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Show j THE HONEST COUNTRY NEWSPAPER B One of last month's magazines has 1 an article which all should read who B editor read newspapers. It Is cntl- Bf cd "Is an honest newspaper possl- l' blcV" It is written by a New York 1 editor who knows what ho Is talking f about and handles his subject with- Hl, out gloves. He starts with the fact H ', that the paper alone of the penny H 1 newspaper costs six mills and conse- H quently the average newspaper has to H depend on its advertising to make It H t pay. In order to get the advertising H It must be popular and if It wants to M ' be popular, may it tell the truth? H I Such Is the problem, even more dim- H ( cult for the country newspaper to set- B jf tie than for the city sheet. City pa- H pcrs address a large Indefinite public, H ' the Individuals of which are only In a B , smalt degice acquainted with each H other. On the other hand the coun- H try paper Is read by the inhabitants B of one valley, of several villages located H i near each other, or of one over-grown H country town. They all know each 1. other so well that they foun practi- H' cally one large family. Each member H' of this family takes a keen interest in I local ulTalrs, thinks the paper cannot H ( run without his subscription, and de- H mands that his own personal opinion B ( be catered to. It Is much easier to H cater to the public opinion ot the j mass In a city than to the varied per- H ! sonalltlcsof a country district. It Is H also much easier to tell the truth to a city audience than to a country one. - The lormcr has received many hard H j knocks In life, reallz.es that there may Hi be another point of view than' his own Hfc and usually issublimely Indifferent to Hl what the newspaper thinks of It. The H country reader, however, Is quick to Hr imagine that he, himself, has received H" a personal Insult, or else one of his H family, and he is eager for vengance. H When country readers arc told that H. the melodrama Is not the highest form Bj. of dramatic literature, that gum- K j chewing is found usually only among Hc i the vulgar and that Ella Wheeler Wll- H4 3 cox has no literary value, they resent B I ' It bitterly while city readers, unless H7 ft H;, l unusually thoughtful, pay no atten- H tlon to such statments. Wc have re- Bj cently had an Instance in Logan where H J an editor's frank honest criticism of H. I j a man's singing aroused the wrath of H', i a large clasB of people. In the city It V i would have passed unnoticed, Thus Bf the indllTerencc and size of tho public i make It possible for the city editor to H speak more freely and truly than his K-' country colleague. As regards poll- H I tics ttiesame holds Kood. The best city Hf papers are now independent but the H: country paper must remain strongly B j partisan as the country subscriber Is H'i t still In the majority of cases a greater B- lover of party than principle. Tho Bi-' day is far distant when the country Bi newspaper may tall the whole truth tas Its editor sees it, but with the city newspaper there Is already a begin ningof freedom of speech. |