Show What Is a by Carl Majority U. S. House of Representatives TO THE A NEWSPAPER is a sometimes occasionally and often exciting To the the American public must present a As an element in our we view no single institution as more fundamental than the press in expressing the divergent views arising out of free and open more in the structuring of public or more faithful in the execution of its vast IN AN AGE OF POTENTIAL push-button annihilation when the repercussions of error can be we must be able to marshall the best thinking of the best minds and bring it to bear on the problem at The functioning of open democratic society demands an informed History is replete with decisions not made or made erroneously because the weight of public opinion was against a newspaper becomes the means of disseminating information factual information to serve as the basis for reasoned THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT a newspaper is committed to total What could be more appropriate in a free society than the expression of honest convictions strongly No man would deny a newspaper editor the citizen's privilege to form an opinion on the basis of the available facts and argue the wisdom of his Nor would any responsible editor deny the citizen's right of access to all the available presented without on which base his judgment MANY FACTORS EMERGE which affect the newspaper's basic function as a disseminator of The newspaper has a responsibility to the local community it This public service aspect is familiar to us all in announcements of community interest and local news and feature More is the service rendered by the newspaper which recognizes its influence on the public to stimulate the interest and arouse the concern of the average citizen In those issues which are broader than his private No concept is more germane to the success of democratic government than the proposition that every citizen shares the responsibility for his No institution performs a greater public service than preparing the citizen to fulfill this responsibility THE SUPPOSED INROADS of the in the areas of disseminating information and influencing public opinion have been the subject of considerable discussion in recent There is no doubt that radio and television have profoundly changed the habits of news-hungry On-the-spot coverage enables the listener and viewer to participate in the and by their very cannot compete with this speed in transmitting On the other the electronic media cannot compete with the newspapers in the depth of news coverage The permanency of the written word its availability for later close scrutiny and intensive study provide the opportunity to delve below the surface of the issue and probe the principles underlying A NEWSPAPER SUCCUMBS to the temptation to simplify issues in order to popularize it loses the advantage of the analytical and abdicates its responsibility for the That portion of the public interested only in a sketchy superficial reporting of circumstances can be satisfied by a five minute the man who seeks a solution through the logical sequence of sifting and theories demands the full presentation that only a newspaper can It is not beyond the realm of probability that the majority of newspaper readers desire facts plus both clearly It is not inconceivable that the majority are sophisticated enough to recognize the shades of as well as the black and of a given It is not implausible to challenge the old notion that sensationalism sells it is logical to view a newspaper as fulfilling the dual role of informant and FACED WITH TIIE DYNAMIC world in which we the concept of the newspaper and its role in our society cannot remain Used Irresponsibly or the power of the press can be a torch to raze our democratic structure and reduce to ashes our confidence In the ability of man to determine his used with responsibility and the power of the press can remain the cornerstone of our monument to |