The daily monitor. (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1940-1942, 1941-02-20
rplToRs MUST SAY no

There are no fovorites in honest
iournoIisn.
One Of the constant, and frequent
~ unpleosont, duties Of q newspaper
cditor is to foce the focts sQuorely. he
must disossociote himself from the per-
sonul viewpoint and, to the best OF his
dbjjity. temper honest news-rePortin9
With the milk of human kindness. And
4 Re must Ieorn to soy mo" to many
things.
Not the Ieost Of the editors woes is
HE absolute necessity which prompts
him to say mo" to requests for kills"
on important events which vitoIly ot-
feet the reodine-public 1t is not always
easy 70 Do So
Any editor worth his salt. however.
reatixes that once he slips from the
course of duty which his profession i'm
poses upon him he is irretrievobIy lost.
He will, ond quite properly so. foce
charges OF corruption ond Of bios as we'll
as an ever swelling list Of petitioners tor
preferred treatment. He will, as he we'll
knows, lose his own ond the public's re-
specf.
When the name of any individual
oppeors upon Official police and court
Focords the rnotter in which that per-
scsf Is involved becomes news. No hon.
CT reoder, viewing the motter imPers-
on6lIy. could expect an editor to Dor
cmntter OF public record from his news
columns any more thon he could ex-
pect food-merchont to take certain
stoples down off his shelves simply be-
couse one or two customers didn't core
Tor them.
y newspaper sells news just as surely
a. 0smerchont sells food, q doctor proc
ti1Gs his profession or q pIosterer plies
hlEtrode. Publishers accept money for
o'seNice; q full service And the editor
Who bars Official proceedings Of inn
poFtonce from his columns is guilty OF
frnQd as surely as is the dishonest
Butcher who weighs his hand with
pound Of pork chops.
Particularly is this so in matters Of
oenerol public concern. Felonies are
not matters which con be hushed-up.
They are just as vitol as ore matters
pertaining to the public heotth or the
educational system.
When q friend of friend" coils
newspaper editor and osks him to give
sptcioI treatment to any individual, re-
o0Sdless Of his or her stotion, he is, in
simple words, asking that editor to be
diahonest He might just as we'll osk
HIN 10 rob q bank although under
sStondin0 newsnen we'll reoIize thot
4uthsupplionts do not reoIize the grow
itysof their requests 1t is so merely
beEnuse Of their unfomilority with the
newspaper business and the roze of
compton ond involvement which the
cofejess occeptonce Of editorial duties
leads to.
Wren lightning strikes the other feI-
low, on the other side Of the tracks, it
lis human noture not to feel too oreotly
concerned. When it strikes at home
thut IS quite onother motter The
stnrk rsoiify Of human problems seldom
hfpresses self-centered people until it
scoret,es themselves, their relatives or
tl1eir close friends. Then, quite sud-
6enN they ore prone to forget the de-
\ lUehed interest with which they hove.
!sSuy morY yeors, read Of other peoples
difficulties. The motter OF the moment
becomes oioontic in their minds, they
eeccme frequently moudlin in their de-
tenSe OF the accused and, all too fire.
S0ssontIx blone the newspaper which,
e6tlY "a their opinion -corries the
q - ecto1Is in their semi-hystericol
MT mind they frequently 90
~ % blorne the editor. They
pef fsspt he did not create the
3kce|y reported IT, The reol
Z ~ 70 the person Who pro-
i6enf upor which the story
3oct coswenientIy over
~ inly| y dishonest edi-
lpelS st1defs Of the
. ~ 49,