Newspaper Writing and Editing

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Title: Newspaper Writing and Editing
Author: Bleyer, Willard Grosvenor
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Note

In the following transcription, italic text is denoted by _underscores_
while bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. Small capitals in the
original text have been transcribed as ALL CAPITALS.

See the end of this document for details of corrections and other changes.

————————————— Start of Book —————————————

NEWSPAPER WRITING
AND EDITING

WILLARD GROSVENOR BLEYER, PH.D.

CHAIRMAN OF THE COURSE IN JOURNALISM, AND
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

[Illustration]

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge

The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.

TO
A. H. B.

PREFACE

Seven years’ experience in trying to train college students in methods
of newspaper writing and editing has convinced the author of the need
of text-books in journalism. Newspapers themselves supply the student
with so miscellaneous a collection of good, bad, and mediocre work
that, with an uncritical taste, he does not always discriminate in
the character of the models which he selects to imitate. Lectures by
experienced editors and writers, although fruitful of much inspiration
and general information, seldom give the student sufficiently specific
and detailed directions to guide him in his daily work. What he needs
is a handbook containing typical examples of all of the kinds of
newspaper work that he is likely to be called upon to do during the
first years of his newspaper experience. These examples should be
carefully selected from well-edited newspapers and should be analyzed
to show the fundamental principles that underlie their construction.
With such a book illustrative of current practices in newspaper
making, he can study more intelligently the newspapers themselves and
can assimilate more completely the advice and information given by
newspaper men in active service. Furthermore, such a book, by giving
specific suggestions with examples of their application, serves as a
guide to aid the student in overcoming his difficulties as he does his
work from day to day. It is to furnish a handbook and guide of this
kind that the present text-book has been prepared.

This book is adapted both for use in college classes in journalism and
for study by persons interested in journalism who are not attending
college. The needs of these two groups are not essentially different.
Both desire to know the basic principles of newspaper writing and
editing and to get the necessary training in the application of these
fundamental principles to their own work. In each chapter, accordingly,
explanation and exemplification are supplemented by material for
practice work.

To formulate a large number of rules for the writing of news stories,
the editing of copy, the writing of headlines, and other kinds of
newspaper work, is plainly impossible, even if it were desirable.
Methods of newspaper making during the last fifty years have undergone
so constant and rapid a readjustment to new conditions in the
transmission of news, in mechanical production, and in the sources
of income, that only a few traditions have remained unchanged. The
tireless effort to secure novelty and variety in present-day journalism
prevents the news story or the headline from becoming absolutely fixed
in form or style. Instead of attempting to formulate dogmatic rules
and directions, the author has undertaken to analyze current methods
of newspaper work with the purpose of showing the reasons for them
and the causes which have produced them. The examples selected to
illustrate these methods have been taken from newspapers in all parts
of the country and are intended to represent the general practices now
prevailing. For obvious reasons names and addresses in most of these
stories have been changed. To retain the newspaper form as far as
possible, the examples have been printed between rules in column width.

Inasmuch as this book is intended to prepare the student for the
kind of work which he is likely to do during the first years of
his newspaper experience, it does not consider editorial writing,
book-reviewing, or musical and dramatic criticism. To discuss these
subjects adequately would require more space than a handbook on
reporting and editing permits.

It is assumed throughout this book that the student of journalism is
familiar with the elementary principles of grammar and rhetoric, and
has had sufficient training in composition to be able to express ideas
in simple, correct English. Faults in such rudimentary matters as
grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are not considered
at all. No attention is given to diction or questions of good usage.
All these matters are fully treated in numerous books on English
composition.

In the discussion of the news story, an emphasis has been given to
the “lead” that may seem disproportionate. This has been done in
the belief that the rapidity with which newspapers are generally
read makes the beginning the most important part of the story. The
average reader gleans the significant facts of each piece of news
from the headlines and the first paragraphs. He expects in the “lead”
the “feature” as well as the gist of the news. To the student this
problem of massing skillfully, in a compact and interesting form, the
substance of his material, is a new one, and he must be shown all
the varied possibilities of this treatment. The author has not been
unmindful of the fact that efforts are being made to break away from
the “gist-of-the-news” beginning, and has given examples of other
forms. For stories in which entertainment rather than information is
the purpose, beginnings that do not summarize may undoubtedly be used
to advantage. In such stories the student must be shown how to arouse
the reader’s interest and curiosity in the first sentences so that he
will read further.

The function of the newspaper has been discussed at some length
in order to call the student’s attention to the importance of the
newspaper as an influence in a democratic government and to point out
the significance of his own work in relation to society. An effort has
been made to analyze the problems of newspaper making in order to show
the fundamental issues involved. The purpose has been, not to settle
these questions dogmatically, but to stimulate the student to think for
himself.

“Newspaper English” has so long been regarded by many teachers of
English as a term of reproach, and instruction in journalistic writing
has been so recently introduced into the college curriculum, that some
English instructors still question the value of systematic training
of students in newspaper writing as a part of the teaching of English
composition. Nevertheless, every teacher of English in the secondary
schools and colleges recognizes the fact that one of the most serious
weaknesses of present-day training in composition is the lack of a
definite aim for the student in his writing, and a corresponding lack
of interest on his part in doing work that has no real purpose. To
report actual events for publication, either in a local newspaper or
in a school paper, gives the student both material and purpose, and to
that extent increases his interest and his desire to write well. If
the application of the principles of English composition to newspaper
writing and editing can be demonstrated to the student, as the author
has attempted to do in this book, the student can undoubtedly be given
valuable practice in these principles through systematic training in
newspaper work.

“Every professor of journalism must write a textbook on journalism in
order to justify his claim to his title,” was the facetious remark made
at the first Conference of Teachers of Journalism. Until journalism
has been taught in colleges and universities long enough to have
developed generally accepted methods of instruction, the text-book
produced by every teacher of the subject must be regarded, not as a
demonstration of his claims to the title, but as a contribution to the
development of methods of teaching based on his own experience. If this
book is of assistance to those who aspire to become newspaper workers
or to those who are undertaking to train students of journalism, it
will have accomplished its purpose.

The author is indebted to the publishers of _Collier’s Weekly_, of the
_American Magazine_, and of the _Independent_ for permission to reprint
material from these magazines. Acknowledgment is also due to the many
newspapers throughout the country from which examples have been taken
and to which due credit has been given whenever the “stories” thus
reproduced have been important or distinctive in character.

The facsimile newspaper headings reproduced in this book represent
styles of type used in newspaper offices throughout the country. These
specimens are included by courtesy of the Mergenthaler Linotype Company
of New York.

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN,
MADISON, March 3, 1913.

CONTENTS

I. HOW A NEWSPAPER IS MADE 1

II. NEWS AND NEWS VALUES 17

III. GETTING THE NEWS 29

IV. STRUCTURE AND STYLE IN NEWS STORIES 60

V. NEWS STORIES OF UNEXPECTED OCCURRENCES 101

VI. SPEECHES, INTERVIEWS, AND TRIALS 126

VII. SPECIAL KINDS OF NEWS 161

VIII. FOLLOW UP AND REWRITE STORIES 194

IX. FEATURE STORIES 211

X. EDITING COPY 255

XI. THE WRITING OF HEADLINES 271

XII. PROOF-READING 315

XIII. MAKING UP THE PAPER 322

XIV. THE FUNCTION OF THE NEWSPAPER 331

INDEX 361

NEWSPAPER WRITING
AND EDITING

CHAPTER I

HOW A NEWSPAPER IS MADE

=Newspaper Production.= To furnish for a cent or two a fairly complete
record of important events that take place in any corner of the
world, editorial comment, market quotations, reviews of new books,
critiques of plays and concerts, fashion hints, cooking recipes,
cartoons, and illustrations, as well as advertisements of all kinds,
would seem a stupendous, not to say impossible, task if it were not
an everyday phenomenon. A single copy of a daily newspaper in a large
city contains, exclusive of advertising, from 60,000 to 80,000 words,
or as many as does the average novel. These metropolitan papers print
from 100,000 to 900,000 copies each day, numbers far in excess of
the editions of most successful novels. While it takes the novelist
months to produce his work, and his publishers months to print it,
the newspaper is made and printed in from one to ten editions within
twenty-four hours.

The successful achievement of such an undertaking, day by day, requires
extensive equipment and effective organization. The rapid production of
a large edition demands many expensive machines to transform written
matter quickly into type, and huge presses to print the papers at the
highest speed. Furthermore, it makes necessary a large staff to gather
and prepare news and other reading matter, a large force to put this
material into type, to print it, and to distribute the papers, besides
managers and clerks to carry on the many business transactions involved
in so big an enterprise.

=Newspaper Organization.= Although in its main divisions the
organization of newspaper publishing is essentially the same, the
size of a paper determines to a considerable extent the number of
employees and the degree of division of labor among them, as well as
the character and the extent of the equipment. On large papers where
many men are employed and many editions are printed daily, there needs
must be considerable specialization in editing and reporting; while on
small papers the size of the staff requires that each man perform a
variety of tasks. Sometimes conditions of ownership or control, and on
older papers office traditions, modify the usual duties and authority
of different members of the staff.

No one form of organization that can be described in detail, therefore,
will apply to all newspaper offices even when they are of the same
relative size, but a composite type of organization for large
newspapers may be explained to show the division of work.

Newspaper publishing consists of three distinct parts with three
entirely different classes of workers: (1) the business management, (2)
the mechanical force, (3) the editorial staff.

=The Business Management.= The business organization, as its name
implies, has charge of the commercial side of newspaper publishing.
From the financial point of view the purpose of the newspaper is to
make enough money to maintain the paper and to pay dividends to the
stockholders. The object of the business department is to sell as much
advertising space and as many copies of each issue as it possibly
can; and, on the other hand, to pay out for wages and expenses only
so much as is necessary to keep the paper up to a standard that will
insure a good circulation and enough advertising. In short, a newspaper
company, regarded purely in the light of a business enterprise, is not
essentially different from any manufacturing company that produces and
sells a commodity.

The business department is organized with a business manager at its
head, who has complete control of the finances of the paper, subject,
of course, to the owner or board of directors of the company. Under
him are: (1) the circulation manager, (2) the advertising manager, (3)
the cashier. The circulation manager directs the work of subscription
canvassers, the drivers and the assistants on the paper’s distributing
wagons, the mailing clerks and helpers, and a force of office clerks
and bookkeepers. In the advertising department are the advertising
solicitors and the office clerks and bookkeepers. The cashier has
assistants and a bookkeeper to aid him. The business office of the
newspaper is frequently referred to as the “counting room.”

=The Mechanical Force.= The mechanical side of newspaper making is
divided into three relatively distinct departments: (1) the composing
room, where, under the direction of a foreman and a copy-cutter, the
type is set up by compositors or is cast in linotype or monotype
machines by operators, and where the type is arranged by make-up men
in pages as it is to appear in print; (2) the stereotyping room, where
these pages of type are used to make molds into which lead plates are
cast by stereotypers under the direction of the foreman of the room;
(3) the press-room, where the papers are printed, in charge of a
superintendent with pressmen and machinists as his assistants. Attached
to the composing room is the proof-reading department with a head
proof-reader, several assistant readers, and as many copy-holders who
read aloud the copy for the proof which is to be corrected.

=The Editorial Staff.= The writing and editing of a newspaper, with
which this book is particularly concerned, is divided into two distinct
parts: (1) the gathering, the writing, and the editing of the news;
and (2) the interpreting of the news. The two branches are different
in the kind of work involved, and are relatively independent in the
organization of the office. To present clear, concise, accurate,
timely, and interesting reports, or “stories” as they are called, of
everything that is going on in the world of sufficient importance to
be of interest to any considerable number of readers, is the aim of
the news department. The more quickly, the more attractively, the more
completely the news can be presented, the greater is considered the
success of the newspaper from the point of view of the news staff.
The editorials of a newspaper attempt to interpret and to explain the
news, or to make the news the basis of argument upon issues growing
out of questions of the day. The attitude taken by a newspaper on the
questions at issue is determined by what is known as its “editorial
policy.”

The editor-in-chief, under whom are one or more editorial writers, has
charge of the editorial columns and determines the editorial policy,
subject to whatever control of this policy the owner or directors
desire to exercise. The editorial writers and the editor-in-chief
confer daily to consider the attitude that the paper shall take in
its editorials and to divide the work of writing them. Some of the
editorials are written by men in other professions who are not on the
regular staff, and often by such members of the news staff as the
financial editor or the dramatic critic. Most of the editorials,
however, are the work of the editorial writers.

The news staff is in charge of the managing editor, who is usually
responsible directly to the owner or the directors. As aids the
managing editor has the assistant managing editor, and the news editor,
or the night editor, to take charge of “making up” the newspaper The
gathering and writing of local news is in charge of the city editor
and the night city editor, with an assistant city editor. The news of
the state, the nation, and the world, as it comes by mail, telegraph,
and telephone, is under the control of the telegraph editor. The city
editor directs the reporters; the telegraph editor the correspondents.
Particular kinds of news are collected and edited by persons in
especially designated positions, such as the sporting editor, the
society editor, the financial and market editor, the dramatic and
musical editor, the real estate editor, the railroad editor, the marine
editor, the labor editor, all of whom usually work under the direction
of the managing editor. The special magazine sections of the Saturday
or the Sunday issues are in charge of the magazine, or Sunday, editor.
An exchange editor goes over all the newspapers received in exchange
to clip and edit material worth reprinting. Cartoonists, artists, and
photographers supply the materials for newspaper illustrations, or
“cuts,” as they are called. A librarian has charge of the reference
books and newspaper files, as well as of the collection of biographical
sketches and portraits of prominent people known as the “morgue.”

All of the manuscript, or “copy,” is edited and is supplied with
headlines at the copy desk in charge of a head copy-reader with a
number of copy-readers as assistants. “Rewrite men” are often employed
to take the facts of a story from another newspaper and rewrite
them, or to receive material over the telephone from reporters and
correspondents and write it up for publication. Unsatisfactory work of
a reporter may be turned over to a rewrite man to be put in the desired
form, for rewrite men must be able to take the raw material of the news
furnished by others and turn it into a well-written news story.

=Getting News into Print.= The relation of all these departments to
one another is best shown by following through the process by which
a piece of news gets into print. The telegraph editor on a newspaper
in the capital city of the state, for example, gets from an office
telegraph operator, a typewritten dispatch signed by the paper’s
correspondent in a city of a neighboring state to the effect that
the attorney-general has dropped dead in the lobby of a hotel. The
telegraph editor at once notifies the city editor so that he may assign
reporters to get the local phases of the piece of news, or “to cover
the local end of the story,” as the newspaper workers say. One reporter
is sent to interview the members of the late attorney-general’s family;
another is dispatched to the governor’s office for an interview with
the governor on the deceased official; a third is asked to look up the
statute concerning such an unexpected vacancy in the office; a fourth
is assigned to find out the probable successor to the position.

After informing the city editor and the managing editor, the telegraph
editor at once turns over the dispatch to the head copy-reader to have
it edited and to have a headline written. Meanwhile one of the rewrite
men is delegated to get a biographical sketch of the attorney-general
from the office “morgue” and to write an obituary. The artist looks
up the half-tone engraving, or “cut,” of the official in the “morgue”
and selects an appropriate border or “frame” in which to put it. The
editor-in-chief is informed of the attorney-general’s death so that he
may make appropriate editorial comment. Meanwhile the telegraph editor
has sent a telegram to the correspondent who furnished the first news
of the event instructing him to “wire” five hundred words more giving
all the particulars.

When the dispatch has been edited and a headline written by one of
the copy-readers, the latter returns it to the head copy-reader, who
glances over it and sends it in a pneumatic tube to the composing room.
The tube delivers it at the copy-cutter’s desk. The copy-cutter glances
at the sheet with the headline for the story, and then at the two pages
of copy. The headline he sends by the copy distributor to the headline
machine to be set up. The two pages of copy he cuts into three pieces
or “takes” so that the story may be set up on three different linotype
machines. If the copy of the whole story were given to one machine
operator, it would take three times as long to get it into type.

Meanwhile some of the reporters have returned from their assignments.
Each one reports what he has found to the city editor, and is told how
long a story to write, and possibly what to emphasize in the beginning,
or “lead.” As each story is finished it is turned over to the city
editor, who glances over it and passes it on to the head copy-reader.
Thence it goes through the same course as the first dispatch.

After the copy of the dispatch has been set up in type, it is taken to
a small hand press, and several impressions called “galley proofs,” or
“proofs,” are printed, or “pulled,” from the type. One of the proofs,
with the original copy, goes to the proof-room to be compared with the
copy and carefully corrected by the proof-readers. Another proof-sheet
is sent to the managing editor, who is responsible for everything
that goes into the paper; a third proof is delivered to the news
editor who arranges, or “makes up,” the news stories on each page of
the paper before it is printed. After the proof-readers have corrected
the proof, and the editors have made any necessary changes in it, the
proof-sheets are returned to the operators so that they may make the
necessary alterations by resetting whatever is changed. From the type
thus corrected a second set of proofs, called the “revise,” is printed
and these are distributed to the editors as the first were. The type is
then ready to be used in the process of printing the paper.

Half an hour or more before an edition is to be printed, the news
editor gathers the proofs of the news stories that are to be put into
that edition, and goes to the composing room to arrange this news on
the several pages. The importance of the news of the attorney-general’s
death would warrant its being given a prominent place on the first
page. The most prominent position is the right-hand outside column.
If there is no news of greater importance, the news editor directs
the “make-up” men in the composing room to put the type of this story
in the outside column of the first page “form.” The “form” consists
of a “chase,” or steel frame, somewhat larger in inside dimensions
than the page as it appears when printed. Into this “chase,” which
rests upon a smooth iron-top table, the type is arranged between the
brass or lead column rules which make the lines between the columns of
type. The advertisements are placed in the forms under the direction
of the advertising department just as the news matter is put in under
the direction of the news editor, the page and position on the page
usually having been stipulated by the advertiser in making a contract
for a certain “position” for his “ad.” When each page is filled with
type, the whole page is “locked” in the “form” by a series of screws
or wedges (called “quoins”), so that the form may be handled without
letting the type drop out. If the type falls out and gets mixed up, it
is said to be “pied,” and the mixture is called “pi.”

The forms, after being locked, are taken to the stereotyping room where
a paper mold, or matrix, commonly called a “mat,” is made of each page.
These matrices, bent in semicircular form, are placed in a casting box
into which molten lead is poured to make the semicircular lead plates
to be used in printing. In large offices the casting of these plates
is done by placing the matrix in an automatic stereotyping machine,
known as the autoplate, which turns out completed plates in less than
a minute. After the plates have been trimmed and planed on the back to
make them exactly the right thickness, they are ready to be put on the
press.

These semicircular lead plates, which are thus cast in exact
reproduction of the page forms of type, are fastened on the cylinders
of the press. As the cylinders revolve, ink rollers touch the surface
of the plates and ink the projecting letters. The paper from a large
roll, as it passes between the cylinders and the blanket rolls which
press the paper against the inked plates on the cylinders, takes up
the ink and thus has printed on it the impression of the page of type.
Besides printing the pages, the press cuts, folds, and counts the
papers so that the complete newspaper comes from the press ready for
sale or delivery.

As soon as the newspapers are printed, they are turned over to the
circulation department for distribution. Some copies go to the mailing
room to be labeled with little orange-colored address slips and to be
put into the mail sacks, in which they are taken to the post office
or mail trains. Other copies are sold to waiting newsboys, and still
others are taken in the company’s wagon to news stands and carriers all
over the city.

Despite the number and variety of these details in the process of
newspaper making, the news of the death of the attorney-general would
reach the readers in a comparatively short time after the event
occurred. In half an hour from the time the last piece of copy is
written, a complete newspaper containing it is printed and ready for
distribution.

=Speed of Production.= The invention and the perfection of various
mechanical devices used in newspaper making have made possible this
great speed. In the front rank of ingenious pieces of machinery that
have added greatly to rapidity in newspaper publishing stands the
linotype. This machine, which casts solid lines of type, or “slugs”
as they are called, has increased four-fold the speed of production
and has made possible much larger editions. The monotype, which casts
each type separately, has also proved a valuable addition to the means
of turning “copy” into type quickly. For the casting of semicircular
stereotype plates the autoplate machine is an important time-saving
device. The time required for “running off” an edition is now reduced
from two- to five-fold by making duplicate sets of these stereotype
plates and by putting them on from two to five large presses so that
these presses print the same edition simultaneously.

Improvements in newspaper-printing machinery have resulted in huge
presses that take paper from large rolls and turn out completed
newspapers printed in one or two colors, cut, folded, and counted,
ready for distribution. They can be adjusted to print papers from four
to forty-eight pages in size, and can produce twelve-page papers at
the rate of 144,000 copies an hour. Magazine sections and “comics” are
printed in four colors, usually yellow, red, blue, and black, on large
presses under conditions practically the same as those just described.

