Evening star., 1925-04-23

The movement to segregate crime.
news by a number. of newspapers
throughout the country has brought
forth many different viewpoints from
the American editors. However, it is
not considered effective as a means of
suppressing crime by the ma jority Of
the editors. e..
THE attempt to make estriches out
OF American newspapers and, inciden.
tally their readers, by segregation of
crime news has a poor chance to be-
come a settled policy" declares the
Burlington Gazette. News is infor-
nation about the unusual. Crime is
unusual 50 ii is news, and newspaper
readers subscribe for papers that
carry the news. This is the judgment
and opinion of those engaged in the
newspaper business and in position
to know whereof they speak"
Discussing the action of the Des
Moines Register, which, in compliance
with the wishes of wonen's clubs of
the Iowa capital, is printing crime
news on an inside page, the Los An
geles Express doesn't see where there
is any 'uplift' in the idea, in what way
it may be expected to improve morals
or do any good to individuals or the
public in general" The Omaha World
Herald thinks the arguments for
printing crime and the results of
crime will continue to be urged as
good public policy" The World-Herald
observes: ITO suppress crime news
many believe would be disastrous. To
give 1t a place in the news of the day
and not a distorted Importance would
seem to be the duty of every newspa-
per. But publicity of crime, it's results
and penalties, is necessary for the pro-
lection of society ITSELF
Z X +
righteousness not only gets it's
character from sim, but 1t draws it's
lessons from it,. says the Springfield
Union. This paper argues: when
such fundamental principle is ap-
pIied to the question of what the
newspaper should do with crime news,
the true answer becomes apparent.
The newspaper becomes a moral
agency when it publishes it as it is-a
crime. an immoral act, sin, humanity
deplorable and abhorrent, and thereby
a lesson and warning that the way
of the transgreSsor, Is hard, that the
wages of sin is death, his own death
by his own act, his own death morally
and spiritually, If not physically.
"Newspa pers may devote too much
space to crime admits the New York
Evening Post, "but to print no crime
news at all would be far worse.
Prompt publicity often facilitates the
capture of criminals, but even. If it
didn't the news of their activities
should be printed. The public is as
much entitled to information of crime
as OF any other happening.
X * x
The Bellingham Herald thinks the
decent newspaper does not revel in
crime news. and would prefer to omit
most of that variety of daily pabulum
with which the public is regaled: Nor
does It ignore crime news" says the
Herald, ''because it tries to be some
thing of a mirror of the days events,
and crime just now occupies a rather
high place in the public interest. The
Herald concludes: ITO hide itself and
disregard the evil that men do is for a
newspa per to neglect a public duty,
Broadly, it would be more profitable td
reform the criminals than. to reform
the newspa pers."
The Decatur Review does not be:
lieve that leaving out all crime news
will make less crime. The Review
says: ITO the contrary. it is better to
give the people as full and as true an
account of what's happening as is
possible. And it is impossible to sup
press the truth or to fool the people
| to any great extent"
1.-THE publication Of crime news is
] Justified by the fact that it is naatte4