The advertising departments of the American newspaper, with few exceptions, differ from the advertising departments of all reputable magazines, in that the newspaper proprietors take no responsibility for the character of the advertisements. The magazines reject all advertisements that the managers know to be fraudulent. The newspapers do not reject them. Let the reader draw his own conclusions as to the trustworthiness of his daily paper as a business institution and a purveyor of the truth. When we have a generation of Americans who understand the business dishonesty of the newspaper and what it implies about the character of the news and the editorials, the newspapers will be better in all departments. Meanwhile, all our writing about the low quality of our daily press will have little effect. In the matter of journalistic honesty in the news and editorial departments, let us understand this: With few exceptions, American newspapers are so irresponsible that no unsupported statement appearing in them is to be counted on as the truth or as a fair expression of what the men in the editorial offices believe to be the truth. Of course, much of every daily paper is true, because the proprietors have no motive in most cases for telling anything untrue. In order to give some weight to these opinions I may say that for a number of years I was an exchange editor and read newspapers from all parts of America. Also, for a number of years I acted as private secretary to a distinguished person whose name is often in the newspapers, and whose position is such that no editor can have any motive, except the desire to print a “story,” for connecting the name with any untrue idea. From a collection of fifty clippings made from American newspapers in a period of two years I find over thirty that are mainly incorrect and contain ideas invented at the reporter’s or the editor’s desk; more than ten that are entire fabrications; and five that are not only untrue, but damaging to the peace of mind of the subject and other interested persons. And under all this is not a touch of malice, for toward that person the entire press and public are friendly. Imagine the lies that are told about a person to whom the editors (or, rather, the owners) are indifferent or unfriendly!