The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1930-04-18
TheCherry
~ Where with our
TRR Little Hatchet
we tell the truth
about many fhinrs afimas nr0-
about many things. sometimes pro-
foundly, sometimes flippantly,
sometimes recklessly. .......

A long time ago a celebrated car
toonist made a cartoon which he
called poisoned at the source" He
was indicating that news is poisoned
where it is made, in certain cases.
The issue never has died and it con-
tinues, in one form or another, to ag
itate the public mind.
That there is poisoned news can
not be denied with success. Whoever
has followed the story of power trust
propaganda knows that power inter
ests put their kind of poison-which
means bias-into a good deal of news.
OF course more or less innocent news
taking goes on every day. Reporters
like to write little color into their
stories, in those cases where the re-
porters who get the facts still do the
writing.
But it is the important cases that
affect public and private interests and
human rights that are worth talking
about
The great craze for publicity that
grew out of the war has given US a
lot of news poisoning.
Marlen Pew, who knows his news,
writes in Editor and Publisher of a
publicity effort which he openly calls
"a scandal"
A great national advertising agency
has organized what it calls a news
publicity department" Through this
department the agency offers to place
news stories for advertisers, using the
paid advertising copy as lever with
which to pry the news stories" into
the papers.
Pew wakes most angry about this
thing. "Only one sensible interpreta-
ton can be put upon this letter." he
ucCidIeS. IL lIcdiIS CiilC al tuNCi
tising agency is confessedly in the
business of selling out the American
press"
1t is good to see somebody get mac
like that. It's high time.
Without in any sense indulging II
boasting, let comparison be sug-
gested. Read this newspaper anc
then turn to your favorite daily news.
paper. 1t isn't poison alone that is
important. Abduction and conceal
ment also are important. See how
many of the important stories in this
paper were in the daily paper thai
you most often read. Very few oi
them, you will find.
News is poisoned, which means dis,
torted and news is suppressed, or ig-
nored, or forcibly taken by the eel
and choked to death.
1t took long time for the dali!
newspapers of the land to wake up t
the Teapot Dome scandal. They knew
of it, but they didn't print it until the
thing loomed up so big it couldn't bt
stopped any longer.
The American daily press undoubt
! edly is more nearly free and fair ant
objective than any other in the world
but it has by no means made the mos
of its freedom and its opportunity
American papers including Canadian
papers, are less entangled with gov
ernments than papers of other coun
tries. Their entanglements are will
/ big business. In almost every offic'
there is a list of sacred cows" An,
almost every paper has its string o
dog stories" which invariably &,
past the copy readers and into tn
| paper.
Taking the press as whole ther
is no dominating interest. The trutl
gets out somewhere, sooner or later
But few persons do or can read sew
eral newspapers each day. The MAJ
who can't do that simply can't get al
the news.
Try to find free newspaper tina
at the same time prints enough Of tn,
news to keep reader well posted oil
all important events. 1t is, let US sa,
and without saying it in malice
practically impossible.
The growing complexity of human
affairs helps the ews poisoner