7/28/23 – – The Detroit News, one of two major daily newspapers serving the Motor City, is celebrating its 150th anniversary. As part of the paper’s sesquicentennial, News editors revisited the guidance presented in the first edition of “The Style Book of the Detroit News,” printed in 1918.
Reading the guide’s first section, “The Aim of The Detroit News,” reveals how far contemporary news outlets have strayed from the journalistic standards considered bedrock principles 100 years ago. Here’s what then editor-in-chief A.L. Weeks wanted his staff and reporters to uphold:
The Detroit News should be:
- Vigorous, but not vicious.
- Interesting, but not sensational.
- Fearless, but fair.
- Accurate as far as human effort can obtain accuracy.
- Striving ever to gain and impart information.
- As bright as possible, but never sacrificing solid information for brilliancy.
- Looking for the uplifting rather than the depraved things of life.
We should work to have the word RELIABLE stamped on every page of the paper.
Wow, how times have changed. I don’t know about you, but uplifting, fair, accurate and reliable are not the words I would use to describe today’s news coverage. Scan the front page of any paper or digital news platform, watch any cable news channel, and you’ll find that vicious, sensational, and focused on brilliancy and depravity are much closer to the truth.
And try to square the following advice with what you’re reading or hearing about global warming, Hunter Biden, Donald Trump or the Barbie movie:
The hardest lesson the journalist must learn is the development of the impersonal viewpoint. He must learn to write what he sees and hears, clearly and accurately, with never a tinge of bias . . . The ideal reporter would be a man who could give the public facts about his bitterest enemy even though such facts would make the man he personally hated a hero before the public.
I’m sure even a century ago these professional rules were not always followed. Throughout American history, even our most respected newspapers have made mistakes, embraced scandal and taken sides politically. Today, for example, The Detroit News, founded in 1873 by James Edmund Scripps, offers readers a conservative/libertarian point of view, balancing the liberal leanings of The Detroit Free Press, first published in 1831.
(Interestingly, since 1987 both the News and Free Press have been published under a “joint operating agreement” sharing business functions like sales, advertising and distribution, while maintaining separate editorial staffs.)
As laudable as A. L. Weeks’ century-old guidance may be, elements of the “Style Book” are politically incorrect by today’s standards. Consider this warning to the all-male editorial staff:
Time heals all things but a woman’s damaged reputation. Be careful and cautious and fair and decent in dealing with any man’s reputation, but be doubly so—and then some—when a woman’s name is at stake.
Commenting about the “Style Book” in a message to subscribers, the current editor and publisher of The News, Gary Miles, emphasized that, “In a world in which anyone can publish anything using a phone in their pockets, what sets us apart — we hope — is our history of credibility, which we must work to maintain in every story every day.” He points to one example of A.L. Weeks’ wisdom in particular that has survived the test of time:
The most valuable asset of any paper is its reputation for telling the truth; the only way to have that reputation is to tell the truth.
What a refreshing concept for today’s publishers and journalists to rediscover and take to heart.
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