In order to insert the latest news without taking the time necessary
to make up new forms, prepare new matrices, and cast new stereotype
plates, a device called the “fudge” is employed. After the first page
form of a late edition has been used to make a matrix, about six inches
of type is taken out from two columns in the lower left hand corner
or the upper right hand corner of the page, and a new matrix and a
stereotype plate are made in which this corner is a blank. This new
plate with the blank space is then put on the press in place of the
regular first page plate. As fast as late news is received, it is set
up on linotype lines, or “slugs,” and these lines are clamped on a
small cylinder in the press. When the paper runs through the press,
these linotype lines on the cylinder are printed, often in red ink, in
the space on the front page left unprinted by the blank in the plate.
To save more time with this device, a telegraph wire is run to the
press room and a linotype machine is installed beside it, so that the
latest news can be cast on linotype “slugs” and put on the “fudge”
cylinder as fast as the reports are received by telegraph. Results of
baseball games, races, and other sporting events can be printed to
advantage by means of the “fudge.”

Recently a mailing machine has been introduced that folds, wraps, and
addresses each copy separately as fast as papers are fed into it.

In no other process of manufacture that is as complicated as newspaper
making, it is safe to say, has equal speed of production been attained.

=Handling a Big Story.= The scene in a metropolitan newspaper office
following the receipt of the first news of the “Titanic” disaster,
as graphically portrayed by an editor of a New York morning paper,
illustrates the conditions under which important news, received late,
is hurried into print.[1] The account in part is as follows:

At 1:20 a.m. Monday, April 15, [1912], the cable editor opened
an envelope of the Associated Press that had stamped on its face
“Bulletin.” This is what he read:

Cape Race, N. F., Sunday night, April 14.—At 10:25 o’clock
tonight the White Star Line steamship “Titanic” called “C. Q.
D.” to the Marconi station here, and reported having struck
an iceberg. The steamer said that immediate assistance was
required.

The cable editor looked at his watch. It was 1:20 and lacked just
five minutes of the hour when the mail edition goes to press.

“Boy!” he called sharply.

An office boy was at his side in a moment.

“Send this upstairs; tell them the head is to come; double column,
and tell the night editor to rip open two columns on the first page
for a one-stick dispatch of the ‘Titanic’ striking an iceberg and
sinking.”

Every one in the office was astir in a moment and came over to see
the cable editor write on a sheet of copy paper the following head
[which he indicated was to be set up in this form]:

TITANIC SINKING
IN MID-OCEAN; HIT
GREAT ICEBERG

“Boy!” he called again; but it was not necessary—a boy in a newspaper
office knows news the first time he sees it.

“Tell them that’s the head for the ‘Titanic.’”

Then he wrote briefly this telegraphic dispatch, and as he did so he
said to another office boy at his side: “Tell the operator to shut
off that story he is taking and get me a clear wire to Montreal.”

This is what he wrote to the Montreal correspondent, probably at work
at his desk in a Montreal newspaper office at that hour:

Cape Race says White Star Liner “Titanic” struck iceberg, is
sinking and wants immediate assistance. Rush every line you can
get. We will hold open for you until 3:30.

“Give that to the operator and find out if we caught the mail on that
‘Titanic’ dispatch,” he said quickly to the boy.

In a moment the boy returned.

“O.K. on both,” he said.

The city editor, who had just put on his coat previous to going away
for the night, took it off. The night city editor, at the head of the
copy-desk, where all the local copy (as a reporter’s story is called)
is read, and the telegraph editor stood together, joined later by
the night editor, for the mail edition had left the composing room
for the stereotypers and then to the pressroom and from thence to be
scattered wherever on the globe newspapers find readers.

The “Titanic” staff was immediately organized, for at that hour most
of the staff were still at work. The city editor took the helm.

“Get the papers for April 11—all of them,” he said to the head office
boy, “and then send word to the art department to quit everything to
make three cuts, which I shall send right down.”

Then to the night city editor: “Get up a story of the vessel itself;
some of the stuff they sent us the other day that we did not use,
and I ordered it put in the envelope. Play up the mishap at the
start. Get up a passenger list story and an obituary of Smith, her
commander.”

There was no mention of Smith in the dispatch, but city editors
retain such things in their heads for immediate use, and this
probably explains in a measure why they hold down their job; also
having, it might be added, executive judgment, which is sometimes
right.

“Assign somebody to the White Star Line and see what they’ve got.”

The night city editor went back to the circular table where the seven
or eight men who read reporters’ copy were gathered.

“Get up as much as you can of the passenger list of the ‘Titanic.’
She is sinking off Newfoundland,” he said briefly to one.

And to another: “Write me a story of the ‘Titanic,’ the new White
Star liner, on her maiden trip, telling of her mishap with the ‘New
York’ at the start.”

And to another: “Write me a story of Captain E. J. Smith.”

Then to a reporter sitting idly about: “Get your hat and coat quick;
go down to the White Star Line office and telephone all you can about
the ‘Titanic’ sinking off Newfoundland.”

Then to another reporter: “Get the White Star Line on the phone and
find out what they’ve got of the sinking of the ‘Titanic.’ Find out
who is the executive head in New York; his address and telephone
number.”

And in another part of the room the city editor was saying to the
office boy: “Get me all the ‘Titanic’ pictures you have and a photo
or cut of Captain E. J. Smith.”

Two boys instantly went to work, for the photos of men are kept
separate from the photographs of inanimate things. The city editor
selected three:

“Tell the art department to make a three-column cut of the ‘Titanic,’
a two-column of the interior, and a two-column of Smith.”

In the mean time the Associated Press bulletins came in briefly.

Paragraph by paragraph the cable editor was sending the story to the
composing room. What was going on upstairs every one knew. They were
sidetracking everything else, and the copy-cutter in the composing
room was sending out the story in “takes,” as they are called, of
a single paragraph to each compositor. His blue pencil marked each
individual piece of copy with a letter and number, so that when the
dozen or so men setting up the story had their work finished, the
story might be put together consecutively.

“Tell the operator,” said the cable editor again to the office boy,
“to duplicate that dispatch I gave him to our Halifax man. Get his
name out of the correspondents’ book.”

“Who wrote that story of the ‘“Carmania” in the Icefield’?” said the
night city editor to the copy-reader who “handled” the homecoming of
the “Carmania,” which arrived Sunday night and the story of which was
already in the mail edition of the paper before him. The copy-reader
told him. He called the reporter to his desk.

“Take that story,” said the night city editor, “and give us a column
on it. Don’t rewrite the story; add paragraphs here and there to
show the vast extent of the icefield. Make it straight copy, so that
nothing in that story will have to be reset. You have just thirty
minutes to catch the edition. Write it in twenty.”

“Get the passenger lists of the ‘Olympic’ and the ‘Baltic,’” was the
assignment given to another reporter, all alert waiting for their
names to be called, every man awake at the switch.

In the mean time, the story from the Montreal man was being ticked
off; on another wire Halifax was coming to life.

“Men,” said the city editor, “we have just five minutes left to make
the city [edition]. Jam it down tight.”

Already the three cuts had been made, the telegraph editor was
handling the Montreal story, his assistant the Halifax end, and the
cable editor was still editing the Associated Press bulletins and
writing a new head to tell the rest of the story that the additional
details brought. The White Star Line man had a list of names of
passengers of the “Titanic” and found that they numbered 1300, and
that she carried a crew of 860.

In the mean time proofs of all the “Titanic” matter that had been
set were coming to the desk of the managing editor, in charge over
all, but giving special attention to the editorial matter. All his
suggestions went through the city editor, and on down the line, but
he himself went from desk to desk overlooking the work.

“Time’s up,” said the city editor; but before he finished, the cable
editor cried to the boy: “Let the two-column head stand and tell them
to add this head:”

At 12:27 this Morning Blurred Signals by Wireless Told of Women
Being Put off in Lifeboats—Three Lines Rushing to Aid of 1300
Imperiled Passengers and Crew of 860 Men.

“Did we catch it?” asked the cable editor of the boy standing at the
composing-room tube.

“We did,” he said triumphantly.

“One big pull for the last [edition], men,” said the city editor. “We
are going in at 3:20. Let’s beat the town with a complete paper.”

The enthusiasm was catching fire. Throughout the office it was a
bedlam of noise—clicking typewriters, clicking telegraph instruments,
and telephone bells ringing added to the whistle of the tubes that
lead from the city room to the composing room, the pressroom, the
stereotype room and the business office, the latter, happily, not in
use, but throughout the office men worked; nobody shouted, no one
lost his head; men were flushed, but the cool, calm, deliberate way
in which the managing editor smoked his cigar helped much to relieve
the tension.

“Three-fifteen, men,” said the city editor, admonishingly; “every
line must be up by 3:20. Five minutes more.”

The city editor walked rapidly from desk to desk.

“All up,” said the night city editor, “and three minutes to the good.”

At the big table stood the city editor, cable editor, night city
editor, and managing editor. They were looking over the completed
headline that should tell the story to the world.

“That will hold ’em, I guess,” said the city editor, and the head
went upstairs.

The men waited about and talked and smoked. Bulletins came in, but
with no important details. Going to press at 3:20 meant a wide
circulation. At 4:30 the Associated Press sent “Good-night,” but at
that hour the presses had been running uninterruptedly for almost an
hour.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Find out all that you can about the organization of the paper on
which you are employed.

2. Know the names, at least, of the heads of all the departments.

3. Learn as much as possible about advertising and subscription rates
and methods.

4. Familiarize yourself with the details of all the mechanical
processes connected with newspaper making.

5. Interest yourself in the welfare of the paper as if it were your own
property.

CHAPTER II

NEWS AND NEWS VALUES

=Problems of the News.= As news is the _sine qua non_ of the newspaper,
the problem of newspaper making resolves itself into the three
questions: What is news? Where and how is news to be obtained? and,
How is news to be presented to the reader? The first question involves
the definition of news and the determination of its value, the second
concerns the gathering of news, and the third has to do with structure
and style in the writing of news.

=What is News?= Although every good newspaper worker recognizes news
at once, and almost instinctively decides upon its value, most of
them find it difficult to express in brief form what news is and what
determines its value. In a symposium recently conducted by an American
magazine,[2] a number of editors throughout the country undertook to
define news, giving the following definitions:—

News is whatever your readers want to know about.

Anything that enough people want to read is news, provided it does
not violate the canons of good taste and the laws of libel.

News is anything that happens in which people are interested.

News is anything that people will talk about; the more it will excite
comment, the greater its value.

News is accurate and timely intelligence of happenings, discoveries,
opinions, and matters of any sort which affect or interest the
readers.

Whatever concerns public welfare, whatever interests or instructs
the individual in any of his relations, activities, opinions,
properties, or personal conduct, is news.

News is everything that happens, the inspiration of happenings, and
the result of such happenings.

News is the essential facts concerning any happening, event, or idea
that possesses human interest; that affects or has an influence on
human life or happiness.

News is based on people, and is to be gauged entirely on how it
interests other people.

News comprises all current activities which are of general human
interest, and the best news is that which interests the most
readers.

The essentials of news, as brought out by these definitions are: (1)
that it must be of interest to the readers; (2) that it includes
anything and everything that has any such interest; and, (3) that it
must be new, current, timely. Furthermore, these definitions emphasize
the fact that the value of news is determined (1) by the number of
people that it interests, and (2) by the extent to which it interests
them. The composite of these definitions, therefore, would be: _News is
anything timely that interests a number of people; and the best news is
that which has the greatest interest for the greatest number_.

By the application of these tests to each event, idea, or activity,
the reporter can determine for himself what is news and what is not,
as well as what value a piece of news possesses. He must ask himself
concerning each piece of news that he gets: “Is it new and timely?”
“How many readers will it interest?” “Has it great interest for a large
number?”

Many times an incident seems, at first glance, to possess little that
will interest, but, on closer examination, reveals some phase that is
of considerable news value. Keen observation and insight to see the
significant aspect of a person, an event, an idea, often leads to the
discovery of news that may escape the notice of less acute observers.
The reporter must find for himself those aspects of the day’s events
which are of the greatest interest to the greatest number.

=Timeliness in News.= Freshness, timeliness, newness is one vital
qualification for all news. “Yesterday” has almost ceased to exist
for the newspaper man. Even “to-day” has become “this morning,” “this
noon,” “this afternoon.” “Up to date” has given way to “up to the
minute.” Improved mechanical equipment, which makes possible lightning
speed in turning news stories into a complete newspaper in less than
half an hour, has made possible a degree of freshness in the news
that would seem marvelous were it not a daily, in fact, almost an
hourly phenomenon. Competition among newspapers, and the publication
of frequent editions, increase the necessity for the latest news. The
reporter must catch this spirit of getting the news while it is news,
and of getting it into print before it loses its freshness.

=What Interests Readers.= How general will be the interest in any
activity, idea, or event is determined by what the average person likes
to hear, read, or see. Whatever gives him pleasure or satisfaction,
interests him. Consideration of the fundamental bases of news values,
therefore, involves a determination of the general classes of things
that give pleasure and satisfaction to the average individual.

=The Extraordinary.= The unusual, the extraordinary, the curious,
wherever found, attracts attention and is interesting because it is
a departure from the normal order of life. Humdrum routine whets the
appetite for every break in the monotony of regularity. So long as
the daily life of the average man conforms to the generally accepted
business and social standards and is not affected by any unusual
circumstances, it has little interest for his fellow men. As soon as
he violates the usual order, or is the victim of such violation, his
departure from the level of conformity becomes a matter of greater
or less interest according to the extent of the departure. Because
hundreds of thousands of bank employees are honest, the dishonesty
of one of them is news. So all crime, as a violation of established
law and order, is news, unless, as unfortunately is sometimes the
case, it becomes common enough to cease to be unusual. Every notable
achievement in any field of activity, because it rises above the level,
is news. A record aeroplane flight, an heroic action, the discovery of
a new serum, the invention of a labor-saving device, the finding of
remains of a buried city, the completion of a great bridge,—all are
sufficiently out of the ordinary to attract attention. Accidents and
unexpected occurrences, because they break in upon the usual course of
events, are matters of news. The thousands of trains that reach their
destination safely are as nothing compared to one that jumps the track.
Millions of dollars’ worth of property that remains unharmed from day
to day does not interest the average man, but the loss of some of it
by fire, wind, or flood immediately lifts the part affected out of the
mass and gives it interest to hundreds of persons in no way concerned
in the loss. It is not the crimes and misfortunes of others that give
the reader pleasure; it is the fact that these are departures from
the normal course that makes them satisfy his desire for something
different from the usual round of life.

In almost every event the good newspaper man can find something that
is out of the ordinary, and by giving due emphasis to this unusual
phase can give interest to what might otherwise seem commonplace.
What that something will be is determined by the reporter’s or the
editor’s appreciation of what will appeal to the average reader as the
most marked departure from the customary and the expected. If, as in
a recent accident, the front trucks of a trolley car jump the track
and upset a baby carriage, throwing out the baby; and if the baby
alights unharmed on a pillow that was tossed out of the carriage by the
collision, such peculiar circumstances the reporter knows will appeal
to most readers as the interesting feature of the accident. That a
sneak thief should be caught as he was escaping from a house with a few
dollars’ worth of plunder, will attract the average reader much less
than the fact that he jumped through a plate-glass window in his effort
to escape, or that he gained access to the house by wearing a Salvation
Army uniform, or that he carried away a pie as part of his booty. How
a man lost a purse containing $50 is scarcely worthy of notice, but
how, while looking for his purse, he found a diamond ring, is strange
enough to make good reading. A lecture at an agricultural society
meeting on the advantages to the farmers of the state of raising barley
would not ordinarily be considered of much interest to city readers,
but an interruption of the lecture by an advocate of prohibition with
the charge that to urge barley growing is to aid the brewing interests,
might make a good news story. The character and the extent of the
departure from the usual, considered from the point of view of most of
the readers, measure the news value of any phase of an event that is
out of the ordinary.

=Struggles for Supremacy.= Struggles for supremacy, also, have an
almost universal appeal. Competition in business, contest in sport,
rivalry in politics, are based on the love of fighting to win. Strikes
and lockouts, as part of the contest between labor and capital, appeal
to this interest. So does the fight to secure control or monopoly
in any part of the commercial field. The enthusiasm manifested over
baseball, football, boxing, racing, and other sports grows out of
the love of contest for supremacy. In political warfare the interest
of many is largely in the struggle for victory, with the power that
victory brings, rather than any results that will affect the individual
directly. Accounts of all these forms of fighting to win make good news
stories.

=“Human Interest.”= The fellow feeling that makes all the world akin,
the sympathy that binds together men who have little in common, is the
basis of interest which we have in the actions, thoughts, and feelings
of others. The “human interest” which newspaper and magazine editors
demand, involves emphasis on the personal element in the affairs of
life. The characters that appear in news stories, fiction, or special
articles must be made to appeal to the readers as real flesh and
blood men and women. The human side of events is what the average
reader wants. How one man is saved by a new serum is read with more
attention than is a discussion of the therapeutic value of the serum.
The privations of an arctic explorer in reaching the pole have almost
as much interest for most readers as the discovery of the pole itself.
The experiences of strikers and their families are read by many who
know little and care less about the economic conditions that produce
the strike. So vitally do we feel ourselves concerned with the fate of
our fellow men, even when we do not know them personally, that accounts
of human life lost or endangered are read with great eagerness. “Many
lives lost!” is the cry that the newsboy knows will sell the most
papers. From the point of view of the newspaper the greater the number
of lives thus involved in the event, the better is the news.

=The Appeal of Children.= The unusual appeal that children make gives
news of their activities especial value. Whenever a little child
plays a part in an event, it is pretty sure to be the best feature of
the story. The letter which a small girl writes to the mayor asking
that her pet dog be restored to her from the dog pound, will take a
place in the day’s news beside the interview with the mayor outlining
his policies of city government for the following two years. A child
witness holds the attention of the entire court room and is “featured”
in the story of a trial, partly, no doubt, because the appearance of
a child in these circumstances is unusual, but largely because of our
interest in children. Just as a child’s plea to a judge saves its
worthless father or drunken mother from a prison sentence, so the story
of that plea will move every reader. Anecdotes and sayings of children
readily find a place in newspapers and magazines.

=Interest in Animals.= The popular interest in animals, wild or
tame, in captivity or at large, makes news stories about them good
reading. Whether we are attracted by the almost human intelligence
that animals often display, or by their distinctly animal traits, we
read of their doings with keen interest. Anecdotes of animal pets if
well told are always readable. The fascination which the “zoo” or the
circus menagerie has for most people is akin to the pleasure given
by anecdotes of animals in captivity. Every city editor knows the
value of the zoölogical garden as a source of effective stories when
other fields fail. Wild animals at large, particularly when they come
into any relation with men, afford good material for the reporter or
correspondent.

=Amusements and Hobbies.= The favorite pleasures and amusements of
readers form another large group of activities that must be considered
in measuring the value of news. Besides the contest element in sports
that interests the spectator, there is the attraction of athletics for
the players. Golf, tennis, automobiling, and similar activities furnish
news that is read by those who engage in these diversions. Accounts of
the theatre, of concerts, and of all forms of amusements are read by
the thousands who patronize these entertainments. Pastimes and hobbies,
such as amateur photography, book-collecting, fishing and hunting,
canoeing and sailing, whist and chess, have enough devotees to give
value to news of such avocations. Here again the number of readers to
whom such news appeals determines the space and the prominence that it
is worth.

=Degree of Readers’ Interest.= Persons, places, or things that go
to make up news excite a degree of interest proportional to (1)
the reader’s familiarity with them, (2) their own importance and
prominence, (3) the closeness of their relation to the reader’s
personal affairs.

=Local Interest.= Local events interest readers because they know the
places and often the persons concerned. Local news, accordingly, takes
precedence over news from elsewhere of equal or greater importance as
measured by the general standards of news value. Interest in most news
stories may be said to vary inversely in proportion to the distance
between the place of the event described and the place where the paper
is published. Just as the splash is greatest where a stone strikes
the water, the ripples growing less and less marked as the force of
the shock spreads out over the pond, so the impression made by an
occurrence grows less and less the farther one goes from the scene of
action. We read more eagerly the account of a small fire in a building
that we pass every day than the dispatch telling of a fire that wiped
out a whole town two thousand miles away. The arrest of a man for
speeding his automobile will cause more comment among his friends
than the capture of a gang of automobile bandits that has terrorized
another city. Local phases, or “local ends,” as they are called, of
events that take place some distance away quite overshadow in interest
more important phases of the event itself. Every effort is made in the
newspaper to bring events, ideas, and activities elsewhere into some
local relation.

=Interest in the Prominent.= The interest which all readers have in
what is familiar to them extends to persons, places, and things that
they may not know personally but that they recognize as important or
prominent. They like to read about men and women who are leaders in
social, business, or political activities in the city, the state, the
nation, or anywhere in the world, even though these persons exist for
them only in name. A high position itself gives added importance to
news concerning the person who occupies it, although many readers may
not have heard of him before. Thus, in order to appeal to this general
interest in the doings of persons of position, some less scrupulous
reporters and editors describe the characters in their news stories as
“prominent,” “well-known,” “a college graduate,” “a beautiful young
society girl,” when the facts do not warrant it. Personages who are
well known do not need such introduction; their names alone serve to
identify them. The value of news concerning a person may be said to
vary in direct proportion to his prominence. A slight accident to a
candidate for the presidency of the United States attracts much more
attention than a serious one to a candidate for Congress. A story of
the wedding of the daughter of a multi-millionaire has thousands of
readers because of the prominence of her father, whereas the account
of the wedding of the corner grocer’s daughter attracts only a small
number who know the families. The daily life of the great affords daily
pleasure to the humble.

