CHAPTER XIV
THE FUNCTION OF THE NEWSPAPER
The Newspaper Worker and His Work. Any
discussion of newspaper writing and editing would be
incomplete if it did not consider the function of the
newspaper and the relation of the newspaper worker
to that function. In this presentation of methods of
newspaper making the object has been to explain and
to exemplify current practices in journalism rather than
to discuss the ultimate purpose and results of such
methods. It is evident, however, that unless the reporter
and the editor, consciously or unconsciously, set up for
themselves ideals based on their conception of the function
of the newspaper, they have no standards by which
to measure the character of their work. Merely to accept
existing methods without analyzing them to determine
their results, is to overlook their underlying
purpose. Not until a reporter or an editor realizes the
effect that his news story or his headline produces
upon the opinions, and hence upon the lives, of the
thousands of persons who read it, does he appreciate
the full significance of his work. Ideals and standards
for any kind of work appeal much more strongly to the
average worker when he knows the ultimate effect of
what he is doing.
The Newspaper and the Community. Like all other undertakings, public and private, newspaper making tends to conform to the current ideals and tastes of the community. As far as it is a private business enterprise, it is influenced by the conditions and the
