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<v Speaker 1>Chapter twenty two of Public Opinion by Walter Littman. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the

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<v Speaker 1>public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit

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<v Speaker 1>LibriVox dot org. Recorded by the Progressing America Project. Public Opinion,

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter twenty two. The constant reader. The loyalty of the

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<v Speaker 1>buying public to a newspaper is not stipulated in any bond.

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<v Speaker 1>In almost every other enterprise, the person who expects to

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<v Speaker 1>be served enters into an agreement that controls his passing whims.

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<v Speaker 1>At least he pays for what he obtains. In the

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<v Speaker 1>publishing of periodicals, the nearest approach to an agreement for

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<v Speaker 1>a definite time is the paid subscription, and that is not,

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<v Speaker 1>I believe, a great factor in the economy of a

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<v Speaker 1>metropolitan daily. The reader is the soul and the daily

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<v Speaker 1>judge of his loyalty, and there can be no suit

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<v Speaker 1>against him for breach of promise or non support. Though

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<v Speaker 1>everything turns on the constancy of the reader, there does

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<v Speaker 1>not exist even a vague tradition to call that fact

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<v Speaker 1>to the reader's mind. His constancy depends on how he

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<v Speaker 1>happens to feel, or on his habits, and these depend

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<v Speaker 1>not simply on the quality of the news, but more

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<v Speaker 1>often on a number of obscure elements that, in our

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<v Speaker 1>casual relation to the press we hardly take the trouble

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<v Speaker 1>to make conscious. The most important of these is that

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<v Speaker 1>each of us tends to judge a newspaper, if we

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<v Speaker 1>judge it at all, by its treatment of that part

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<v Speaker 1>of the news in which we feel ourselves involved. The

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<v Speaker 1>newspaper deals with a multitude of events beyond our experience,

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<v Speaker 1>and by its handling of those events, we most frequently

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<v Speaker 1>decide to like it or dislike it, to trust it,

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<v Speaker 1>or refuse to have the sheet in the house. If

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<v Speaker 1>the newspaper gives a satisfactory account of that which we

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<v Speaker 1>think we know our business, our church, our party, it

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<v Speaker 1>is fairly certain to be immune from violent criticism by us.

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<v Speaker 1>What better criterion does the man at the breakfast table

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<v Speaker 1>possess than that the newspaper version checks up with his

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<v Speaker 1>own opinion. Therefore, most men tend to hold the newspaper

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<v Speaker 1>most strictly accountable in their capacity, not of general readers,

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<v Speaker 1>but of special pleaders on matters of their own experience.

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<v Speaker 1>Rarely is anyone but the interested party able to test

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<v Speaker 1>the accuracy of a report. If the news is local,

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<v Speaker 1>and if there is competition, the editor knows that he

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<v Speaker 1>will probably hear from the man who thinks his portrait

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<v Speaker 1>unfair and inaccurate. But if the news is not local,

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<v Speaker 1>the corrective diminishes as the subject matter recedes into the distance.

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<v Speaker 1>The only people who can correct what they think is

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<v Speaker 1>a false picture of themselves printed in another city are

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<v Speaker 1>members of groups well enough organized to hire publicitymen. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>it is interesting to note that the general reader of

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<v Speaker 1>a newspaper has no standing in law if he thinks

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<v Speaker 1>he is being misled by the news. It is only

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<v Speaker 1>the aggrieved party who can sue for slander or libel,

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<v Speaker 1>and he has to prove a material injury to himself.

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<v Speaker 1>The law embodies the tradition that general news is not

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<v Speaker 1>a matter of common concern. Footnote the reader will not

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<v Speaker 1>mistake this as a plea for censorship. It might, however,

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<v Speaker 1>be a good thing, if there were competent tribunals, preferably

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<v Speaker 1>not official ones, where charges of untruthfulness and unfairness in

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<v Speaker 1>the general news could be sifted. See Liberty in the News,

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<v Speaker 1>pages seventy three through seventy six, except as to matter

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<v Speaker 1>which is vaguely described as immoral or seditious. But the

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<v Speaker 1>body of the news, though unchecked as a whole by

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<v Speaker 1>the disinterested reader, consists of items about which some readers

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<v Speaker 1>have very definite preconceptions. Those items are the data of

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<v Speaker 1>his judgment, and news which men read without this personal

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<v Speaker 1>criterion they judge by some other standard than their standard

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<v Speaker 1>of accuracy. They are dealing here with a subject matter which,

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<v Speaker 1>to them is indistinguishable from fiction. The canon of truth

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<v Speaker 1>cannot be applied. They do not boggle over such news

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<v Speaker 1>if it conforms to their stereotypes, and they continue to

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<v Speaker 1>read it if it interests them footnote note for example,

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<v Speaker 1>how absent is indignation in mister Upton Sinclair against socialist papers,

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<v Speaker 1>even those which are as malignantly unfair to employers as

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<v Speaker 1>certain of the papers cited by him are unfair to radicals.

