Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-02-26
NEWS THAT WAS WITHHELD.
Does the Roman Catholic Church
Control Associated Press?

Control Associated fress.
Greenwood Index.
At intervals in recent years the As
sociated Press has been charged by
prominent Protestant ministers and
leaders with giving undue prominence
and space to Catholic affairs TO the
exclusion Of Protestant activity. SO
insstent were the charges two years
ago that General Manager Melville
Stone felt it incumbent to make
signed statement in the matter. He
denied the charge and said in effect
that when Protestants, in their relig-
ious work. did anything noteworthy,
the Associated Press always took Eotc
Of the fact. In 4 word the ProtestantS
did not furnish news and the Cath
olics did.
The writer has always endearored
to maintain judicial attitude on this
and other things and not be carried
away by prejudice either one way or
the other. Whether this has been true
is not for him to say. ones record
is the thing to judge, not ones state
ment.
However, here's u case right at
home Of 4. p. fairness" Some time
ago two Catholic priests were indicted
in the Federal court here for con-
spiracy against the government" II
WAS real piece OF news and the local
correspondent of three Of the leading
South Carolina morning papers filed 4
story giving the facts for these papers
At the same time the Associated Press
representative filed story for the AS
sociated Press or in some way It
reached the Atlanta office OF the AS
suciated Prses, we must be careful and
give only facts. The Atlanta office
of the Associated Press put the news
item about the indictment Of these
two Catholic priests on its wires Tor
its clients. Meanwhile the South Caro-
lima dailies had received q special
from their Greenwood correspondent
giving the same facts. Several hours
later after midnight, the Atlanta Of
ice Of the Associated Press sent out
ian order to its clients to XIII it," that
is to suppress the news item about
the indictment of the two Catholic
priests ut Greenwood. (Must have
been afraid Tom Watson would get
hold Of it,. Anyway this applied only
to the A. 2. item sent out from At
lanta. At two o'clock in the morning
the news editors on two Of the South
Carolina dailies called their Green
wood correspondent over the long dis
tance telephone to verify the item. If
il was true they proposed to use 1t, re-
gardless of the A. =. Kill II" order
and they did use it.
Is this the end Of 1t? No.
When 1t was enormously announc-
ed that the case had been mol pressed
at this last term of the Federal court,
erroneous in that the formal mol pros
will be entered at the Rock Hill term
If the Federal court, though the fact
| that il will be is tantamount to a
statement that 1t has been dropped,
| this fact was also sent to the daily pa
pcrs in this state as a special from
Greenwood. This item duly appeared
| in two of these papers. At the same
time the local correspondent Of the
Associated Press filed a similar item
for the Atlanta office Of the Associated
| Fress. Was 1t used? Not that any
one noticed around here. The "spe-
cial" sent from here was used.
| Now these are facts One can -draY
Els own conclusion. It would appear
that the Associated Press would be
glad to at least carry the statement
| that the case had been dropped. but
one forgets that this would also car
ry with it the fact that charges suf-
flciently serious had been made to