Evening journal., 1914-04-22

unbiased. It was his constant en-
deavor, it was the constant endeayor
Of his associates, to keep it so. He
believed that they had succeeded.
When he had finished, a small,
bright-eyed young man, looking, as
some one has said, like the leading
juvenile in a stock company" rose TO
reply. This was Roy W. Howard,
president of the United Press. "I'm
sorry" he said in effect, but we
haven't succeeded in keeping our
bureau colOrless and unbiased.
We're only human beings, and most
OF us have pretty strong individuali-
ties. We couldn't keep our individ-
ualities out of the news. no matter
how hard we tried We don't try
We tell about the news as we see it.
We make every allowance we can for
the other side, and we don't lie or
suppress. but there still remains the
point of view. Our method is the
only way to be honest with the pub
lie and with ourselves" So the old
and the new in journalism met on the
same platform, aud held debate-the
old generation, clinging to the fall
lacy that news can be written from a
god-like height of abstract truth.
biassed and knowing it not the
younger generation, perceiving that
humanity sees truth only from a
point of view, honestly biassed and
knowing it we'll The Associated
Press, which the elder man repre-
sented, is at present our most power
ful force of journalistic reaction in
hA rultf nn Tn fnH
Press. which the younger man repre-
sented, is our most powerful liberal
and radical force. Without it, | for
one am convinced that we should
never have seen the non-partisan po-
litical upheaval Of 1912. And yet the
United Press, in its present form, is
only seven years old.
The SWipps newspapers gave birth
to the United Press. The quiet power
of these Scripps newspapers is little
understood by the United States. E.
w. Scripps. genius of the organiza-
ton, believes IN publicity for others,
ATTACHMENT for himself To mention
him at all is, to any one who knows
him, almost a breach of journalistic
confidence. His string of twenty-five
or thirty metropolitan and small city
newspapers have one definite policy
the interests of the worbing-class.
They are humble-loolking sheets, pub
lished generally in dingy Easements
and by young men. On the young
man Scrlpps lays particular stress
Youth, In its period of struggle, is
radical and near to the people; ma
turity and age are conservative and
apart from the people The Scripps
newspapers give youth and the peo-
pie their fling.
Scripps believes that the balance
OF journalism cannot be maintained
unless young men be encouraged to
start newspapers of their own. 9th
erwise, age and established position
will swing the whole body Of journal
ism toward the Tory side. That, as l
have explained in a previous article,
Is the real trouble with the Associa-
ted Press. By its power of protest, T"
as we'll as by the excessive weight in
its councils of our oldest and most
conservative newspapers, It operates
to shut out the young man from di-
recting journalism. Scripps under
stood this from the very beginning,
He refused when that bureau was
formed, and he refused afterward, to
enter the Associated Press.
His newspapers were all I'm the
West and Middle West: only recently
has he entered the Atlantic states.
He got along for several years on
three "shoe-string" bureaus which
performed their service imperfectly-
the Scripps News on the Pacific
Coast, the Scripps-McRae League IN
the Middle West, and the Publishers
Press I'm the Atlantic states The
two bureaus first named were under
Scripps' control. The Publishers
Press served, besides the Scripps'
string. only a few struggling news
papers which could not get an Asso-
ciated Press franchise These bureaus
answered their purpose rather badly,
except in one way. Their managers,
and to a certain extent their CORES
pondents, were graduate telegraph
operators. They were lightning on
the wire.' Often, by understanding
how 70 get news through, they beat
the old bureau on big stories. New
ertheless, the larger understanding
of news was not in them. Further,
these three bureaus operated short
handed. They must needs resort 10
makeshifts. None looked upon them
as real rivals to the powerful, domi-
nant "a. p"
In 1907 the Scripps' newspapers
had reached the point where they
could no longer get along with "A sec
ond-rate telegraph report. Then
too, in spite OF the "A. p. cinch," a
few young men outside os the Scripps
organization had started newspapers
and were carrying them along on the
strength of their local news. The
Scripps organization bought the Pub
/ fishers Press and amalgamated II
with their own existing bureaus into
the United Press. The late John Van
1 dercook took charge Fame is not
among the rewards of daily journal
ism; few newspapers even know
what a powerful fighter for the pub.
Tic veal was this man Yandercook
/ He managed the United Press only q
! year before he died; but by that time
he had gathered in, with the Scripps
! papers as a nucleus, nearly 300 news
papers which had hitherto been get
ting on without an adequate tele
graph service. Further. he gave tn,
new bureau its distinctive character
To begin with, he made it non-ex
elusive. The subscriber to the Asso
ciated Press had. virtually, the righ
to bar newcomers from its territory
Il Any newspaper capable of paying fol
the service might have the Unite,
Press report Vandercook and tn,
associates whom he gathered abou