Evening star., 1932-01-31

ton of an accurate background and
sometimes furnishes the only channel
! by which this news can be released
! They get the data from many sides and
| check and counter check 1t in such way
| that they have unusual opportunities
| for an accurate slant on public opinion,
both official and unofficial 1t is evil
dent that most of these writer's have
had long experience, are men of out
standing ability and have extraordinary
means for obtaining accurate data on the
foreign affairs Of the United States. Do
| their articles measure up to the eX-
pectations engendered by these special
qualifications?
| Life Work of Writers.
The presentation of matters affect
ing our foreign relations is the life
work Of these men. Their livlihood
depends upon it. Their unusual chan
nels of information would be quickly
closed to them if they were frequently
guilty Of inaccuracies. They would not
hold their positions long on a f1rst-class
newspaper If they were not competent
and accurate.
| The quality of their work is indicated
| by the high respect in which they are
held not only by our own officials, but
/ by those of other countries as well.
| Their articles are considered important
and watched carefully. Close contacts
with newspaper men are maintained by
| officials and leaders.
! Mr.. Boal recently testified as to the
magnitude of the work and the ability
of these men in handling it. He said
| Il have been a firSt-hand witness to
| the great pains which the newspapers
| take to get the facts of any given sit
uation. We should marvel at the ac-
curacy and completeness with which
| the news of foreign events of a more
! complicated nature usually reach US.
| Foreign Offices are not by nature COM
municative. Often the story must be
brought out Of mass of technical de-
| yailS, the man who writes it must under
stand his subject, no matter how COM
| plicated it may be, it must present a
clear and unprejudices view of an event
and the event must be true"
Our own personal experiences with
some OF the leading newspaper men con-
| vinceS us that their love of truth and
accuracy is not less than that of rec
| ognized professors and scientific writers.
Inaccuracies Are Costly.
| If any first-class newspaper man
makes inaccurate statements it may
cause grave international complications;
it is dangerous for him and he might
not only lose his position, but injure his
| career as whole. A false statement in
| any leading newspaper almost inevitably
| results in more or less numerous and
| immediate complaints from interested
| parties. In such cases, it is not unusual
| for the writer to be called on the car
| pet" and unless he can back up the ac
curaCy of his statements, he might soon
be looking for another position We
| have in mind several concrete cases of
| this sort within the last few weeks and
| our respect for the newspaper corps was
increased by the fact that on each
occasion the newspaper men in ques-
| ton were able to subStantiate their
statements from historical and official
| documents
In discussing the responsibility of
| these writer's and the accuracy of their
| statements, new factor of Importance
| should be taken into consideration.
The life of a newspaper is its CirCula-
ton and circulation is damaged by in
| accuraCies observed by the readers, We
| have mentioned above the tremendous
/ increase in public interest in the for
eign relations Of the United States and
the phenomenal growth Of organiZa-
! tions throughout the country for the
| scientific and critical analysis of these re-
| lations. Hence, today there are hundreds
| of thousands Of Americans who are
| sufficiently we'll informed on our for
egn affairs so that it is not very diff
cult for them'to detect inaccuracies and
prejudiced statements. If only for
| business reasons. no firSt-ClaSS news
| paper can, therefore, afford to retain
on its staff a writer whose accuracy and
fairness can be frequently questioned.
Justification of Criticism.
| In spite of the general high stand
ing Of the American press. undoubtedly
| number of our papers can be attacked
| frequently for inaccuracies and bias and
even the best of them are from time
to time open to well-founded criticisms
However, it is only fair to say that
there is probably no place in the world
where the average citizen and student
! can obtain more easily from the news
| papers fairly accurate and unbiased ac-
counts of foreign affairs, than is true
IN the case of the United States
1t is submitted that a firSt-class
American newspaper with a sufficient
coverage Of the foreign relations of the
| United States is a valuable instrument
| for the proper scientific teaching of the
! foreign relations of the United States
in any first class American college or
university. 1t is not proposed that in
such courses the professor or student
accept without question the views eX-
pressed in the daily press. These views
| should be submitted to a critical eX-
/ animation and should be taken from
variety of writer's to insure broad and
unbiased treatment. With the caliber
of the average American professor of
these subjects being such as it is. we
| have no doubt that any danger that
exists in the use of the press in the
scientific study of foreign relations can
readily be removed under the expert
| guidance of the professor and through
| the joint discussion method which is
becoming more and more a factor in
higher education in America.