Named source · 1892

Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases Quotes by Ida B. Wells: Context & Meanings

1 quotation linked to Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases by or associated with Ida B. Wells, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

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The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.

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“The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.”

Ida B. Wells

Meaning & context

Wells argues that public action against injustice depends on reliable information and therefore places special importance on journalism that investigates and publishes suppressed facts.

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Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1892), “SELF-HELP,” represented by Project Gutenberg #14975. Wells writes “The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press” while explaining why Black newspapers needed resources to investigate and publish suppressed facts about lynching. This is historical anti-lynching journalism and civic argument, not a general empirical rule about media effects.

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