The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-21

tion like the Associated Press in which any element of immediate profit to the as soeiation itself is left out of account.
 With a membership like yours. dis tributed through all the states of the union, representing every shade of re- ligious and of political belief and every variety of commercial and industrial in terest, there is but one tenure of office possible to those who manage its af- fairs, and that is good conduct approved by substantially all of the members of the association
 News cannot be reported without every day something being said disparaging of some individual, and libelous if untrue. In the 15 years history of the present As- sociated Press it has not been mulcted in damages for a single dollar and yet 1t is subject to prosecution for libel for every word libelous that it's report may have contained, because it's transmission Of it's news reports to its members is just as much publication as the print ing of the same news by the newspaper afterward. And today there stands against 1t but a single suit for libel and that predicated upon report made by it of what one public man said of another public man. and not upon the ground of misreporting what was said.
 Is Not Monopoly
 Tt is objected that the Associated Press is a monopoly. If so, it has not succeeded as monopolies usually do, in restricting output. We publish more newspapers in the United States than In all the rest of the world beside
 But it is said that the members monop- 'olize their news for their own columns. and don't open them to those who are not members. What Is news? noughly speaking. news Is the first report of an event of public and current interest. News signifies nottang in the world except per- sonal service. A man has as much right to say what shall be done with a scoop as Caruso has to the use of his voice. To receive everybody who publishes a paper to membership would be to destroy the association itself, because while there is much that may go into a newspaper that may be mere routine as market reports, still every man wishes to make his paper q distinctive publication, and if there is nothing distinctive in it's general news re- port, a newspaper will become indifferent, and undertake to gain distinctive quality of something altogether aside from the budget of news furnished by the Asso- ciated Press, and it seems to me that an essential condition of maintaining CO., operative news gathering association is that association shall have the right to determine its own membership. While the Associated Press has always had a very large proportion of the leading news papers of the country it has never had them all. If it had them all or substan- tialy all, then the objection that it Is a monopoly In the very nature of the case, passes out of view. The general plan of the organization has been approved by the Attorney General, allowing the as- sociation to discriminate, and to determine it's ovSl membership.
 But the Attorney General found-seet in one respect, namely, in the power given to the board of directors to require mem- bers to desist from purchasing news from any other agency, you had perhaps trenched upon the law. The effect of that opinion and your action here this morn- ing in amending you bylaws to conform to that opinion has been to bring your professions up to the standard of your practices And now profession and prac- tice are in harmony with the law, and you have before you, I hope. long and unbroken career of usefulness to the pub lie, and prosperity for yourselves