The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-09
Associated Press Report Is Not
Biased, Stone Says.
General Manager Tells of Work
of Big Concern.
ITS BIGNESS IS GUARANTEE
No Special Interest or Faction
Is Served by Organization.
Present Meeting of Editors Is
Largest in History.

Lawrence. Kan. April 9.-Mel-
vile f. Stone, general manager of the
Associated Press, in an address before
the Kansas Editorial association at its
meeting at the State university this
morning, spoke at length upon the
ideal newspaper.
He began with the text
For unto whomsoever much Is
given, of him shall be much required;
and to whom men have committed
much, of him they will ask the more
st. Luke, 18th Chapter. 4sth Verse.
This. good friends, is my text and
by your leave 1 propose to preach a
little sermon on what our friend Colo
mel Roosevelt has aptly called the old
moralities' Your distinguished Mr..
Charles NJ. Sheldon has given some
justification for me. / could only
wish that I might acquit myself as well
in his profession as he did in ours.
but this obviously may not be-"
At the end he gave this succinct
statement concerning the great news
getting and news distributing organiza-
ton of which he is the head:
Now, passing to the Associated
Press. in which 1 think you are all in
terested. In 1898, without any solicita-
ton or even thought on my part OF
such a thing, the Western associated
Press met in Chicago and appointed a
committee to ask me to take the gen.
eral managership. An issue had been
Joined upon what I conceived to be a
great principle. The leading news
gathering organization at the time was
the United Press, a proprietary institu-
ton controlled by three men, Mr. VIII
liam M. Aaffan, Mr.. John r. Walsh and
Mr.. Walter p. Phillips. Without any
reflection whatever on the fitness Of
these three men, felt that such a con-
d1tion was menace in this country.
and we at once reorganized the West
ern Associated Press, made il a ma
tional organization, and set out to es-
tablish a cooperative news-gatherinz
association which should be owned.
controlled and censored by the news
papers themselves. 1t should be an as
sociation of the papers. for the papers
and by the papers.
'I should be very glad If The Associ-
ated Press, its purposes and its practices
were better understood. I mean better
understood by both reader and editor.
The institution bears very important
relation to American life, and is I am
sure, well worth your study It's tele-
grams are printed primarily in over 500
daily newspapers, and are copied or re-
written In unnumbered thousands OF
otter daily, weekly or monthly pubIica
tlons- II is doubtless safe to say they
are read by over thre 1-fourths Of the
people of tha land, and that from the
1ntelligepce they convey, practically
every one gathers his Information re-
specting current events.
1 am sure you will all agree thar ff
IS important, to use no stronger word.
that your market reports, for example.
pc trustworthy. Well, what assurances
nave you, not only that the reports OF
me Associated Press are honest but
that out of the necessities of the case
they must be more certai- of accuracy
than any other market reports?
one good reason grows out of the mag
nltude OF the associations work i txnovy
there are persons who think If vvo,,id -
better to have half dozen small agencie4
acting in sharp competition, but 1 Venture
TO suggest that this is a mistake Sut.h
rivalry would doubtless tend to the grear-
est CELEBRITY in gathering the news. BUT
such rivalry would not, from any point OF
view, tend to greater accuracy. And ~ IL
far less important that you get prornot
news than that you get true news How
ever desirable it may be to be first in the
field in the presentation of news. ana
90 not undervalue this feature of our
work, still regard it's reputation for
truthfuiness and strict impartiality as ths
best asset of the Associated Press
And I insist that no smaller agency
can possibly give as great guarantee for
accuracy or impartiality. First, there are
the TRADITIONS of half a century which
must be lived up to- This spirit which
every one in the service. is a
good deal but naturally it is not an
More important Is the fact that every
1ected to such degree OF censorship as
to make untrutnful or biased report prat-
tically impossible
Every one familiar with our work knows
that it Is utterly impossible for any one
In the service. from the general manager
to the least important agent at the most
remote point. to send out an untruthfui
dispatch and escape detection. You may
write a biased or inaccurate statement
for newspaper and get away with it,
but you cannot do It with the a-gus-eyed
millions who read the dispatches OF The
Associated Press. Obviously then. this
very magnitude of the Associated Press
work tends to make truthfullness and i'm
in the service imperative. II
cannot be used for private aims. to serve
ftical party or faction or propaganda.
am not laying claim to any great virtue.
am saying that. under its system of
operation and in view OF the millions Of
critics passing upon It's work. the Asso-
-iated Press is automatically truthful AMI
fair. If you hear man whining that
the Associated Press Is run in the inter-
est of this party or that you may put it
down that what he wants Is not fair
play but leaning his way.
LAS one evidence OF the truthfulness of
our reports ] direct vour attention to the
we have never paid a dollar oe
in an action for libel. nor have
we compromised any case.
..rrh,ls do we aim to keen in mind our
,hIigatfon Unto whomsoever much -
7iven If him sher he much required. %
The Kansas editors are here in force
Several hundred editors and their
wives were In attendance and w Y
Morgan. president Of the association.
declared this morning that It was the
argest in point of attendance in the
lisforv of the organization.