gturday, July 12, 1958 The Guardian Page 11

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new; ’ .

I‘l‘f‘ Laréiei‘EEEiSFeVégv/ns‘lgfi iii/ill sto’p’ne’cklng over by the

copyldeskand lithe other TV and ‘movie “newshawks” ' will fade out of th-e'waynnaybewe Can consider what neWso

papermen are tea’lly like...

. ' ' Forhonestly,'the.peop‘le who put out your newspapers, 1 aren'tiliko the fictiohal characters at all. Or" at least, not ;

I very much. I I The "typical" newspaperman? There's ‘no such animal

‘— at least not the fictionalvariety: press card in hat-band. .

blonds suspect on arm.

A newspaper. afterall, is a iiving part of the community. ’ ‘

-.And in the same way, the men who put out your news-

paperare, asindividuals, representative oftheircommun- _ V

lty. A more complete melting pot would be hard to find. i Toronto neWspapermen have included Rhodes scholars '- and men who never finished high school. The son of one

of Canada's richest men. a and people whose families

Were ‘on relief two decades ago.

lnthesingle newsroom where l workare sonsofministers, .

the son of a high Schoolprincipal, the son of a uniformed policeman. the childrenof aservice station operator, a farmer, a Northern'Ontario hotel-keeper.

.‘At one time or another, various. us have been a teacher, a fisherman, a hospital orderly, a law student. a drill press operator, a shipyard worker. . »

Four men are officers in the teserve services. One re- porter is an officer of his parish’s Holy Name society, another is an usherin his Anglican church. Most have fam- ilies — one has 12 children, othersihave adopted sons and daughters. There are members‘of ratepayers’ groups and

. of home and school clubs. devout church-goers and ag- ' nostics, menwho think they are intellectuals and men who

are arid meh who don't want to be,“characters" and soberg ‘

sides, the odd drunk anda great many teetotallers _. .5

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The “typical” newspaperman is simply a member of society. And because society ismade up of allkinds of

7 people, it “takes allkihdé’bto put out a newspaper. But if, ' ‘ . g in priVate, newspapermen differ in interests and view-

points, they share certain common feelings and ideas. .. One is curiosity. People in general are interested in other people and in the world in which we live. As veteran reporter Greg Clark commented recently in a television in- terview: “To write an interesting story, the reporter must be interested." Most newspapermen are interested in the same things in which their neighbors are interested... ‘ . There'stherealization. intuitive or conscious, that the ‘newspaperman is really the representative of his readers. A reporter who was a cub a decade ago remembers the words of a veteran: “Maybe you, were attractedby the

,‘glamor' of thisjob.Well, you may get to talk to important people, go to exciting places. But remember, the pre- «-

mier isn’t really talking to you, you don't getinto the press

' box because it’s-"you. _ . t,

“He talks to you, and you're there,. becausekof the , thousands of readers‘who-can't be there themselves.‘ '... There’sgthe pride ofhis craft,conceived 'by most news-

' papermen to bethat of ‘informingpthei presentation of

news fairly, so the, reader can judge fairly. ACanadian

reporter remembers covering the trial, in a small Missis- ‘ . ’

sip'pi town, of two southern whites accused of murdering a 14-year-old Chicago Negro. The atmosphere was racially inflamed. in conversation, off-duty. the'reporter for a small southern daily revealed himself to be, person- allyha “moderate segregationist." But,-in a region where white Citizens' Councils reign, his accounts of the trial

were models of factual reporting. At theCanadian news- . V

paperman's compliment, the southern reporter looked surprised, said; ‘fWhy, that‘s myjob.". . . '

lohn Bren! Is a spec/ails! In the field of . politics, and a loading feature writer. Many people regard his coverage of the U.$. RacV segregation crisis to be an outstanding ‘oxample of factual, unbiased reporting.

From The Toronto Star

human was: in a Qatari; right} the public to be inform“

There's the beliefthat the freedom to criticize is healthy;

/ Recently I was talking to an exchange student from a - , Mediterranean country, now attending a.U.S. university. I ’ ‘

Ill-rive been startléd,” he said, “by freedom, Of

North American press. The things the. press has said.

about the racket failure — i don’t know whether they, should be alloiNed.” is he right -: or are we better served by a press which can cite'examples likew. L. Mackenzie.

100 years ago, Writing of a political opponent that he had -

some good points and ."would‘even be'a'reformer "it

paid well enough," down to the famous pipeline debate. .

when newspapers regard less ofparty feelings could stand

Iglonprinciple? _ ~ i Random thoughts, expressed fumblingly,‘ as news-'

papermen usuallyfumble when talking of their profession.

I ‘ Wrapped 'up, what is the reason a newSpaperman takes ' pride in his profession as a means to help further the ends

of the community? Perhaps because the press makes

operative the/public's right to know. 4 - ‘

The-New York Times phrased it this way in a recent

editorial: "The test of freedom of the press is not of, ' 'course wholly one of freedom to publish facts. Even ‘ more important is freedom to criticize. ,Finally, we cannot- , too often remind ourselves that freedom of the press is not intended for the convenience of those who: publish ' ,newsp‘apers. control'radio or television stationsror in

[other ways disseminate news and ideas. Freedom of the press is for the public. the whole public, and it is inex- tricably connected with all the otherfreedoms."Nomattr’ what his paper. the newspaperman says Amen.

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,T‘ORONTO STAR

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