The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1911-11-10
ASATURDAY
@f&1&S NIGHT
! I SERMONS
BY
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POWER OF THE PRESS.

| The thirst Tor news Is one or the
strongest appetites humanity has. It's
the secret of gossip. Men are more
interesting than things, so we talk OF
men or women. The story of John
Smith saving his scalp by telling his
captors news may be fiction, but the
psychological principle involved is true
TO human nature. From the woman
In the sunbonnet with clothespin In
her mouth, talk!ng over the back fence,
to the correspondent with an arctic
expedition their story has always
fascination TO the human mind. Long
ago It was said that the world was
governed by three boxes-the cartridge
[ box, the ballot box and the bandbox-
force, votes and women. Add another,
the mail box, loaded with countless
products of the printing press. y
A Great Appetite.
The American newspaper appetite Is
marvellous. 1t amounts to passion
all ages from cradle to grave; all
conditions from the newly landed emil
grant looking at the funny" pictures
and spelling out headlines to the sChOl
ar and the busiest man of affairs,
from day laborer to president; from
scrubwoman to woman of fashion. As
for the making of newspapers, it's
raging fever, fearful delirium,
| ouasi-insanity. Time was when pilot
boarding incoming ship was besleged
for news of world. Now the wireless
in midocean gathers news from the
four quarters of the globe, and tiny
newspaper lies at your plate at break
fast table A great editor is defined
as q man who knows where the devil
will break out next and has a reporter
on the spot to tell of It. 1t must be
told In few words. Young reporter
telegraphed home office: Column story
here Shall send?" The reply was,
Send 600 words" The cub" wired
again, Cant be told less than 1900"
The answer came: STORY of creation
OF world told in GOO. Try It,"
Yellow and Other journalism.
The essence of yellowness in a jour.
nal Is ulgarity-diamonds at the
breakfast table; the exaggeration
which conventionality says ought to
megaphone to draw the crowd-its
crowd. When its conservative neigh
Dor has a Howard Griggs, with deli
cate illusions and carefully discrim-
mated shades Of meaning 1t has n eau
Gus speaker who paints cartoons with
a whitewash brush SO that the whole
| crowd can see. 1t claims these meth
DDS are best and shows its circulation
| figures to prove it. It's after news
and doesn't want to get "scooped"
News" tells the unusual. No city edi-
tor who values his Job would give n
full column to ordinary sermon, but he
gladly spaces" a sermon by Rev. Mr.
Dashwell on "Why Joined n Dancing
Glass" See? No news in regular ebb
and flow OF tide, but when the gulf
sweeps Galveston. Let me ask you an
embarrassing question: How do you
feel when your newspaper has no scare
heads? Your wife says, Anything
new in this mornings paperW You
growl, mo" Your tone implies you've
been cheated, robbed of your penny.
Listen, brother: The newspaper, the
daily mOrgue of virtue tells the story
OF the unusual. No earthly record
could ever hold the story OF the
worlds commonplace virtue, only the
books Of the omniscient God.
Power of tho Press.
Carlyle said, III you want to reach
thousands with thought put 1t into
the heart of preacher" That will
never cease to be true, of course, but
where the pulpit reaches one person
the press reaches 500. The pulpit
breaches once week, the press seven
times. The vast majority Of people
are not in church every seven days,
but practically every one reads a pa
per once n week. When an American
has spare moment he picks up a
newspaper. The power OF the press is
tremendous. A statement by a corner
lounger has no value. Put It in a
newspaper and 1t has a power almost
hypnotic. Business men recognize the
value of this subtle quality by adver-
Using. 1t gives their stores prestige.
There's nothing corrupt politics and
evil so fear and hate as the newspa-
per. 1t elects presidents. dethrones
|
and navies, decides public policies,
makes or unmakes public men. We
have practically arrived at govern
ment by newspaper, but since that IS
only another name for government by
@he people we need not be alarmed.
IL one had to choose between a gov
eminent without newspapers or news
papers without government he'd be
safer with the latter
The newspaper, being human insti-
tuition, has its faults, but firmly be-
lieve 1t has ten thousand times more
virtues than vices. Books are read
only by the book lover; the church
IL closed most of the week; our par
ents die The newspaper is always
present, tireless, powerful, nonsecta-
rian, nearly always impartial, mex
pensive. How would Christ read the
modern newspaper? AS he read hui
manity while among them He'd feel
as at the wedding feast or at Lazarus