at the peril

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Could anyone help me with the underlined sentences. I am not quite sure what they mean? :?


Its primary office is the gathering of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted. Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give, nor in the mode of representation, must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong. Comment is free but facts are sacred.

PS: I think the pronoun "it" in the above passage refers to "newspaper reporting."

Thanks in advance. :wink:

Mei

[Tdol]

At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted. Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give, nor in the mode of representation, must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong.

This means that the media muist ensure that the source of information is correct and not corrupted, otherwise it will be in serious moral danger. It must not either state things or omit to state things that could misrepresent the truth.