Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-01-07
WHAT'S a Newspaper, and What for?
foDer Was NeUer Greater Than Now.
Burton KlIne)

I
, bridge at the foot 81 Niagara FAN,
broke unexpectedly while number
Of sightseers were crossing Il. All bul
( three Of them had miraculous escapes
, lhosc three. man, his wife and a
stripping we're caught They persisted
after great endeayors on the shore al
their rescue. but especially after he.
r"ic efforts on the part OF the two
men a. rescue the woman Next
lnoning their story was printed in
every newspaper in the land one Of
The casual press dispatches. that was
n all And yet Maupassant himself
could not have bettered the art with
which Il was told He could not have
! hcttered il because there was the alb
sence # all art in the story The re.
porter who wrote It, confronted by
such q Circumstance, felt too small TO
project himself into Il, and It ran from
his pen lust ne It happened. BY All
the standards IL was one Of the most
perfect stories ever written. People
read II in the morning paper. and by
night, very likely, It was forgotten.
II is altogether unlikely that many
readers OF the story bothered To ask
themselves who Il was ala that re- |
markable piece of writing.
There. In cpitome is the whole |
business, ort--nnd fate--of the news |
paper. IN no other purchase that a
man makes does he obtain such pre-
posterous value as he gets In his daily
paper for o penny when times are
slack and business Is dun, the mer-
chant may curtail his stock, the man
ufacturer may close his plant. A
newspaper must come forth every day
10 hold 'ts circulation OFTEN IL must
spend the most money when il Is
making the least They tell a story
IF an English newspaper owner whose
manager one day warned him that
hey were losing money.
HIM was the reply. THAT means
hat we are not spending enough"
Daylight as Policeman.
Nothing looks easier and more fas.
mating than TO run newspaper.
Nothing is easier than to crltlcise a
newspaper, certainly Every citizen !
n this country entertains the private !
plnion that If called upon he could !
ettcr any paper of his acquaintance.
,o business Is SO steadily charged =
'ilh fraud. with trucking, double
ealing and subseryience 10 favoritc Z
r dominating interests-especial ,
dvcrtising interests And yet the !
ewspaper Is the one business in L
hich these practices are next to inn
ossible, Emerson once said Day
ght is the best policeman" Daylight =
lays upon every word in n newspa- u
err II cannot favor any clique: il u
innot promote a single evil interest n
at the fact Is instantly advertised r.
al the paper at once becomes moth N
~ but printed circular. Two jour a.
ais in two large cities OF the east owe u
Ieir recent decline to Just that cir al
instance. The public spotted them u
once ~
And every editor OF a newspaper IN
lows that the pursuit OF the truth Is II
fficult enough in itself In the first
ace. there is no possible definition 70
what constitutes news No two ed 10
irs, no two readers agree upon IT, ti'
this very issue Of this very paper ne
ere may be an item or article which IN
likes one man favorably nj
That's why ! buy this paper" he WI
claims 1T always gets after the IN
vs.. Here's proof of what | meanh an
ID he points 10 the item under his Vh
r. But his next-door neighbor may po
&c the same item to say: "Why do iol
~ print such stuff as that? ! want pie
VS. in my paper" to
What l. News? RAJ
That Is why every successful news ma
per is generally the expression of iit
e man, it's guide and maker lie a
successful because his guess az to
at is news and as TO how the news -
III be presented strikes nearest to div
average public notion of what is po
w. ma
te draws plentiful assistance from hiR
readers. Of course. Few persons sor
Nv the pressure of criticism under II.
ich an editor works. lie is plagued bee
people who want To utilize this en- dit
q Of publicity IN their own interest, Of
Cei