been that of licensing reporters.51 This plan has not as yet re ceived the unqualified support of the press itself, but from the point of view of the student of history it has much to commend
it. He believes that the newspaper man needs not only an instinct for news, but such previous training as will enable him to sift his material, to weigh evidence, and not to accept at its face value every statement made, deterred from doing so only by fear of libel suits . The license is now everywhere required in the interests
of the physical health and well-being of the public and its exten sion to cover other fields of danger would to many persons seem
most desirable. If one great source of error is found to lie in the
work of the local reporter, if the newspaper-reading public naturally reasons that if so many errors are made in regard to matters that are familiar, an even greater number must be made
in regard to subjects more remote and unfamiliar, it would seem to follow that greater confidence in the general reliability of the
press would be secured by the guarantee afforded by a license.
A variant of the license has been the suggestion of an entrance examination to be demanded of all persons before going into journalism . Inasmuch as similar examinations are demanded by
other professions this seems not unreasonable.52 If the press gains a reputation for inaccuracy through the
carelessness of reporters, it also suffers from the lack of positive
knowledge on the part of many of its members. In the fields of music and art, the drama and literature , sports and athletics, markets and finance , the work of reporting and of criticism is done on the large dailies by persons who have the technical
knowledge demanded by these subjects. Reporters now have considerable training in politics and in court matters and there 51 This has been ably supported by Barratt O 'Hara in " A State License for Newspaper Men,” M . Thorpe, ed., The Coming Newspaper , pp. 148 – 161.
Percy S . Bullen describes “ The English Substitute for the License Plan," Ib ., pp. 162– 170. The object, however, of the Institute of Journalists of Great Britain has been the professional advancement and improvement of its members, — “ to accomplish for (the) profession what the American bar societies have accomplished for lawyers and themedical councils for doctors,” - rather than the end suggested by the license plan .
52 The State Editorial Association of Pennsylvania has urged the adoption of this plan and it was considered by the Canadian Press Association at its annual meeting in Toronto , 1914. — Talcott Williams, New York Tribune,
October 9, 1915.
