Page:History of American Journalism.djvu/476



delphia store. A conference with the store was sufficient with- out publication to bring about nearly all the changes originally desired. To the unbiased critic it may seem as though the news- paper went out of its own local news field in going to Philadel- phia to make the investigation, but The Evening Post has ever had a high standard regarding its duty to the public.

George Creel, who was appointed by President Wilson chair- man of the Committee on Public Information, in a magazine article published in January, 1917, brought against the press of New York the serious and specific charge that the department stores "can exercise an absolute censorship whenevei they choose to do so." His general conclusion "The same condi- tion exists in every city large enough to have department stores" may be dismissed without further discussion because made without any proof to substantiate the generalization. His charge against the newspapers of New York, however, deserves careful consideration because it seemed to be supported by evi- dence based on the fact that New York papers refused to insert a political advertisement attacking the owner of the second store used for illustration. The article clearly implied that the rejec- tion of the advertisement was due to a fear that the owner of the store might withdraw his advertising. Mr. Creel, however, failed to explain why The New York Times rejected the advertisement in view of the fact that the store did not advertise in The Times and was therefore without a club to swing at the paper. The in- sertion of the rejected advertisement a copy of which lies before the present writer would make any newspaper subject to a suit for libel. Any man running for public office must assume that his life is going to be open to attack from all points, in order that voters may be properly informed to pass upon his quali- fications for office. Quite a different condition obtains in at- tacks made upon a man not before people for election to office. The New York papers in general and The New York Times in particular have refused thousands of dollars worth of advertising where the copy consisted of scurrilous attacks upon character.

For years critics asserted that the most positive proof that the department stores controlled the policies of New York papers was found in the fact that the greatest news story lying around