The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-05-20
What to Put in the Paper.

Every editor, no doubt has about
the same trouble about what to put
in the paper, that will please his
readers, without becoming mandy
pamby, weak kneed, sloppy in his
ideas.
A man in this town came In and
stopped his paper last week, because
he said he did not agree with every
thing we said in the paper. winch Is
sad occurrence, as IT. always Is
around a newspaper office When any
one stops the paper. And the 1unny
part is, that this man thinks ne IS
town business man. If we wanted to
nut his business on the same basis ne
nuts ours, how easy it would be to
make it cost him good deal more
than his little old $3.50 year.
But what is the use. Therc are
plenty of fish in the sea that are not
caught yet, but one wonders, what Is
the best way to run "a paper.
Sometimes you think if you print
nothing but the news, of course, no.
body will take offcnse. But on the
other hand, some item will be color
ed without your meaning it and
som ebody will fly in to stop the
paper. 49, -.
and avoid expression of any OPINION
wha tsoever, and then you are abused
because YOU are fishworm and
have no opinions and again, some
body comes rushing in and says he
doesn't want your paper because,
thew like editors who have minds OF
their own.
If YOU urge your political opinions
folks saw YOU are a narrow bigot and
If Won urge any kind of an idea that
does not jibe with what your SUD-
scribcrs think, then you are damned
again and there you are.
Certainly nobodDin these days is
silly enough to argue religion in a
newspaper, because nothing causes
as much bad blood as religious as
cussions. There is nothing as IRE.
ligious as religious argument ana
SO about the only way to avoid row
is by avoiding the argument.
We have often thought If we were
rich enough, we would like to run q
paper just exactly as we please. We
would likely be put in Jail half the
time, if we said what we really
thought but it would be fun to try
it awhile, but no business man has
any right to opinions of his own and
an editor just as little as anybody
else, or good deal less than any
body else.
A business man has no opinions.
He might offend some good customer
but how much more does an editor
offend, for he cannot express an
opinion and then deny it. Many a
time if we could lie out of it, we
would do so, but our items 90 into
print. We almost said our ideas, but
we do not print our ideas and neith-
er does any other editor who has any
list to keep intact or partially intact.
An editor just skins around over
the surface, something like hum
ming bird, skirting the sweets in the
flowers, but here the smile ends. He
touches and goes, but he does not go
down into the marrow of things be-
cause if he did and said what he
really thought, it would not be long,
till he would be saying them to him
self, and nobody wants to talk just
to himself. An editor can say what
he pleases in his, paper, true enough,
but 1t won't be long, till he won't
be saying it to anybody and that
would be mighty little satisfaction,
after all. And so it goes.
The only way we can think Of, is
Just to skim around the truth and
say something of what you would
like to say and figuratively, tell the
fellow who doesn't like it to go to-
10 well to Petrograd and let it go at
that. If this local business man can
get along without the Democrat, be-
cause it doesn't say what he likes to
read, then the Democrat will try to
worry along without him, because he
never spent over 80 cents on news
paper anyhow. And what does he
care, for didn't we tell you he stop
ped his paper Washington Demo-
|crat.
Rags Wanted-The Reporter OF.
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