Evening star., 1927-04-25

of directors had been read to the
members, Kent Cooper, general man
ager of the organization, read his
| report to the board, outlining the
| news achievements of the AssGc.. ted
Press n the last year.
Report of Cooper.
Mr.. Cooper said;
"The traditional loyalty and enter
prise Of the entire staff have been evi-
/ denced by the work which each indi-
vidual has to his record. In the ma
| ture of things, each cannot have had,
| in the ordinary work of reporting the
news of the world, exceptional oppor-
| tunitieS to report outstanding incl
dents. Emphasis, therefore, must be
put upon the work of the staff as a
| unit, and the management believes
! the members will join it in the opin-
| ion that the superiority of the report
| has been maintained.
| 'On behalf of the entire staff, keen
appreciation is expressed to the mem
| bers Of the Associated Press for their
| obviously greater interest in and ac-
| tivity toward the development of the
work of the association. The entire
staff found this greater interest and
| loyalty of the members of the Asso-
ciated Press an inspiration during the
year"
Speaks at Luncheon.
After the meeting a luncheon was
held at the Waldorf Astoria, presided
over by Mr.. Noyes. Henry ]. Allen,
former Governor of Kansas, and Mr.
Moves were the principal speakers.
Members of the American News
paper Publishers Association are here
TO attend the forty-first meeting of
that organization and viii discuss
topics such as the elimination of waste
in the industry, further action on
postal rates, the relation of radio to
newspapers and other matters.
Mr.. Noyes' address dealt with the
history of the great effort to establish
a Nationwide cooperative news-gath-
ering organization operating without
profit, its early struggles, its ultimate
triumph and the ideals and principles
that dominate it today.
Beginning with the first attempts
in 1850, the speaker traced the his
tory of cooperative news gathering
down to 1898, when the final break
took place between a former Eastern
organization, then called the United
Press, which was proprietary and
commercial in character, and the old
Western Associated Press. which was
mutual and not profit making, and
which that year was reorganized un-
der the present name of the Asso-
ciated Press, with Melville f. Stone
as general manager.
Desperate Struggle Then.
In speaking of the desperate strug-
gle that followed between the two or
ganizations, Mr.. Noyes said:
THE issue was this: shall the news
papers Of the United States be at the
mercy of a privately owned news col
lecting and distributing organization
at it's mercy not only as concerns a
money tribute but, of much more i'm
portance. at its mercy as to the news
Observation-Disclosures it should be honest
or perverted, impartial or biased;
whether it should be influenced by the
interests and the opinions of it's own
ers, and the press of the United States
and the people Of the United States
be subject to the unrestrained will of
individuals, or an individual, so far
as press association news was con-
cerned"
This was a thrilling battle cry. said
newspaper world resounded with it.
The Associated Press took the ag-
gressive and enlarged its field, invit-
ing newspapers from the whole
United States to join in the effort to
establish the mutual organization.
Do not understand that this creed
obtained instant acceptance" said
Mr.. Noyes. Indeed, even today there
is distinct dissent both IL principle
and practice, and within a few years
the head of what is generally re-
garded as the leading privately owned |
news distributing organization, in n |
public address, said: Gen |
orally speaking, the point of view |
If the reporters is only the point of |
view of the paper Elaboratfng this, |
he speaker dwelt on the inevitability |
and desirability of a reporter writing |
IF the days happenings with a point |
of view instancing that one news |
paper with capitalistic leanings and |
another in sympathy with the rank |
and file must. and should, represent |
these sympathies in their news treat |
ment of events. This speaker went |
on TO say: And how does this apply
TO the press association business?
Just as any other strictly newspaper
proposition applies to the press asso-
CAdL4Un DuSlUSSS-tue Sdnl6--OQly
more So
Mr.. Noyes here interjected that the
Associated Press is founded on a
totally different doctrine. Fortunately,
he said, no reporter of the Associated
Press can write to suit the point of
view OF that organization, "for it has
no point of view of it's own and no
could define a composite
point Of view of its members"
Activities of Stone.
In considerable detail Mr.. Moves
described the activities of Mr.. Stone |
in building up an independent service |
Of worldwide news, including the |
making Of contracts with the leading |
world agencies. He described also |
methods of financing the new organ |
ization through a guaranty fund and |
an assessment plan.
Next the fight was carried to the |
East and Mr.. Noyes told of the |
done by his associates and |
himself at a time when there was |
great intensity of feeling in news
paperdom. Victor F. Lawson of |
Chicago and Mr.. Stone devoted all of |
their time to making new converts |
to the cause of cooperative news |
working, said Mr.. Noyes, |
as they never would have worked for |
any private interest of their own. |
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