Places that readers have often heard of, but in many cases have never
seen, such as New York, Paris, Washington, Coney Island, Niagara Falls,
possess an attraction that makes news from them the more interesting
even though it may consist of no more than gossip and trivial
happenings. Well-known places as the setting for events give added
importance, therefore, to the news value of these events. Institutions,
such as universities of national reputation, the Library of Congress,
the Rockefeller Institute, the Young Men’s Christian Association, the
Salvation Army, because they are generally known, likewise attract
attention to news involving them. Familiar names of great ocean
steamships, of large commercial companies, and of important railroad
systems, increase the news value of stories in which they appear.
Size and prominence, then, of places and things, like importance and
prominence of persons, determine news values.

=Home and Business Interests.= The most vital concerns of both men and
women, however, are their business and their home, their prosperity
and their happiness. Whatever in the daily round of events affects
these interests most directly will get their closest attention. Upon
this principle depends the news value of many newspaper stories.
Stock brokers and investors read the stock market reports; buyers and
farmers, the produce and live stock quotations; owners and agents of
real estate, the records of transfers and mortgages; business men
generally, commercial and industrial news, because of the relation of
such news to their own business affairs. A marked rise or fall in the
price of butter, eggs, meat, or other staple articles of food concerns
not only the dealers but housewives and other purchasers of such
commodities. Announcement of the proposed construction of a new trolley
line appeals to readers whose transportation facilities or property are
affected. Income tax legislation, parcel post, adjustments of railroad
rates, state or federal supreme court decisions, the tariff, and other
political and economic problems, usually interest the average reader
in proportion as he thinks that they will affect him and his business.
For most women readers home-making and fashions are of vital concern.
Besides matters pertaining to the cost of living, which affect men and
women alike, pure food laws and their enforcement, schools, the health
and welfare of children, the servant problem, the milk and the water
supplies, as well as the latest styles of dress,—all come very close
to the everyday lives of women, who constitute no small part of the
number of newspaper readers. Incidental concerns of both men and women
readers, such as organizations to which they belong, general movements
with which they are connected, or the social life of which they are a
part, give interest for them to news concerning these activities. News
values, therefore, are measured by the extent to which news affects
directly the lives of readers; the greater the effect and the larger
the number of readers affected, the better the news.

=Combination of Interests.= If one event possesses several of these
different kinds of interest it is very good news, because of the
greater number of readers to whom it appeals and because of the
stronger appeal that it makes. Thus, for example, the “Titanic”
disaster was extremely unusual in that the largest ocean liner on its
first trip was sunk by an iceberg while proceeding at a high rate of
speed on a clear night. Greater still was its interest because of the
very large number of human lives involved. Added to this was the fact
that many of the passengers were prominent. The result was that news
of the disaster was read with the greatest eagerness by all classes
everywhere in this country as well as abroad. The combination of
sources of interest and the greater degree of interest that results
must be taken into consideration in measuring the final value of news.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Ask yourself concerning every piece of information, How many readers
will it interest? How much will it interest the average reader? Is it
really new and timely?

2. Examine every phase of an event or idea for what will be of greatest
interest to the greatest number.

3. Look always for what will appeal to the average reader as most
unusual, curious, remarkable.

4. Consider the things that give most persons great pleasure and
satisfaction.

5. Don’t overlook the “human interest” element in the day’s events.

6. Remember that a good fight interests many, whether it is in
politics, business, or sport.

7. Don’t neglect children in the news; though small they make a big
appeal.

8. Keep on the look-out for good stories of animals.

9. Provide reading for men and women with hobbies.

10. Measure the value of your news on the basis of its local interest.

11. Remember that readers are most interested in persons and places
that they know.

12. Consider the news value given by the importance and prominence of
persons and things.

13. Bring your news as close as possible to the reader’s home and
business.

14. Sharpen your “nose for news” on the grindstone of experience.

CHAPTER III

GETTING THE NEWS

=The Problem of News Gathering.= The mystery of newspaper making, to
the uninitiated, is how editors and reporters find out everything that
happens and how they get it into print in a very short time. It seems
strange to the average person that when an accident occurs in the block
in which he lives, the first news of it often reaches him through the
newspaper. The apparent omnipresence, not to say omniscience, of the
reporter leads to the not unnatural assumption that the news gatherer
walks about the city waiting Micawber-like for “something to turn up.”
The size of the staff of reporters that would be required to maintain a
patrol of the streets would approximate that of the police force, and
would bankrupt the most prosperous newspaper. Such a system is not only
impossible but quite unnecessary. News gathering is really no mystery
at all, but merely a good example of efficient organization.

In organizing its news collecting, the newspaper only takes advantage
of information filed for various official purposes by many different
persons in no way connected with the newspaper. Policemen, firemen,
sheriffs, coroners, and practically all officials of local, state, and
national governments, as well as doctors, lawyers, and merchants are
all unintentionally serving as reporters of news. The public records
in all public or private offices are the reports which these men,
many times quite unconsciously, furnish for the newspapers. What the
news editors do is to see that a careful watch is maintained by their
reporters at all places where news is thus recorded so that they may
select whatever part of it is of interest to their readers.

=News Sources.= The places where news is recorded, not primarily for
the newspapers but really to their great advantage, and the kinds of
news to be found at each place are indicated by the following list of
news sources:—

Police Headquarters —crimes, arrests, accidents, suicides, fires,
disappearances, sudden deaths, and news of the
police department organization.

Fire Headquarters —fires, fire losses, and news of the fire
department organization.

Coroner’s Office —fatal accidents, sudden deaths, suicides, and
murders.

Health Department —deaths, contagious diseases, sanitary reports,
and condition of city water.

Recorder or Register —sales and transfers of property and mortgages.
of Deeds

City Clerk —marriage licenses.

County Jail —crimes, arrests, and executions.

Mayor’s Office —appointments and removals, municipal policies.

Criminal Courts —arraignments, hearings, and trials.

Civil Courts —complaints, answers, trials, verdicts, and
decisions in civil suits.

Probate Office —estates, wills.

Referee in Bankruptcy —assignments, failures, appointment of receivers,
meetings of creditors, settlements of bankrupts.

Building Inspector —permits for new buildings and alterations,
condemnations of unsafe buildings, regulation of
fire escapes, and fire prevention devices.

Public Utilities —hearings and decisions of rates and regulations.
Commission

Board of Public —municipal improvements.
Works

Shipping Offices —arrival and sailing of ships, cargoes, rates,
marine news.

Associated Charities —poverty, destitution, and relief.

Board of Trade, —quotations, sales, and news of stock, produce,
Stock Exchange, grain, metals, live stock, etc.
Mining Exchange,
and Chamber of
Commerce

Hotels —arrival and departure of guests, banquets,
dinner parties, and other social functions.

=News “Runs.”= To get all the news that develops at each of these and
many other similar places, the city editor divides the news sources
into “runs” or “beats,” and details a reporter to each “run.” The
reporter assigned to get or “cover” the news of police headquarters
is said to have the “police run”; another assigned to the city hall
has the “city hall run,” or is “city hall reporter”; one who gets the
news of the child welfare movement, of social centers, benevolent
organizations, etc., is said to have the “uplift run”; another is on
the “hotel run.” To cover adequately these news sources, the reporter
visits each office on his run from one to six times a day, examining
records, interviewing officials, and chatting with secretaries and
clerks. The number of times that he visits an office and the length of
time that he stays are determined approximately by the amount and value
of the news likely to be obtained.

As the reporter is held responsible for all the news of the places
on his “run,” he must not let anything escape his notice, because a
keener, quicker-witted man on the same “run” for a rival paper may get
what he misses. When a reporter obtains a piece of news that reporters
on other papers do not get, he is said to have a “scoop” or “beat,”
and the unsuccessful paper and its reporters are said to have been
“scooped.”

=City News Associations.= In large cities, like New York and Chicago,
the gathering of all the official or routine news is done by a
central news association which furnishes each paper that belongs to
the association or which pays for its services, with a mimeographed
copy of every news story that its reporters secure in covering all
the usual runs. By this method each paper is saved the expense of
providing for the scores of runs necessary in a large city in order to
cover adequately all the news sources each day. When the city editor
gets a news bulletin or a complete story from the news association,
he can have it rewritten or can send out one of his reporters if he
desires to have the event more fully covered. Such a system of local
news gathering makes possible a staff of reporters relatively small
as compared with the size of the city. Reporters employed by the city
news association work under conditions practically the same as those
in a newspaper office. Inasmuch as the stories that a news association
reporter writes are edited in at least half a dozen newspaper offices
by different editors and copy-readers, the reporter has the advantage
of seeing how various papers treat the same news story.

=Assignments.= In organizing news gathering, the city editor and his
assistants keep a “future” book or file with a page or compartment
for each day in the year. Into this are placed, under the appropriate
day, all notes, clippings, and suggestions regarding future news
possibilities. If, for example, on December 10, the state legislature
passes a law in regard to the size of berry boxes, to take effect on
March 1 of the following year, the city editor puts a clipping of the
dispatch from the state capital telling of this action, or a note
recording the fact, into the compartment or page labeled February 25,
so that a week before March 1, he may assign one of his reporters to
find out from wholesale commission dealers, berry-crate manufacturers,
and the inspector of weights and measures, what steps are to be taken
to carry out the provisions of the law. A similar news record is kept
by the telegraph and state editors covering future events in their
fields, so that correspondents may be given instructions and advice.

The city editor also has an assignment book or sheet on which is
entered every important news possibility for the day, with the name
of the reporter assigned to cover it, and with any information or
suggestions that the editor wants to give the reporter. When the
reporter arrives at the office to begin his day’s work, or when he
reports to the office by telephone, he gets his assignments for the
day. These assignments are usually connected with his run, so that
while he is on his daily round of news gathering he may get in addition
the special news assigned to him.

=“Covering” Important Events.= To secure an adequate report of an
important event, such as a state political convention, a visit of the
President of the United States, a serious crime, or a wide-spread
flood, the city editor arranges the work of the various members of his
staff so that every important phase of the event will be “covered.”
On the occasion of a day’s visit of the president, for example, one
reporter is assigned to follow the chief executive about all day from
the time he arrives until he leaves, and to write the general story
of his visit. Another is detailed to report his arrival, the ovation
given him, and possibly the short speech that he makes in response. A
third is told to “cover” the reception tendered by the Merchants and
Manufacturers Club; a fourth to report the luncheon given for him at
the City Club; and a fifth who can write shorthand to get a verbatim
report of his speech at the Coliseum in the afternoon. Practically
every event that can be anticipated is provided for in advance by the
city editor, and to that extent is easier to handle than the unexpected
ones.

=When Big News “Breaks.”= Important events that occur unexpectedly are
the real test of the editor’s ability to organize his staff quickly
and effectively. What is involved in arranging to get all phases of a
big news story is shown by the manner in which such an event as the
attempted assassination of Mayor Gaynor of New York on August 9, 1910,
was handled by the New York papers. The following summary of an account
given by one of the city editors illustrates the methods employed.[3]

The first news of the attempt to assassinate the mayor came at 9:30
A.M. in the form of a news association bulletin which read:

Mayor Gaynor was shot this morning while on the deck of the Kaiser
Wilhelm der Grosse in Hoboken. It is rumored he is dead.

The city editor on a morning paper at once got in touch with as many
of his reporters as he could reach on the telephone. The first three
reporters that he telephoned to were told the substance of the bulletin
and were sent to Hoboken to get the details.

The second bulletin from the news association, received a few minutes
after the first, was as follows:

The mayor was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, Hoboken.

As soon as another reporter was available, the city editor told him to
go to St. Mary’s Hospital to see the doctors and to report the result
at once. The fifth reporter was sent to find Mrs. Gaynor at her city
home or at her country house, as the city editor knew that she was not
accompanying the mayor on his trip abroad.

The third news association bulletin, or “flash,” gave these facts
concerning the assassin:

The man who shot the mayor has been arrested. His name is James J.
Gallagher. He lives at No. 440 Third Ave.

The city editor thereupon gave a reporter this assignment. “Go up
there; get all you can about him. Get a picture. Find out to what
political party he belongs. Run him to the ground and phone me later;
I may be able to give you something additional.” To another reporter
the city editor said: “Gallagher is to be arraigned in the police
headquarters in Hoboken; go over there quickly.”

The next bulletin opened up a new phase of the subject, the motive for
the crime:

Gallagher was a night watchman in the dock department until July 1,
when he was discharged from the city employ.

After the reporter who had been sent out to get the history of
Gallagher telephoned that Gallagher had been a disgruntled employee
of the city who had been constantly writing letters of complaint to
his superiors, the city editor assigned a reporter to get the facts,
saying: “Gallagher was a chronic kicker. Go down to the Department of
Docks and to the Civil Service Commission and get copies of all the
correspondence.”

A reporter was sent to see John Purroy Mitchel, the acting mayor,
another to find out the city charter provisions regarding a possible
vacancy in the office of mayor under such circumstances. A rewrite man
was told to get from the office collection of biographical sketches, or
“morgue,” the material on file concerning the life of the mayor and to
write an obituary. A tip by telephone from a man who had once employed
Gallagher to the effect that he had often done strange, uncanny things,
led to a reporter’s being sent to get further particulars from this
informant.

The complete list of assignments as they appeared on the city editor’s
sheet was as follows, each being preceded by the name of the reporter
detailed to cover that particular phase of the event: (1) Main story
of Gaynor shooting, (2) Interviews on board the Kaiser Wilhelm, (3)
Gallagher on board the Kaiser Wilhelm, (4) Gallagher, the man, and his
correspondence, (5) Gaynor at St. Mary’s Hospital, (6) The arraignment
of Gallagher and his plans, (7) Mrs. Gaynor and family, (8) John Purroy
Mitchel, the acting mayor, (9) City Hall, (10) What the charter says,
with interviews, (11) Obituary of Gaynor, (12) The strange, uncanny
things Gallagher did.

=Getting the Facts.= A large part of news gathering consists of getting
information from persons by asking questions. To ask questions that
will elicit the desired facts most effectively is not so easy as it
seems. Most persons, although not unwilling to give information,
are not particularly interested in doing so, and in replying do not
discriminate between what is news and what is not. Tact and skill are
necessary to get many persons to tell what they know. A stranger who
insists on asking questions is very naturally regarded with suspicion.
Even when it becomes known that the stranger is a newspaper reporter,
he is not always cordially received. Often he finds that it is
easier to get the facts when his identity as a reporter is revealed.
Nevertheless, there are not infrequent occasions when all the skill of
an astute lawyer examining a witness is required to get the desired
information. Reporters should never hesitate to ask tactfully as many
questions as are necessary, and to persist until they get what they
want.

The way in which the reporter works in gathering together the various
phases of an event before he is ready to write the story is best shown
by an example. The city editor, let us say, receives a bulletin to the
effect that an unknown, well-dressed man of about sixty years has been
seriously injured by falling off the platform in the subway station at
65th Street and Western Avenue, and that he has been removed to St.
Mary’s Hospital. The city editor sends out one of his reporters to find
out what he can about the accident.

The reporter starts at once for the subway station. At the corner near
the station he sees a policeman with whom he carries on the following
conversation:

Reporter.—Did you send in a report on the old man who fell on the
subway tracks an hour ago?

Policeman.—Yes.

R.—Do you know who he is?

P.—No, I couldn’t find out his name.

R.—Was he badly hurt?

P.—I guess he was. His head was cut behind, and he hadn’t come to
when the ambulance took him to the hospital.

R.—How did it happen?

P.—I don’t know. The first I knew a kid came running up to me and
told me a man was hurt in the subway. When I got down there, they
had him on the platform, and a crowd was standing around him. I saw
the old man was hurt pretty bad, so I telephoned for St. Mary’s
ambulance. We put some water on his face, but he didn’t come to. When
the ambulance doctor came he said he was alive all right.

R.—How did he fall off the platform?

P.—I don’t know; I guess he fainted.

R.—Thanks; I’ll go down and see the ticket chopper.

The reporter thereupon goes down into the subway station. The ticker
chopper, he finds, has just come on duty and does not know anything
about the accident. He therefore decides to inquire of the girl in
charge of the news-stand. The conversation between her and the reporter
is as follows:

Reporter.—I hear that an old man was hurt down here. How did it
happen?

Girl.—He fell on the tracks and cut his head.

R.—What was the matter with him?

G.—I don’t know; I guess he got dizzy.

R.—Did you see him fall?

G.—No; I was busy selling a lady a magazine when I heard some one
yell.

R.—How did they get him out?

G.—Two men jumped down to get him, but they couldn’t lift him up on
the platform. Then they heard the train coming and jumped over to the
side.

R.—Did the motorman stop the train when he saw them?

G.—No; I ran over to the ticket chopper’s box and grabbed his red
lantern, and jumped down to the track and waved it.

R.—Good for you! Weren’t you afraid of being run over?

G.—I didn’t think of being scared. I just kept waving the lantern,
and the motorman saw it and put on the brakes. My, but the sparks
flew!

R.—How soon did he stop?

G.—Oh, the train was only about ten feet away when it stopped, and
I kept stepping back all the time to keep out of the way.

R.—Well, you must have had a pretty close call. Who got the old man
out?

G.—The motorman and one of the guards climbed down and lifted him
up with the two other men.

R.—What did they say about your stopping the train that way?

G.—Oh, nothing. One man said, “Good for you, little girl,” and
another man wanted to know my name, and said I ought to have a medal,
but I told him I hadn’t done any thing and didn’t deserve a medal.

R.—Did you give him your name?

G.—Yes, because he kept asking me and telling me that he thought I
ought to have a medal.

R.—Well, I want your name, too, for the _News_.

G.—No; I don’t want my name in the newspaper for I didn’t do
anything.

R.—But I must tell how you stopped the train in writing about how
the man was hurt.

G.—All right; my name is Annie Hagan.

R.—Where do you live?

G.—At 916 East Watson Avenue.

R.—Have you been working here long?

G.—No; I just started last week. I quit school and got this job
here.

R.—You didn’t hear any one say who the old man was?

G.—No; I guess he was alone.

R.—Did the doctor say how badly he was hurt?

G.—No; he felt his pulse, and listened to his heart, and said he
was alive all right.

R.—Thanks; I’ll go over to St. Mary’s and see how he is getting
along.

On reaching the hospital, which is only two blocks from the subway
station, the reporter asks for the superintendent, with whom he carries
on the following conversation:

R.—I want to find out about the old man who fell off the platform
in the 65th Street subway station an hour and a half ago. How badly
was he hurt?

S.—What was his name?

R.—I don’t know.

S.—I’ll look up the record. Here it is. He died at 1:15. His skull
was fractured, and he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

R.—Did they find out who he was?

S.—No; this card is the only clue we have.

R.—May I see it?

It is a business card of the Blair Photographic Studio, 712 Broadway,
on the back of which is written in pencil the words, “Oliver, Ithaca.”
To save time, the reporter telephones from the office of the hospital
to the Blair Studio, and the conversation over the telephone between
the reporter and the clerk is as follows:

Reporter.—An old man who was hurt in the subway this noon had in
his pocket one of your cards with “Oliver” written on the back. Do
you know who he is?

Clerk.—That must be the old man who came in this morning to see Mr.
Williams, one of our retouchers, but Mr. Williams went to Ithaca last
week.

R.—Was Mr. Williams’ first name Oliver?

C.—Yes; his initials were O. R., and the old man said he was his
uncle.

R.—Where did Mr. Williams live here?

C.—I don’t know. But hold the line; I’ll ask Mr. Baxter.

C.—Mr. Baxter says that Mr. Williams’ address was 3116 Easton
Street, near Brown.

R.—All right. Thank you. Good-bye.

From the hospital the reporter hurries to the place where Mr. Williams
lived before he left for Ithaca. The conversation between the landlady
of the rooming house at 3116 Easton Street and the reporter follows:

Reporter.—Did Oliver R. Williams live here?

Landlady.—He ain’t here now. He moved away last week.

R.—Did a well-dressed old man ever come to see him when he was here?

L.—What do you want to know for?

R.—Oh, the old man fell in the subway this noon and was badly hurt.
He said Mr. Williams was his nephew.

L.—I always said something would happen to him. He fainted on the
steps here one day just after he rung the bell, and when I got to the
door he was all in a heap right here. I knew he wanted Mr. Williams,
because he came to see him a week before, so I called him, and Mr.
Williams came and got him some whiskey, and after a little he came
to. Mr. Williams told me after he went away that his uncle had heart
trouble. Did he get hurt bad?

R.—Yes, he died at the hospital an hour ago.

L.—Oh my, that’s too bad! He was a nice old fellow and Mr. Williams
thought a lot of him.

R.—What was his name?

L.—Mr. Williams called him Uncle Frank, and when he introduced him
to me after he came to, he called him Mr. Dutcher.

R.—Do you know where he lived?

L.—No. I don’t think he lived in the city because he didn’t come
here often, and when he came to, Mr. Williams told him he oughtn’t to
come all the way alone.

R.—Do you know what his business was?

L.—No. He looked like he had some money.

R.—When was it that he fainted here?

L.—Let’s see. It was about three weeks ago, I guess.

