Author: Robert Wilson Neal

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-11

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 9781331166351

Excerpt from Editorials and Editorial-Writing The newspaper, it is widely believed, is merely a billboard on which the news of the day is displayed in flaring type. The figure is inadequate. In spite of many attempts, the newspaper never has succeeded in being simply a common carrier of news. The news itself is not a commodity, like soap, to be packed in cartons and standardized for sale. It is a matter of selection. Stevenson said he could make an Iliad of a daily newspaper by blotting. Extensive blotting already has been done in the production of the news. So much depends on the point of view. To be sure, a vast amount of news in standardized form is furnished by the press associations. But the individual side of the newspaper, the thing that distinguishes one newspaper from another in its presentation of news, determined by the standpoint. It may be the standpoint of the conservative, the progressive, the radical, the financier, the sporting man, the worker, the intellectual. On this depends the value and proportion accorded what we call news. In the second place publishers long ago discovered that their customers desired more than the tale of the day. They desired news of the stores, advertising, pictures, entertaining reading of every sort. And they desired interpretation and comment. A man from Mars might be surprised to find a carrier of news offering advice to its readers. Sometimes it does seem presumption to the editorial writer himself. The justification must be on the ground of noblesse oblige. Questions are constantly arising in which all of us are vitally interested. Primarily, we form our opinions on the basis of the news. James Parton once argued with Horace Greeley that the editorial is merely a man speaking to men, while news is Providence speaking to men. He was right. Nevertheless, under ordinary circumstances, we haven't time to investigate, and we life to form our opinions in the light of intelligent discussion. We may not agree with the editorial. But it formulates the arguments and helps us to see more clearly the two sides. The writer of the editorial may not be an expert or a genius. At least he is in the habit of thinking about public questions. He is presumed to have some gift for public affairs. He has more time to investigate and more sources of information than the average busy person. A daily medium meeting these requirements is not a billboard. It is essentially a personality. The headlines, the general arrangement of material, are merely an outward sign. They constitute the habiliments in which the personality is clothed. The dress may be flashy, loud, vulgar. It may be sedate, or lively, but in good taste. In general, the dress is an index to the personality behind it. In the long run, people take this newspaper rather than that because they prefer on the whole one type of personality rather than the other. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.