Page:The Washington Newspaper volume 6.djvu/8

 sational ; fearless, but fair ; accurate as far as human effort can obtain accuracy ; striving ever to gain and impart information ; as bright as possible, but never sacrificing solid information for brilliancy; looking for the uplifting rather than the depraving things of life.

We should work to have the word " reliable " stamped all over every page of the paper.

them yo The place to commence this is with the staff members : First getting men and women of character to do the writing and editing, and then training them in our way of thinking and handling news and other reading matter.

Nothing here is intended as a reflection on the present staff or the paper we have been getting out. We have a good staff, and a good paper ; the aim is to improve both as much as possible.

CORRECT ERRORS CHEERFULLY

If you make an error, you have two duties to perform - one to the person misrepresented and one to your reading public. Never leave the reader of The News misinformed on anv subject. If you wrongfully infer that a man has done something which he did not do, or has said something he did not say, you do him an injustice, -that's one. But you also do thous ands of readers an injustice, leaving them misinformed as to the character of the man dealt with. Correction should never be given grudgingly. Always make them cheerfully, fully, and in larger type than the error, if any difference.

If a reporter gets drunk, the people do not say there goes so -and - so, calling him by name. They say, there goes a News reporter. That reflects on the entire staff. That robs the paper of a certain amount of its standing, of a certain amount of its reputation for reliability. No one has confidence in the work of a drunken Anyone on the editorial staff who gets drunk once or who wilfully prints a misstatement of any kind should not be retained on the staff a minute.

The American people want to know , to learn, to get information. To quote a writer, " Your opinion is worth no more than your information." Give vour information and let them draw their own conclusions. Comment should be more along the line of enlightening by well -marshalled facts, and by telling the readers what relation an act of today has to an act of yesterday. Let them come to their cwn conclusions, as far as possible.

No issue is worth advocating that is not strong enough to withstand all the facts that the opposition can throw against it. Our readers should be well informed on both sides of every issue.

Kindly, helpful suggestions will often direct officials in the right where nagging will make them stay stubbornly on the wrong side. That does not mean that there should be any lack of diligence in watching for, and opposition to, intentional crooks.

HAVE A STRONG STAFF

A staff can be good and strong only by having every part of it strong. The moment it becomes evident that a man, either by force of circumstances or because of his own character, does not fit into our organization, you do him a kindness and do justice to the paper by letting him know, so he can go to a calling in which he can succeed, and he will not be in the way of filling the place with a competent man.

Make the paper good all the way