White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-04-15
FAIRNEss AND CONSCIENCE.

to any person or set OF persons. In
reporting the news of a public gath
ering OF any kind the reporter is
restricted to those things that hap
pen and are said at such meeting,
He cannot go beyond those limits
and give an exact report.
1t is not the province of a news
paper to report what persons think
or what they should like to have
said, for a reporter is not a mind
reader, anf il he were the result OF
such clairvoyance would not be q
correct report of what was said, but
more of what someone might have
said or had it in his mind to say.
In the News report of the recent
Chamber of Commerce executive
board meeting the things thai were
said and done were reported faith
fully and in detail. Mr.. Zurich made
certain remarks. which were report
ed In substance. Nothing of conse-
quence that he said vas omitted, al
though several of his sentences were
repeated many times and these repe-
titions were ignored. 1t was only
the substance of what he said that
was reported, though some few OF
his sentences were printed verbatim.
II a s~tenographic report of every
word and sentence that Mr.. Zurich
uttered that night had been printed
the same would have filled five or
six columns of the News. So his re-
marks were boiled down, to use a
phrase of newspaper co~lloquialism,
but every material thing that ne said
was reproduced in substance.
Then as 1t happened Mr.. Zurich
did all the talking-fully nine-tenths
of it. If there is ANYBODY who OBJ
jects to that the fault is not with
the report of the meeting, but his
own fault for not talking also. II is
true that Mr.. DOYLE spoke briefly and
quite pointedly in reply, and every
thing that he said was reported by
the News in substance. Outside of
what was reported the things that
Mr.. Doyle said were by way of illus
tration of the main point that he
made. II is true that his illustra-
tion of how a lawyer dealing with a
witness on the stand, when the court
disallowed a question and the lawyer
could %persevere and get the informa-
ton by framing his questions adroit-
ly until they were finally allowed,
was an apt illustration, but it was
simply cumulative. The point which
Mr.. Doyle made the News reproduced
possibly a little more tersely than he
himself put 1t. But publishing cum
ulatiye illustrations is not news
writing and there is not a real daily
or weekly newspaper in the world
that would stand for the publication
of a cumulative word or sentence.
The only other person replying to
Mr.. ZURICH was Mr.. Pittman. and
everything whatever that he said
was reported in the News in sub
stance and quite as many of his SEN
fences as those of Mr.. Zurich were
reported verbatim. To be sure the
News did not discover that Mr.. Pitt
man put Mr.. Zurich on the defensive
and admits 1t. Sometimes the best
trained reporters will overlook
points, but inasmuch as the News
reported in substance everything that
was said 1t is inclined to believe that
that was n of the points requiring
the service of a person of clairvoy-
ant powers. Yet IL this is
GA ~ oou ha ehouru IN tha Nouy. a.
will gladly print and bring out the
words and situation showing Mr.. Ju-
rich on the defensive, at the same
time admitting its error.
At any rate that in theory and
practice on metropolitan newspapers
Is a matter of editorial conclusion,
and therein the domain of a reporter
ends. 1t is true that he may be al
lowed to picture the situation of a
mar being placed On the defensive.
and in some cases, this being one Of
them. perhaps, would have been ex-
cusable for so doing. but the News
candidly admits that its representa-
tive did not discover 1t and stands
willing to be corrected now.
Others at the meeting either gave
utterance to a sentence or two or
said nothing. AS a matter of fact
they sat there in evident enjoyment
of what they are supposed to have
regarded as the "big show that Mr..
Zurich was staging for their amuse-
ment.
The only other feature Of the
meeting was the temper into which
Mr.. Pittman plunged himself and
which was the real news feature Of
the meeting. 1t is true that this Is
a personal failing Of his and he ad-
it, saying many times after ne
cools on that he is hotheaded and
he knows 1t but begs people to pay
no attention to him when In that
But II does no good for
him or all the leading citizens OF
Pine county to deny 1t now,
- - -.& oltzr TIM fart