The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-02-01

society editor the the Times
read paper about VIVA,
Women Should Know About News
papers. The paper is one of tbs
most excellent that has been writer
of late date and to the women OF
keokuls it will doubtless prove i'm
/. menseiy interesting, instructive and oil
! nature that deals with those
things of which woman knows
best who occasionally comes before
the public through the medium of the
1 press. Miss Adler's paper in part
| follows:
At some time or other In every
! woman's life there comes an hour
I when she wishes with all her soul
that she knew how to get newspaper
| to print or not to print certain bit
Of information for her 1t may be
| only the line or two that tells of a
novel idea In the table decoration for
her dinner; 1t may be the way the
lace is draped on her wedding gown !.
1t may be help for her favorite phil
anthropfc scheme. or it may mean
whisper it gently the yelling of the
family skeleton that has slipped from
behind the screen and is in danger of
public discussion.
How should items be given to a
newspaper Why do newspapers give
long columns of space to murders.
suicides and terrible happenings and
then object when we want them to
print the program for our Sunday
school entertainment more than once !?
These are some of the questions am
asked over and over again and which
hope to be able TO answer for you.
To begin with here are a few
points about a newspaper that may
not have occurred to you before.
A newspaper Office is manufactur-
ing establishment under the laws of
the state OF Iowa, BY this l do not
mean to be facetious. 1t is a manu-
featuring establishment because it
takes white paper, smears it's surface
more or less artlstjcally. with black
ink and sells its finished product in
the market. The business of a news
paper Is to sell news. In this it sup
plies demand just as legitimate as
the demand for sugar, coffee or any
other staple article. Through a special
corps of workers it gets facts, and
these facts, probably more or less
dry in themselves. present to the
trained mind Of the reporter possibil-
tiles for news stories. They pass
through a further refining process of
editorial consideration, are put into
type, proof read and printed before
they are IN the presentable form to be
delivered to the patrons of the paper,
just as a manufacturer must send
forth and get raw materials from
which his article is produced in the
most attractive saleable form.
The first thing you should demand
of your newspaper is honesty. SINGER
ity and freedom from influences that
would tend to warp its judgment.
Newspaper publishing and editing is
business from one point OF view and
a profession from another At the
same time 1t is business and
profession that financially must stand
absolutely alone. This means that in
politics no financial nor economic in
fiuence must be brought to bear on
the paper. Say in matters of public
welfare OF the city no influence can
change the just attitude of a paper If
1T is free from financial entangle-
ments. a publisher as you can see,
q hal y;
cere and yet If mixed up with corpor-
atoms, the knowledge of the needs
and plans of such corporations might
influence his judgment to the detri-
ment Of the public good.
A newspaper is read for two things.
First, because people have faith In 1t,
and secondly, because 1t interests
them. No newspaper can be a sue
cess unless 1t has the confidence OF
the people, and to get and hold this
it must keep faith. The only rule !
ever received for guidance in the
work was Never violate conhd-
ence.' and it Is rule that every good
newspaper man or woman observes
religiously II e or she hopes to sue
coed. Honesty and sincerity OF pur-
pose in paper embody truthfulness,
accuracy and unprecedented handling
of the facts It seeks to distribute.
The second essential, that OF inter
est. involves the publication of news
In manner attractive 10 the greatest
number. The newspaper is the only
amusement great many people get,
and that is why the element of in
terest Is so paramount
The need of accuracy In a news
paper Is evident when you consider
that II is practically the only source
of information the public at large mas
for knowledge of world events OF to-
day For instance, what do you know
Of President TAFT or ex-President
Roosevelt or Of Coos or Peary or OF
EPinchot or Cannon or Lorimer but
what You have obtained through the
press? You SEQ these men as some
reporter saw them. Remember the
words Of Edmund Burke in parlia-
ment: There are three estates in