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<v Speaker 1>There are newspapers, even in large cities, edited on the

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<v Speaker 1>principle that the readers wish to read about themselves. The

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<v Speaker 1>theory is that if enough people see their own names

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<v Speaker 1>in the paper, often enough can read about their weddings, funerals, sociables,

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<v Speaker 1>foreign travels, local meetings, school prizes, their fiftieth birthdays, their

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<v Speaker 1>sixtieth birthdays, their silver weddings, their outings, and clam bakes.

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<v Speaker 1>They will make a reliable circulation. The classic formula for

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<v Speaker 1>such a newspaper is contained in a letter written by

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<v Speaker 1>Horace Greeley on April third, eighteen sixty, to friend Fletcher,

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<v Speaker 1>who was about to start a country newspaper. Footnote cite

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<v Speaker 1>James Melvin Lee, The History of American Journalism, page four

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<v Speaker 1>O five. Quote. Begin with a clear conception that the

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<v Speaker 1>subject of deepest interest to an average human being is himself.

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<v Speaker 1>Next to that, he is most concerned about his neighbors.

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<v Speaker 1>Asia and the Tongo Islands stand a long way after these.

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<v Speaker 1>In his regard. Do not let a new church be organized,

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<v Speaker 1>or new members be added to one already existing, a

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<v Speaker 1>farm be sold, a new house raised, a mill set

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<v Speaker 1>in motion, a store opened, nor anything of interest to

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<v Speaker 1>a dozen families occur without having the fact duly, though briefly,

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<v Speaker 1>chronicled in your columns. If a farmer cuts a big tree,

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<v Speaker 1>or grows a mammoth beet, or harvests a bounteous yield

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<v Speaker 1>of wheat or corn, set forth the fact as concisely

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<v Speaker 1>and unexceptionally as possible. End quote the function of becoming,

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<v Speaker 1>as mister Lee puts it, quote the printed dairy of

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<v Speaker 1>the home town end quote is one that every newspaper,

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<v Speaker 1>no matter where it is published, must in some measure fill,

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<v Speaker 1>And where as in a great city like New York

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<v Speaker 1>the general newspapers circulated broadcast cannot fill it, there exist

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<v Speaker 1>small newspapers published on Greeley's pattern for sections of the city.

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<v Speaker 1>In the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, there are

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps twice as many local dailies as there are general

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<v Speaker 1>newspapers footnote see John L. Gibbon Making a Newspaper, Page thirteen.

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<v Speaker 1>And they are supplemented by all kinds of special publications

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<v Speaker 1>for trades, religions, nationalities. These diaries are published for people

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<v Speaker 1>who find their own lives interesting, but there are also

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<v Speaker 1>great numbers of people who find their own lives dull

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<v Speaker 1>and wish, like Hedda Gabler, to live a more thrilling life.

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<v Speaker 1>For them, there are published a few whole newspapers and

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<v Speaker 1>sections of others devoted to the personal lives of a

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<v Speaker 1>set of imaginary people, with whose gorgeous vices the reader can,

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<v Speaker 1>in his fancy safely identify himself. Mister Hurst's unflagging in

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<v Speaker 1>interest in high society caters to people who never hope

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<v Speaker 1>to be in high society, and yet manage to derive

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<v Speaker 1>some enhancement out of the vague feeling that they are

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<v Speaker 1>part of the life that they read about. In the

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<v Speaker 1>great cities, the printed diary of the home town tends

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<v Speaker 1>to be the printed diary of a smart set. And

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<v Speaker 1>it is, as we have already noted, the dailies of

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<v Speaker 1>the cities which carry the burden of bringing distant news

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<v Speaker 1>to the private citizen. But it is not primarily their

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<v Speaker 1>political and social news which holds the circulation. The interest

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<v Speaker 1>in that is intermittent, and few publishers can bank on

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<v Speaker 1>it alone. The newspaper therefore takes to itself a variety

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<v Speaker 1>of other features, all primarily designed to hold a body

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<v Speaker 1>of readers together, who, so far as big news is concerned,

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<v Speaker 1>are not able to be critical. Moreover, in big news,

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<v Speaker 1>the competition in any one community is not very serious.

