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219 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1942)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0219 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD THE American newspaper is at one and the same time a business enterprise and an agency of mass communication vested with quasi-public functions. It is, ac- cordingly, doubly sensitive to the economic, political, and social environment in which it is published. The history of the newspaper in recent years might well be written in terms of the problems of adjustment that confront publishers and editors, and many factors are involved, ranging from the influence of mechanical inventions on the one hand to profound changes in social habits and social organi- zation on the other. The present issue of THE ANNALS makes no attempt to dis- cuss in a thoroughly comprehensive manner the nature of the changes that are occurring to the newspapers of the United States, or the causes of them. Rather, the intention here is to select from among many changes, and the related problems, a few that seem to have particular significance. The newspaper has sometimes been likened to a searchlight that is focused upon selected current events, making some of these stand out from the darker background representing the entire field of con- temporary happenings. By similar analogy, this symposium may be said to repre- sent a focusing upon selected problems within the field of journalism, thus bringing into sharp relief some considerations that warrant attention on the part of those who are seeking to understand the way in which the modern newspaper functions. Particularly, it is hoped, these articles will make the reader conscious that what he calls the newspaper is in fact a vast number of newspapers scattered from coast to coast-some small, some large, some vigorous, some moribund, some vital, some passive. While the influences of large metropolitan centers are strong, the American newspaper must not be thought of primarily in terms of a few outstanding big-city publications. Rather it is a functioning institution composed of a great variety of separate units. There is scarcely a social agency nowadays more subject to critical discussion, pro and con, than the newspaper. The literature is full of charges and counter charges. With these, per se, this volume is not concerned. What is important is that there should be a general understanding of the fact that the modern newspaper is an indispensable source of those attitudes and values that constitute the public mind of the Nation. There is deeper truth than ever before in Jefferson's statement: Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without news- papers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. The perpetuation of a democratic way of life must rest on the perpetuation of free institutions for the dissemination of the information out of which ideas and values are formed. The newspaper is one such institution. What, therefore, can be more important at the present time than an understanding by citi- zens of this agency that plays so important a role in their social thinking? And how better come to such an understanding than by considering some of the problems that confront those who make our newspapers? Some of the contributions included in this volume are essentially factual in the sense that they deal with figures and measurable data; others represent points of view that have been forged out of years of experience. Taken together they should stimulate balanced thinking with respect to the role the newspaper is playing in the contemporary scene, and give to the reader a new perspective. The emphasis here is not so much on what should be, but rather upon what is. Unfortunately, too much talk has been given to the former, and by people who are not well grounded vii

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