The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-01-29
r1IE "ro,vEn or THE PRESS"

| TIE "IOMEK sOF THE IhDSs.
Indian Commissioner Francis Leupp,
| till not SO long ago Il Washington
newspaper correspondent of the first
grade thinks that the power of tho
newspaper press is gradually decay
ing. The whercfores OF this disinte-
I grating process Mr.. Leupp seeks to
| explain In the Atlantic Monthly for
| February, and this summary of causes
token from his article is well worth
| printing in full:
The transfer OF both properties and
policies from personal to impcrsonal
control: the rise of the cheap maya
zine the tendency to specialization in
all forms of public instruction; the
i1erceness of competition in the news
paper business; the demand for larger
capital. unsettlinE the former equi-
! poise between counting-room and edi-
torial-room; the invasion of newspa-
! per offices by the universal mania OF
hurry; the development of the news
/ getting at the expense of the news
Interpreting function: the tendency to
/ remold narratives of fact so as to
| confirm Office made policies; the grow
/ ing disregard of decency in the choice
o.. news to be specially exploited; and
the scant time now spared by men
of the world for reading journals of
general intelligence.
Nobody who knows anything about
the matter would deny the acuteness
Of these observations and criticisms
Some of them apply to all ncwspa-
pers; all of them apply to some news
papers. We shall seek to refutc none
of them though some counter
thoughts might be suggested here and
there perhaps with no serious diff
Guilty
But one is apt to think that any
statement that the power of the press
| has ,waned' necessarily carries a re-
| proach to the press. 1t is very doubt |
full If this is true. The power" re-
! ferred to is direct. constructive IN
| nuencc on public opinion, and proba
| bly no measure of merit on the part
| of the newspaper press could have
| prevented a weakening here. Human
| day from what 1t was hundred and
fifty years ago. and the newspapers
/ existing then had far better and
| cleaner chance at public opinion than
! those of to-day Then they shared the
| opportunity 10 mold practically with
! the pulpit alone, and they discussed
| many matters which the pulpit seldom
touched To-day they must compete
| with a dozen agencies-tho weekly and
/ monthly magazines. the lecture lyce-
| ums, the theatre, specialized instruc-
tom in various directions, the propa-
/ ganda of multiform organizations.
campaign literature, cheap books and
the like. Beyond all this. better edu-
cation and a more general circulation
of newspapers have resulted in breed
OF people much more apt to form their
own opinions than to take them sub
missively from others The editorial,
we surnise, is read less for the pur-
pose of absorbing views ready made
than for the Interest OF comparing
somebody else's views with ones own
Very frequently, the editorial isn't
read at all. no matter how good 1T
4 might be. The old time paper was
read from cover to cover, and the old
! time editor gained a large following
and conspicuous reputation on abili-
ties and information less than those
! welded by many an anonymous writer
1 OF these modern times.
If the power of the press has fal-
len from It's highest estate. 1T has
done so as a result Of natural social
processes, rather than through the
dement's of the press. If news-Get-
ting has been developed at the eX-
pense of news-interpretinG. as Mr..
Leupp says, it is because other agen-
cics are devotng themselves to news
interpreting, while news-gettinG is
the responsibility of this agency alone.
Whatever their great Srandsires may
have done, The people OF this genera
ton look to the daily press primarily
FOR the news, and arc very secondarily
interested in the press Interpretation
Of the news. In short, the function of
the press has shifted as society has
become more highly organized along
a hundred special lines, 1t still wiclds
an enormous power, none the less, II
for no other reason than because it is,
and always will be- tho great agent of
publicity. AS to its loss of ground in
other directions, we may we'll note
I "thc scant time now spared by men of
| the world for reading journals of gen
| eral intelligence" to which Mr.. Leupp
refers. Let some investigation find out
/ whether this is cause or effect wheth-
or men give little time TO reading the
| daily press because II has lost its
power over public opinion. or whether
the press has lost it's power because
! men give little time to reading It,
a ===--==-----:----====-=====----
ruE AGRICULTURAL HIGH sCHoOLs
Elementary education is the thing
that really makes the states system
/ Ii is well enough to add a cornice OF
| IN :