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<v Speaker 1>The press services standardize the main events. It is only

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<v Speaker 1>once in a while that a great scoop is made.

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<v Speaker 1>There is apparently not a very great reading public for

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<v Speaker 1>such massive reporting, as has made the New York Times

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<v Speaker 1>of recent years indispensable to men of all shades of opinion.

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<v Speaker 1>In order to differentiate themselves and collect the steady public,

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<v Speaker 1>most papers have to go outside the field of general news.

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<v Speaker 1>They go to the dazzling levels of society, to scandal

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<v Speaker 1>in crime, to sports pictures, actresses, advice to the lovelorn

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<v Speaker 1>high school notes, women's pages, buyer's pages, cooking receipts, chess, whist, gardening,

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<v Speaker 1>comic strips. Thundering partisanship. Not because publishers and editors are

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<v Speaker 1>interested in everything but news, but because they have to

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<v Speaker 1>find some way of holding on to that alleged host

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<v Speaker 1>of passionately interested readers who are supposed by some critics

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<v Speaker 1>of the press to be clamoring for the truth and

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<v Speaker 1>nothing but the truth. The newspaper editor occupies a strange position.

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<v Speaker 1>His enterprises depend upon indirect taxation levied by his advertisers

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<v Speaker 1>upon his readers. The patronage of the advertisers depends upon

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<v Speaker 1>the editor's skill in holding together an effective group of customers.

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<v Speaker 1>These customers deliver judgment according to their private experiences and

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<v Speaker 1>their stereotyped expectations for in the nature of things they

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<v Speaker 1>have no independent knowledge of most news they read. If

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<v Speaker 1>the judgment is not unfavorable. The editor is at least

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<v Speaker 1>within range of a circulation that pays. But in order

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<v Speaker 1>to secure that circulation he cannot rely wholly upon news

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<v Speaker 1>of the greater environment. He handles that as interestingly as

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<v Speaker 1>he can, of course, but the quality of the general news,

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<v Speaker 1>especially about public affairs, is not in itself sufficient to

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<v Speaker 1>cause very large numbers of readers to discriminate among the dailies.

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<v Speaker 1>This somewhat left handed relationship between newspapers and public information

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<v Speaker 1>is reflected in the salaries of newspaper men. Reporting, which

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<v Speaker 1>theoretically constitutes the foundation of the whole institution, is the

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<v Speaker 1>most poorly paid branch of newspaper work, and is the

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<v Speaker 1>least regarded by and large able men go into it

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<v Speaker 1>only by necessity or for experience, and with the definite

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<v Speaker 1>intention of being graduated as soon as possible. For straight

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<v Speaker 1>reporting is not a career that offers many great rewards.

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<v Speaker 1>The rewards in journalism go to specialty work, to sign

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<v Speaker 1>correspondence which has editorial quality, to executives, and to men

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<v Speaker 1>with a knack and flavor of their own. This is

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<v Speaker 1>due no doubt to what economists call the rent of ability.

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<v Speaker 1>But this economic principle operates with such peculiar violence in

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<v Speaker 1>journalism that news gathering does not attract to itself anything

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<v Speaker 1>like the number of trained, enable men, which its public

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<v Speaker 1>importance would seem to demand. The fact that the able

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<v Speaker 1>men take up straight reporting with the intention of leaving

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<v Speaker 1>it as soon as possible, is, I think the chief

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<v Speaker 1>reason why it has never developed in sufficient measure those

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<v Speaker 1>corporate traditions that give to a profession prestige and a

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<v Speaker 1>jealous self respect. For it is these corporate traditions which

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<v Speaker 1>engender the pride of craft, which tend to raise the

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<v Speaker 1>standards of admission, punish breaches of the code, and give

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<v Speaker 1>men the strength to insist upon their status in society.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet all this does not go to the root of

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<v Speaker 1>the matter. For while the economics of journalism is such

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<v Speaker 1>as to depress the value of news reporting, it is

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<v Speaker 1>i am certain, a false determinism which would abandon the

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<v Speaker 1>analysis of that point. The intrinsic power of the reporter

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<v Speaker 1>appears to be so great. The number of very able

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<v Speaker 1>men who pass through reporting is so large, that there

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<v Speaker 1>must be some deeper reason why, comparatively speaking, so little

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<v Speaker 1>serious effort has gone into raising the vocation to the level,

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<v Speaker 1>say of medicine, engineering, or law. Mister Upton Sinclair speaks

