The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1911-04-14
Amen Brother.

The Middlesbor News-Record roundly
berates the newspaper correspondents
of that city because of what it terms
1.-The grossly exaggerated account in
the daily newspapers of the recent
cloud burst in that vicinity"
The Record has been importuned by.
a number of people who have friends
in Middlesboro, for copy of the Mid
dIesboro papers that they might read an
account of the great calamity which
had befallen that city as chronicled by
the daily press. One message to the
daily press read as follows:- Mindless
boro April Damage estimated at over
81, 900, 600 was caused here last night
by a cloud burst. Half of Middlesboro
was under water. Coal mines were
flooded"
This is but a sample of the alarming
messages sent out. The facts as given
by Middlesboro papers show the loss to
have been but trifling as compared
with what these reports would indicate,
a few houses in the low lying district
were a few inches under water, and
there was some damage to wares from
the rising waters, and few families
did have to remain up all night through
fear, and the railroads and mines SuS-
tanned some damage from the cloud
burst, but nothing like what the re-
ports would indicate. There is ten
dency upon the part of ''space writing"
correspondents to distort every item
they send to their papers, to build
mountains out of mole hills. Middles-
boro is not the only locality which has
suffered from this evil. Down here in
the blue grass every happening Il
some localities is grossly exaggerated
before it reaches the daily press, every
street brawl becomes an alarming oc
currence, one or two citizens discuss
ing some infraction of the law are dis
torted into a mob, and the least little
occurrence, which ordinarily would
never reach the daily press, is distor-
ted and exaggerated in order that it
may become an attractive news item,
else they well know it would not be
published.
This kind of newspaper notriety is
detrimental to the community from
which it is sent and is discouraged by
all correspondents who place the prop
er value upon news items, who as the
News-Reco puts it ''know news
item when they meet it in the big
road. Neither is it encouraged by
the daily press.
The daily papers instruct their cor.
respondents to confine themselves
strictly to the truth, but they of course
have no means of knowing that some
of their stuff is fake when it is sent
them. The correspondents themselves
are solely to blame in the matter,
many of them care little for the wei,
fare of the community in general, OF
at least it would so appear from the
character of stuff they send in. They
lose sight of everything except how
many inches it is going to make and
how many dollars they are going to get
out of their inventions.
A newspaper correspondent, one of
the proper kind, sends to his papers
only genuine news, and in as few
words as possible, they are paid to
send in the news, not to write editori-
ais, if there is editorial comment to be
made, their papers have man who
will attend to that. The correspond
ent should make sure of the authenti-
city of every article before sending it,
be sure it is a news item, and above
all things do not unnecessarily injure
the character of any community or in
diyidual, rather than do this sacrifice
an occasional article of minor impor-
lance. something that would be as well
unsent, and in whose happening the
world at large is but slightly interest
ed, and whose sending would work an
unnecessary hardship upon some I'M
fortunate person. Better news items
than you ever found are suppressed
every day by great newspapers, for