Probably a great many newspaper readers—and certainly...

Chicago (Ill.) Post

Probably a great many newspaper readers—and certainly the vast majority of those who are addicted to the reading of sensational newspapers—will be surprised to learn that in their reading they have a public duty to perform. Surprising though this may be, it is true; and its truth is shown clearly and strongly by President Arthur T. Hadley of Yale, who has contributed to The Youth's Companion (Nov. 5) a thoughtful article on "The Public Duty of Newspaper Readers."

President Hadley sees in the reading of a daily paper more than mere amusement, more than keeping in touch with current events. He sees in it the shaping, through the newspapers and by them through the government, of the future of the nation itself. For the papers are, after all, the most direct and effective way the people have of speaking to the men in whose hands they have entrusted the government of the country. It is of vital importance, then, that the papers speak always for the right and tell things as they are. And this the papers will do, declares President Hadley, if their readers demand it of them. This is his argument:—

"If we are to have responsible newspapers the reform must begin with the readers themselves. Most of the men who edit newspapers will give the people the kind of newspapers they want. There will, of course, be exceptionally good editors who will make their papers better than their readers demand and try to educate the people up to a higher level, ... but the average editor will work for the average reader. He cannot be any more independent of the man who buys his goods than the merchant or manufacturer can be. ... People sometimes talk of 'yellow journalism' as if the editors of the yellow journals were solely responsible for their existence. They are responsible to some degree; but to a still larger degree the responsibility lies with the public that will buy and read their news."

This is the duty of the reading public as President Hadley sees it:—

"In the first place, we can demand that the newspapers give facts rather than sensations. This is part of our public duty. Each one of us is given a share in governing the country because it is supposed that he will take an intelligent interest in facts which affect its management. If he reads his newspaper primarily for the sake of murders and prize-fights, and only looks at the columns of public news when they are made as much like reports of murders and prize-fights as possible, he fails to do his duty as a citizen. Here is an opportunity for young men to make the standards of the next generation better than those of the last."

There is, we believe, no exaggeration in this summing up of the duty of the public. More, we believe that the present is the time to undertake this labor. More and more are the more thoughtless falling under the sway of the "yellow press;" more and more are they coming to be swayed not by reason but by passion. It is a dangerous tendency, and the public should give its support to those editors who speak for sanity and purity, who strive always to tell the truth and to publish papers worthy of being read by Americans in the best meaning of that word.

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