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Show CRITICISING REPORTERS. Every time a public official makes vigorous, unrestrained and repeated assertions to the offect that the reporters arc not treating liim right, and then proceeds to roast the newswriters to the extent of his invective vocabulary, the situation is worth investigating if for nothing more than the interesting phase of it, says the Butte Miner. Criticism of reporters does not come from any one particular officeholder, but often from several of tlicni, and usually the criticism crit-icism comes from officials whose official acts, arc in process of public scrutiny. That the news accounts published in a nowspaper by no means indicate its policy always should be understood. A newspaper's function is to recount the eventsltof the day in cvory department. f" Reporters are supposed to get the facts, and if ,facts are distorted dis-torted by them no individual could be half so desirous of finding out the truth of the matter and seeing that no more such distorting of facts occur than the newspaper itself. A reporter's life, while one of much interest, diversity, variety, possibilities, and, often, strenuosity, isn't exactly akin to strolling along a rose-lined pathway. A reporter represents all the readers of his paper. Thero is great responsibility on him. IBs reports arc read by thousands. Officials and reporters should work in harmony, and when official offi-cial actions are told of in the newspapers, personal invective against the newswriters won't prevent the publication of the official actions an' more than it will intimidate. It's always easy enough to blame the reporter, but if a littlo more thouglit were given as to how official actions might appear to the community, officials would not be so prone to take such action as in print does not redound to their best credit. |