The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-12-12
Editorial |
of the Day
GOSSIP AND THE NEWSPAPERS

lE'rom Muskogee Phoenix
We hasten TO ask ourselves thssI
question: "In your editorial of yes-l
terday you deplored gossip. not only
of the scandal bearing breed, but gos-|
sip of an everyday. business sort. thel
talk of hard times, Of depressionl
and pessimism, and yet ip readingl
your paper-as well as others-l
notice that you frequently give promi-|
nence to this very thing that you del
cry. Why not be consistent"
AS we have said. the question isl
our own. We ask II to beat ourl
readers to it. 1t is u question that
constantly arises in the minds OF the
thoughtful reader. that is the founda-
tion of the many criticisms that al
newspaper receives, and that has
been asked thousand times in every
editorial sanctum of every newspaper
of the country. !
And the answer today as it wasl
answered fifty years ago-when thel
newspapers Of America began to bel
something more than the mere vehfclel
of the editors opinions. when they
first became truly newspapers.
1t has been often said that a news
paper does not make the news but
the critic, who has taken exceptionl
to some article he feels should not
have been given publicity, countersl
with: That is true, but why print
all the news or even n bigger. part
of il; why not give the people what
they should be given?"
SO simple to say; how Impossible
to follow. What is it that the people
should be given? This, one man says;
that, says another. II am stopping
your paper because you publish pic
lures OF brutal prize fights" one irldig-|
nant subscriber writes: why don u
you publish moreN real red-bloodcd
sporting news?" boxing fan In
quires.
The newspaperman is not a censor
OF public morals; he is not an arbltrer
Of the degree of intelligence n MAJ
should acquire; he is not a Dictator
of ones personal likes and dislikes.
He is willing to leave all that I'd thel
radical reformer. If he be suc1
cess he is human, he prints that
which human, everyday people are in1
terested in reading; he is decent and
he is honest. He is not prig nor
is he u low-brow.
1t is true that the newspaper does
not make the news and it is equally
true thai the newspaper which servcS
does not suppress the news. The
newspaper of today-that is worthy
Of its name--is a great mirror heidi
up every day TO public view end
which reflects that which the public
themselves do.
A newspaper does not gossip, but ii
must publish the result of othes
peoples gossip. More men are 0uq
of employment. the headlines ioayj
more factories closed. Not gdoHipl
but fact resulting from the gooeir
of others. Editorially and in every
way within its power the newspapep
strives to radiate cheerfulness and
hope. 1t decries murder. it a.tempts
BY the printing of object lessons-
and experience Is our greatest teaeh1
VI, anu pS .Vrt1
ter schools, better teachers and better
living conditions to destroy the germs
that breed crime; but a newspape1
cannot overlook the hard, brutal faW
that man has been murdered.
Your newspapers are truly yoursl
they are what you and your fellOW
man make it, That n prize fight
extra will outsell an extra upo1
election night is not the fault OF It'd
newspaper. 1
II is you, our friends. who gossip,
who cause homes 10 be broken and
banks To faii--and the editor Sitting
the events of the day as the tories
OF their passing fall upon his desk
merely prints the result OF the tlilnes
that YOU have done.