Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-01-05
WHAT is NEWS?

Newspapers are older than the
church of Christ. The ancient Egyptian
wandered along the water channels
of the majestic Nile, on a summers
evening, while the ruby sunset glow
illumined the western sky, and
plucked reeds. From this raw mate
rial papyrus was manufactured and
thereon he inscribed hieroglyphics.
The son of Ham wrote OF history,
astronomy, medicine, biography, nor
overlooked the short story, which is
becoming SO popular in the daily press
Of the modern age. Coming down
through the centuries you pause at
Rome, while julius Caesar is consul
so B. C.-and discover the first news.
paper of the Christian era, the Dur
ma Urbis Acta." This was published
in but one copy, which was posted in
a frequented part of the city, so that
all who ran thither might read. This
paper flourished until the fall of the
Roman empire, A. D. 476.
However simple the beginnings Of
journalism may have been, of it's COM
pass at the present time one can only
say that it is wonderful. The city
daily of today is an intellectual and
industrial wonder. Battles are fought,
nations are rent asunder by revolu
ton and internal strife, dynasties are
changed, men and women prominent
in national life are each day making
history, tragedies and comedies occur
each moment of the "a hours, and
within very brief space of time after
the event you are reading about it in
your daily paper. This fact itself is
a miracle. But the greatest of all
miracles is the fact that the real mir
acles of life, by happening at regular
and frequent intervals. become CON-
monplaces. So it is with each of the ap-
proximately 1900 daily papers pub
lished in the United States. Each in
itself is marvellous. but it happens
every day. and, is, therefore, common.
place.
The city daily is news paper Its
prime function is to print the news.
In this land of freedom there are no
restrictions and free press is the
glory of the editor and publisher. He
can and does print the news. But he
must be sure that an article is news
before it appears in his columns.
There is no space for idle gossip or
for the venting OF personal animosity
and spleen. The Tribune receives
each day any number of communica-
tons from any number and all
classes of people asking that the same
be published in it's next edition. Few
of them are printed. For tle most
part they are animated by the per-
sonal feeling of the writer and by self
ish interests. They have absolutely
no news value. Their author egotis-
tically hopes that ne can take refuge
behind the publisher and plant shaft
of malicious venom between his en-.
emys short ribs. But that is not the
policy of the daily press.
If you have a grievance against
your neigh5or. and write an article
vilifying him, in the expectation of
having the slanderous spew of dis
ordered mind reproduced in the daily
paper, you will be disappointed. You
may take it to weekly paper and
it may be printed A daily appears
six times where the weekly appears
once. The weekly editor is not so ex
perienced in the study of human ma
ture. He fails to comprehend the mo-
lASCS tAdI dCludlc SOA-
munications Sometimes he pub
fishes them, and later, with anguish
and remorse says never again"
The Tribune stands for the best in
terests of Bismarck. Were it to pub
fish all Of the communications re-
ceiyed nv il the remainder If the
world would gain an idea that the |
French commune was pretty tame |
after all. But the Trib- |
une does not purpose to air private |
brawls nor print malicious aspersions ;
in its columns. They hurt the city.
Words are cheap. Some papers
might print all the gossip that is