Page:History of American Journalism.djvu/442

402 Isaac Deforest White, head of the Legal Department of The World, was placed in charge of the Bureau. He then sent to the various correspondents of The World the following declaration of policy:

"The World aims to be accurate. It aims to be fair and just to every person who reads it and to every person whose name it prints.

Accuracy and fair play are inseparable in journalism. Inaccuracy often means injury to innocent persons. A newspaper's influence is measured by the number of people who read it AND BELIEVE IN IT.

The words "accuracy and fair play" sum up the law of libel. If what is published is true and fair, the writer need not worry about the libel law, civil or criminal."

All complaints about inaccuracy of news items or about unjust treatment of persons mentioned in the columns are promptly turned over to this Bureau, which makes a careful investigation to determine whether there is any foundation for the complaint, and if so, where the responsibility lies. During the first year of its establishment, two hundred and sixty-two complaints were sustained and one hundred and sixty-four corrections were published in the newspaper.

A more liberal policy in the matter of making corrections or offering apologies, adopted by newspapers all over the country, marked the passing of the so-called infallibility of the press. Even such a conscientious editor as Samuel Bowles, of The Republican, of Springfield, Massachusetts, always hesitated to make corrections in his paper. The story is told that a man whose death had been recorded in The Republican appeared before the editor and demanded a correction. Upon being told the policy of the paper, he exclaimed, "But I am not dead, as you can see." To this the editor replied, "We cannot print a correction, but as your case demands some attention, we will bring you back to life by putting your name in the birth column." Whether this story be fact or fiction, it recorded an attitude taken by many newspaper publishers before the Period of Social Readjustment.

Not only did many papers establish complaint departments, but a number adopted the policy of submitting, before publication, any item reflecting on a man's character to the man him-