The Press: Pint to the Goal

I du believe with all my soul

In the gret Press's freedom

To pint the people to the goal

An' in the traces lead 'em.

—The Biglow Papers.

Thus James Russell Lowell, first editor of the Atlantic Monthly, proclaimed a challenge to the adolescent nation's infant press. This week from slim, long-nosed Edward Augustus Weeks Jr., the 86-year-old Atlantic's ninth* editor, came another challenge to U.S. journalism and its readers. In his February issue, Editor Weeks announced a prize contest (top: $1,000) for articles on freedom of the press in the U.S., the promise of...