R.—Did Mr. Williams have any relatives in the city?

L.—I don’t know. I guess not. He came from up state somewhere. He
only lived here since January. He didn’t like the city very well. He
said he couldn’t sleep.

R.—Thank you.

The reporter then stops at the drug store on the next corner to find
out whether or not the name of Frank Dutcher appears in the city
directory. No such name is to be found in this directory or in the
telephone directory. As no more information is apparently obtainable,
he returns to the _News_ office and reports to the city editor what he
has found. The city editor tells him to write about 500 words playing
up the girl’s part in stopping the train, and saying that the man is
“supposed to be” Frank Dutcher.

=Putting the Facts into the News Story.= The story that the reporter
writes is as follows:—

An analysis of this story shows how the reporter wove together all the
important pieces of information which he had gathered by interviewing
the policeman, the news-stand girl, the hospital superintendent, the
clerk in the studio, and the landlady, none of whom are specifically
mentioned as the sources of his information. In accordance with the
instructions of the city editor, he “played up” the “feature” of the
story, the bravery of the girl, by putting it at the beginning and by
describing the accident in detail to show her heroism.

=Following up the News.= Many news stories, like the one just
considered, do not exhaust the news possibilities of the event, but
may be followed up in later editions or in the next day’s issues by
completing what was necessarily left incomplete for lack of time, or
by giving new phases of the event that have developed since the first
story was written. A reporter on a morning paper, for example, would be
given a clipping of the above story taken from the afternoon edition,
and would be told by the city editor to see the coroner to get the
results of his telegram to Williams, the man’s nephew, at Ithaca, and
any other information available regarding the identity of the old
man. Often unexpected and important news develops, which makes the
“follow-up,” or second story a bigger one than the first. Each reporter
and correspondent should read carefully as many newspapers as possible
before he begins his day’s work so that he may get suggestions for
“follow-up” stories on his “run,” or for “local ends” of news stories
sent in from outside the city. In large offices, one of the editors
goes over all the local newspapers to clip out the stories to be
“followed up,” or to be rewritten in the office.

=Interviewing.= In obtaining the information for the foregoing story
by means of conversations with several persons, the reporter’s aim
was to get what they said rather than how they said it; that is, he
wanted primarily the facts that they had to give, not the way that
they expressed these facts. In the news story it was not necessary to
refer specifically to the persons who furnished the information or to
quote what they said. In many instances, however, it is important to
“interview” persons in order to obtain their opinions or their versions
of current events and to give what they say just as they said it.
The terms “interviewing” and “interview” in newspaper work are often
limited to this method of reporting practically verbatim what is said
by the persons “interviewed.” Interviewing of this type requires great
skill and tact, and successful interviewers are highly valued on all
newspapers.

The two problems that the reporter has to meet are how to gain access
to the person to be interviewed and how to induce him to talk for
publication. Busy men have not time or inclination to give interviews
to every reporter who desires them. Many times such men do not wish to
say anything for publication on the desired subject, and absolutely
refuse to talk. The resourcefulness of the reporter is tested again
and again in getting access to men who are surrounded in their offices
by office boys, private secretaries, and clerks, and who on public
occasions such as banquets and receptions are sometimes equally well
guarded against newspaper men. When it is impossible to see the man
personally, it may be possible to submit to him several written
questions and thus lead him to issue a statement answering or evading
the questions.

Even when an audience is secured with the person to be interviewed,
his not infrequent unwillingness to talk for publication has to be
overcome. On some occasions to ask immediately and directly for the
desired information is the best way to secure results. At other times,
to engage him in conversation on some subject in which he is interested
and then to lead to the one on which the reporter wishes to interview
him, proves successful. Young reporters often insist on giving their
own views on the subject on which they are trying to interview a
person. The reporter should remember that he is an impartial observer,
not an advocate on one side or the other. If in an effort to get
information from the person whom he is interviewing he suggests
opposing opinions, these opinions should not be given as his own but as
those of others. Tact and a knowledge of human nature are essential.

In interviewing, as in all reporting, the newspaper man should not take
notes in the presence of the person with whom he is talking unless
he feels sure it can be done without affecting the freedom and ease
with which the man will talk. As soon as a reporter begins to take
notes, the speaker at once realizes that his statements are to appear
in black and white for the world to read. That realization leads to
caution, and caution leads to silence, partial or complete. To get
the person to talk as freely and naturally as possible is the object
of all interviewing, for the best interviewers want more than words;
they want the fullest expression of personality, an expression that
is only possible when all feeling of restraint is absent. The good
interviewer cultivates verbal memory so that he can reproduce verbatim
all the significant statements which he has obtained as soon as he
is out of the presence of the man that he has interviewed. At the
first convenient place immediately after the interview is over, the
reporter writes out as much as he desires to print, word for word as he
remembers it.

=Reporting Speeches.= In reporting speeches, addresses, lectures, and
sermons, the newspaper man either takes long-hand notes and writes out
later what he wants to use, or writes a long-hand verbatim report of
such parts as he desires. Few reporters can write short-hand, and the
few who can generally do not use it extensively because of the length
of time required to transcribe short-hand notes. It is much quicker,
and therefore more important in newspaper work, to write a connected or
“running” story, or verbatim report of a speech or lecture while it is
being delivered, by selecting significant statements and by omitting
the explanatory ones. With a little practice, the average person of
intelligence can remember a statement, word for word, as the speaker
makes it, long enough to put it in writing, and then by repeating this
process for every important statement, can give an accurate verbatim,
but necessarily condensed, report of any speech. As newspapers
generally want only a small part of the average address, the reporter
has little difficulty in writing a good account of it in long-hand.
When a complete verbatim report is desired, a short-hand reporter is
assigned to cover the address.

=“Covering” Trials and Hearings.= The same general principles
governing the reporting of speeches apply to the reporting of trials
where testimony is given in response to questioning by attorneys, or
when witnesses appear before investigating committees of the state
legislature, Congress, or other bodies. Questions and answers may be
taken down, or if the substance of the testimony is desired in either
verbatim or indirect form, the reporter can fit together the answers
into a continuous account of what the witness testifies, neglecting
partially or entirely the questions that elicit the testimony. A
“running story” of the trial or investigation is generally written in
the room where it is going on, so that the copy may be put into type as
fast as possible. In reporting important trials the newspaper sometimes
arranges to get a complete verbatim report from the official short-hand
court reporter or occasionally from an expert stenographer employed for
the purpose, and from this complete record those facts that are desired
for publication are selected.

=Advance Copies.= It is always a great advantage to a newspaper to
secure in advance a copy of a speech, a report, a decision, or any
document, so that it may be put in form for publication and may be
set up in type ready to print as soon as possible after it is given
to the public. Such advance news is marked to be “released” for
publication when it becomes public. For example, when a copy of the
speech to be delivered by the governor of the state at the laying
of a corner-stone at eleven o’clock in the morning on Washington’s
Birthday, is obtained a day or two in advance, it is marked “Release
12 M., Feb. 22.” The result will be that in the first edition of the
afternoon paper published after 12 o’clock noon on February 22 as much
of the speech as is desired can be printed, perhaps a few minutes after
the governor has concluded his address. Newspapers always regard most
scrupulously the release date which the reporter or correspondent puts
at the top of his advance story. To violate the confidence of men who
furnish news in advance by publishing it before it should be released,
is considered by newspaper men a serious breach of trust. Reporters
and correspondents should, therefore, mark plainly at the top of the
first sheet of copy the word “release” followed by the hour and date
when it can be printed. If the date and hour at which the news will
become public cannot be fixed in advance, the copy is marked, “Hold for
Release, which will probably be at 12 M., Feb. 22”; and the reporter or
correspondent notifies his paper of the exact time of release as soon
as it is fixed.

=Getting News by Telephone.= The telephone, both in local and in
long distance service, is extensively used in getting news and in
communicating it to the newspaper office. Editors often telephone their
instructions to reporters and correspondents. Newspapermen use the
telephone to “run down” rumors and “tips,” to verify news reports, to
get “interviews,” and, in short, to obtain all kinds of information.
Although some men refuse to be “interviewed” over the telephone, it is
often possible to get “interviews” more easily by this means than by
any other. Reporters, or “watchers,” at police headquarters and at
other news sources telephone important information to the city editor
so that he may assign men to get the news involved. When lack of time
prevents the reporter from returning to the office to write his story,
he telephones the facts to a “rewrite man,” who puts them in news-story
form. Or the reporter may dictate his story over the telephone to a
man in the newspaper office, who, using an overhead receiver like that
worn by telephone operators, takes it down rapidly on a typewriter.
Experienced reporters can dictate their stories in this way with only
their notes before them. The long distance service is used in the same
manner by correspondents when it can be more advantageously employed
than the telegraph.

=Photographs.= Illustrations, or “cuts,” have come to be an important
part of almost all newspapers. Although most of the photographs used
for illustrations are made by the staff photographer or are secured
from companies that make a specialty of taking pictures of current
events, reporters and correspondents are often able to supply their
papers with pictures of persons, places, or events that are a part of
the day’s news. Good photographs may sometimes be secured from amateurs
who happen to get snapshots of some interesting occurrence. Every
reporter and every correspondent should have a camera and should learn
how to take pictures to illustrate the stories that he writes, even
though he may not have occasion to take such photographs frequently.
Unmounted photographic prints with a glossy surface and with strong
contrasts are the most satisfactory ones from which to make newspaper
halftones. A brief description of the picture should be written on
the back of every photograph. Unmounted photographs should always be
mailed flat. Correspondents are paid for photographs that are used by
newspapers.

=Special Kinds of News.= Special kinds of reporting, such as is done
by sporting, market, financial, railroad, labor, marine, society,
dramatic, and musical editors, naturally requires special training
and experience in the subject matter of these fields. The methods of
gathering these special kinds of news are not particularly different
from those of collecting general news. The sporting editor and his
assistants often have to write a “running” account of a baseball
game or football game as it progresses. The musical and dramatic
critics, of course, express their opinions on productions, instead
of simply reporting what took place at the theatre or concert. The
railroad, labor, market, or marine editors report the news in their
particular fields, sometimes in special forms, such as market reports
or quotations, but their work of news gathering is like that of the
general reporter.

=Qualifications of the Reporter.= Rapidity, perseverance, accuracy,
intelligence, and tact, as well as the “news sense,” or “nose for
news,” are the essential qualifications for successful reporting.

Nowhere is it truer that “time is money” than in newspaper making. The
reporter, as the news collector and news writer, must save as much time
as possible by working fast. To know just where to get the news and
how to get it quickly, always means great economy of time and effort.
Rapid, accurate judgment of news values, likewise, is an important
qualification for a good newspaper man. “Get all the news and get it
quick,” was the command that a certain city editor of the old school
used to thunder at his cub reporters.

=Perseverance.= To get all the news, or sometimes to get any news,
demands perseverance. The reporter must follow one clue after another
until he finds what he is looking for, or is convinced that there is
nothing to find. By stopping in his pursuit before he has all there is
to get, he may miss the biggest “feature” of the story. Every neglected
clue may mean a “scoop” by a rival. To return empty-handed is to admit
defeat. News hunting is often discouraging business, but the reporter
must always keep up his determination by a firm belief that what is
eluding him may be a big story, probably the biggest story of his
career.

=Accuracy.= Accuracy must extend to every detail of reporting. As
the reporter is seldom on the spot when an unexpected event happens,
he must rely upon the accounts of it given by eye witnesses. These
accounts often differ materially because of the common inaccuracy of
observation and judgment. The reporter must weigh the testimony of
each witness, much as a juryman does in a trial, and must decide which
version is the most probable one. When time permits, he can verify
doubtful details by questioning other witnesses on the particular parts
in which the versions differ. He should always make every reasonable
effort to get all particulars as accurately as possible.

Great care should invariably be taken to have names and addresses
correct. The reporter will do well to ask his informants to spell
unfamiliar names for him. City, telephone, and society directories, the
various kinds of “Who’s Who” volumes, and similar lists, are convenient
sources for getting names, initials, and addresses. Even the necessity
for speed in newspaper work is not a valid excuse for carelessness
and inaccuracy in news gathering. The minutes required to verify
names, addresses, and other details, are always well spent. Rumors
and unconfirmed statements generally should be carefully investigated
before they are given much credence, especially when they reflect upon
the reputation of persons, organizations, or business enterprises. A
false rumor given wide currency through a newspaper may ruin a man or
a woman, or seriously injure a bank or business firm. No correction
or retraction that a newspaper can make ever counteracts completely
the effects of the original story. A rumor is often valuable as a news
“tip,” but like all news tips it needs to be traced to its source and
confirmed by evidence before it is really news. Often it is mere gossip
or the product of a fertile imagination, with little or no basis in
fact. False and inaccurate statements are not what newspapers or their
readers want.

=Tact and Courtesy.= On the stage the reporter runs about with
note-book and pencil in hand; in real life, he carries some folded
sheets of copy paper on which to take notes when necessary, in a way to
attract the least possible attention. He neither conceals nor displays
his profession. An impersonal, anonymous observer of persons and
events, he does not obtrude his personality upon those with whom his
work brings him in contact. Tactful, courteous, friendly, he elicits
his information as quickly as possible. When a more aggressive attitude
is necessary to secure what he wants and has a right to have, he is
equal to the occasion. But whatever may be the circumstances, the
reporter never forgets that he is a gentleman, and that the newspaper
which he represents never expects him to do anything to get the news
that he or it need be ashamed to acknowledge to the world. Some papers
may not hold up this ideal to their reporters and editors, but every
self-respecting newspaper must.

To cultivate personal acquaintance with those with whom news gathering
brings the reporter in contact, is the best means of increasing his
ability to get the news. When men come to have a friendly interest in
the reporter and his work, and find that they can trust him to report
accurately the news that they give him, they often go out of their way
to help him. Many a “scoop” has been the result of the friendly aid of
some one who had news to give and who saved it for the reporter in whom
he had become personally interested. In other instances, where official
news must be given to all alike, the favored reporter may be given
a “tip” in advance as to some important phase of this official news
which he can use to advantage in his paper, or he may be able to get an
advance copy of a report or of a public document so that his paper will
have a good story on it ready to print as soon as it is given to the
public.

Through his personal relations with men, however, the reporter is
sometimes put in a difficult position. In conversation with friends,
for example, he may learn of important news that would make a good
story and perhaps give him credit for a “scoop.” But he must remember
that when he obtains news in the confidence of private conversation,
he has no right to use it without the consent of those from whom he
gets it in this way. At other times he may be given news with the
request that it be not published, and again he must beware of violating
confidence. No self-respecting reporter will fail to regard the trust
placed in him by those with whom he comes in contact either in social
or professional relations. Another problem confronts the reporter when
friends or acquaintances request him to suppress the whole or a part of
a news story that it is his duty to write. Since a reporter is supposed
to give all the important facts in a fair and impartial manner, he has
no right to omit any of them without the knowledge of his superiors.
The best way out of the difficulty, therefore, is to tell those who
desire the suppression of any news that the decision in such matters
rests with the editor and not with the reporter.

=How the Correspondent Works.= The work of the correspondent is very
much the same as that of the reporter. Like the reporter, he gets
assignments or instructions from time to time; he asks his superiors
how much of a story they want on a particular event; he watches the
news sources in the city or town for which he is responsible. As he is
frequently on the staff of a local paper as well, he has the advantage
of whatever news is collected for this paper. Whenever an important
event is to take place in the district which he covers, he receives
instructions a day or two in advance from the telegraph editor telling
him what the paper wants and how much he is to send. If the telegraph
editor desires some phase of an unexpected happening looked up by the
correspondent, he telegraphs to him the necessary directions. The
correspondent, likewise, telegraphs to the editor whenever he has a
story on which he wants instructions. When a correspondent telegraphs
for instructions, he is said to send a “query” or “to query” his paper.
A query usually consists of a brief statement of the news in a sentence
or two followed by the number of words in which the correspondent
thinks he can write the story adequately. The typical form of a query
would be:

Buffalo Express, Buffalo, N. Y.

Easthampton, N. Y., Jan. 16.—Western Steel Co.’s mill burning, loss
$150,000, two firemen killed. 300. Filed 9:23 P.M. Wilson.

The telegraph editor can use the facts thus given in the query by
turning the dispatch over to the copy desk to be edited for the
next edition; and at the same time he may telegraph to Wilson, the
Easthampton correspondent, to send 150 instead of 300 words on the
fire. The correspondent, on receiving these instructions, telegraphs
at once as much of the story as he can in 150 words. He always puts
at the end of the dispatch before his signature the hour at which he
files the story at the telegraph office, so that he will not be held
responsible for any delay in transmitting or delivering the telegram.

When the correspondent has a number of news stories of interest on
which he desires to have instructions, he sends his “queries” in the
form of a “schedule” in which each story is numbered. For example:

Philadelphia Times, Philadelphia, Pa.

Erie, Pa., March 10.—No. 1. Northern Hospital for Insane burns,
all inmates rescued. 800.

2. C. H. Hartman, cashier Miners’ Bank, commits suicide. 250.

3. Principal Walters of high school prohibits football. 100.

4. Mayor Altmeyer removes Health Commissioner Murphy for
incompetency. 150.

5. Minister delivers strong sermon on “Is There a Devil?” 300.
R. N. Wilson.

The telegraph editor might reply to this schedule with the following
instructions, which would indicate how much the correspondent is to
send on each of the stories that he has scheduled, as well as the fact
that nothing is wanted on story No. 5.

Philadelphia, Mar. 10.—R. N. Wilson, Erie, Pa. Rush one and two;
50 three; 100 four. Times.

The correspondent is paid a regular salary if the amount of news that
he sends daily is considerable, but more often he is paid every month
at a regular space rate for the amount printed of the news that he
sends during the month. On some papers the correspondents clip out
all of their news stories and paste them together in a “string” which
they send in once a month, so that the telegraph editor may pay them
according to the length of the “string.” In many offices the telegraph
editor keeps a record by crediting every correspondent with what he
furnishes, and sends monthly a check for the amount due.

=News Associations.= Most of the news of the state, nation, and world
generally is furnished to newspapers, not by their own correspondents,
but through one of the several news or press associations, such as
the Associated Press, the United Press, and the International Press
Service. The Associated Press is a coöperative news-gathering and
news-distributing organization with a membership consisting of many
of the leading papers throughout the country. The expenses of the
association are divided equally among the newspapers that are members.
Each paper that belongs to the association agrees to furnish all the
others with the news that it gets in the local field. The Associated
Press also has correspondents everywhere in the world, most of whom are
paid for what news they furnish, while others at important news centers
are regularly employed to gather and send news to the association.
To facilitate the handling of the news, the Associated Press has
divided the country into four divisions with a central office and a
superintendent in each; and in these divisions there is a bureau at
every important news center with a correspondent who is responsible
for all the news in his district of the division. Associated Press
correspondents send the news of the cities, towns, or sections for
which they are responsible to the district bureau, or the division
office, where it is edited and distributed to the newspapers of the
division, and is sent on to the other division offices to be edited
and distributed to papers in these divisions. The United Press is a
corporation which furnishes its news service to afternoon papers at a
rate determined by the distance of the newspaper from the distributing
point and by the amount of news sent. It differs from the Associated
Press in the fact that it is not a coöperative organization. The
International Press Service connected with the papers controlled by Mr.
W. R. Hearst also furnishes newspapers generally with news service.

The instructions given by the Associated Press and the United Press
to their correspondents, from which the following extracts are taken,
indicate the general rules to be followed by a correspondent who is
sending out news that is of more than local interest.

Be able always to give a valid reason for sending a dispatch.

File news with the telegraph operator at the earliest possible
moment. Dispatches should be filed before 9 A.M. for the noon
editions; before 12 M. for the 3 o’clocks; and before 2 P.M. for the
5 o’clocks; nothing should be filed after 2:15 P.M. except night
matter, which should be marked N.P.R. (night press rate). If there
should be news of great importance, file a bulletin of 100 words at
any hour. All matter for afternoon papers should be filed at the
earliest possible moment without regard to editions.

When the news is of extraordinary character, or very sensational,
file at once a bulletin of 100 words, and wait instructions before
sending the details, as the number of words desired will be ordered.
Should the news prove to be more important than the facts first
available indicated, a second bulletin of 100 words should be filed
as soon as the additional facts are known.

The news in every dispatch should be given in the first paragraph,
details following. A story should be told as briefly as is consistent
with an intelligent statement of the facts.

Notify, if possible, the general office by mail at least a week in
advance in regard to the date of every meeting of national and state
organizations, and of any gathering or coming event not of a local
character, including the state and congressional conventions of
political parties announced to be held in your city. Instructions
will be given you as to the number of words to be sent in covering
the events designated. All matter should be telegraphed unless “by
mail” is specified in an order.

Advance copies of speeches and addresses of public men, and important
platforms and resolutions of assemblies and conventions, whenever
possible should be secured in advance and mailed to the general
office to be held until released. All advance matter is to be sent
“subject to release.” The time of release of advance matter should be
stated instead of the edition for which the matter is released.

Accuracy, speed, and brevity are what we desire.

The correspondent should be fair toward all interests.

Do not send matter of merely local interest. Any matter sent must be
of general or exceptional state interest.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Always have at hand several soft black pencils.

