of the people and
poisoning the springs of social and
civic life.
"a newspaper of this character
should be banned by every right think
ing person. Business men should have
the courage to refuse advertising pat
ronage. Clubmen should be brave
enough to bar it from their clubs.
Heads of families should decline to
admit it to the home. 1t has no con-
science to which appeal can be made,
no honor or self-respect Strike 1t
through the counting rooom, it's only
vital part Let 1t be told in the Ian
guage of the subscription list and adj
vertising returns that paper standing
for corporate greed, personal spleen or
political factionism will not be toler-
ated in the community"