Chairman: But that is a difficult self-control.
Mr. Lawson: Yes, I think so. To err is human, to print the news is the natural impulse of newspaper people, but we do recognize—I know all newspapers recognize—a very definite responsibility that, in so far as it lies within a reasonable discretion and a reasonable ability to act, they must consider always the general public interest in any grave matter. I think Mr. —— struck a very important interpretative status when he said he didn't like to have the designation of the race in any respect used as an expression of ridicule. Of course, that goes without saying. No newspaper that is wise, let alone a newspaper that is fair, will deliberately inflict derision on any class of its readers. It is a foolish thing to do aside from anything else, and anything that would seem to suggest a deliberate intent to bring the Negro race into derision, every man in the room would resent and properly. But I think, as I said before, that at times a purpose of derision is imagined when there hasn't been any. I think that is true and I don't think that it is surprising. If I were a member of a race that was fighting its way all the time toward a square deal and a fair show, I presume I'd be supersensitive about some things.
Herald-Examiner.—The Herald-Examiner's principal handling of the race issue has been through the presentation of news items. The term of designation employed is "Negro." On several occasions the Herald-Examiner has made commendable effort to show in its columns that a friendly spirit exists between the two races. Most notable of these efforts was the picture of whites and Negroes fraternizing in an effort to restore order immediately after the "Abyssinian affair," in which two white persons were killed and several Negroes, including a Negro policeman, were injured. Some of its editorials on the Negro question were headed:
Negro Education
Education the Best Solvent for the Negro Problem (Based on the Report of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States)
Disloyalty and Lynching
East St. Louis Massacres Have Not Been Properly Published. A Gulf Separates Governor Lowden's Denunciation of the Riot and the Treatment Accorded Slayers
The Black Man Stood Pat
On the Loyalty of Negroes
No "Patriotic" Mobs
A Condemnation of Mob Violence in Illinois
On the other hand, some of the most emphasized misrepresentations of Negroes have appeared in the Herald-Examiner, as, for example, the story of the "Negro revolt,"[90] and various riot articles.
Chicago Tribune.—The Chicago Tribune stated its policy of handling Negro news to be one of "fair dealing and recognition of the difficulties." The managing editor stated that the Tribune used dialect in cases of kindly human-interest stories, refrained from the use of terms like "darky," "coon," "Negroes," etc., and employed the term Negro, capitalizing the N. The last practice was begun at the instance of Negro leaders. During the threatened race riot the Tribune sought the aid of leading Negro newspapers in Chicago. There were no definite instructions regarding the handling of Negro news matter. The difficulties in race relations recognized by the editors of the Tribune are to be found in the following editorials:
White and Black in Chicago