Monk at Inflatable Dartboard caught a surprising little tidbit that must seem quite quaint to anyone working in the corporate media these days. Thanks to Spiiderweb for the link on his sidebar:
Eugene Meyer had a vision of what makes a newspaper truly great, and that vision included serving the public according to seven principles. He offered them in a speech on March 5, 1935 and published them on his newspaper’s front page.The first mission of a newspaper is to tell the truth as nearly as the truth can be ascertained.The newspaper shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world.
As a disseminator of news, the paper shall observe the decencies that are obligatory upon a private gentleman.
What it prints shall be fit reading for the young as well as the old.
The newspaper’s duty is to its readers and to the public at large, and not to the private interests of its owners.
In the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such a course be necessary for the public good.
The newspaper shall not be the ally of any special interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.
Not sure this was ever true, but it has the ring of truth. I'm sure Tammany Hall wasn't covered objectively or it would not have flourished as it did, but the public does need true reporting or they can't make informed decisions.
Thanx for the callout.
Posted by: spiiderweb on February 17, 2006 12:00 PMYes, you do have a point, but it's still enjoyable to remember a time when the biggest problem a President faced was how best to convince a nation of pacifists to let him go fight a necessary oveseas war as opposed to our current state: how easy it is for a President to convince a gullible war mongering nation to let him go fight an unnecessary war.
Posted by: Buck on February 17, 2006 1:18 PMNo doubt that's what old Eugene thought he was up to, all right. But actually he and his son-in-law, Phil Graham, ran a mediocre paper that only came to life after both men were dead and Ben Bradleee became its editor. When I worked there (pre-Bradlee) it was clearly second in quality to the old Evening Star. Largely because of Herblock, the Post had the name of being liberal. In fact it was cautious,establishmentarian, middle-of-the road in most respects, a fervent backer of the war in Vietnam, and particularly fawning in its coverage of Kennedy.
Posted by: Jerry Doolittle on February 17, 2006 10:12 PM