Rarely is anyone but the interested party able to test the accuracy of
a report. If the news is local, and if there is competition, the
editor knows that he will probably hear from the man who thinks his
portrait unfair and inaccurate. But if the news is not local, the
corrective diminishes as the subject matter recedes into the distance.
The only people who can correct what they think is a false picture of
themselves printed in another city are members of groups well enough
organized to hire publicity men.
Now it is interesting to note that the general reader of a newspaper
has no standing in law if he thinks he is being misled by the news. It
is only the aggrieved party who can sue for slander or libel, and he
has to prove a material injury to himself. The law embodies the
tradition that general news is not a matter of common concern,
[Footnote: The reader will not mistake this as a plea for censorship.
It might, however, be a good thing if there were competent tribunals,
preferably not official ones, where charges of untruthfulness and
unfairness in the general news could be sifted. _Cf. Liberty and the
News,_ pp. 73-76. ] except as to matter which is vaguely described
as immoral or seditious.
But the body of the news, though unchecked as a whole by the
disinterested reader, consists of items about which some readers have
very definite preconceptions.
Pages:
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341