The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1899. PRESS REPORTING.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9839, 4 September 1899, Page 2

The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1899. PRESS REPORTING.

The hunger of tho public for news is insatiable; tho reporter whose duty it is to provido reading matter to satisfy it must be indefatigable and almost übiquitous to keep pace with tho demand and cater for the endless variety of tastes. There is ono class of readers — we trust a very small one — that loves to gloat over the minutest detail ot an unsavoury Police Court case. No matter how trivial tho charge, no matter how inconclusive tho evidence, no matter Whose good name may be besmirched, or what undeserved reproach may be cast upon the innocent, lot thero bo but the slightest taint of indecency, and there are some who eagerly cravo for the fullest possible report. Is it tho duty of the Press to pander to this depraved taste for indecent literature? Wo answer unhesitatingly, No ' Our morning contemporary treated its readers on Saturday to a verbatim report, extending over a column and a half, of a charge of alleged indecent assault, which occupied the Magistrate's Court on Friday last — reading matter which few parents would caro to be perused by their sons aud daughters. Whatevr exaggerated rumours may have boon current, it is absurd to contend that the cjso wna one of great public interest, mid it is manifestly unfair to the accused that the whole of the evidence culled for Uio prosecution should be published a week before (he evidence for the defence can bo heard. We presume that it waH in tho interest of public morality that it was decided to hear the ease in camera, yefc our contemporary, the champion of purity and prohibition, reports the caso us fully as if it were a first-class sensational trial for murder. A few prurientminded boys and girls like thib sort of thing, no doubt find it livelier than "Round the Churches," but most newspaper readers prefer cleaner and more wholesomo literary fare. It is the right — nay, more, the duty — of tho Press to report fairly aud impartially all items of current nows which are of public interest, nnd that without fear or favour; at tho same time the responsible editor of a newspaper is expected to exerciso somo discretion as to the degree of prominence to bo allotted to various topics of news. To report a commonplaco Police Court case with all tho minuteness which is usually reserved for great sensational trials is not the duty of the Press. Had the eloment of indeconcy been eliminated, the enso would havo either been ignored altogether or elso dismissed in a. paragraph of a few lines. Surely good taste might have suggested the condensation of a report, the publication of i\hich can serve no good purpose, whilst it. must cause needless pain and humiliation to the accused and his family, and that whilst the Cflfle is still sub iudico. In these days newspapers find their way into overy houschould, arc read (dike by old aud young, and it is therefore all tho more important that anything that is offensive to good morals or that is suggestive of impurity to tho youthful reader should be rigidly excluded. It would bo improper for us to comment/ upon the merits of tho case at its present stago; wo can only invite our renders to suspend their judgment until npxl Friday, when the Magistrate will givo his decision, and not allow themselves lo bo misled into thinking that there must be something very wrong because of the great iinportanco given to it by our contemporary. One of tho incidental disadvantages of tho unnecessary publicity given to these charges of indecency, so easily made and bo difficult sometimes to refute, is that out worthy Probation Officer will find it more and more difficult to find homes for the unfortunate children who, having broken tho law, aro, on account of their youth and it being their first offence, dealt with leniently. Who will he likely to run the. risk of finding a homo for any of tho little waifs and strays bo long as tho Press does not even wait for a caso to bo completed before gjving the widest publicity to a charge which, at first sight, appears to be "unaccountable."