Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1929. POWER OF THE PRESS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16908, 23 March 1929, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1929. POWER OF THE PRESS

The present day power of the press is not ordinarily realised; and it is perhaps realised least by those who blindly accept their opinions therefrom. It may be that with one part of his mind the enlightened citizen of today reads his hews with a critical eye, but he knows quite well at the same time that the news is sifted, sorted and Selected berore it comes Under his eye at all, and he knows also that, generally speaking, the first comment on the news of the day is the one that makes the strongest impression on his mind. When it is beaten down to hard fact, the truth is that the average render chooses his newspaper in accordance with his own views and tastes. That is to say, lie likes the journal that supplies him with what he regards as the right point of- view. The press, therefore, despite modern independence of thought, still plays an important part in the formation and in the guidance of public opinion; and therein lies its grave responsibility. The economic law r that supply creates demand is as true of the ideas promulgated by a newspaper as it is of any other kind of production. It is not true to say, for example, that arykind of insistent general demand on the part of the public created the yellow press. On the contrary, sensational journalism created the market for itself, well knowing that, in .Shakespeare’s phrase, a certain type of appetite “grows- by what it feeds ou.“ fii an exactly similar way —and this is of vital importance at a time when the world is seeking some means other than war for the determination of international differences of opinion —the creation of public sentiment regarding war and peace is a function that- belongs' in a peculiar way to tin* press.' The general public lias been taught, even in the case of many of its responsible journals, to expect news with a “kick".in it, that is attractively displayed, well phrased, neatly printed and easily rend. The newspaper's temptation, therefore, is very great; for, almost every day, there are items of news concerning other countries being flashed along the cables, which items, if cooked, dressed, seasoned and served up, can easily he made to titillate the public taste in a manner litt.lo calculated to make for the comity of nations. But —if we may enlarge on the homely metaphor—it is not the highly seasoned disli that is best for health, and “plain living and high thinking" is as sound a motto for the public as for any individual; and one might venture to say that a good deal of mental dyspepsia amongst the masses of the people to-day is due to their constant habit of dining not wisely but too well on the tit bits served up by a purely commercial press. It is significant that as the result of present world conditions, fho status and influence of the press are being discussed more frequently and more fuliy

than ever before by almost all the organisations that have world peace as their aim, as well as by journalists and editors of international repute. Thus Mr. ,T. A. Spender, whose long experience and whose fine work entitle him to be heard with respect,, pleads for “a more carfuel study, both by politicians and by journalists, of the consequences of setting the press in motion.” Speaking of the causes of international friction he says: “Let us, if we can, extend the range of our observations beyond the suejects called political, which arc too often a pretext for recriminations, and endeavor to present to our readers a human and kindly picture of the various countries and their ways of life.” And again, M. Georges Lechartier, the eminent French journalist and editor of the Journal dcs Debats, has recently published an article on the international role of the press, the following sentences from which help to sum up the situation and to correct the perspective with regard to the functions of the press in international affairs. “Having always in view that the object or present day journalism is not to incite war but to strengthen peace, the press will refrain from easy or unjustined attacks against other nations, from mean disparagements, from wounding sarcasms, in brief, from everything which might hurt vanity, awake anger or call forth that violence of words which precedes the violence of action. .... Little by little, with the co-operation of the press, it should be possible to develop among all nations that international spirit in which is to be sought the only true source and final guarantee of peace in the world.” It is not unique in history that a quarrel has arisen out of “the sliaue of the meaning of a. word,” and it. will always remain true that words may be deep-wound-ing swords. Jt will be understood at once that, the responsibility of the press is re-doubled when two nations speak a common tongue. A common language must be most carefully used when one country makes its comments upon the actions of the other. While it is quite true that many of the Americanisms are as remote from pure English as is Hindu and Hanskrist, there still remains the common denominator, which is the English language. That common quality constitutes the danger, and the language must be carefully handled by those responsible for guiding public opinion. In this regard, so rar as Anglo-American relations are concerned, much has been given to the press of influence and power; from it, therefore, much is required of it in the way of restrained and reasonable comment.