Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1927-01-06
NEWSPAPERS AND CRIME

lies-are given some of the blame
for the prevailing crimes of to-
day. Some folks think that too
much publicity of crime is in
furious and to be sure there is
much truth in it, especially when
picturing the bad side of life is
overdone. and the newspapers are
catering to bad tastes. However,
those newspapers who cater to
bad tastes are greatly in the min
ority. A newspaper has duty
to perform, that of giving infor-
mation-picturing life as it is
but, of course, should strive to-
ward lettering conditions. Cow
ering up and hushing up is not
always the best; in fact that
leads to the thought, which can
so easily be developed, that folks
with enough money can buy their
way to non-publicity of acts that
they are not proud Of The per-
centage of crime news in the av-
erage daily newspaper is really
very small. 1t is interesting to
note how one of our good daily
newspapers in the state of Min
nesota views this subject editor
tally. Here is what the Duluth
Herald says:
Some good people think that the
newspapers give too much space to
crime and that the effect is democrat
izing.
There is chance for argument on
both ends of that.
There ARE newspapers that make
too much of crime because they de-
liberately pander to the sort of ap-
petite that Graves the details of crime
news But they are exceptions. Most
newspapers print what they believe
ought to be printed about crime, be-
cause they are convinced that pub
licity is wholesome and that evils
that are covered up grow worse.
Some of these people who think
that there is too much crime news
in the newspapers would be astonished
to find how small a proportion it
represents of what goes into the news
papers. Roger William Riis and
Charles w. Bonner, Jr., who have
made al careful examination of this
question while they were at work on
their book. They took five copies of
each of twenty American city dailies,
varying in size and location from the
New York Sun to the San Diego Union
and analysed the newsin them.
They found that only ten per cent
of the news space in these papers was
devoted to police news comprising
the activities of criminals. Comfort
ing though this was, the analysts
were a little depressed because they
found that the newspapers gave as
little space to politics as they did to
crime.
But the fact is that this analysis
answers the assertion that newspapers
seek circulation by appealing to the
lower tastes.
Twenty-one per cent of the news
was about business and industry; fiji.
teen per cent was devoted to sports
and nearly as much to amusements.
That certainly is not an immoderate
amount of space to devote to crime
and if the crime news is handled with
dissertation as most newspapers d.
handle it outside of the few that de
liberately cater to morbid tastes
there is no harm in it. Indeed, man!
police officials testify that proper
handling of crime news is help t.
them and deterrent to crime.
News that makes heroes of Grim
inals and an adventure of crime is o
course without excuse. But there Il
not so much news of that sort as som,
of the critics seem to think.
Indeed, this analysis of news seem
to suggest that some of these critics
have found what they looked for ant
what was uppermost in their minds
and not what actually exists.
what a blessing punctuation is,