The Cordova daily times., 1921-09-29
PRINTING THE NEWS

Much has been said lately concerning wha a newspaper should and should not print Be fore one can properly judge what newspa per should print, the function and duty of the newspaper must first be clearly defined anC understood.
 A newspaper is different from any other publication, with few exceptions, because it is a record, or should be record, of facts whereas magazines and books are for the most part fiction or expressions of persona opinions. It is the function of a newspaper to print the news whether it is pleasant o unpleasant. A newspaper is not rcsponsibl, for the crimes and unpleasant events whicl occur and must be recorded, but it is rcspon sible for the manner in which the events ar, described It is not the function of a news paper to exploit unduIy or emphasize crime scandal or divorce ScnsationaIism is con condemned by the conscientious publisher Why is it. then, that stories of crime and inn morality appear so frequently in rcputabI, newspapers?
 In the first place a newspaper is expected to print all the news, pleasan or otherwise Right here the question as to what is news and what is not news must be considered. TC be cassed as news, an event must be out OI the ordinary or unusual in some particular For instance, that fifty million men arose this morning, ate breakfast and went to work i, not news. But if one of the fifty million checked to death on a piece of toast. that i, news, though it is unpleasant Most person, are honest, hence dishonesty k unusual and therefore has news value Crime is out of the ordinary, therefore criminal activities appear on the front page, while the average man whc Il yer stole penny is never mentioned The large majority of people go through life with out being associated with scandal or divorce proceedings, hence events of this charctpr ar, news. It is easy to understand, therefore that if paper is to be what is pulports to be. q '"mnj"tr r"cod of current events, many of the stories printed will be about crime, and other unpleasant events. A newspaper should not h' condemned for printing all the news, pro- vidcd if prints only the truth and does not de- libcratcIy exploit the sensation.
 lt might be pointed out that in respect to printing stories of crime and immortality q newspaper should not be criticized as much as magazines and books. Whereas the paper merely records actun events for the purpose of informing the public, fiction writers de scribe imaginary crimes and immoral actions for the sole purpose of entertaining the public Even great writers sometimes are offensive There are passages in Shakespcar BaIzac, De Maupassant and other immortal authors that are indecent and vulgar.
 Some people seem to think that only news that is educational or uplifting should be print ed But would suppression of unpleasant stories be for the best interests of the com munity? Many criminals have been caught because of the publicity given their crimes through the columns of the press It is not in fact moral cowardce to avoid facts be cause they are unpleasant? Does not the pub icity given events in the paper aid in correct ing the mistake made? Is not sin more eff fectively combated by being exposed to the light of publicity than by being obscured and ignored in the darkness of silence?
 To our mind the ideal newspaper is ono which prints all the news but handles the unpleasant events i ma way not to offend proper sense of decency nor to exploit crime or immortality in a manner to exert degrading influence. &R~'Nssg1EZFz%