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Show National Newspaper Week Opens With Messages from Govt Leaders The turbulance of international affairs is providing the background back-ground for National Newspaper Week, Oct. 1 to 8, which is probably prob-ably the most' important national "week" in the year's calendar. It is a time for editors to remind their readers that the community newspaper is serving freedom by being the voice of every citizen. That service which every newspaper renders goes on unceasingly during the 52 weeks of the year. In this week's issue of The Bulletin we take time out to talk about the role of the community newspaper and to reprint what some of our leaders have said on this same subject. Our sole purpose in devoting this space to National Newspaper Week is to remind you that this, and every community newspaper, exists to serve you and thus serve freedom. Without schools, the masses would be unable to read or to comprehend what appears in the press. But without newspapers, the education of our people would end with formal schooling, and the fundamentals of the arts and sciences learned in the schoolroom school-room would grow, rusty from non-use. The "book learning" gained in the school-room is constantly put to use, made practical by its application to current events, through the columns of the newspaper. Moreover, the press la the principal educational influence for the greatest portion of an individual's life during the entire adulthood. History proves that control of the press is one of the first objectives of a dictator. We are protecting our representative form of government and our precept of universal education when we protect the right of the press to publish the truth and to keep its columns open for a free expression of public opinion. "Serving Freedom by Serving You" Understanding the role of the newspaper in our society, we realize that it is no hollow boast ifor the press to claim; it is "serv--ing freedom' by serving you." We see that the power of the press is actually the power of the people the people speaking through the medium of the press. We see that the press is vital to our system of universal education because newspapers are the principal prin-cipal source of information for our adult poulation. We see that . the newspaper must remain a private enterprise to protect the rights of the individual. It is for good reason that American newspapers have been closely identified with "our democratic way of life." In truth, no other American institution has come closer to being the embodiment embodi-ment of democracy. |
