The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1956-09-29
Detroit Editor
Defines News
BY ROYCE HOWES
Associate Editor, Detroit
free Press

Associate Editor, Detroit
free Press
Winner 1855 Pulitzer Prize
for Editorial Writing
October / through 8 has been
aside as National Newspaper
Week.
It's purpose is to focus your
attention on an institution
in whose operation you have
a vastly greater ham, than
perhaps you've ever realized.
It is also an appropriate time
to call your attention to IN
effort to deprive you Of that
hand.
The institution is your
newspaper daily, weekly or
whatever.
Let's begin by dismantling
that term newspaper. It means
paper, which, after due pro-
ceSsing, comes to you covered
with news. Paper is a self
evident, tangible thing. There
is no disagreement as to what
1t is. But what Of news? 1t is
far less self-evident and dece-
ptlvely intangible.
News, an fact, is all things
to all men, What it is depends
on who is defining it.
And i is your definition, not
the editors, which matters.
The paper stays in business
If it does a competent job of
fulfilling your definition of
news. If it devotes itself just
to the editors conception of
news, it soon fails.
When a newspaper may
speaks Of his news judgement
he doeSr T. mean his ability to
determine what really counts
Under some mysterious pro-
cess of selection. He means.
instead, his ability to sur
mise what you will consider
news. How good he is and
how successful the paper is
depends on how unerringly he
can make that surmise.
All readers won't agree that
some paticular item is news,
naturally, but the editor must
meet each readers definition
often enough so that every
reader will feet he's getting
his moneys worth when he
buys the paper.
That is where and how you
have such a very big hand
in determining what goes into
it.
Now as to the effort to take
this function away from you.
1t lies in a growing effclt by
people, who are neither edi-
tors nor representatives of the
readers, to decide ARBITRARILY
which facts shall be printed =
Uitout reference to what any
individual might consider
news.
These people are the cen.
sor-minded. They appear il
government and in pressure
groups. They include those
who try to conduct govern.
nent behind closed doors anc
in secret places. They are al
those who would take ava,
free access to informatio.
which the citizen, with hi
individual right to say wha
is news, is entitled to have.
What battles and Illustrate
the editor in the face If thi
is an attitude he not infrequ
emily encounters among thos
who are being cheated of tn
right to decide for themSelve
what news Is. When he talk
about freedom of information
he often hears that what h,
really means is some unde
fined special privilege of hi
own. He is complaining, he
told, because his vanity
hurt.
What he rails against i
nothing Of the kind. His pro
tests concern something h
was never vain enough to do
That is, insist on decidin
what news is without refer
ence to what those who hi
the news consider it to be.
National Newspaper w Elk
purpose will be served if you
the reader, pause to contem
plate the big part you pla
in printing new and whethe
you are willing tt have tina
part taken away from you.
sure way to lose it is to rea