2. Take notes on folded copy paper rather than in a notebook.

3. Keep a pocket date-book for all future events and news
possibilities.

4. Get all the news; don’t stop with half of it.

5. Run down every clue whenever the character of the news warrants it.

6. Work rapidly; don’t putter.

7. Don’t make the necessity for speed an excuse for carelessness or
inaccuracy.

8. Be especially careful about names, initials, and addresses.

9. Don’t take rumors for facts.

10. Persevere until you get what you were sent for; don’t come back
empty-handed.

11. Be resourceful in devising ways and means of getting news.

12. Study your paper to see to what kind of news it gives greatest
space and prominence.

13. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the whole city, and especially
with every place on your own run.

14. Never neglect even for a day a news source on your regular run.

15. Make acquaintances among all classes of people with whom your work
brings you in contact.

16. Interest your friends and acquaintances in your work so that they
will coöperate with you in getting news.

17. Gather all news quietly and unobtrusively.

18. Be tactful with every one; never make an enemy.

19. Never betray a confidence no matter how big the “scoop” would be if
you did.

20. Remember that you can always be both a gentleman and a good
reporter.

21. Don’t take notes in interviewing.

22. Always know exactly what information you desire before beginning to
interview a person.

23. Get advance copies of anything to be quoted directly or indirectly
in a news story.

24. Mark the release date plainly at the beginning of all advance
copies or stories.

25. Get photographs of persons and events if possible, and write a
description on the back of the photographs.

26. File telegraph stories at the earliest possible moment.

27. Always follow instructions.

28. Mail stories, either by regular or special delivery, whenever they
will surely reach the newspaper in time for the edition for which
they are intended.

29. Never put off till to-morrow sending news that is new to-day.

CHAPTER IV

STRUCTURE AND STYLE IN NEWS STORIES

=Writing the News.= After the reporter has found the news and has
collected all the important details concerning it, he must write it up
for publication. To present the news effectively is as important as to
get it. Many a good piece of news has been spoiled in the writing. The
raw material of fact must be transformed skillfully into the finished
product of the news story. The reporter is supposed to be able to write
an adequate report. When he does not, the copy-reader or the “rewrite
man” is called upon to make good the reporter’s failure. Ordinarily
the copy-reader needs only to polish off the rough edges. The work of
the good reporter ought to require little or no editing. The careless,
slovenly writer is not a welcome addition to the staff of any paper.
The less editing a reporter’s copy requires the more satisfactory will
he be.

=Essentials of Good Copy.= The first essential of good copy is
legibility. Typewritten copy, double or triple spaced, is always
preferred. In long-hand writing, likewise, liberal space should be
left between the lines and for margins. In such copy the “u’s” should
be underscored and the “n’s” overscored in order to differentiate
them. Proper names in long-hand copy should be printed to avoid errors
in spelling. If the story is begun halfway down the first page,
the copy-reader will have enough space on that sheet to write the
headline. Quotation marks, or “quotes” as they are called, should be
enclosed in half-circles, thus, “⁾stunt,⁽” to indicate whether they
are beginning or end marks. A small cross may be used to advantage for
a period. Numerical figures and abbreviations that are to be spelled
out should be enclosed in a circle. Each paragraph should be indented,
and the first word of it should be preceded by an inverted “L,” thus
⅃; if a new paragraph is desired where there was none in the copy as
first written, the paragraph sign (¶) should be used. At the end of
every complete story should be placed the end mark (#); if the story
is incomplete, the word “more” is written beneath the last sentence.
Additions to follow the last sentence of the story are marked with the
name of the story and the abbreviation for additions; thus, “Add 2
Hotel Fire” means that the piece of copy is the second addition to the
hotel fire story; “Add 1 Wilkins Suicide” means the first addition to
the story of Wilkins’ suicide. Additions to be inserted in the story
are marked “Insert A—Johnson Will Case” for the first insert in the
“Will Case” story; “Insert B—Trolley Collision” for the second insert
in the collision story. The place at which the new piece of copy is to
be inserted is often indicated thus: “Insert after first paragraph of
lead—Murder Trial.” Copy must never be written on both sides of the
paper.

=Style and Structure.= In the writing of the news story two elements
must be considered: (1) the style; and (2) the structure. The first has
to do with the expression; the second with the arrangement of material.

=Clearness.= Clearness is the first requisite of newspaper style as
it is of all writing. Newspapers are read rapidly, and rapid reading
is possible only when the words yield their ideas with little effort
on the part of the reader. The less the effort required to get the
meaning, the more easily and rapidly can he read. Clearness is most
readily obtained by comparative simplicity of style. However effective
elaborate sentence construction, learned diction, and carefully wrought
figures of speech may be in other kinds of writing, they ordinarily
have no place in the news story. This does not mean that literary
devices must be abandoned in newspaper writing or that newspaper
style is bald and unattractive. News stories demand all the literary
ability that the reporter possesses, for besides presenting the news
clearly they must be interesting and attractive. Effectiveness in a
simple style lies in that choice and arrangement of words which enables
the reader to get the meaning with the least effort and the greatest
interest.

=Conciseness.= Conciseness is the second essential of the style of the
news story. This, again, does not mean that only the bare skeleton of
news is required, for good news stories are clothed with flesh and
blood to make them real and to give them human interest. Conciseness
demands that not a single needless word shall be used, that every
detail shall be necessary for the effectiveness of presentation, and
that the length of the story shall be exactly proportionate to its
interest and to its news value. If the reporter tests the value of each
detail and can give a good reason for using it, he will not go far
wrong as to the length of his story. If he can give an equally good
reason for every word that he uses, his style is likely to have the
desired conciseness.

=Originality.= Originality of expression in newspaper work is the
quality that distinguishes the good writer from the fair and the
mediocre ones. Constant rapid writing on similar subjects leads to
the use of the same words and phrases over and over again. Trite,
hackneyed expressions can be used with less effort and greater rapidity
than is required to find new and fresh phrases, unless the writer
has accustomed himself to think clearly and accurately in concrete,
specific terms. The only way that the newspaper writer can make his
work rise above the level of the average is by seeing more in persons
and events than does the ordinary reporter and by expressing what he
sees with greater freshness and individuality. The classic bit of
advice given by Flaubert to De Maupassant, the French master of the
short story, is of the greatest value to the newspaper reporter who
would cultivate in his style both conciseness and originality. It is in
part as follows:

Everything which one desires to express must be looked at with
sufficient attention, and during a sufficiently long time, to
discover in it some aspect no one has as yet seen or described. The
smallest object contains something unknown. Find it.

Whatever one wishes to say, there is only one noun to express
it, only one verb to give it life, only one adjective to qualify
it. Search, then, till that noun, that verb, that adjective are
discovered; never be content with “very nearly”; never have recourse
to tricks, however happy; or to buffooneries of language, to avoid a
difficulty.

This is the way to become original.

=Typographical “Style.”= For such details of typographical “style”
as capitalization, abbreviation, hyphenation, and use of numerical
figures, every newspaper has a set of special rules, generally
printed in a so-called “style book,” that are invariably followed
by copy-readers and compositors. When a reporter begins work on a
newspaper, he should study carefully all these peculiarities, so
that he may follow them in preparing his copy. He also should learn
as quickly as possible the paper’s printed style rules, or, if there
are no printed rules, he should study the news stories as examples of
the practice followed in the office. Some newspapers have an “index
expurgatorius,” or list of words and phrases to be avoided. These
“don’ts” generally embody common errors of diction, but they not
infrequently include also some pet aversions of the editor-in-chief,
the managing editor, or the city editor, that are matters of preference
rather than of good usage. Reporters will do well to observe carefully
how their stories are changed by editors and copy-readers, and in all
matters of style should make their work conform to the preferences of
their superiors.

=Paragraph Length.= One of the distinctive peculiarities of newspaper
style is the brevity of the paragraph. The width of newspaper columns
permits about seven words in a line. The result is that a paragraph of
the length usual in prose style generally, i.e., from 150 to 250 words,
would occupy from 20 to 35 lines and would appear disproportionately
long for its width. Paragraphs that are long, or appear to be so, make
a piece of writing look solid and heavy, hence uninviting to the rapid
reader. In newspaper work, accordingly, it has come to be recognized
that shorter paragraphs are more effective. Paragraphs of from 50 to
150 words are considered the normal type for newspaper writing.

This means that often a paragraph, and particularly the first paragraph
of a news story, consists of but one sentence. Paragraphs of two or
three sentences are very frequent. A comparison of the structure of
these short paragraphs with that of paragraphs in other kinds of prose,
shows that what would be subdivisions, each with a sub-topic, in the
common type of longer paragraphs, become independent paragraphs in
newspaper style. The unity of the newspaper paragraph, therefore, is
not less marked because of its brevity.

=Sentence Length.= Journalistic style has sometimes been said to
be characterized by short, disconnected sentences that produce a
choppy, staccato effect. Kipling, for example, is often described as
“journalistic” in his abrupt short-sentence style. As a matter of fact
the style of the American news story is marked neither by distinctly
short sentences nor by particularly abrupt transitions. The sentences
in news stories, on the whole, are as long as those in modern English
prose generally. The first sentence of the story, which gives the gist
of the news contained, is many times from 50 to 75 words in length, and
is therefore to be classed as decidedly long.

=Emphatic Beginnings.= The emphasis given by initial position is
especially important in news stories. The beginning rather than the
end is the most emphatic position. The reason is obvious. As the eye
glances down the column in reading rapidly, the first group of words in
each paragraph stands out prominently. Any climactic effect with the
strongest emphasis at the end is lost to the rapid reader unless he
follows the development of the thought from sentence to sentence to the
close of the paragraph. The important element if placed at the end of a
long sentence, likewise, loses its emphasis for a rapid reader.

This principle of emphasis at the beginning determines the structure
of the news story. Into the first paragraph, as the place of greatest
prominence, is put the most important part of the news. Into the first
group of words of the first sentence of each paragraph is placed,
if possible, the most significant idea of the paragraph. The least
important details go to the latter part of the story, so that unless
the reader is particularly interested he need not follow through the
account to the end; and so that, if necessary, parts may be cut off
entirely without causing any loss that will be evident. The fitting
together into columns of stories of different lengths after they
are in type often requires that the last paragraph or paragraphs
be cut off. This possibility adds to the importance of putting the
least significant elements into the latter part of the story, and of
concentrating the essentials at the beginning. It also requires that
each paragraph be so rounded that it may serve as the end of the story
if those following it have to be thrown away.

=The “Lead.”= The beginning, or “lead,” of the story is the part that
requires the greatest skill in the choice, the arrangement, and the
expression of the essential elements of the piece of news. Nowhere is
it truer than in the news story that “Well begun is half done.” In the
typical “lead” the reporter gives the reader in clear, concise, yet
interesting form the gist of the whole story, emphasizing, or “playing
up,” the “feature” of it that is most attractive. The “lead,” as the
substance of the story, should tell the reader the nature of the event,
the persons or things concerned, as well as the time, the place, the
cause, and the result. These essential points are given in answer to
the questions: What? Who? When? Where? Why? How?

The “lead” may consist of one paragraph or of several paragraphs
according to the number and complexity of the details in the story. For
short stories a one-paragraph “lead” consisting of a single sentence
is often sufficient, because the gist of the news can be given in from
30 to 75 words. For a long, complex story consisting of several parts,
each under a separate heading, an independent lead of a number of
paragraphs may be written as a general introduction to the different
parts. Usually, however, the lead is an integral part of the story,
giving the substance of the news in a paragraph or two, in such form
that all the rest of the story may be cut off without depriving the
reader of any essential point.

=“Playing up the Feature.”= Before the reporter begins to write, he
must determine what is the most significant and interesting phase of
his piece of news; in other words, the “feature” of it. It is this
phase that must be emphasized, “played up” or “featured,” as newspaper
men say. As the “feature” of a piece of news is the most interesting
phase of it, the reporter must apply to his raw materials of fact the
tests of news values discussed in Chapter II. The element of his news,
therefore, that will be of greatest interest to the greatest number as
measured by these tests, he should select as the “feature.” In addition
to the “feature” he must present all the important facts that are
necessary to make clear the “feature” and its relation to the rest of
the news of which it is a part.

In accordance with the principle of emphasis at the beginning of the
paragraph, the “feature” of the story should be placed in the first
group of words of the opening sentence of the lead. Although any of
the essential points may be “played up,” some are less likely than
others to deserve that emphasis. The time of the event, for example, is
generally not a significant point in the story, and therefore stories
should seldom begin with “Early this morning,” “At two o’clock this
afternoon,” “Yesterday,” or similar unimportant phrases. Occasionally
the exact hour of some action, such as the adjournment of Congress or
of the state legislature, which has been anticipated but could not be
definitely fixed in advance, has enough interest to warrant giving
it the initial position in the lead. The names of persons should not
be placed at the beginning unless they are sufficiently prominent to
deserve this emphasis. When a man is not known to a number of readers,
his name is of less interest than details of the news in which he is
involved. Names of prominent persons, on the other hand, attract the
desired attention at the beginning of the story. The place of the event
is generally indicated by the date line in telegraph news, and is not
played up in local news stories except in unusual cases. News stories
should not begin with “At 116 Western Avenue,” “In the lobby of the
Manhattan Theatre,” “On the corner of Williams and Chestnut streets,”
“Near the New York Central Station,” for rarely is the exact location
the most important point. Peculiar or important causes, results, or
circumstances are likely to be the best features, because, as has been
said, unusual, curious, new phases of activities have the greatest
interest for most readers. How each of the different essential elements
of the lead may be given emphasis in the initial position is shown in
the following examples:

The Time

The Place

The Name

The Event

The Cause

The Result

The Significant Circumstance

=How to Begin.= The grammatical form in which the feature is presented
in the first group of words of the lead varies according to the
character of the point to be emphasized. Some of the convenient types
of beginning are: (1) the subject of the sentence, (2) a participial
phrase, (3) a prepositional phrase, (4) an infinitive phrase, (5) a
dependent clause, (6) a substantive clause, and (7) a direct quotation.

The subject of the sentence frequently contains the most telling
idea of the lead and therefore occupies the emphatic position at the
beginning, as in the following stories:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

A participial phrase, as the first group of words, is often a
convenient form in which to “play up” a significant feature. The
participle must always modify the subject of the sentence. The
“hanging” or “dangling” participle which does not modify the subject,
and the participle used substantively as the subject, are faults to be
avoided. The effective use of the participial phrase is shown in the
following leads:—

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Prepositional phrases, either adjective or adverbial, may be used to
bring out an emphatic detail; for example:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Infinitive phrases may be employed to advantage, as
in the following cases:

(1)

(2)

Causal, concessive, conditional, and temporal clauses at the beginning
of a story make possible the desired emphasis in an effective form; for
example:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

A substantive clause as subject of the first sentence of the story is
often convenient, particularly for an indirect quotation in reports of
speeches, interviews, testimony, etc. The different forms available are
shown in the following leads:

(1)

(2)

(3)

A direct quotation at the beginning is the means of
getting before the reader at once the important statement
of a speech, report, interview, confession, etc.
The following examples and those given in the discussion
of reports of speeches and interviews in Chapter VI
illustrate the effective use of the quotation.

(1)

(2)

=Beginnings to be Avoided.= The rule that a news story should never
begin with the articles “a,” “an,” or “the,” is neither supported by
actual newspaper practice nor based on entirely sound principles. Good
emphasis at the beginning is what such a rule strives to secure and in
so far as it calls attention to the desirability of beginning the story
with an important word in place of an article, it is justified. Often,
however, in order to get the most significant element into the first
group of words it is absolutely necessary to use one of the articles.
Sometimes an article is unnecessary before the noun at the beginning;
for example: “Fire destroyed,” etc., is more concise than, “A fire
destroyed,” etc., and, “Government ownership of telegraph lines was
urged,” than, “The government ownership of telegraph lines was urged.”

Numerical figures should not be used at the beginning of any sentence
in a news story. To avoid putting the figures first when round numbers
are given, such forms may be used as, “About 250 students,” “Over 1,200
chickens,” “Nearly 750 gallons of milk.” If it is considered desirable
to have numbers at the very beginning, they may be spelled out, thus:
“Three thousand citizens greeted,” etc., “Two hundred pounds of candy
were strewn along Broadway,” etc.

=Explanatory Matter.= In the lead of all stories of events that are
closely associated with preceding events, such as “follow-up” stories,
it is customary to give briefly sufficient explanatory information to
make the event described clear in its relations to the earlier ones.
This is necessary because readers may have overlooked the stories of
the preceding occurrences. An explanatory phrase or clause is generally
sufficient, but sometimes a whole sentence is necessary.

=Unconventional Leads.= In place of the usual summary lead containing
all the essential points of the event, some stories begin with the
particulars leading up to the event and thus keep the reader in
suspense as to the nature and result of the happening until he has
read the greater part of the story. These stories in their structure
approximate fictitious narratives such as the short story. Various
forms of beginnings that depart from the normal summary lead are
illustrated by the following examples:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Another example of this type of story that follows the chronological
order instead of beginning with a summary of the facts, is the
following from the New York _Sun_, in which it was printed at the top
of a column on the first page:

Originality in the treatment of the ordinary material of a news story
is illustrated in the following beginning of a report of a conference
on rural problems.

How a bit of police court news may be worked up into a story the lead
of which piques the reader’s curiosity, is shown in the following story
from the New York _Sun_:

Another example of an opening that stimulates the reader’s desire to
know more of an unusual incident is seen in the following story:

Distinctive beginnings which are also calculated to attract attention
by reason of the question form are shown in the following stories taken
from the Chicago _Tribune_:

(1)

(2)

(3)

A type of lead that has some vogue has a very short first sentence
that usually states the most significant fact in the story. This short
statement may be followed by a longer explanatory one that contains
the other essential details, or by a series of short sentences each of
which contains an important detail. This kind of lead is in reality
only the breaking up of the long one-sentence lead containing all
the essentials, into two or more shorter sentences. Greater emphasis
is thus gained for the particulars set off in the short sentences.
Examples of these leads are:

(1)

(2)

In the less conventional types of leads, various beginnings are used,
often to excellent advantage, for novelty and variety. The two examples
given below show some marked departures from the usual kinds of
beginnings.

(1)

(2)

=“Boxed” Summaries.= To give greater prominence to interesting
statistics, summaries, excerpts, and lists than is possible in the
lead, these facts are often put before the regular lead, usually
surrounded by a frame or “box,” and printed in black face type.
Although this arrangement is determined by the editors and copy
readers, the reporter may select and group significant facts in such a
way that those who edit his copy can readily mark them to be “boxed”
and set in the desired kind of type. Lists of dead and injured in
accidents; telling statements from speeches, reports, or testimony;
statistics of interest; summaries of facts; and brief histories of
events connected with the news story at hand, are frequently treated in
this way. If not placed before the lead, these “boxed” facts are put at
a convenient place in the body of the story. Brief bulletins, likewise,
containing the latest news are often “boxed” and set in heavier type.

(1)

+----------------------------------------+
| |
| SOUTH POINT FIRE LOSS |
| |
| Elevator B $300,000 |
| Wheat, 377,000 bu. 403,390 |
| Flax, 227,000 bu. 274,670 |
| Barley, 7,000 bu. 3,360 |
| Western Pacific Dock 30,000 |
| --------- |
| Total Loss $1,011,420 |
+----------------------------------------+
| |
| Over a million dollars’ worth of|
|property on South Point was consumed|
|within two hours yesterday afternoon|
|when fire destroyed Elevator B of the|
|Northern Elevator Company and the dock|
|of the Western Pacific Railroad Company,|
|and imperiled surrounding property|
|valued at another million. |

(2)

(3)

(4)

=The Body of the Story.= Following the lead is the body of the story,
which generally consists of a more or less detailed account of the
event. The main part of the report usually presents the incidents
in the order in which they took place. In choice and arrangement of
particulars, therefore, it does not differ from narration in general.
As in all narration, so in news stories, it is essential to pick out
those particulars that are most interesting and most significant in
relation to the feature of the news. If the details are arranged
in chronological order and this order is made evident by means of
connective words and phrases, the reader can follow the account easily
from beginning to end.

All of the methods used by writers of fiction to make short stories
and novels realistic and attractive may be applied to the writing of
news. Concise descriptive touches that suggest the picture rather than
portray it by detailed description, are always effective. Accounts
of eye-witnesses, exclamations and remarks made by the bystanders,
comments by those concerned, dialogue between persons involved, when
given in the form of direct quotations, all add to the life and
interest of the story. Every legitimate literary device can be used to
advantage in the writing of the day’s news, provided that it does not
require too much space, for above everything else the news story must
be concise.

Good emphasis at the beginning of each paragraph should always be
sought, because in rapid reading, as has already been pointed out,
the eye catches first the initial group of words at each indention.
Unimportant connective phrases and clauses should seldom be given
this position of prominence, but should be buried in the sentence.
The emphasis at the end of each paragraph in the news story is not
great and can therefore be disregarded. Although each paragraph need
not end emphatically, it should be rounded out to give the effect of
completeness.

