NEWSPAPER INACCURACIES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 135, 26 September 1876, Page 3

NEWSPAPER INACCURACIES.

Some people have an idea that newspapers wit! lie. Others are so wise that' they will only believe- « newspaper report when thev think it wostM by mairr f»rthe paper to tall the tntth th-.n ■,% fu>. Others think it the evidence of Hashing wit to reject with a derisive laugh any evidence for authority which comes from " the paper." To such an extent has this thoughtless judgment of the Press been carried that much of its sphere of usefulness ha* been circ■„! inscribed. It is true there must be some occasion for this widespread impression—" there must be some tire where there is such a smoke;" yet how many men can show a record for correctness. accuracy, and truthfulness, that wilt at onew compare with the average newspapers I The editor gathers his news from a thousand sources, from acquaintances and strangers, from letters and papers. He sifts and culls, hunts and details, and endeavors to get "the straight" of every story he publishes, for it goes to the world over his own name, and he knows that in a great measure he will be responsible. The private individual hea.s a piece of gossip, listens carelessly, tells it to another with equal carelessness, and if called upon for details, in nine ten cannot give enough of them to make an intelligent item for a paper. " Writing makes an exact man," says Lord Bacon. The newsEper verifies the truth of the statement. t anyone who doubts this sit down and pot on paper some? pieces of gossip, with the purpose of having it printed over his own name, and he will see in a moment how little he know* about a matter he thought himself familiar with. And he wiM wonder, not that the newspaper should contain occasional inaccuracies and misstatements, but that it contains so few. And h's wonder will wonderfully increase when he remembers that the editor has to depend for much'of what he publishes on the common run of mankind.