The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1913. THE NEWSPAPER PRESS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8613, 26 December 1913, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1913. THE NEWSPAPER PRESS

A few wocks ago some of tlio principal British newspapers —notably the "Westminster Gazette” —gave prominence in their pages to a discussion as to tho character and ethics of the .modern newspaper ipress. Many of tho letters that wore written on this subject fell from .able pens, and most of tho opinions expressed were interesting, while some wore helpful. In the main, it may ho said that the press came very well through tho ordeal of examination, such as it was. Broadly speaking, tho British press is certainly of a high standard, both in tho Mother Country and throughout the Empire. There aro, of coux-so, exceptions, but liappily these only go to pi - ovo tho rule. Possibly few people thoroughly realise what a great and popular institution tho newspaper has become, and how completely it permeates society. Flow far it influences public opinion and policy it is, of course, open to none to say with any authority, but there is reasonable ground for .believing that the press does wield a large and important influence in shaping affairs of national import. This is done not only through the weight or value of editorial views clearly expressed and widely circulated, but also in the wide diffusion of information upon which readers are able to base a judgment, with or without the assistance of the editor in his wisdom. Tho newspapers act as a powerful searchlight. In this perhaps they give tho greatest public service, because tho existence of the übiquitous reporter and the knowledge that opinions and decisions will receive an immediate and wide publicity is calculated to have a vyholesome sobering effect upon men in public positions. Tho British press particularly plays an important part in tho dally life of the average man or woman. As the “New Witness” said recently:—“No day is considered complete some portion of which is not devoted to a perusal of tho newspaper. Tho newspaper, indeed, forms the sole intellectual pabulum of vast numbers of readers. It is the poor man’s encyclopaedia. There is no phase of life which the newspaper leaves 'untouched. It panders to the lowest instincts of a sensation-loving public, it soars into the high regions of divinity and philosophy, it discourses learnedly about science and art and literature, it gives racing ‘tips,’ it is a momentary microcosm of tho world. Wo accept the press os a mysterious power that works (quite literally) in the night. Of that vast army of labour without which no newspaper could ever ho delivered at our front door—that army of editors, sub-edi-tors, news editors, reporters, reviewers, compositors, readers, distributors, and a hundred others—we have no conception.” All over the world it is estimated that some sixty thousand newspapers are published every day, of which more than half are printed in the English language. Their combined circulations must bo something prodigious. When wo consider that all of these papers are conveying news, information, knowledge to the peoples of the world over three hundred times a year, and that most of them are at least endeavouring to advance certain particular phases or forms of policy upon their readers, most of them with more or less intelligence, many with considerable ability, and all with untiring persistency, it is possible to arrive at some conception of what a great institution the newspaper press is, and what are its possibilities in educating and influencing tho public mind. Fortunately, we are able to believe that tho power of tho press is generally operated wisely and in desirable directions. Tho constant disputation of party newspapers, when conducted, as is usual, on proper lines of reason and decorum, must enormously aid tho great reading public to reach a fair 1 understanding of political questions and subjects. The public must get a great deal of benefit from the clash of opinions, from the discussion of national—and of local —matters from various points of view, from the unending controversy that proceeds in the press—so long as it is free from personal animus and intentional misrepresentation. In the last generation tho invention and universal use of the linotype has worked a revolution in tho newspaper press. The cost of type-setting has been enormously diminished. If the proprietaries had pat that saving into their pockets and continued merely to produce newspapers -of the same volume as was given in the time of tho slow and expensive hand-setting, the world would not have benefited as it has done from the invention. But that, of course, was impossible, for if there is one thing that dominates tho press mor© than another it is tho spirit of enterprise, and consequently the first and inevitable result of the linotype was to swell tho size of tho newspaper, enormously increasing tho bulk of its reading matter and its consequent value to the public. Incidentally, of course, the importance of the newspaper as a business proposition was also enhanced. In these days of improved production, of cheapened telegraph and cable charges, tho modern press is really a wonderful product of science, skill, and enterprise. There is no phase of life that escapes its unremitting attention. It watches tho social barometer, advances sport, aids religion, promotes reform, and keeps a scrutinising eye upon public affairs, both great and small. It is gratifying to know that in tho discussion in England to which we have referred, while the views expressed by the various writers covered a wide range and differed considerably both in points and —shall we say ? adequacy of appreciation, the general consensus of opinion gave to tho newspapers a high and honourable place among tho great institutions that serve to educate the public mind and exercise powerful and useful influences.