The organization of details in the body of a story is shown in the
account of a train robbery given below:

When a story covers considerable time because the incidents leading
up to the principal event took place a week or more before, care must
be taken to keep the time element before the readers in order to make
the series of incidents clear in their relation to one another. The
following story shows the arrangement of material in such a story:

SUGGESTIONS

1. Write legibly; use a typewriter whenever possible.

2. Double or triple space your typewritten or longhand copy.

3. Never write on both sides of the sheet.

4. Make your meaning absolutely clear to the rapid reader.

5. Be concise; don’t use needless words.

6. Use superlatives sparingly.

7. Find the one noun to express the idea, the one adjective, if
necessary, to qualify it, and the one verb needed to give it life.

8. Get life and action into your story whenever circumstances warrant.

9. Use original expressions; avoid trite and hackneyed phrases.

10. Remember that every one of your mistakes adds to the work of your
superiors.

11. Study and follow the peculiarities of the style of your paper.

12. Make your paragraphs short and concise.

13. Avoid choppy, disconnected short sentences.

14. Don’t overload the first sentence by elaborating on the essential
points.

15. Select the most interesting phase of the news as the “feature” of
the story.

16. Put the “feature” in the first group of words at the beginning of
the lead.

17. Answer satisfactorily in the “lead” the questions—Who? What? When?
Where? Why? and How?

18. Seldom “play up” the time or place as the feature.

19. Avoid the hanging, or dangling, participle, particularly at the
beginning of the lead.

20. Don’t put important particulars of the story in the last paragraphs
where they may be cut off in the “make-up.”

21. Avoid beginning successive paragraphs with the same phrase or
construction.

22. Use an unconventional form of “lead” when the news justifies it.

23. Tabulate on a separate sheet significant statistics, lists,
excerpts, or summaries, so that they may be “boxed.”

24. Don’t suppress news; refer all requests for such suppression to
your superiors.

25. Put the mark (#), or the figures 30 enclosed in a circle, at the
end of every story.

PRACTICE WORK

(1) Point out the faults in the following story and correct them by
rewriting it.

Suspected of starting over a score of fires in the downtown district
within a month and confessing starting nineteen, with six false
alarms in three months, Henry Handifort, a South Side boy, was
arrested after a fire early today.

In a confession to the police Handifort, who is 16 years of age, said
he began his career as a firebug when 5 years old, but after starting
three fires was so punished by his parents that he refrained from
further operations until a few months ago. He said his ambition was
to be a fireman and that he started the fires to be on hand when the
firemen came so he could help them. He said he enjoyed seeing the
apparatus turn out.

The fires to which he confessed caused a total loss of $25,000. His
climax came Sunday night, when three fires caused $8,000 loss. The
boy, then under suspicion, was watched carefully, and a fire early
today brought his arrest.

(2) What are the faults in the following story printed in a weekly
paper, and how should they be corrected in rewriting?

Mr. Ed. Williams of this city met with a very severe and painful
accident in the zinc works in this city.

Mr. Williams, who is employed as a cart driver at the works, was
performing his usual duties, when in some way the horse became
frightened and started to run away. Ed was thrown out of the heavy
ore cart and fell in such a position, that the wheels of the cart
passed over his body, causing severe injuries to his head and
fracturing four ribs, besides bruising him internally. He was at once
taken to the hospital rooms of Dr. Hulton, where his injuries were
dressed. He was then conveyed to his home, where he is recovering
nicely at present. It will be some time however before he will be at
his post again.

(3) What is the weakness of the following story and how could you
improve it by rewriting?

Mrs. William Black, wife of the caretaker of the Yewdale Yacht Club
house, which is on the end of the long bulkhead of the South Basin
at the foot of Ring street, Lawton Park, sent her eleven-year-old
daughter, Madelaine, to Dresden Avenue yesterday morning to get some
oranges.

Mrs. Black sat by an upper window of the club house waiting for
Madelaine to come back. Pretty soon the little girl put in an
appearance. The wind was blowing so hard that the mother feared
for the child’s safety and she arose to go to her assistance. When
she looked out of the window again, Madelaine had disappeared. She
hurried out and saw the child’s cloak floating on the water.

Charles Blaine, a sailor on the yacht Elizabeth E., and Otto Grey
of the schooner John Bull, dived for the body several times before
Blaine succeeded in bringing it up.

The child’s father is on a fishing trip to Block Island.

(4) Play up the unusual element in this story by putting it in the
first group of words.

Mrs. Minnie Greene, a colored janitress, was burned to the point
of death by a fire started by the son’s rays focused by a large
reflector which she carried. Mrs. Greene, with the big brass
reflector under her arm, was standing in front of the First
Presbyterian church when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her left
leg. Looking down she saw that her skirt was afire. Screaming in
terror she ran down the street and in and out of three stores before
she could be stopped by two policemen. It is not believed that she
can recover.

(5) Compare the leads of the two following stories of the same event,
pointing out their merits and defects; then write a new lead
embodying the best points of each.

(1)

Princeton, N.J., Nov. 3—Governor Woodrow Wilson had a narrow escape
from serious injury at an early hour this morning when the automobile
in which he was returning home from Red Bank ran into a rut in the
main street leading into the little village of Hightstown, throwing
him with great force against the top of the limousine, inflicting a
painful cut in the top of his head.

When he appeared in his library this afternoon to meet many callers
and the newspaper men the governor wore across the top of his head
a broad plaster bandage, covering part of the scalp that had been
shaved when the cut was dressed.

Captain “Silent Bill” McDonald, the Texas ranger traveling companion
of the governor, received a severe jolt, but escaped any other injury
than a bruise on his neck.

(2)

Princeton, N.J., Nov. 3—Gov. Woodrow Wilson wears a strip of
collodion and gauze across the top of his head covering a scalp wound
three inches long which he received early on Sunday in a motor mishap
on the way home from Red Bank, N.J. His automobile struck a mound in
the road and jolted him up against a steel rib in the roof of the
limousine car.

The wound is not serious and the democratic presidential nominee will
fulfill his speaking engagements in Paterson and Passaic, N.J., on
Monday.

At night the governor was in the parlor of his home the center of a
group of friends. There was nothing in his manner to indicate that
he had met with any mishap. He said he did not feel the wound in the
slightest degree and had not even developed a headache from it.

“I guess I’m too hardheaded to be hurt,” he said smilingly as he
received the correspondents.

The mishap occurred in the early hours of the morning. The governor
had spoken at Red Bank and left for Princeton, a distance of
forty-five miles, shortly before 11 o’clock. He rode in the limousine
car of Abraham I. Elkus, a New York lawyer who lives at Red Bank,
accompanied by Capt. William J. McDonald, his personal body guard,
who was shaken up and bruised.

(6) Criticize the following story and rewrite it in accordance with
your criticism.

Another hero of the sea was disclosed today through a collision
of the Norwegian steamer Noreuga with the Norwegian sailing ship
Glenlui. It appeared that he saved, not only the passengers and
crews, but the ships.

The Noreuga arrived at Norfolk last night in a sinking condition in
tow of the revenue cutter Onondaga and is preparing to dock. The
Glenlui is expected later.

The Noreuga will be repaired at the Newport News ship yards, where
its eleven passengers, including eight women, and its freight will be
transferred to the steamship Mexicana. The passengers were brought to
port on the Onondaga.

The man to whom credit is given is the wireless operator on the
Noreuga who declined to tell his name and whose desire to avoid
notoriety was respected by Captain Hansen.

When the crew favored deserting the stricken Noreuga after the
collision last Friday the wireless operator refused to leave his
post. With death riding the gale he continued to flash his appeals
for help. He succeeded finally in raising both shore stations and
vessels of the Atlantic fleet. The rescue of the Norse vessels was
accomplished as they were about to founder.

(7) From the following account, as given by an eye-witness, write a
news story for a local daily paper.

John Quinn, foreman of the E. J. Mackey Co., 356 W. 40th St., gave
the following account of an accident in his plant this noon:

“I was working on the fifth floor of our new six story warehouse just
before dinner time today when Oscar Taub who lives out at 216 W.
139th St., one of the men who works for us, came up and said that Mr.
Mackey wanted him to find out how much whiskey there was in the big
tank on my floor. Taub put a ladder against the side of the big tank
and, catching hold of the cord of one of the electric lights, started
up to the top of the tank. When he got up to the top he called to
me saying that there were 7,705 gallons of whiskey in it. When he
started down the ladder again, the bulb of the electric light slipped
from his hand and broke on the edge of the tank.”

“Then there was a big explosion and I saw Taub flying through the air
against the side of the wall about 30 feet away. Then the whiskey in
the tank started to burn and the flames spread out along the ceiling
as if the tank were a big furnace. When I saw that the whiskey was
afire, I jumped over to turn on the outlet valve so that the whiskey
would run off into the drain pipe. I turned on the water so it would
run into the tank and put out the fire. I hurried over to see if
Taub was hurt, for the water had put out the blaze and all of the
whiskey was running out into the sewer. I found Taub lying against
the wall unconscious with his hands and face burned. I was just going
to carry him over to the elevator when the firemen came rushing up.
I told them the fire was out and asked them to help me carry Taub
downstairs. Then Mr. Mackey called the ambulance and they took Taub
who had regained consciousness and was groaning with pain from his
burns to Roosevelt Hospital.

“There wasn’t any damage done but we lost all the whiskey and I guess
the building would have burned if I hadn’t let the whiskey run out
and turned on the water. The ambulance doctor said Taub would be able
to get back to work in about a week.”

(8) Compare these three stories in regard to the effectiveness of the
introductory statement.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(9) Analyze the treatment of material in the second story below and
compare it with that in the first.

(1)

(2)

CHAPTER V

NEWS STORIES OF UNEXPECTED OCCURRENCES

=Kinds of Occurrences.= Reports of unexpected occurrences of various
kinds may be taken as typical of news stories generally. Fires,
railroad and trolley wrecks, mine and tunnel accidents, floods and
storms, marine disasters, explosions, runaways, automobile accidents,
etc., form one large group of events in this class. Murders, suicides,
robberies, embezzlements, and all other crimes constitute the second
important division. The application to each of these groups of the
principles of structure and style discussed in the preceding chapter
will be considered separately.

=Fires and Accidents.= In news stories of fires and accidents, the
number of lives lost or endangered, the character and extent of the
damage, and the cause are the features in which readers are most
interested. Lists of the killed or injured are always included in local
stories, and should be sent in telegraph stories when the persons are
known in communities in which the newspaper circulates. The names, the
addresses, the occupations or business connections, and often the age
of persons killed, are given, and the same details are reported for the
seriously hurt, as well as the extent of the injuries and the hospital
to which each person is taken. The form in which such lists are
arranged is shown in the explanation of “boxed” lists (pages 86–88).
The extent and the character of the damage caused by a disaster are
important, particularly when the amount or the area affected is large.
Curious and unusual causes and results, remarkable escapes, pathetic or
humorous incidents, and novel circumstances generally are frequently
“played up,” particularly in telegraph stories of occurrences in which
the persons involved are known only locally. In such cases the peculiar
circumstances are the only reason for publishing the stories outside of
the community in which the events happen. Unusual incidents are also
good in the lead of local stories when the other phases are not more
important.

The chief considerations in writing the body of news stories of
unexpected occurrences are to select and emphasize important details,
to eliminate or subordinate minor ones, and to connect firmly the
different parts of the narrative. Whether the reporter is limited
to a given number of words or is instructed to write as much as the
news is worth, he must choose and reject particulars with great care,
remembering always that what he retains must be so arranged that to
the rapid reader the relation of one part to another will be perfectly
clear. In a complex story with a series of incidents taking place
simultaneously, different threads of narrative must be woven together
skillfully to make it evident how the several incidents took place at
the same time.

Greater life, action, and interest can always be given to accounts of
fires, accidents, and disasters that cause loss of life, by giving in
direct quotations the accounts of eye-witnesses and survivors. When the
magnitude of the catastrophe warrants it, every effort is made to get
interviews and statements from persons involved. Conversation between
those concerned in the event can sometimes be used effectively. Every
form of direct quotation gives variety and interest to the news story
and is therefore an excellent method to use.

In the excitement naturally produced by the news of a disaster, many
rumors quickly gain currency. The first estimates of the number
of lives lost or endangered and of the extent of the damage are
frequently too large. The young reporter must not let himself be
carried away by wild reports, and should discount liberally these
estimates. By keeping calm no matter how great the catastrophe and
attendant excitement, he not only can judge the more accurately of the
character of the information that he gets from others, but he inspires
a certain amount of calmness in those from whom he is getting his
information and thus secures the facts more accurately. He should not
accept reports of a disaster without question and investigation, or if
it is impossible to investigate them, he should give them as rumors and
not as facts. To magnify a catastrophe often means to cause needless
anxiety to many whose relatives or friends may be involved in it. As in
all reporting, a simple narrative, picturing clearly, accurately, and
interestingly the unexpected occurrence, is the best news story.

=The Lead of the Fire Story.= Because accounts of fires involve all the
points to be considered in the average news story, they are taken as
typical of the whole group of accidental occurrences. In fire stories
the feature to be “played up” may be, (1) the cause, (2) the extent of
the damage, (3) the danger to surrounding property, (4) the number of
lives endangered or lost, (5) prominent persons or places involved, or
(6) any unusual incident or phase. The following examples illustrate
methods of giving prominence to each of the significant details at the
beginning of the lead.

Cause

(1)

(2)

(3)

Damage and Danger

(1)

(2)

(3)

Lives Lost or Endangered

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Persons and Places

(1)

(2)

(3)

Unusual Circumstances

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

=Fire Stories.= After the lead has been completed, the main part of the
story remains to be written. The structure of the body of the story
offers no particular difficulties in arrangement as the incidents
usually follow each other in the order of time. In the account of a
fire, it is usual, after the lead, to give the facts concerning the
discovery of the fire, the sounding of the alarm, the arrival of the
fire department, the progress of the fire, and the different incidents,
with little or no variation from chronological order.

How a fire story is arranged is shown in the following example:

=Stories of Accidents.= News stories of accidents are constructed on
the same plan as those of fires, and the features are practically
the same. The story of the accident in the subway (page 41) and the
following one may be taken as typical reports of accidents.

=Stories of Crime.= Accounts of crime, or “police news stories,” are
constructed on practically the same principles as those of fires
and accidents. In all crimes in which human lives are destroyed
or endangered, the essential points are the names of the persons
involved, the nature of the crime, its cause, its results, and, if
the perpetrator escapes, clues to his identity and whereabouts. In
murders, attempted murders, suicides, and defalcations, the motives
for the crime are always matters of great interest. The value of what
was stolen or what might have been stolen should be given in reports
of robberies or embezzlements. Ingenious methods used to gain entrance
to places robbed make interesting features. In defalcation or fraud
peculiar means of deception employed may be “played up.” The “human
interest” in the accused or the victim must not be overlooked in
crime stories. When either individual is well known, his name is the
important “feature.”

The reporter must always remember that a person charged with a crime is
not a criminal until he is proved guilty in court. Unless he confesses,
the person charged with crime is presumed to be innocent until
convicted. In writing police stories, therefore, the reporter should
always make it plain that the person involved is “charged” with a
crime, and that he is “alleged,” or “said,” by the police to be guilty.
While he is charged with the crime, he may be said to be, not “the
murderer,” but “the alleged murderer”; or not “the embezzler,” but “the
alleged embezzler.” The reporter should present both sides of the case
by giving the prisoner’s version, as well as that of the police, not
only because it is just to do so but because it is usually good news.

Stories of crime, like all other news stories, should be told in a
simple, direct style that presents in an accurate and interesting
manner the account of the crime as it was actually committed.
Exaggerated and sensational stories of crime or those in which attempts
are made to arouse sentiment for or against the perpetrator or his
victim, have no place in the news columns of reputable newspapers. If
readers are to be appealed to to right a wrong, such appeals should be
made in the editorial columns and should not be allowed to color the
facts in the news stories. The actual facts truthfully presented make
the best possible appeal. To try, in the newspapers, a person accused
of crime, before or during his legal trial, is not to give him the fair
trial to which he is entitled.

The way in which various phases of crime may be “featured” in the
lead without making the story in any way sensational is shown by the
following examples, in which some interesting or extraordinary phase
of the crime is put in the emphatic position at the beginning of the
story.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

The following story of a robbery shows how various details are grouped
in the lead and in the body of the story:

SUGGESTIONS

1. Find an interesting “feature” in every unexpected occurrence.

2. Give all the facts and stick to them.

3. Don’t be carried away by wild reports; investigate every rumor.

4. Keep cool, no matter how great the disaster.

5. Don’t overestimate the extent of the damage and the number of
persons killed or injured.

6. Remember that not all persons who appear in the news are necessarily
“prominent” or “well known.”

7. Avoid describing persons or property as “endangered” or “threatened”
when they are not actually in danger.

8. Don’t overload your story with minor details.

9. Give life and action by using direct quotation whenever it is
appropriate.

10. Include verbatim accounts of eye-witnesses or survivors in big
disasters.

11. Make clear to the rapid reader the exact relation of all incidents
to the principal event.

12. Look for the motive in murders, suicides, embezzlements, and
similar crimes.

13. See the “human interest” in police news.

14. Don’t call an accused person a criminal unless he confesses or has
been convicted of crime before.

15. Don’t try criminal cases in your news stories; leave that to the
court.

16. Give both sides; the accused as well as the accuser has a right to
be heard.

17. Avoid predictions of “sensational developments” when they are not
likely to occur.

18. Don’t put a “mystery” in your story when none exists.

19. Remember that the truth, and nothing but the truth, interestingly
written, makes the best news story.

PRACTICE WORK

1. Criticise and rewrite the following fire story:

In a fire which destroyed the plant of John B. May & Co., paint and
varnish makers, 20 East Harmon street, late yesterday, five men who
took desperate chances in escaping from the blazing structure were
injured and Mme. Celloni’s famous bohemian restaurant was temporarily
put out of commission.

Mme. Celloni’s, for twenty years renowned as a gathering place for
Chicago’s litterati, adjoins the burned building on the south. It was
flooded by water, shaken by explosions and overrun by firemen, who
fought to confine the flames to the May rooms.

The damage to the building, which was a three-story brick, and
contents of the paint house is $65,000. The loss on paintings,
decorations and furnishings in Mme. Celloni’s is placed at $5,000.
All is reported covered by insurance.

The injured men were employes of the paint company. Driven by a
succession of explosions to the roof, they were hemmed in by flames.
They slid down a rope to safety. The injured are:

Joseph Hinners, 312 North Wilson avenue; hands and face burned.

Michael Lorenz, 614 William square; hands burned, right wrist
sprained.

William Gee, 6651 North Washington street; hands cut and burned.

James Green, 84 New street; body bruised and contused.

Charles Speer, 916 First street; body bruised.

The men were at work on the third floor when the alarm was sounded.
The stairway was in flames and three explosions of wood alcohol
tanks in the basement and minor explosions caused by the ignition of
smaller containers of oil on the third floor drove them to the roof.

A line was passed to them from the street. Hinners, a foreman, made
it fast. He ordered his men to precede him down the rope. When he
undertook his slide for life the entire building was afire. The
flames licked the slender cord and, just before Hinners reached the
ground, it was severed.

Miss Mary Devine of Walnut Park, stenographer for John B. May, was in
the office of the building with Mr. May when the fire was discovered.
Although the other employes fled she remained and assisted Mr. May
in placing valuable papers in the safe before leaving. There were
fifteen persons in the building when it took fire, Mr. May said.

The fire is believed to have originated in the rear of the basement
where the wood alcohol was stored. The explosions splintered the rear
partitions and ceilings and spread the flames.

The building was an old one and burned rapidly. Within a few minutes
after the alarm was sounded the flames enveloped it. Twelve engine
companies were summoned and Fire Chief Classon took personal charge
of the work. Tenants of the apartment building on the north of the
paint company fled, but their rooms were not damaged.

The fire was fought with difficulty. Firemen “Jim” Moore and Samuel
Walters of engine company No. 11 risked their lives on a ladder to
keep the flames from an oil tank in front of the third floor which
threatened to ignite the top apartments of Mme. Celloni’s.

Firemen caused most of the damage to Mme. Celloni’s. Costly tapestry
and hangings were knocked down and trampled under foot. The place
will be reopened soon. It has long been the meeting place of the
“true bohemians” of Chicago’s literary world and art circles.

The building occupied by the May company was owned by Esther McNain
of Hyde Park.

2. Analyze the following story; can you improve it by rewriting?

Riverside residents’ New Year resolutions were jolted at the outset.
Just at the break of the first day of 1913 the 110 foot water tower,
sole source of supply for the town, burned to the ground.

From 5:30 to 10 o’clock no water was to be had. Then hard personal
effort by members of the village board resulted in fire hose being
connected with outlying hydrants of Berwyn, next village east; water
trickled once more into kitchen sinks of Riverside homes. There was
not sufficient power, however, to force the water to second floors.

The cause of the fire is unknown. It is believed to have been caused
by a defective chimney, as the fire originated near the roof. The
flare of light over the roofs and through the trees warned the
suburb. The citizens promptly filled bathtubs, buckets, pitchers, and
all other available receptacles. This exhausted the supply in the
mains and the firemen found they had no pressure of water with which
to fight the fire.

