The Saturday press., 1936-04-18
Inventorying Minneapolis Dailies

Inventorying Minneapolis Dailies
The first function of newspaper its principal duty is to
curately details of official conduct coupled with similarly
recals of influences bearing and shaping official acts
and public affairs
Good government in republic depends upon
reliably informed concerning all of nature
The facilities of newspapers make them the natural agents for
transmitting such information to the public In fact is the
duty daily newspaper under universal code of journalism
thus function aho the practice always general
The reporting stafs of city dais all important public
affairs and relay their outlines their respective editors the lat
determining what into print and what Is to be censored
These editors determine what to be featured and what to be
withheld public They determine which public officers
to be up creaby the eyes the public and which
discedited information transmitted them finds its way
print colored otherwise posoned censored
cordingiy.
When furnished with proper information through the news
columns in big daies during the periods between elections the
public will attend to the of being well governed But
newspapers dere keeping their readers improperly informed
this deecon pesses itself deeply upon the sort of government
ensuing upon their Good bad government
depends largely the management Of such newspapers Their
responsibility this connection cannot be overestated
OF course all newspapers convey the impression that
they presenting complete without bias Some of them
only pretend and the peendrs have bag of tricks used in de-
luding their readers.
One of these tricks one that has been long prevail
ing Minneapolis daily newspapers editorial policies that
with the approval of their financial supporters their ad
vertisers while the time praccng conflicting policies for
their columns. The editorial policies cannot be easily
ouaged but those policies generally harmless far shaping
public opinion concerned The public likes believe does its
own thinking and this thinking is in reference public affairs
based largely what gathered from the trusted columns
daily newspapers The harm lies in the violation of this trust
If such newspaper pracicing sknldnggoy will nvar
ably be hidden in its items 1t will be found in the strategy
of positions furnished by colorng given urterng
interests Of the managers by censorng that runs
contra to such interests
The following illustrates these practices by Minneapolis daily
newspapers:
das have adopted consevatveness for their ed
toa policies the radicals long been furnished with the
edge
The radical Floyd Olson day gets stremer headlines
displaying of his controversy with
found with dgen search almost completely hidden about
twelve in the next days issue
example of the of cooring and censorng tactics
monty used daes may be found in incident that
red during of the past city administrations.
The mayor that had discharged his chief of police The
newspapers said the mayor discharged him for doyay and that
he would state what that dsoyalty consisted of.
The Committee of Thirty composed of officers of the Mime
apos Federation of Churches and various other community wei
associations asked that mayor them his for this
discharge The mayor responded by reading them volume of
the signed of police officers and Others statements
ssng of serious accusations against the official conduct of
the discharged chief and the mayor advised them that the
formation had been gve to all of newspapers prior to
mention by of douly Some of these statements later