And this
disdain of the professionals finds its counterpart in public opinions.
Universally it is admitted that the press is the chief means of
contact with the unseen environment. And practically everywhere it is
assumed that the press should do spontaneously for us what primitive
democracy imagined each of us could do spontaneously for himself, that
every day and twice a day it will present us with a true picture of
all the outer world in which we are interested.
2
This insistent and ancient belief that truth is not earned, but
inspired, revealed, supplied gratis, comes out very plainly in our
economic prejudices as readers of newspapers. We expect the newspaper
to serve us with truth however unprofitable the truth may be. For this
difficult and often dangerous service, which we recognize as
fundamental, we expected to pay until recently the smallest coin
turned out by the mint. We have accustomed ourselves now to paying two
and even three cents on weekdays, and on Sundays, for an illustrated
encyclopedia and vaudeville entertainment attached, we have screwed
ourselves up to paying a nickel or even a dime. Nobody thinks for a
moment that he ought to pay for his newspaper. He expects the
fountains of truth to bubble, but he enters into no contract, legal or
moral, involving any risk, cost or trouble to himself. He will pay a
nominal price when it suits him, will stop paying whenever it suits
him, will turn to another paper when that suits him.
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