MODERN JOURNALISM

Hokitika Guardian, 26 July 1932, Page 8

MODERN JOURNALISM

VIEWS OF AMERICAN lAMB ASSAD OR LONDON, June .17. Mr Andrew W. Mellon, the n©w American Ambassabor, was entertained ,at luncheon by the London District;, of the Jnst.tute of Journalists. All's Amelia Putnam (the airwomen who flew the Atlantic). was : also a,n, honoured guest.: Mr Mellon, in responding to the toast, in his honour, spoke of journalism as ; ibis to-day & . ’ , It the -Prcs6j,jhe said, on which they must depend, to a very great extent at least, in building up a tolerant and informed public, opinion, based on a knowledge of the world conditions as they actually existed. The Press was qualified to do. this as was no .other agency, and was free of the handicaps which attended to most sources, of public Information. - . A’rp

The question ■ .was often liaised; as to i whether the power of the Trees was as great to-day as it wts a generation or ;so ;; ago. Then the most'bsirixessfu! , newspapers were dominated by brilliant and forceful 'editors, and .were read largely because of theopinions which they expressed,-A To-day; the real power- of 'the Press consisted -in the scope, accuracy, and (significance .of the news which it furnished to its readers ; and while the modern newspaper was written' as brilliantly as over with i regard to both editorials and news, it' depended for its influence not on 1 a single dominating personality but on 'the .excellence of its organisation .and ills ability to furnist news that held •the interest of its readers. The', growtn of population and the whole, trend of modern life had made such a development inevitable.

Journalism, had been obliged'to combine with advertising and from this bad come some not unmixed blessings iin the form of'excessive publicity and •sensationalism. Both were to be- deIplored when they emphasised' the trivial at the expense of the significant, and especially when they accenuated the minor dramas of private lives, out of all proportion to their real importance ■ins news. These things one must recognise—and yet it seemed unqihestion.able that, taking the evil With the good the public had benefited from the new .developments ,in journalism. A'b -'dd News to-day was more comprehen-, jsive in scope, was better written, and covered a j greater variety of' subjects than ever before, so that for • the-first .time the average man was able to grasp tlie whole world within his imagination and to feel an'interest in places where he night never go and people who he might never see. “He can know of .happenings throughout the world on the very day and almost the very hour' that they have taken place. Any event of major importance' that-giiip> • the imagination, such as an aeroplane flight of .this charming and courageous young .woman, ' Mi's ( Putnam — (cheers)—who has dropped in upon uS from the air from across the Atlantic, can thrill the whole world, so that, fhr the moment -at least,- a’,l of us 'have something in common and can think and feel as a unit.’’ (Cheers.) ' .'

He urged that all energies, including the Prs'-s, with its great influence on moral and public opinion must be based in a constructive effort if we were to c junto-balance the -forces : ,of evil And disintegration y and restore again the economic health of the world. (Cheers.)