--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 2 number: 4 published: 1899-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, \"Our Work: Reading Newspapers,\" *Improvement Era* 2, no. 4 (February 1899): 316–317." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera24unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera24unse start_page: 316 end_page: 317 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1899-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera24unse publication_year: 1899 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1899, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Our Work: Reading Newspapers apportioned among the members it will be light and easy to accomplish; but it requires the immediate attention of the officers. It needs no argument to prove the necessity there is for the existence of this fund. All the stake and ward officers who were in attendance at the General Conference were convinced of its necessity, and they were charged with the duty of explaining it to the members of the associations and attending to its collection. Let this business now be heartily taken up and pushed to a successful conclusion. READING NEWSPAPERS. A long time ago, as early at least as 1832, the Lord gave a commandment to the Elders of the Church to teach each other diligently all things that pertain unto the Kingdom of God that were expedient for them to understand —"all things both in heaven and in earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass ; things which are at home; things which are abroad, the wars and the perplexities of the nations and the judgments which are on the land and a knowledge also of countries and kingdoms." And all this that they might be prepared in all things to magnify the calling whereunto he, the Lord, had called them, and fill the mission with which he had commissioned them. (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 88; 77-80.) In this age of immediate communication with all parts of the world, when events tread upon each other's heels, so fast they follow—the only way to keep abreast of the times, and comply with this commandment that the Lord gave to his servants so long ago, is for our young men to read the daily events as they daily occur; and this makes necessary the reading of the daily newspapers. No young man can be up with the spirit of the times—in touch with the events that are transpiring in the world around him—without reading the daily papers, and we therefore urge the members of the Improvement Association to become subscribers to and readers of daily papers; and especially do we commend to their attention the daily paper now published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and which is the Church organ, viz. The Deseret Evening News. This paper recently reverted to the control of the Church and is now published with the announcemet that it is the organ of the Church, Lorenzo Snow, President and Trustee-in-Trust. This should cause every member of the Church to regard this newspaper with especial pride, and take a personal interest in its success. In fact, in our judgment, it becomes the duty of the Church members to so regard it, and we trust that our young men will be imbued with this spirit and give their loyal support to the Deseret I^ews. When it reverted to the control of the Church, on the first of the year, a new business management and editorial staff was given to the paper which insures business capacity in its management and force and literary ability in its editorial utterances; while unquestionably its news service will be equal, and in some respects superior, to that of any other paper published in the State or even in the inter-mountain region of the west. Horace G. Whitney is in control of the business department, and C. W. Penrose is at the head of the editorial staff; so that in speaking this word for the News to our young men, we do not urge them to support the Church organ as a matter of duty alone, but we feel sure that in subscribing for that paper and in giving to it their support they will be receiving the most reliable daily newspaper within their reach. The area that can now be covered by the service of the daily mail should warrant a very large circulation of the Daily News, and everywhere it can reach on the day of its publication or the morning following, we would suggest to our young men that they get the daily Evening News, and where the mail service does not warrant the people in taking the daily paper, they should most assuredly become subscribers for the semi-weekly. We have no selfish purpose in thus recommending the Deseret News to the readers of the Era. Neither the business management nor the editorial department, nor any one connected with the News is aware of the fact that we are presenting this matter to our young men. We do it because we feel that we ought, first to discharge our duty in the matter of recommending the Church organ to the attention of our young people; and second, because we desire to do our young people a service in urging them to make themselves acquainted with current events, and with current thought as connected with those events.