Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-05-12
F.B. MOVES DEFENDS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Declares That a Monopoly of
News, as Charged, Can
not Exist.
SAYS IRWIN ERRED IN
ATTACKING ASSOCIATION
Paper Read Before National
Newspaper Conference.-The.
w. GLADDEN. a Speaker.

LAWRENCE. Kan, May 12.-Thc
newspaper profession is as sacred
calling as the ministry, in the opinion
of DIR. Washington GLADDEN., of Co
lu;nbus, O., as expressed in ma adj
dress before hundreds of newspaper
men here today at the National
Newspaper Conference being con
Quoted by the University of Kansas.
Other speakers on today's program
Z were III. i. Harrington. of the Ohio
) state JouprnaI, and Will Irwin,
. magazine writer. A paper by Frank
Il. Noyes, of Washington, d. c., pres
ident Of the Associated Press, on
press association work was read.
DR.. GLADDEN. decried what he re-
forred to as a tendency of some news
papers toward habits of exaggera
ton and the exploitation of crime,
vice and scandal. He outlined four
great tasks for American journalism
In the performance Of which he said
1t might aid in purifying and in
MIGRATING public opinion.
Tasks of American Journalism.
First. to teach people to avoid ex-
aggeration and violent speech. and to
cultivate moderate and rational
modes of expression.
Second, to resist the tendencies
which dementalize democracy and
which substitute the mob mind for
deliberate habit.
Third. to hold the popular judg-
ment firmly to the truth that char
acter and manhood, and not money
and popularity, are the central values
of human existence.
Fourth, to turn the thoughts of men
more and more from the negative
virtue Of detecting and exposing the
evil to the positive virtue of discern
Ing and praising the good.
A large part of the day was given
to discussion of news associations
and questions pertaining to member
ship in the same. Charles IL. Grasty,
editor of the Baltimore sun, is to adj
dress the editors tonight.
A letter from Frank Il. Noyes, of
the Washington Evening Star, presi
dent of the Associated Press, who
had been invited to address the con-
ference, was read. The letter avs in
part as follows:
Defense of Associated Press.
''Yeu ask me, inasmuch as / cannot
be with you in person, to write yon
my views on the question you are TO
discuss today, and this l am glad to
do though / am not at all sure that
/ correctly understand the meaning
of the question. As you give it to me
it is divided into two parts: list. To
what extent is a member of press
association entitled to a monopoly of
news in a community? My answer to
this is that no member of any press
association can under any concelV-
sble set of conditions be entitled to
Il monopoly of news in a community.
1.-THE question answers itself. AS
a matter OF fact no such monopoly
e.syse tu nd nc N
fact no such monopoly could exist.
The news of the world, like the news
% the vicinity, is open to all. 1t is
utterly impossible to monopoliZe 1t.
Ii the question is intended to read
To what extent is member OF a.
press. association entitled to monopoly
in community of news gathered by
e the association of which it is
member a different question is pre-
sented.
II can only deal with this as an
individual who took part in the for
nation of the Associated Press dhe
present organization). Our desire was
II form a cooperative association of
representatives of newspapers that
should be the agency by which we
could exchange news with each other
aud jointly collect news for our com
mon use. We conceive that we have
to do this, just as much right as
paper in Philadelphia, paper in
Chicago and a paper in Washington
have right to employ Richard
Harding Davis to go to Vera Cruz
ana send dispatches for their joint
IKE 1t is for us to decide, in our
view, whether we will enlarge our
group by the admission>of new men,
bers-as matter of fact our present
membership is very much larger than
when we organized in 1900, though it
nov has only about .one-third the
daily newspapers of the country rep
resented in its membership.
Answers win irwin.
Il see by your program that Mr..
Irwin is to speak on this subject.
greatly regret that l will not have
the pleasure of hearing him-if
only for the purpose of correcting
some of his misapprehensions as
shown in. recent article that APP
peared in Harpers Weekly. l am
sure, however, that Mr.. Irwin will
forgive me If / take this opportunity
of pointing out to him where he is in