The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-01-29
PROFESSOR AND REPORTER.

When a man is of such public I'M
portance or is so much in the public
eye that keen interest is felt in what
he may think and say, it is not a good
thing for him to fight off the inquiries
and TO deny himself to the reporters.
This. Professor Hugo Munsterberg has
found out And yet, he does not take
the situation kindly; but. on the con-
trary, comes out in n complaining ar
ticle in the current Mcclure IS Maga-
zine He confesscs frankly that he has
denied himself to reporters. has refused
to talk with them, and has been as
oflish and as relentless as possible.
In the article referred to, he gives
Il number of instances where reporters
have sought expressions from him, and
have been denied. And vet, this did
not prevent them from printing what
purported to be interviews. Some OF
these he admits were ingenious guesses
ut his probable opinion. Some took
the form of extracts from his published
works. applying the same to the subject
then prominent This latter form rath
er amuses him. and vet, he censures
the reporters for their dishonesty. ]"
| He sets forth very fairly the posi-
ton Of the man who does not want to
be interviewed, and yet. whose opinion
| is considered in the newspaper Offices to
be of high Importance and of urgent
need But there is another view than
the Professor TO take Of it; that from
the reporters standpoint. The repor-
ter. let us imagine. is sent by his pa
per to interview Professor Munsterberg,
the injunction being strict and severe
that he "must get it." Perhaps moro
than ore is sent, even from the same
Office to make sure Of the great man s
opinion as to the matter in hand. The
city editor will take no denial, but
"must have the goods The reporter
is. therefore. strictly Cup against ii"
and does not know what to do. Per
haps, he reports the fact to his chief
that Munsterberg is absolutely inacces
sible, and gets an order to write an in
terview. anyway. the best he can. Per
haps he does not report that the inter
view is impossible. but turns in the
best substitute for an interview that
he can get, using what he knows of the
| Professor IS opinions on subjects related
to the matter in hand, feeling that he
cannot 20 very far wrong in stating
the Professor s opinion as he does, In
this, of course. the reporter would have
no purpose Of misrepresentlng the Pro
fessor; he would simply bo doing the
best he could in difficult situation.
And in reporting the Professor, quoting
his own words. there would not appear
to be any intent to misrepresent to or
mislead the reader
The Professor is entirely too reserved.
too oflish. with the newspaper men. 1t
would not do for him to say that he
would be misrepresented in any way,
because there is not the least likeli-
hood of any reporter desiring to do any
thing of that kind. Reporters, as a
rule, are honest. straightforward men,
who report things as they find them,
and quote those they talk with as near
as they possibly can, with certainty
and exactness. In fact. reporters have
to do their work that way, or they
would be outcasts in their own profess
sion. A reporter who habitually mis-
represents or falsifes is not reporter
in which paper can put the least con
fdence, nor will any honest paper know
lngly employ such reporter, because
TO do so would keep it in hot water all
the time; 1t would have to be explain
ing. excusing. and denying in a way