This somewhat cynical outburst brought down upon me an overwhelming
torrent of protest from Mr. Pulitzer.
"My God!" he cried, "I would not have believed it possible that any one
could show such a complete ignorance of American character, of the high
sense of duty which in the main animates American journalism, of the
foundations of integrity on which almost every successful paper in the
United States has been founded. You do not know what it costs me to try
and keep The World up to a high standard of accuracy--the money, the
time, the thought, the praise, the blame, the constant watchfulness.
"I do not say that The World never makes a mistake in its news column; I
wish I could say it. What I say is that there are not half a dozen
papers in the United States which tamper with the news, which publish
what they know to be false. But if I thought that I had done no better
than that I would be ashamed to own a paper. It is not enough to refrain
from publishing fake news, it is not enough to take ordinary care to
avoid the mistakes which arise from the ignorance, the carelessness, the
stupidity of one or more of the many men who handle the news before it
gets into print; you have got to do much more than that; you have got to
make every one connected with the paper--your editors, your reporters,
your correspondents, your rewrite men, your proof-readers--believe that
accuracy is to a newspaper what virtue is to a woman.
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