The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-06-01

NEWSPAPERS AND CRIME.

Forty-six daily newspapers publish
ca in the State OF Illinois, outside OF
Chicago, have joined in a petition to
Gov. Deneen askingg him to veto the
Church bill when PROHIBITS the pub
lication OF the details of crime or at
tempted crime.
The Chicago Record-Herald, an emf
nently respectable journal which can
not be classed as sensational, and
which certinly does not iniure the
morals of the community in which, 1t
chiefly circulates, has this to say.
"If the Church bin should become
law, no newspaper could legally
publish anything but the barest pnei
est facts about the assassination OF a
President or crowned head, about an
explosion like that in the Los Angeles
Times office. or about murder or
robbery anywhere or course. the
act would become dead letter and
serve to bring law into contempt. Oc-
casionally a malicious Indictment
would perhaps be returned under it.
burt ii woull serve no honest purpose.
There are some newspapers that
publish details OF crime in way that
is offensive to healthy-minded readers
but the remedy for such things does
not lie in vague, ill-considered, unen-
forceable laws. 1t lies in the public's
choice Of newspapers. The suppress
sion of all details concerning crime
would be intolerable for the public and
advantageous to crime. The new Z.
papers could get along under the pro.
posed Church law better than their
readers could"
The Courier-Journal has expressed
more Than once the opinion that lou..
nelism stands in need of code of eth
les as a moulder Of it's character AMI
purifier of its news columns. Much
might be done to elevate its tone Il
ahe serious attention of publishers
We're devoted to the problem. A con:
bination for Improvement might in
time result in characterless journals
being unable to secure adequate news
services an much might be done in
other ways to discourage uncleanness.
But when lawmakers set out to pro.
vide for the uplift by enacting laws to
prevent the publication of the details
Of crime they start in exactly the
wrong way. Nothing is more conduc.
I'VE 70 crime than the suppression of
news. That evil results from the OK.
ploItation Of the details OF crime is
true enough Morbid readers are oc.
cosionally fed upon reports that might
well be eliminated and that could be
\ eliminated without sacrifice of news
values and that are eliminated by
journals of the higher class. But a
great deal of good is accomplished by
the publication of the details of many
crimes.
A case in point that all Kentuekians
viii remember was the breaking up of
the power of the Hargis murder syn
dictate in Breathitt county as a result
OF the turning If the journalistic
searchlight upon conditions there.
Many cases Of this kind might be
cited. The Church law would prevent
the publications % the details d
crime against Property a. well as life
tity ofhctals niiglt loot the city with
cur the details e. crimes being made
v ic. A n,hk president might sor
his depositors ria escape the emDar
r,s*ment Of s7e'rs inc story of his
ookc1ncss p /; nj. life insmares
EIafters, land swandlers, tnaeves 81
every kind would be afforded ma
n EetEal pnctectipp illinois, Senators
found anllty Of bribery would NOT DC
\ the subject of comment in the crl
nmns " the press. III judges shopld
6siI lecisIpas they Would have no feai