Sensational Press and Crime
By Editor
Common sense, it seems to the ordinary man, would indicate that the surest way to entrap a criminal would be to say as little as possible about the men who were on his trail, their movements, clues, etc. But our enterprising dailies tell us in wearisome detail and monotonous repetition of every detective, sheriff, chief of police, and lawyer engaged in the work of hunting down the multiple-dyed criminals who wrecked the Los Angeles Times plant and murdered a score of men. Of course, we are told that the detectives are keeping much to themselves, but it clearly seems that they are telling too much. In the case of two noted train wreckers a few years ago, it was learned that the news in the daily papers gave them daily warning of the whereabouts of their pursuers. The policy of the daily press seems to be to keep the public excited and so sell their productions. The same is true in the case of an awful crime committed in the murder of a girl recently come to light in San Francisco. The unwholesome mess dished up each morning does not make for the moral health of their avidious readers.