Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 - 1918), Friday 11 June 1886, page 1


What a Newspaper Is, The newspaper of to-day is a library. It is an encyclopaedia, a poem, a biography, a history, a prophecy, a directory, a time-table, a romance, a cook-book, a guide, a horoscope, an art critic, a political resume, a ground plan of the civilised world, a low-priced inultum in parvo. It is a sermon, a song, a circus, an obituary, a picnic, a shipwreck, a symphony in solid brevier, a medley of life and death, a grand aggregation of man's glory and his shame. It is, in short, a bird'seye view of all the magnanimity and mean-ness, the joys and griefs, the births and deaths, the pride and poverty of the world, and all for one penny-sometimes. We could tell you some more things that the newspaper of to-day is, if you had time to stay here and your business would not suffer in your absence. Among others, it is a long-felt want, a nine-column paper in a five-column town, a lying sheet, a feeble effort, a financial problem, a tottering wreak, a political tool and a sheriff's' sale.