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<v Speaker 1>for a large body of opinion in America. Footnote. Mister

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<v Speaker 1>Hillair Belloch makes practically the same analysis for English newspapers

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<v Speaker 1>see the Free Press when he claims that in what

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<v Speaker 1>he calls the brass check, he has found this deeper

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<v Speaker 1>reason quote The brass check is found in your pay

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<v Speaker 1>envelope every week, you who write and print and distribute

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<v Speaker 1>our newspapers and magazines. The brass check is the price

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<v Speaker 1>of your shame. You who take the fair body of

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<v Speaker 1>truth and sell it in the market place, who betray

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<v Speaker 1>the virgin hopes of mankind into the loathesome brothel of

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<v Speaker 1>big business. End quote footnote Upton Sinclair, The brass Check.

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<v Speaker 1>A study of American journalism, page one sixteen. It would

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<v Speaker 1>seem from this that there exists a body of known

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<v Speaker 1>truth and a set of well founded hopes, which are

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<v Speaker 1>prostituted by a more or less conscious conspiracy of the

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<v Speaker 1>rich owners of newspapers. If this theory is correct, then

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<v Speaker 1>a certain conclusion follows. It is that the fair body

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<v Speaker 1>of truth would be inviolate in a press not any

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<v Speaker 1>way connected with big business. For if it should happen

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<v Speaker 1>that a press not controlled by and not even friendly with,

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<v Speaker 1>big business, somehow fail to contain the fair body of truth,

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<v Speaker 1>something would be wrong with mister Sinclair's theory. There is

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<v Speaker 1>such a press strange to say in proposing a remedy,

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<v Speaker 1>mister Sinclair does not advise his readers to subscribe to

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<v Speaker 1>the nearest radical newspaper. Why not? If the troubles of

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<v Speaker 1>American journalism go back to the brass check of big business?

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<v Speaker 1>Why does not the remedy lie in reading the papers

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<v Speaker 1>that do not in any remote way except the brass check.

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<v Speaker 1>Why subsidize a national news with a large board of

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<v Speaker 1>directors of all creeds or causes to print a paper

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<v Speaker 1>full of facts regardless of what is injured, the Steel

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<v Speaker 1>Trust or the International Workers of the World, the Standard

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<v Speaker 1>Oil Company, or the Socialist Party. If the trouble is

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<v Speaker 1>big business, that is, the Steel Trust, Standard Oil and

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<v Speaker 1>the like, why not urge everybody to read the International

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<v Speaker 1>Workers of the World or socialist papers. Mister Sinclair does

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<v Speaker 1>not say why not, But the reason is simple. He

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<v Speaker 1>cannot convince anybody, not even himself that the anti capitalist

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<v Speaker 1>press is the remedy for the capitalist press. He ignores

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<v Speaker 1>the anti capitalist press both in his theory of the

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<v Speaker 1>brass check and in his constructive proposal. But if you

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<v Speaker 1>are diagnosing American journalism, you cannot ignore it. If what

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<v Speaker 1>you care about is the fair body of truth, you

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<v Speaker 1>do not commit the gross logical error of assembling all

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<v Speaker 1>the instances of unfairness and lying you can find in

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<v Speaker 1>one set of newspapers, ignore all the instances you could

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<v Speaker 1>easily find in another set, and then assign as the

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<v Speaker 1>cause of the lying, the one supposedly common characteristic of

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<v Speaker 1>the press to what you have confined your investigation. If

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<v Speaker 1>you are going to blame capitalism for all the faults

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<v Speaker 1>of the press, you are compelled to prove that those

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<v Speaker 1>faults do not exist except where capitalism controls that. Mister

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<v Speaker 1>Sinclair cannot do. This is shown by the fact that,

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<v Speaker 1>while in his diagnosis he traces everything to capitalism, in

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<v Speaker 1>him prescription he ignores both capitalism and anti capitalism. One

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<v Speaker 1>would have supposed that the inability to take any non

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<v Speaker 1>capitalist paper as a model of truthfulness and competence would

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<v Speaker 1>have caused mister Sinclair and those who agree with him

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<v Speaker 1>to look somewhat more critically at their assumptions. They would

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<v Speaker 1>have asked themselves, for example, where is the fair body

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<v Speaker 1>of truth that big business prostitutes, but anti big business

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<v Speaker 1>does not seem to obtain? For that question leads, I believe,

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<v Speaker 1>to the heart of the matter, to the question of

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<v Speaker 1>what is news? End of Chapter twenty two.