Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-10-01
Editorial Responsibility.

IT a man is tried IN England the
editorial attitude is entirely different
from that evidenced in America.
First of all, the editorial attitude in
England is governed by law. The
strictest kind of rules prevail by
which every editor is guided in all
stories that he prints about any per-
son. The libel laws are so stringent
that it is as much as a newspaper is
worth to print anything of libelous
character. Therefore, newspaper
man must almost be a lawyer in the
writing of reports when he mentions
name. Having been in the
editorial field both in America and
England I think these laws are justi-
fed. We are all but human at the
best, be we judges, juries or conyicts,
and are bound to be influenced and
prejudiced to the detriment of one
who might suffer on account of that
influence and prejudice. To so word
paragraph as to cast reflection on
a supposed guilty party is sure to
reach the minds of many people and
form an opinion that might not
otherwise have been formed.
/ think the responsibility of an
editor almost equal to that of judge
He should be fair and just inherently,
irrespective of fear of consequences,
and not because he is going to be
shot, or punched, or sent to Jail, or
made to pay damages if he errs. In
some countries it is customary for a
newspaper editor to act, not only as
a judge, but as jury and hangman as
we'll These offices he sometimes fills
without hearing the evidence of de-
Tense. This / disprove of,
An editor usually directs his forces
from his office. | know many editors
who have scarcely ever been in a
courtroom to study the attitude of a
prisoner, enabling them, perhaps, to
Judge from the very testimony of the
prisoners demeanor as to his guilt or
innocence. He takes the hearsay
opinion of the world generally. or
the word of reporters and acts ac-
cordingly.
The everyday sheet is a public in
stitution setting forth the woes. vicis-
STUDIES and joys of those who for any
reason come into print. IT should
present the facts fearlessly and
truthfully. as nearly as possible. But
when il distorts the language so as
to cast reflection on the party whose
interests hang in the balance, it has
lost its mission as a public recorder.
From the very earliest conception
of the English newspaper it has
practically been regarded in this ca
pacity of public reporter of facts, the
criterion of truth. Fair play seems
to be the keynote. The Englishman
has not yet entirely lost this attitude
toward his newspaper. Libel laws,
| together with the unwritten law of
publishing only those things which
are fit to print, are needed to direct
the editorial conscience when moral
instincts fail to guide.
TO change the conditions in Eng
land would take the Herculean task
of revoutionizing the English char
acter and temperament. AS an evil
dence of this, several American edi-
tors have come over here and tried
the nsational. bombastic methods,
but John Bull ballxs and the Ameri-
can takes himself off loser but a
much wiser man. Sometimes
an American advertising idea will
bring as good results here as it does
| in Uncle Sans domain. The strictly
sensational does not carry appeal
to the Englishman, He will have
none of it, He regards it as purely
sensational. His early training and
temperament makes him crave for
more conservative measures. He is
fully cogniZant of the American at
titude toward the sensational, and
his feeling may be summed up in
the words of the Englishman who
said Truth is stranger than the
American press"
] Therefore, the editorial attitude
must of necessity conform with a
| character that is, seemingly, as
Interchangeable as the laws of the
Modes and Persians. He must intro
| duce American methods Of Journal
| ism cautiously. While i'm America
the opinions of the press may change
a multitude of people in one night to
! its way of thinking, of the English
public this cannot be said. The ten
dency of the English Temperament
may be summed up in verify, every
thing new is looked upon with sus,
picion,' and its worth must be sub,
Stimulated and assured before it is
given credit and accepted, The editor
| in England must ever have before
him these conditions If he would sue.
coed.