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SEGREGATION OF CRIME NEWS TO BE CONTINUED

EDITORS GIVE REASONS FOR CONTINUANCE OF POLICY

Des Moines, Iowa, April 11.--Segregation of all crime news on an inside page by the Des Moines Register, a morning paper, during the last week has been an interesting experiment for the comment it has caused from newspaper writers and the public alike, but the actual result of such a policy cannot be determined yet, editors decided in a staff meeting held tonight for the purpose of discussing the test.

Numberless letters and telegrams, almost unanimously indorsing the policy, have been received during the crime news segregation test. Three main arguments for segregation have been given first, that flaunting of crime news on page one under banner lines has encouraged crime, while segregation takes the glory out of it; second, that the crime page can be slipped out and the paper given to children without fear of them reading material that might be detrimental to minds in the formative stage; and third, that the political international news stories is the real news, and segregation of crime stories gives readers a chance to get what they want without searching for it among a series of crime stories.

While it was originally intended to test the policy for only one week, it was tonight decided to continue indefinitely at least until a decision as to the public's wishes is arrived at.

The complimentary letters have been largely from people of more or less analytical minds, ministers, teachers, and newspapermen. The other side has been little heard from. The Register is finding difficulty in getting at the real psychology of the newspaper reader. Most readers interviewed indorse the crime page, but when questioned as to what they know of news of the day, it has been found they know more about crime than other stories.

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