ated Press or any other news-gathering agency could be “ bought” by a capitalist is as unthinkable as the converse , — that a capi talist could be bought by any press organization . The implication in the charge that the Associated Press is
" capitalistic ” may also be understood as meaning that its selec tion and presentation of the news are influenced by so -called “ big business.” If it is true that the great mass of its members
are primarily interested in “ big business," then it is the news concerning it that is reported . In all selection of news, the ulti mate decision in regard to that selection is made by the members of the Associated Press , not by the persons or interests wishing
to be selected. Whatever the decision made it must meet the wishes of the members and in turn the wishes of the readers of the newspapers represented in the Associated Press. If the news that is selected and presented is favorable to “ big business ,” it is because the great mass of readers all over the country are interested in that subject, not because “ big business ” has chosen to be reported to the exclusion of other interests. But that these interests have the right of way is not evident. No daily paper of
general scope could survive a month if its news concerned only a limited element in society. The newspaper holds the interest of the public largely because of the variety of the news it pre sents , because the news is selected from every quarter of the
globe, because the appeal it makes to its readers is universal.15 It is sometimes charged that the Associated Press suppresses the news.16 To this charge the somewhat blunt reply has been 15 This was recognized in the announcement made by the New York World that it had added the Manchester Guardian 's entire news service to the work of its own bureaus and staff correspondents abroad . — The World ,
May 28, 1921.
16 E . A . Ross, “ The Suppression of Important News,” Atlantic Month
ly, March, 1910, 105: 303–311; Editorial, “ In Justice to the ' A . P .!," Collier's Weekly, June 6, 1914; An Observer, " The Problems of the Associ ated Press," Atlantic Monthly, July , 1914 , 114 : 132– 137 . A conclusive reply to these charges was given by M . E . Stone in a letter
to Collier's Weekly and published by it in its issue of July 11, 1914 , and in a letter, under date of August 1, 1914 , to the Atlantic Monthly , but apparently not published by it . The letter was subsequently included in the volume
edited by W . G . Bleyer, The Profession of Journalism , pp. 124 - 132.
This
volume was published by the Atlantic Monthly Press in 1918 .
The example of " suppression of the news” most frequently cited is that of the West Virginia coal strike in 1909; the Associated Press was charged with suppressing the facts, and that in consequence the public did not
