The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-06-07
JUNE :, 1913.
REFORMING THE NEWSPAPERS.

UT OCSupdtISu III MIiSii iN -
Consequently every newspaper man
who is actuated by proper sentiments
will approve Of the purpose which &C
tuates Senator Works. of California.
in his effort to elevate the standards of
the newspaper business. Mr.. Works
has been impressed by the publication
Of certain classes of news in the daily
newspapers, and he has introduced
o bill making it. unlawful to publish
details Of crimes or accidents in the
District Of Columbia, which. Of course.
10 directly under the jurisdiction OF
congress.
Mr.. Works finds that matter which
ought not to be published is published
in newspapers, not all newspapers.
and not all the time. but in some
newspapers. and at various and sun
dry times. and he believes. correctly.
that the publication Of such matter
q q bad thing for the public, and he
proposes to put a stop to it by having
enacted the bill which he has intro
duced. He says quite frankly in the
address which he is sending all over
the country that he does not expect
the bill to pass, but he introduces it
for the purpose of calling attention
of a great evil. and NJ awakening the
public conscience and arousing public
continent on the subject.
One may sympathize with the SEN
ltor in his desire for amendment
without agreeing with him as to the
means through which amendment is
to be brought about. He would have
. hard and fast. law enacted prohibit
ing in all the publication of de-
tails which, in some cases. he finds
undesirable and offensive. He would
restrict the newspapers to the mere
mention Of crimes and accidents, talk
ing away from all newspapers all dis
erection Is to which cases require treat
ment different from the others.
Take a sample case right here at
home. Sometime about a year ago
the dead body Of a man was found on
the railroad right of way about a
dozen miles west of Grand Forks.
Nothing IA found by which the man
could be identified. The correspond
ent at Larimore sent an ccoun of
the cas- to this ONCE. giving all the
details that could be asrertained. TO-
gether with a full description of the
man and his clothing. Within six or
seven hours after the publication of
the paper continuing this account
members of the mans family living
on a farm in a distant part OF the
county. having read the description.
had recognized and claimed the body
and arranged for proper burial. The
man had not been missing, So far
u they knew, Ind there was no rea-
Son to suppose hat he was anywhere
near where the body was found. Had
Senator Works view governed in this
case the account would have been
limited to the statement that the bodv
Of an unknown man had been found
near the track at a given point. The
relatives would not have SUSPECTED
that the item concerned them, the
body would have been buried in the
potters' field. and the mans friend.
might easily have learned what
became Of him.
lnStances like this could be multi
piled indefinitely. The senator pub.
fishes a list Of hfty-four headlines
4eonn a representative metropolitan
paper to show the class of matter tn
which h objects. Among the sub
3ects treated are the rescue of q wo-
q q from drowning by two children,
the hnding on a piece Of wreckaRe of
q raessage to friends from castsways
who had persisted at sea, the SINKING
of q tug boa by a liner, a three hour
battle between strikers and soldiers
the drowning Of a man by falling from
q yacht, the effort to rescue men i'm
pftsoned In a mine. and So forth. The
list also contains mention of a. mum.
bsr Of crimes and a. few scandals. A,
TO whether these latter should have
been given with any detail we have
no means Of knowing. because eact
case 10 surrounded by it's W set q,
circumstances, and 1t is on these cir.
curnstances that the wisdom or unwjs.
dom Of publication depends. Blu,
when Mr.. Works objects to the pub.
licatfon Of accounts such as those list.
ed above he shows that he il not .
competent critic, and knows nothins
Of the function or the neld Of a news.
paper.
A newspaper is not a tract, nor an
essay, o a dissertation on philosophv
or economics. All Of these things ar.
excellent in their place, and the news
paper may and does devote more q,
lsD Of It's space to matter us,,a,,y
trsatsd Of under those heads. But IN
nswsDapsr exists primarily for the
purpose Of supplying its readers with
accounts Of current Happenings which
ass o. legitimate interest. The obscene
the hdecent, the improperly susses
tive ere barred from the columns Of
9sputabis papers. When q paper OF.
feAds by crossing the line which MAJ
prspsrsy b laid down by the law /,
sAeuid - punished BY legal prose.
cnkiAn. Hut there are some trinn
lNtticA 6Annot be made matters. Of legal