The log cabin Democrat., 1921-05-12
ACCURACY CHIEF GOAL
 OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
Foremost News Agency Precise in Gathering of Facts-Some
 Noted Examples.

The thirst for knowledge, absolute, accurate knowledge, of what is hap pening and what men are doing is as old as humanity. Means for sats- lying that desire were inadequate for centuries and the often repeated cry, "1 want to know" found no sat isfactory response.
 Today that condition has virtually disappeared and almost instant knowledge of great occurrences throughout the civilized world is at hand, daily, under the caption By the Associated Press"
 Readers of the Log Cabin Demo- crat perusing three line bulletin or column article with the word By the Associated Press," above it have certain assurance that the state ments there made are correct.
 There are good reasons for this as- surance. One of the foundation stones of the Associated Press is ac- curacy. Even in the keen competi- tion to be the first to announce an important event this organization never hesitates to sacrifice speed to accuracy Nothing is guessed at. No matter how probable rumor may appear it is classed as rumor until it's accuracy is definitely established. When the fact is made certain it is announced without hesitation no matter how strange or improbable it appears.
 A case in point was the lombard ment of Paris by German long dis tance guns. The Associated Press men in the French capital obtained definite knowledge that shells and not aerial bombs were doing the dead ly work. Military authorities scoffed at the idea of such tremendous range but the Associated Press flashed across the sea the positive statement that long distance shelling of Paris had begun, and the news was read by millions in America before more than a few hundred Parisians were aware of the nature of the terror.
 Rumors of approaching peace, so widely heralded that they threw the nation into a delirium of joyful cele- bration, which for a time disrupted business, were classed at their proper value by the Associated Press, which promptly and authoritatively notified the waiting world when the armistice was signed and the hour for the ces- sation of the world war was deter mined.
 The peculiar formation of the As sociated Press, a cooperative organl- zation of newspapers allied for ef- ficiency in news gathering and dis tributing with no financial profit III view. itself makes for accuracy. Over eleven hundred pairs of editorial eyes each day inspect the items carried and do it before they are in type. A thousand different interests observe each statement sent forth. Each sen- tence, each word, is under a criticism all the more intense since it comes not from one point alone but from every angle.
 The critics are of different shades of political belief, of economic opinion and of religious thought, and no high CT nor more convincing proof of the solid foundation of accuracy which the words, By the Associated Press, symbolize can be sought than the fact tha even through a heated politica campaign reported day by day, the statements of the Associated Press go unchaIlenged.
 T won't believe it until the Asso ciated Press says so," has become more than saying; it is a maximum among well informed readers.
 ALDER BRANCH AND QUITMAN