Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1916-05-14

conditions Of modern journalism it.
self. An essential Of success, III the
case OF the modern newspaper, is a
large circulation. No paper which Is
either secretly or openly subservient
to any Interest opposed to the in-
terests Of the people can gain and
hold large circulation. Open adj
vocacy of private interests would
mean immediate discredit; secret
advocacy would delay the inevitably
downfall, but 1t would come along
just as surely, The people have a
keen insight into this matter and
they cannot be deceived for amy great
length Of time.a wse 4,3st@
"a ycar on two ago, when, Ia his
opinion, NH, John u. Rockefeller,
Jr was being wrongfully criticised
by tho newspapers, he said that he
was in q most unfortunate position,
that he could not get his side OF the
case in the newspapers and that II he
bought a newspaper to present his
side nobody would read 1t and no.
I body would believe It II they did read
it, And that is approximately true
There is positive ais we'll as
negative side Of this phase or modern
journalism Not only does the
| Twentieth Century newspaper re-
fraia, for vital reasons, from advo-
eating bad causes, but for the same
reasons, 1t makes q point Of fighting
for good causes. It must be active
in behalf of the public interest or ii
cannot meet the competition it will
be sure to face The formula here
is the same aggressive efforts for
the public welfare makes big circu-
lationS; big eirculations make pros
porous newspapers Joseph Pulitzer
was perhaps the first OF the modern
! editors who consciously put this
theory into practice, Charles IL.
Grasty, formerly of Baltimore and
now OF tho New York Times, was one
Of tho pioncors in that form Of jour
nalism. Now il is accepted by prac-
| tically all up-to-date editors. They
lie awake nights in this age trying to
scheme up some new activities in be-
half Of the public, for thoy have
! realized that that pays This, Of
course, Is lncrcly another way OF
saying that honesty is tho best policy
/ in journalism and that tho newspaper
, publishers have found II out,
! is the now type Of newspaper as
influential in framing public opinion
as the old? think So People do
not blindly follow editorial opinion
as they once did the spread Of edu-
cation and tho greater general know
ledge Of public affairs prevent that,
but they arc Just as responsive to
sound argument as they ever were.
The complete covering OF the news
today results In the people being juat
MS we'll informed on nublfc questions
aus the editors themselves; they are,
Ia mass, quite as capable In criticism
and as Discriminating ia analysis as
arc the editorial writer's But the
editorial columns of the news
papers direct the current OF pub
lic discussion. the news to base
opinions, the newspaper, in whole,
As the agent wherethrough pub
lie sentiment Is crystallized and
made effective Whatever loss In I'M
iucnce may have resulted from the
Increased habit In the people OF
thinking for themselves Is more than
compensated for by the far greater
audience which the modern news
talked to hundreds Tho modern
editor talks to tens and hundreds OF
thousands Nowadays the influence
Of a newspaper depends largely upon
the justice Of the causes which ii adj
yocatos. Those which fight aggres-
sively and fcarlessly for whatsoever
things are honest whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are lust,
whatsoever things are Of good re-
port" have no reason to complain OF
any lack Of influence in their COM
munities