CHAPTER II
THE NEWSPAPER AS A PERSONALITY “ They were passing through the Strand as they talked , and by a newspaper office , which was all lighted up and bright. Reporters were coming out of the place, or pushing up to it in cabs; there were lamps burning in the editors ' rooms, and above where the compositors were
at work : the windows of the building were in a blaze of gas.
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“ 'Look at that, Pen ,' Warrington said . " There she is — the great
engineshe never sleeps. She has her ambassadors in every quarter of the world — her couriers upon every road . Her officers march along with armies, and her envoys walk into statesmen 's cabinets. They are
ubiquitous. Yonder journal has an agent at this minute, giving bribes at Madrid ; and another inspecting the price of potatoes in Covent Garden. Look ! here comes the Foreign Express galloping in . They will be able to give news to Downing Street to -morrow : funds will rise or fall, fortunes be made or lost; Lord B . will get up , and, holding the paper in his hand, and seeing the noble Marquis in his place, will make a great speech ; and - and Mr. Doolan will be called away from his
supper at the Back Kitchen ; for he is foreign sub - editor, and sees the mail on the newspaper sheet before he goes to his own.' ” — Thackeray.
The authoritativeness of the press as historical material is to a large degree determined by its personality. If " personality ” is a
baffling, elusive term defying definition when applied to an indi vidual, it may seem equally so when applied to a newspaper. Yet many characteristics easily recognizable enter into the personality of a newspaper and these often determine in large
measure its reliability and its consequent importance from the historian 's point of view . The historian must recognize and understand the personality of every periodical he uses, for only through this understanding can he appreciate the value and the limitations of the newspaper as historical material.
The most obvious elements that disclose the personality of a newspaper are its external features. These often predispose its readers in its favor or prejudice them against it, and under normal conditions weigh for or against it when its authoritativeness is tested." Its external dress, like that of an individual, determines · Newspapers printed on wrapping paper or on the back of wall-paper when printing paper can not be obtained because the town where they
