The Brass Check: A Study of American JournalismSinclair, Upton
General
The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism
Sinclair, Upton
Associated Press; Journalism -- United States; Press -- United States
And if the advertisers censor the general ideas, needless to say they
censor news about themselves. Henry Siegel owned a department-store in
New York; his wife divorced him, and nothing about it appeared in the
New York papers—that is, not until after the department-store failed!
Our great metropolitan dailies are, as you know, strong protectors of
the sanctity of the home; you saw how they treated Upton Sinclair, when
he got tied up in the divorce-courts; you saw how they treated Gorky and
Herron. But how about the late C. W. Post, of “Postum” fame, when he
decided to divorce his wife and marry his stenographer? Hardly a line in
the newspapers throughout the country!
I have told how the Philadelphia newspapers suppressed the suicide of
one of the Gimbel brothers. This same firm has a store in Milwaukee, and
I have before me a letter from the District Attorney of Milwaukee
County, setting forth what happened when the vice-president of this firm
was indicted for bribing an alderman:
Representatives of Gimbel Brothers requested, as I am credibly
informed, the newspapers in which their commercial advertisements
appeared to suppress the facts connected with the proceedings of Mr.
Hamburger’s trial. With two exceptions, so insignificant as to justify
their being entirely ignored, the English press did so. The five daily
English newspapers published no account whatever of the trial, which
occupied about one week and disclosed sensational matter which would
have undoubtedly been published broadcast in an ordinary case. Some of
these papers printed a very brief notice at the time the case was
called, stating this fact, but not all of them did even this much....
It was shown that all the books of account of the Gimbel Brothers,
together with their correspondence and legal documents pertaining to
the transaction in connection with which the bribery was alleged were
burned under the direction of the defendant immediately after it was
brought to his attention that the grand jury which indicted him was in
session and about to investigate this case. This destruction of the
books and documents occurred within the period of the statute of
limitation, and less than three years after some of the entries had
been made in them. The only explanation for this singular proceeding
given by defendant or his business associates was that they lacked
room in their vault and found it necessary to do away with papers,
books and documents which they felt they could dispense with. I
mention this particular line of evidence because I am satisfied that
if such a showing had been made in an ordinary case of bribery the
facts disclosed would have been given the widest publicity by the
daily press. That the proceedings of this trial were suppressed by the
English papers of this city for commercial reasons which appealed to
their advertising department is unquestioned. Every newspaper man of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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