Half an hour after the blaze was discovered the tower was transformed
into a pillar of flame. The fire swept around it in a circling
whirlwind, crackling and snapping until it reached the top, when
it billowed into a black cloud. Most inhabitants of Riverside and
nearby towns came to the blazing tower. The firemen found themselves
helpless. In an hour the chemical truck from Cicero arrived, but the
fire had too big a start.

When the tank collapsed there was a dense smoke and a scattering of
brands, but the effect of the loosened water did little to extinguish
the fire.

The water tank was built in 1870 and was a landmark for many years,
especially valued by automobilists entering and leaving Chicago along
the Riverside road. There was $15,000 insurance, but the total loss
was estimated to amount to approximately $50,000.

During the interval when Riverside was without water children were
sent both to Lyons and to Berwyn for bottled water. Then John H.
Rogers, a grocery man, obtained wagons and automobiles and brought
2,000 gallons of water into the town from a nearby bottling works. At
the breakfast hour automobiles were lined up in front of his store
with customers waiting their turn to be served with water.

In many residences where hot water heat is used it was necessary to
let the fire go out. For the relief of these persons Arthur Hughes,
commissioner of public works, sent men to bring what water wagons and
sprinkler carts they could from the neighboring towns. Water for the
heaters and also for live stock thereby was provided.

The town board held an emergency meeting in the morning and made
preliminary arrangements for a new plant. The water is pumped from
two artesian wells 2,000 feet deep.

“We will have a temporary power plant in here by next Saturday,”
announced Henry G. Riley, president of the board. “When we are ready
to install our new plant it will be on a different plan than this
one, which was inefficient, anyway.”

3. Are the essential facts presented most effectively in the “leads” of
the following stories?

(1)

Belleview, Wis., Jan. 3.—William Schmidt, a farm hand of Branch
Township, confessed to-day that it was he who attacked Miss Lizzie
Martin of this city last Saturday, and injured her so severely that
she died a week later. Schmidt insisted that he had mistaken Miss
Martin for a man on whom he sought revenge, and that he had not meant
to kill her.

Until Schmidt confessed the police and the county authorities were
without a single clue as to Miss Martin’s slayer. Bloodhounds and
Belgian sheep dogs had been used to trace the slayer, but they had
failed. Several men, black and white, had been arrested, but each
one proved his innocence. Rewards totaling more than $2,500 had been
offered, but not until a day or so ago was the least clue found.

Then Miss Mildred Green, a trained nurse, attending a case on a farm
near Richland, noticed that a new farm hand was extremely nervous,
and that he talked of almost nothing but the Martin murder. He
discussed the probable penalty for such a crime, and was eager to
know whether any trace had been found of the slayer. The nurse,
convinced that the man, who was Schmidt, knew something of the crime,
told Dr. Henry F. Schley, a local physician, of her suspicions, and
last night Dr. Schley brought Schmidt here.

The physician got a room for Schmidt in a local hotel, and this
morning communicated with Prosecutor Frank Firling. The latter, with
several policemen, concealed himself in a room in the hotel through
the walls of which holes had been bored into the adjoining room, and
then Schmidt was led into this second room. There, under Dr. Schley’s
questioning, he gradually made a full confession, which was overheard
by Firling and the policemen, who entered the room and arrested him.

Schmidt took his arrest very calmly. In fact, he seemed to be
relieved after he had made his confession. He even whistled
cheerfully as he was taken to jail. Later he was arraigned before the
Justice of the Peace and held without bail on a charge of murder, to
await the action of the January Grand Jury.

Prosecutor Firling, beyond saying that Schmidt had made a confession,
was not much disposed to talk about the case. He said, however, that
Schmidt denied that robbery was his motive, and that the prisoner
said he did not discover that he had mistaken the woman in the
darkness for a man against whom he had a grievance, until after he
had felled her.

(2)

Paul Schein, said to have confessed to having illicitly distilled
liquor in his home at 421 Maryland street, was arrested today by
government officers and is locked up in the county jail. He confessed
to Marshal Weed this afternoon, according to the marshal. Held as
evidence is a copper tea-kettle still, found in his house. Schein is
25 years old.

The discovery of the outfit came as the result of a fire in the home
of the accused man. Detectives Harry Weiler and Arthur Winter found
the tea-kettle distillery. They took the apparatus to the police
station, learned its purpose, and notified the government authorities.

Special Gauger Frank Heiler was put upon the case, and the arrest of
Schein followed. Schein is said to have told Marshal Weed that he
made cheap brandy, using dried grape mash. He said, however, that he
has only been making the brandy for fourteen days, for his own use.
Schein is a wine-maker.

4. Rewrite the following story, giving it a summary lead and improving
it in every possible way.

Fresh from an evening of shopping in 125th Street, Mrs. Margaret
Werner started down Broadway about 10:30 last night, headed for her
apartment at 627 West 109th Street, and talking Christmas plans with
her friends, Miss Ethel Hinkey, of 421 Cathedral Parkway, and Jennie
Fielding, of 301 Harrison Avenue.

Their thoughts were full of the Yuletide and their arms were full of
bundles, and as they were walking down from 118th Street past the
long, lonesome stretch of the Columbia University buildings they were
so absorbed in their chatting that they paid no attention to three
men speeding to catch up with them.

Suddenly two of the men stepped around in front of them, and one
reached for the capacious handbag swinging by a strap from Mrs.
Werner’s wrist. The other two men devoted themselves solely to
keeping the other two women quiet, and Mrs. Werner was practically
left to fight it out with the highwayman. She was a pretty good match
for him.

Her first thought was to clench her fist grimly on the straps of her
handbag. Her second was to scream, and she carried this second idea
into such good effect she could be heard a block away, despite her
assailant’s swift reach for her throat. Once his fingers closed, she
did not make any more noise, but just struggled and twisted while the
highwayman thrust her against the wall.

But her first cry had been heard by a broad-shouldered muscular
stranger who was swinging up Broadway and changed his walk to an
interested run at the sound of the cries for help. He reached out a
long arm for Mrs. Werner’s assailant, and after wrenching him around
gave him a stinging buffet over the head.

Then the two men locked, and the highwayman’s assistants stood at a
nervous and respectful distance while the stranger did his work. He
finally had the chief offender so suppressed that his only remaining
weapon was his teeth, and these he imbedded in the rescuer’s shoulder.

This was the way matters stood when Mrs. Werner and her friends heard
the sound of Patrolman McDonald fairly racing up Broadway from his
post two blocks below, where he had been standing when he first heard
the cries. At sight of him the two minor highwaymen just turned on
their heels and fled, while McDonald closed on their friend.

The stranger, released from his chivalrous police duties, rubbed
his shoulder ruefully, and identified himself as Harry Rogers, a
civil engineer. He helped to calm Mrs. Werner, who was very much
wrought up, and not at all pleased to find that for all her valiant
self-defense two five-dollar bills were missing from her opened bag,
to say nothing of her eyeglasses. All her Christmas bundles were
intact, however, lying strewn on the pavement at the very spot where
she had dropped them and from which the highwayman had pushed her
over toward the wall.

As for the highwayman, he went peaceably enough to the West 125th
Street Station, where he gave his name as Arthur G. Duffy, his age
as 21, his occupation that of a driver, and his address, 961 West
Forty-fifth Street. Mrs. Werner’s money was not to be found in his
pockets, but her glasses were.

5. What are the faults in the following story, and how can you correct
them?

Charles Johnson of 641 Washington Avenue, Jersey City, who is
employed as a bookkeeper by the Harrison Felt Company in the
company’s Mill No. 3, 16 Erie Street, started out from the factory
yesterday morning to draw the money for the weekly payroll, following
his custom. An associate of Johnson who usually made the trip to
the bank with him was ill, and in his absence the bookkeeper was
accompanied by Edward Wiley of 412 Oak Place, Jersey City, the
19-year-old son of the manager of the factory, who is also an employe
of the establishment.

The man and the youth, carrying a small satchel, went first to the
New York County Bank, Fourteenth Street and Eighth Avenue. A part of
the pay roll was drawn out there, and then they went to the Gansevoort
Branch of the Security Bank, Fourteenth Street and Ninth Avenue,
where were withdrawn the remaining funds needed to make up the weekly
wages.

Ordinarily, the weekly payroll of the Erie Street mill reaches a
total of $3,000 to $3,500, but at the Christmas holidays a part of
the employes had been paid off in advance. As a result, Johnson and
Wiley drew from the two banks, instead of the usual amount, just
$1,194, in currency and specie of small denomination.

They proceeded west on Fourteenth Street one block to Hudson Street,
and south on Hudson Street four blocks to Abingdon Square. Here they
crossed the street from east to west, and, going two blocks further,
turned into Erie, rounding the corner where stands the saloon of
Schmidt Brothers. Scarcely a block away in the same street is the
factory of the Harrison Felt Company.

Jutting out on the north side of Erie Street from Schmidt Brothers’
saloon is a glass vestibule, and about ten feet to the west of it is
an iron railing fronting a five-story brown stone apartment house.
The railing and the vestibule form something like a retreat from the
sidewalk. As Johnson and Wiley neared this spot they saw two men
standing in the space between the railing and the vestibule, but took
no especial notice of them as they walked along, each holding to the
handle of the satchel, Johnson on the outside and Wiley next to the
building.

All of a sudden the two men who had been standing in the inclosure,
drawing blackjacks from their pockets, pounced down upon the pay roll
messengers. The foremost man made for Wiley first, got a wrestler’s
hold around his neck and sent him whirling to the pavement as the
bandit struck vigorously at his head. At almost the same instant
Johnson was attacked by the second robber, who sank his fingers into
the bookkeeper’s throat, and hurled him to the sidewalk. The satchel
remained in the hands of Wiley.

The bookkeeper and his companion fought valiantly, but Johnson was
quickly overcome by the short, heavily built man, while Wiley, still
clutching the handle of the satchel, was rolled over the edge of the
sidewalk by his assailant. Wiley was still holding to his satchel
and trying to keep it from the grasp of his assailant, when a third
man, wearing a gray overcoat, ran over from the south side of the
street and gave him a violent kick on the arm, releasing his grip on
the satchel. The man in the gray overcoat snatched it up and darted
off west on Erie Street to Greenwich Street, followed closely by the
first two assailants and a fourth man, who had been observed standing
on the south side of Erie Street. Johnson and Wiley, regaining their
feet, started in pursuit of the fleeing men, both yelling, “Stop
thief!”

The man in the gray overcoat, carrying the satchel, turned north into
Greenwich Street with another of the bandits close at his heels.
The other two, according to confused statements made by the pay roll
messengers, turned south into Greenwich Street. The first two men
leaped into a black five-passenger automobile waiting just around the
corner in front of Pietro Gatti’s barber shop, 551 Greenwich Street.
They were whisked away at full speed just as Johnson and Wiley turned
into Greenwich Street. They saw the fleeing automobile, several
blocks away, swing into Gansevoort Street. The second pair jumped
into an automobile waiting in Greenwich Street, south of Erie Street,
which started off also at top speed.

Meanwhile a large crowd had collected, but none of those who were in
the vicinity in time to see the struggle would venture to give any
assistance, because, as several of them afterward said, they thought
it was an affair between gangmen, and discretion forbade their
interference.

One of the first men to reach the place of the hold-up was Detective
Patrick Sullivan, who was standing at Eleventh and Washington
Streets, two blocks away, waiting to catch a car. He arrived in time
to see only clouds of dust cast up by the flying automobiles, but he
succeeded in getting from some of the eyewitnesses several license
numbers.

Mounted Patrolman Hartwig of Traffic Squad C reached the spot with
Sullivan, and while the latter was gathering information from the
spectators, the former telephoned the Charles Street Police Station
and notified Police Headquarters. The reserves under Lieut. Green
were rushed to Erie and Greenwich Streets, but arriving there too
late to make any arrests, withdrew, leaving the apprehension of the
highwaymen to Acting Captain Charles Du Frain.

Capt. Du Frain, after working on the case all day, said last night
that he could report but little progress. He declared that the
descriptions he had obtained from eyewitnesses were incomplete and
confused, and that the numbers of the automobiles were likewise
conflicting.

Julius H. Schnitzler, shipping clerk for the Scholz & Gamm pickle
firm at 665 Wilson Street, an eyewitness of the affair, said
yesterday afternoon that he had seen the hold-up and robbery from his
desk, which faces almost the exact spot where the two messengers were
first attacked. Before the attack Schnitzler declared that he had
observed two men standing across Erie Street. It was most probably
they, be said, who gave the signal of the approach of Johnson and
Wiley.

Schnitzler said that these men were dressed, one in a black suit with
a black derby, and the other in a blue suit under a dark overcoat.
The man in the black suit pulled a yellow blackjack, with which he
attacked Wiley, while the second man attacked Johnson. Schnitzler
further said he had noticed one of the autos when he went to his
office shortly before 8 o’clock. His story was corroborated in
practically every detail by Arthur Hansen, a clerk in the office with
him.

Another complete account of the affair was obtained from Mary
Harrigan, a maid in the home of Judge John R. Winch, 961 Greenwich
Street, across the street from where the first automobile was kept
waiting.

Johnson was able to continue his work at his desk. He corrected some
of the details in his first version of the attack, and declared
that he had not been struck with a blackjack. He as well as Wiley,
however, received a number of bruises in the struggle.

6. Combine the later bulletin (1) with the first news story (2) in
rewriting the following material.

(1)

Norfolk, Va., Jan. 4.—A wireless message received tonight from the
revenue cutter Apache says the British steamer Indrakuala rescued
six of the crew of the steamer Luckenbach, with which she collided in
Chesapeake Bay today. One of the men, W. M. McDonald, a coal passer,
died from the effects of the long exposure in the Luckenbach’s
rigging.

(2)

Norfolk, Va., Jan. 4.—With the abatement today of the wind and
snowstorm that raged over the eastern states last night, came
harrowing tales of shipwrecks at sea, thrilling rescues, increased
loss of life and damage to property.

Eight men, the survivors of the crew of twenty-two of the steamer
Julia Luckenbach, which was rammed and sunk by the British tramp
Indrakuala in Chesapeake bay, arrived in Norfolk late today, and
after being revived, started for New York.

The eight men clung to the rigging for six hours until they were
taken off by the crew of the steamship Pennsylvania. The Indrakuala
was badly damaged and had to be beached. She lies about two miles
from the Luckenbach, whose spars alone are visible rising out of
forty-five feet of water near Tangiers sound.

The eight survivors of the Luckenbach are George Hunt, first officer;
William Bruhn, second officer; George Little, first assistant
engineer; George Doyle, third assistant engineer; George Davis,
quartermaster; William Hoffman, fireman; and Theodore Losher and P.
Anderson, seamen.

Describing his experience Davis said tonight:

“None of us knew what hit us. I was knocked down and when I got up
water was pouring over me. I saw men climbing into the rigging and I
followed. I saw Capt. Gilbert swimming around the ship and calling
for his wife, who was an invalid. Both were lost. Waves that appeared
to be two hundred feet high broke over the ship and she sank in a
hurry. Lifeboats were lowered from the Indrakuala but none came
toward us. The ship turned her nose around and started for the beach.”

“We pleaded and cried for help,” said Theodore Losher, “but were
either unheard or ignored. The Indrakuala was less than 100 yards
away when she started for the beach. I thought every minute we would
be blown into the sea. The wind was terrific. Our chief engineer,
Kris Knudson, told me he could not hold on much longer, because his
hands were frozen. I told him to stick it out a little longer. When
the Danish steamer Pennsylvania hove in sight, I called to him, but
he was gone.

“We were six hours in that rigging. But there were men on the
Pennsylvania. When they saw our signals of distress they put away in
small boats in spite of the tremendous seas. The boats would get near
us and then be carried fifty feet in the air on the crest of a wave
and lost to sight, but those men stuck and took everyone of us off.
First Officer Hunt was unconscious when they reached him. He had
been holding on with one hand and holding an unconscious man on his
perch with the other.”

The Indrakuala is commanded by Capt. Smith, but the ship does not
carry wireless and no statement from him was obtainable tonight.

According to the survivors, Capt. Gilbert and the first and second
officers were standing on the bridge when the collision occurred.
There was no opportunity to give alarm to those below.

7. What are the objections to the first paragraph as the beginning of
the following story, and how can you improve it in rewriting?

About 5 o’clock yesterday morning a wagon load of thieves arrived in
front of the tenement house at 841 Holton Place. Leaving one of their
number to hold the horse, the others went to the roof of the house
and thence to the loft building at 837 Holton Place, on the top floor
of which are the store and show rooms of the International Jewelry
Company, of which Henry Hertel is President. The thieves cut a big
hole through the roof of that building and then with the aid of a
rope ladder let themselves down into the show room, where they packed
a dozen suitcases belonging to traveling salesmen with loot, the
value of which Mr. Hertel last night estimated to be about $5,000.

The International Jewelry Company is wired everywhere with burglar
alarms, but the directing mind of yesterday’s theft evidently knew
where all the wires were, for the hole was cut in one of the few
places in the ceiling which had not been wired. After packing the
suitcases the thieves retraced their steps over the roofs of 839
to 841 Holton Place, and then proceeding down the stairways of the
tenement house, deposited the suitcases in the wagon and drove away.

The theft was discovered when the place was opened for business
yesterday morning. An investigation was started, and tenants in 841
Holton Place told of seeing the wagon in front of that house at about
5 A.M. Detectives from the Reynolds Street Station are working on the
case. So far they have reported no progress.

CHAPTER VI

SPEECHES, INTERVIEWS, AND TRIALS

=Various Forms of Utterances.= As news stories of speeches, sermons,
lectures, official reports, and interviews, as well as of testimony,
decisions, and arguments in trials and investigations, are concerned
largely with direct or indirect quotation of written or spoken
expression, the writing of them involves several elements that do not
enter into the composition of the typical news story. In the types of
news thus far considered, such as fires, accidents, and crime, the
story was a narrative of what had happened. Although the facts were
gleaned largely from observation and interviews, usually no person’s
ideas or opinions were quoted. News stories of addresses, reports, or
similar documents, interviews and court trials, on the other hand,
have only a small incidental narrative-descriptive element to present
the circumstances under which the utterance was made. The large and
important part of such stories consists of a reproduction in complete
or condensed form of the original expression.

=Verbatim Quotation.= Direct verbatim quotations of all utterances
are generally preferred for news stories, because they are exact
reproductions of the originals. Whenever a copy of any of these forms
of expression can be obtained, it is desirable for the reporter to
get one either before or after the utterance is made, because of the
accuracy of the quotation which a copy makes possible. Frequently
copies of addresses, lectures, sermons, reports, decisions, and
testimony can be had, and exactness of reproduction is thus secured.
When a copy cannot be obtained, the reporter is dependent upon himself
to get the equivalent of it by taking down as nearly as possible a
verbatim reproduction of such parts of the utterance as he desires.

=Methods of Reporting Speeches.= The two problems in reporting these
various forms of oral or written expression are, how to get the exact
words of the speakers, and how to condense long utterances effectively.

The body of news stories of speeches can often be written while the
speaker talks, in what is called a “running story,” particularly when
it is necessary for the reporter to have his copy ready for publication
soon after the speaker finishes. In such cases the reporter picks
out and combines into a connected verbatim report the most important
statements, summarizing briefly the less important ones. To do this
he depends on long-hand writing so that what he writes can be used as
copy without being transcribed. If time permits, he may take notes
during the address, sermon, or trial, and write up his story later.
Short-hand, although occasionally convenient, is not commonly used by
newspaper reporters, and very few of them can write it.

The greatest skill is required to condense all of these forms of
expression within a comparatively limited space. A speech, for example,
that in complete form would fill three columns must often be cut down
to half a column; and a report that would fill a page often cannot
be given more than three quarters of a column. To select and combine
separate parts into a unified, coherent reproduction that is only
one-fifth or one-tenth of the original, is no easy task. Despite this
great condensation the news story must be an accurate presentation of
all the important material in the original. When a newspaper reporter
or editor is satisfied to pick a few striking statements out of their
context, and present them in a new combination, the result too often is
that neither the spirit nor the substance of the original is accurately
given; in fact, not infrequently the speakers’ ideas are completely,
though often unintentionally, misrepresented.

=“Playing Up” Misleading Statements.= This distortion is often brought
about by taking a striking sentence out of its context, in which it
may be modified or explained, and by “playing it up” as a feature of
the lead in a way that gives an entirely false or very misleading
impression of the speaker and his utterance. The accuracy of the
quotation under such circumstances does not justify the inaccuracy of
the effect produced. Nor does the supposed news value of a striking
but misleading quotation at the beginning of the lead justify the
misrepresentation involved. Unless when taken from its context a
quotation, direct or indirect, gives accurately not only the expression
but the point of view and spirit of the original, it should not be
used. Generally, by means of some connective or explanatory matter,
such a quotation can be made to represent the original accurately.
Great care should be taken not to give a wrong impression in the lead.

=How to Begin the Lead.= In news stories of speeches, lectures, and
sermons, or of reports and similar documents, eight different forms for
the beginning of the lead may be suggested: (1) a direct quotation of
one sentence; (2) a direct quotation of one paragraph; (3) an indirect
quotation of one statement; (4) an indirect quotation of several
statements; (5) the keynote; (6) the title quoted; (7) the name of the
speaker; and (8) the conditions under which the utterance was made.
The reporter should choose the form best suited to the subject, the
substance, and the occasion of the speech or report.

