WORK OF AN EDITOR AND A JUDGE.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 85, 27 April 1937, Page 4

WORK OF AN EDITOR AND A JUDGE.

"The function of an editor has sometimes been compared to the function of a judge. But there is a deep and far-'reaching! distinetion, not to mention other differenees," wrote the Rt. Hon. Lord Hewart of Bury, Lord Chief Justice of England, in an article ' 1 The Faseination of Modern Journalism," in The News of the World recently^ "Whatever else a judge may have to do," he continued, ' ' he has not to decide what shall be the evidence. No small part of the responsibility of those who produce newspapers consists in the fact that they have it in their power to decide from time to time what shall be the relevant materials to be placed before tbe public. Certainly it is a formidable power to be able to determine, for example, whether a speech shall be reported or not. " One of the advantages, or disadvantages, Lord Hewart pointed ont, o£ controlling a newspaper, was that everybody knew or thought he knew exactly how the work ought to be done. "The number of a newspaper 's eritics is at least as large as the number of its readers." Lord Hewart wrote of the decliue of the leading article which, "though nofc yet dead, seems plainly to be dying." "Cone are the days when. at a small cost the intelligent elector could read, for example, in one newspaper three long leaders by men so different as .Sidney Low, S. H. Jeyes and H. D. Traill, or iq. another newspaper three long leaders by Herbert Paul, Andrew Lang, and Justin McCarthy. To-day for some reason or other the thing is simply not done, which may be sad for the public, or for leaderwriters, or for both." "But after all, ' ' he concluded, "the world is unfettered in its judgments, and, as the direct expression of opinion in newspapers becomes less and less important, the legitimate influenee of a fair and co.nscientious presentation of the news, dilligently collected and wisely [ controlled, may continuq usef ully; to grow." l