Question

adapted from \the shackled editor\
by upton sinclair
the article, published in colliers magazine in april 1910, was written anonymously by an editorial writer
a bout the influence of advertisers on the daily newspapers he worked for.
my business is that of editorial writing — an unusual amount of freedom of expression is granted me,
and is my poorest department, which is saying i am permitted to say exactly what i think in almost
every case. it never is required of me to say that which i do not believe. but i am forced to be silent
concerning subjects that simple justice demands should be treated frankly.
in this city (a western city of 300,000 population) a few days ago a department store girl was arrested
for the theft of a shirt waist. the fact transpired that her wages were $6 a week, and constituted her
e ntire support. out of this she had to pay for a room, and $15 is the least price for a respectable room.
she had to pay her board, and the remaining $3, through stinting, would scarcely do this. she was
s entenced to three years. how?
the department stores of this city are large and thriving institutions. the owners have made fortunes.
apparently enough, the proprietors of these stores are such good men that they rarely make a
dismissal of their employees. they hand summonses for calling anything like the persons who fail for
rents. they would throw light on the bad of the stores, excepting the lonely fling those created, and
try to make amends to those clerks.
regarding the above, i said to my editor a speech that i would like to take a fling out of these de-
partments of pretentiousness
\i agree with you there,\ he replied, \and on those de-—ments, but it cant be done. they are too
s trong for us.\
his argument was the sugar - coat. it goes all over the town, and takes in every advertising a customer.
\but,\ he added, \even were it not for this particular reason, we would be put out of business. i made
the mistake. the merchants trade are organized. because we only to attack the store upon
competition or it is policy, therefore, what editorial would it not be dangerous from an advertiser.

read the excerpt from four little words.
of course, this is not to say that media censorship does not exist in america. it does — it exists in every society —
but it is far subtler than the government simply trying to prevent the publication of an embarrassing story.
how does the experience of the editorial writer in the shackled editor support this statement?
○ it shows how journalism can be indirectly censored due to economic pressures.
○ it shows how some journalists will go to great lengths to publish a story.
○ it shows that the government and businesses will work together to censor a story.
○ it shows how newspapers themselves dont do enough to prevent censorship.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the options:

• Option 1: The editorial writer's experience shows journalism is indirectly censored due to economic pressures (like advertisers' influence). The text mentions the writer is silent on issues to avoid offending advertisers, which is economic pressure leading to indirect censorship.
• Option 2: The passage doesn't show journalists going to great lengths to publish a story.
• Option 3: The text doesn't mention government and businesses working together to censor.
• Option 4: The passage is about self - censorship due to economic pressure, not newspapers not doing enough to prevent censorship.

Answer:

A. It shows how journalism can be indirectly censored due to economic pressures.