The single sentence quotation, as in the following form, should be
used when the thought or expression which it contains is the most
significant feature:

The paragraph of direct quotation is necessary when the most important
point of the speech is not expressed in a single sentence but
requires several connected sentences, or when the single sentence is
sufficiently long to fill a whole paragraph, thus:

(1)

(2)

The indirect quotation is of advantage when it is not possible or
convenient to give a direct quotation, and when it is desirable to give
the most important point at the beginning of the lead; for example:

The main points in a report or speech may be effectively summarized
in several indirect quotations at the beginning of the story, but the
separate clauses must not be too long or complicated in structure. The
following examples show how these indirect quotations can be used:

(1)

(2)

The keynote beginning gives the dominant idea that runs through the
whole utterance, thus:

(1)

(2)

When the subject is stated in a particularly novel or interesting form
it may be the best feature of the story and should accordingly be in
the lead. For example:

The prominence of the speaker or author of the report frequently
justifies the placing of his name at the beginning, thus:

(1)

(2)

Unusual or significant conditions under which the address was
delivered, or the report made, may become the “feature” and may be
played up, as in these stories:

(1)

(2)

=The Body of the Story.= Whatever form of lead is used for speeches,
reports, or interviews, the body of the story generally consists
of paragraphs of direct verbatim quotations, combined often with
summarizing paragraphs. As the interest lies not only in what a man
says but also in the way he says it, verbatim quotations are usually
preferred to indirect ones. It is frequently necessary to condense
speeches and reports so much that large portions must either be omitted
or be briefly summarized. It is desirable, as far as possible, to avoid
combining in the same paragraphs both direct and indirect quotations,
or both direct quotations and summarizing statements.

In paragraphs of direct quotation it is often necessary to insert
explanatory phrases, such as, “said Mr. White,” “declared the speaker,”
“the report continues,” “explained Mr. White in conclusion,” “the
report concludes,” etc., but such phrases should be buried in an
unemphatic position in the first sentence of the paragraph. Paragraphs
of direct quotation should not begin with such unemphatic phrases as,
“Mr. Blank continued by saying, etc.,” “The speaker then said,” “The
report continues.” It is likewise ineffective to begin with phrases
like, “I believe,” “I feel sure,” “I think,” “I know.” The newspaper
reader will take for granted that what the speaker says is what he
“thinks,” “believes,” “knows,” or “is sure of,” and the reporter,
therefore, may omit these needless phrases entirely or may put them in
a less prominent place. Instead of beginning a paragraph with,

it is preferable to omit entirely the phrase “I believe,” or else to
put the quotation in the following form:

In paragraphs of indirect quotations or of summaries, it is as
necessary to use explanatory phrases as in those of direct quotations,
and this explanatory matter should be put in unemphatic positions. The
form of the phrases should be varied as much as possible so that the
repetition will not be evident. Among the active verbs that may be
used in explanatory matter are: “say,” “point out,” “show,” “declare,”
“explain,” “insist,” “ask,” “advocate,” “demand,” “continue,”
“conclude.” Passive forms include: “considered,” “discussed,” “given,”
“described,” “demonstrated.” It must always be made plain by these and
other means that all matter not quoted directly gives the substance of
the speech or report.

When the body of the story consists of a series of direct quotations,
these paragraphs are introduced by such phrases as: “He said in part,”
“He spoke in part as follows,” “The report in brief follows,” “His
address in full is as follows,” or “The complete report follows.” Such
introductory statements end with a colon, and usually stand alone as
a separate paragraph. In a continuous quotation extending through
several paragraphs, quotation marks are placed at the beginning of each
paragraph but at the end of only the last paragraph of the quotation.
Quotations within quotations are set off by single quotation marks, and
quotations within quotations within quotations by double marks.

It is not always necessary to arrange the matter in the body of the
story so that it will follow the exact order in which it was given in
the original. When the lead presents the most important statement, the
following paragraphs frequently explain or amplify this statement,
and then other parts of the speech follow, although in the original
they may have preceded. In rearranging the order of quotations, care
should be taken to establish close connection between them and to avoid
misrepresenting the thought or spirit of the original. How a long
speech is given in brief form partly by direct quotation, partly by
indirect quotation, and partly by summarizing statements, is shown in
the following example:

=How to Combine a Series of Speeches.= In reporting meetings it is
frequently desirable to give indirect or direct quotations from
the remarks of the speakers. When several speakers are quoted, the
speaker’s name is put at or near the beginning of the paragraph in
which he is quoted, so that in a rapid reading of the report, the eye
catches at once the change from the words of one speaker to those of
another. The following report of a convention illustrates the method of
handling a series of quotations, as well as the manner of giving fairly
both sides in a debate:

=The Form of the Interview.= The interview, as a statement made to
one man, the reporter, instead of to a number of persons, as in the
case of a speech, may have practically the same kind of beginning as
the address or report. Owing to the interest in the man interviewed,
his name frequently begins the story, but as what he says is likewise
of value, some form of beginning that gives his opinions can also be
used advantageously. Although in an interview all of the information
is obtained from the person interviewed in response to the reporter’s
questions, it is not necessary or generally desirable to include these
questions in the written story of the interview. Readers are interested
in the statements of the person interviewed, not in the reporter’s
questions or actions. When a man refuses to give any information by
declaring in response to questions that he has nothing to say, it may
be desirable as a matter of news to give the reporter’s questions
and the man’s non-committal answers. Generally, however, neither the
reporter nor his questions and remarks are given a place in the story
of an interview. The following examples illustrate the application to
interviews of some of the forms suggested for speeches and reports:

(1)

(2)

=Combining Several Interviews.= When a number of interviews are
included in one story, the lead usually presents the consensus of
opinions given, and explains or summarizes the results. The separate
interviews may be combined in one of several ways. Not infrequently
the name of the person expressing the opinion is put at the beginning
of the paragraph and is followed by the quotation. In other cases
the quotation for each person is put first in the paragraph, and
the explanatory matter follows at the end of the first sentence. The
following examples illustrate both forms:

(1)

(2)

(3)

=News Stories of Trials.= In trials in court the reporter has to deal
with material not unlike that in speeches, reports, or interviews.
The arguments by the attorneys are in the nature of addresses. The
questioning of the witnesses on direct and cross examination is not
unlike the question and answer method of interviewing. The decisions
handed down by the judges are the reports which those officials make.
In general, then, many of the same points that have been considered in
regard to addresses, reports, and interviews may be applied to court
reports.

=Writing the Lead.= What the lead of the trial story should contain
is determined by the status of the case in court. If a verdict or
decision is rendered, that news is naturally the feature. If the
trial is not completed, either the most significant testimony or the
net result of the day’s proceedings may be made the feature. As the
trial goes on from day to day, it is necessary to explain briefly in
each story, usually in the lead, what the case deals with, who the
parties are, and before whom and where the trial is being conducted,
so that the situation will be clear to readers who have not seen the
preceding stories of the trial. The reporter must not take for granted
that, because all this information was given once when the accused
person was arrested, or when the trial was begun, he need not give his
readers information every day as to the essential elements of persons,
time, place, cause, result, etc. Each of these essentials, as in other
stories, may be the feature of the lead. When, for example, a jury has
been deliberating for a long time in an interesting case, the exact
time at which they reached their verdict may be placed in the first
group of words, before the verdict itself.

Hearings before committees of legislative bodies that are getting
information and arguments from men for and against proposed
legislation, and the taking of testimony by investigating committees,
partake so nearly of the nature of trials that the forms and methods of
the one apply to the other with little or no modification.

Various forms of leads for reports of trials, hearings, and
investigations, given below, show some of the possibilities.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

=Forms for Testimony.= The bodies of stories of trials and
investigations, like those of speeches and reports, consist of direct
quotations of the most significant testimony or arguments, with
indirect quotations or summaries of other parts not worth quoting
verbatim. The same general principles apply, except when it is
necessary to give question and answer in direct or cross examination of
witnesses in order to bring out significant points. Several forms are
used for verbatim reports of such testimony. Sometimes, particularly
in New York papers, the attorney’s questions are preceded by the
letter “Q” and the witness’s answers by the letter “A,” each question
with its answer constituting a separate paragraph. More commonly, the
questions and answers are given in dialogue form as in short stories
and novels, with the question followed by the explanatory material in
one paragraph, and the answer with necessary explanatory material in
another paragraph.

Occasionally, if on direct examination a witness’s testimony, although
interrupted by questions, is fairly continuous, the questions may
be omitted, and the story told by the witness can thus be given
uninterruptedly. When the facts of the testimony rather than the form
of it are sufficient, these facts may be given without using either
direct or indirect quotations.

How the several forms of reporting testimony appear in newspapers is
shown by the following examples which are taken from the body of the
story, the leads being omitted here:

(1)

(2)

(3)

=Court Decisions.= The body of reports of important court decisions
consists of summaries of the decisions with explanation of their
significance, or of quotations from the decision when the language of
the decree is important. The following stories are examples:

(1)

(2)

Applications for writs, rehearings, and new trials are often worth
reporting at some length, as is shown in the following story:

=How to Make Court Proceedings Interesting.= The selection and
arrangement of interesting details in legal proceedings is shown in
the following court story of a bankruptcy case, in which the reader’s
attention is attracted by the feature played up at the beginning:

=Quoting from Publications.= Government publications, pamphlets,
books, and magazines often contain material for good news stories,
particularly when copies can be secured so that the story may be
printed simultaneously with the publication of the book or magazine.
The use that may be made of an article in a scientific publication is
shown in the following story, which in form is like the stories of
speeches and other utterances discussed above:

SUGGESTIONS

1. Get advance copies of speeches, statements, and reports when it is
possible.

2. Give direct, verbatim quotations whenever they are effective.

3. Don’t misrepresent a speaker by “playing up” a quotation that, taken
from its context, is misleading.

4. Combine excerpts into a coherent, unified story.

5. Select the form of beginning best suited to the subject matter.

6. Set off as a paragraph a direct quotation of more than one sentence
at the beginning of a story.

7. Avoid too many or too involved “that” clauses in the lead.

8. Put strong direct or indirect quotations at beginnings of paragraphs.

9. Don’t place unemphatic phrases at the beginning of a paragraph, such
as, “The speaker then said that,” etc.

10. Avoid as far as possible combinations of direct and indirect
quotations in the same paragraph.

11. Avoid “I believe,” “I think,” etc., at the beginning of sentences
of direct quotation.

12. Make separate paragraphs of introductory statements like “He said
in part,” and end them with a colon.

13. Give in the lead of each day’s story of a trial, the essential
explanatory details concerning the case.

14. Vary explanatory phrases; don’t use repeatedly in the same story
“he said,” “the report continues,” etc.

15. Don’t fail to enclose in quotation marks every direct quotation.

16. Use single quotation marks for quotations within other quotations.

17. Use quotation marks only at the beginning of each paragraph of a
continuous quotation of several paragraphs and at the end of the
last paragraph.

18. Quote important testimony verbatim.

19. Keep yourself out of your interviews.

PRACTICE WORK

1. Write a news story of 500 words on the following address by Senator
William E. Borah of Idaho on “Why We Need an Income Tax,” which you
may say was delivered before a large audience at the Auditorium last
night under the auspices of the Progressive Republican Club:

One of the many unfortunate things imposed from first to last upon
this country by reason of the existence of slavery was the compromise
in the constitution of the United States providing that direct taxes
should be imposed in accordance with population.

To levy taxes according to population upon any kind of property is
impracticable and cumbersome even when the tax is confined to the
kind of property contemplated by the framers of the constitution. It
is not too much to say that the clause with reference to imposing a
direct tax would never have found its way into the constitution but
through the fear which arose out of the belief that the North might
impose an arbitrary and unjust tax upon slaves.

The discussion first arose over the protection of the slaves, and
to guard against this the Southern delegates insisted upon an equal
representation in Congress with the North. Gouverneur Morris and
others declared they would never consent to counting a slave equal to
his master. The discussion finally took a wider range owing to the
existence of large tracts of land in the South of less value per acre
than the land in the North; hence it was believed that these lands
might be taxed unfairly.

At last, therefore, it was provided that direct taxes should be
imposed according to population, and direct taxes, in my opinion,
referred alone to slaves and lands and the improvements on lands.

The Supreme Court in the Pollock case extended and broadened the
terms of this somewhat unfortunate compromise so that it now not only
covers lands but income from land, personal property, and income from
personal property. This decision was made possible by invoking a mere
technicality, that is, that a tax upon the rents of land is a tax
upon the land.

I am not going to discuss at this time the decision further than to
say I am one of those who believe that the income tax decision is
as indefensible as a matter of law as the Dred Scott decision, and
fraught with far more danger in its ultimate effect, if it is to
become the settled law of the land, to the Republic.

The income tax is the fairest and most equitable of all the taxes.
It is the one tax which approaches us in the hour of prosperity and
departs in the hour of adversity. The farmer though he may have lost
his entire crop must meet the taxes levied upon his property. The
merchant though on the verge of bankruptcy must respond to the taxes
imposed. The laborer who goes to the store to buy his food, though it
be his last, must buy with whatever extra cost there may be imposed
by reason of customs duties.

But the income tax is to be met only after you have realized your
income. After you have met your expenses, provided for your family,
paid for the education of your children for the year, then, provided
you have an income left, you turn to meet the obligations you owe
to the government. For instance, according to amendments recently
pending relative to the income tax, a man with an income of ten
thousand dollars would pay the modest sum of one hundred dollars.
“Man as a human being owes services to his fellows, and one of the
first of these is to support the government which makes civilization
possible.”

It seems incomprehensible that anyone would seriously contend that
property and wealth should not bear their fair share of the burdens
of the general government. Adam Smith says, “The subjects of every
state ought to contribute toward the support of the government as
nearly as possible in proportion to their respective abilities, that
is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under
the protection of the state.”

Notwithstanding our large standing army, our large navy, our all
but criminal extravagance as a government, men are found who still
unblushingly argue that this burden must all be laid upon consumption
and nothing upon wealth, that is, that the man of most ordinary means
must pay practically as much to the general government as the man
with his uncounted millions. It is strange indeed that men can bring
themselves to believe in so unfair and unjust a position.

They soothe their consciences to some extent by saying that it is
a just tax, a fair tax, and that the property should indeed bear
its proportion of the expenses of the general government but an
income tax causes men to commit perjury! Of course the man who says
this would resent the idea that he would commit perjury, but his
evangelical spirit leads him to look with particular care to the
salvation of his neighbor’s soul. There is not a state in the Union
today but has laws just as exacting with reference to accounting with
personal property, just as onerous as an income tax law would be, and
just as liable to encourage perjury. Yet the tax gatherer does not
stop gathering taxes.

They say it is inquisitorial. Do you know of any kind of taxes
which are not inquisitorial? For instance, under the internal
revenue system now in existence, the whiskey of the citizen is taken
possession of by the government, placed in a warehouse, locked up,
and a key given to a United States official. In the collection of our
customs duties, packages and the baggage of the citizen are taken,
opened and inspected, and, male or female though the citizens may be,
they are sometimes taken into a room and searched. Nothing could be
more inquisitorial than this.

All these arguments are put forth in the hope of leading us away from
the great and fundamental principle of equity in taxation, and that
is that every man should respond to the burdens of the government in
accordance with his ability. It is nothing less than a crime to put
all the burdens of this government on consumption.

I think those who advocate the income tax merely as a revenue
producing proposition rob the proposition of its moral foundation.
We should contend for an income tax not simply for the purpose of
raising revenue but for the purpose of framing a revenue system
which will distribute the burdens of government between consumption
and accumulated wealth, which will enable us to call upon property
and wealth not in an unfair and burdensome way but in a just and
equitable way to meet their proportionate expenses of the government,
for certainly it will be conceded by all that the great expense of
government is in the protection of property and of wealth.

A tax placed upon consumption is based upon what men want and must
have. A tax placed upon wealth falls upon those who have enough
and to spare and therefore have more which it is necessary for the
government to protect. “All the enjoyments which a man can receive
from his property come from his connection with society. Cut off from
all social relations, a man would find wealth useless to him. In
fact, there could be no such thing as wealth without society. Wealth
is what may be exchanged and requires for its existence a community
of persons with reciprocal wants.”

The general government, as we have said, has its armies and its
navies and its great burden of expense for the purpose, among
other things, of protecting property, protecting gathered and
accumulated wealth, of enabling men to make fortunes and to preserve
their fortunes, and there is no possible argument founded in law
or in morals why these protected interests should not bear their
proportionate burden of government.

No man in his right mind would make an assault upon wealth as
such, or upon property as such, or upon the honest acquisition of
property—we simply call upon those who have the good fortune to have
accumulated wealth to respond to the expenses of the great government
under which they live and thrive.

2. Write a news story of 250 words on the following excerpts from a
report made by the Division of Education of the Russell Sage
Foundation on “A Comparative Study of Public School Systems in
the Forty-eight States,” playing up the feature that you think
will be of general interest to the readers of a daily paper in the
metropolis of your state:

The average annual salary paid to public school teachers in the
United States as a whole is $485. In one state, North Carolina, the
average is only $200 per year. In another, Mississippi, it is $210,
and in South Carolina $212. The wages received by school teachers
constitute a measure of two things: first, the quality of ability of
the teacher; second, the value the community puts upon the teacher’s
services. The fact that the teacher’s wages are lower than those
paid for almost any other sort of service means that as a nation we
are neither asking for nor getting a high grade of service, and as a
nation we place a low valuation on the teacher’s work.

While it is difficult to get accurate data on wages, the best
available figures indicate that the average annual wages received by
workers in five great occupations are about as follows:—

Carpenters $802
Coal miners 600
Factory workers 550
Common laborers 513
Teachers 485

Throughout the southern states thousands of rural teachers earn less
than $150 per year. In one New England state hundreds of teachers
earn less than $6.00 per week. In one county in a central Atlantic
state the average for all teachers is $129 per year. In one southern
state convicts from the penitentiaries are let to contractors at the
rate of about $400 per year, while the state pays its teachers about
$300 per year.

The average annual salary of teachers in the public schools in each
state in 1910 and the rank of the state, based on the average annual
salary of school teachers, is as follows:—

1. California, $918; 2. Arizona, $817; 3. New York, $813; 4.
Massachusetts, $757; 5. New Jersey, $731; 6. Washington, $692; 7.
Montana, $645; 8. Colorado, $642; 9. Rhode Island, $647; 10. Utah,
$592; 11. Illinois, $588; 12. Connecticut, $561; 13. Pennsylvania,
$554; 14. Idaho, $549; 15. Ohio, $524; 16. Indiana, $523; 17. Oregon,
$516; 18. Maryland, $515; 19. Minnesota, $486; 20. Michigan, $480;
21. Nevada, $470; 22. Wisconsin, $456; 23. Missouri, $443; 24.
Wyoming, $439; 25. Kansas, $429; 26. Louisiana, $415; 27. Delaware,
$414; 28. Nebraska, $411; 29. Oklahoma, $408; 30. Texas, $384; 31.
New Mexico, $348; 32. North Dakota, $339; 33. Kentucky, $337; 34.
South Dakota, $329; 35. New Hampshire, $328; 36. West Virginia, $323;
37. Alabama, $314; 38. Iowa, $302; 39. Tennessee, $293; 40. Arkansas,
$284; 41. Florida, $276; 42. Virginia, $268; 43. Vermont, $266;
44. Georgia, $250; 45. Maine, $244; 46. South Carolina, $212; 47.
Mississippi, $210; 48. North Carolina, $200.

CHAPTER VII

SPECIAL KINDS OF NEWS

=Special News Fields.= Although practically all kinds of news stories
conform to the general principles explained and illustrated in
preceding chapters, the application of these principles to particular
kinds of news may be considered in detail. On all but small papers
the gathering and the writing of news in such special fields as
sports, society, and markets are regarded as sufficiently different
in character from general reporting to warrant having special
editors for these departments. Each of a number of special kinds of
reporting requires more or less expert knowledge, which a reporter
who specializes in that field acquires as a result of training and
experience. Sometimes, however, a general reporter may be sent out to
cover an athletic contest or a society event, and he should be prepared
to do either successfully. Every reporter should familiarize himself
with the best methods of handling all kinds of news.

=Sporting News Stories.= The constantly increasing importance attached
by newspapers to news of sports, particularly to that of baseball,
makes it important for reporters to know the peculiarities of sporting
news stories. The reporting of athletic contests is not always an easy
task even when the reporter is familiar with all the details of the
sport. In a football game, for example, it is difficult to determine
which of the players carries the ball or makes a tackle in a given play
unless the reporter knows each player and can recognize him quickly
on the field. In baseball games the reporter must be able to keep a
complete score from which to write his story and make his summary
score. Quickness and accuracy of observation are essential in getting
the facts correctly in any sporting event.

=Reporting a Football Game.= A football game affords a good opportunity
for the student reporter to get excellent practice in covering an
athletic contest. In preparing to report a game, he should get from the
coach or the captain the correct line-up of each team and the names of
the officials. If the line-up is written on a piece of cardboard and
arranged so that the exact position of each player can be seen at a
glance, the writer can refer to it constantly in reporting the plays.
The way to arrange the line-up is shown below:

_Chicago_ _Wisconsin_

The reporter watches both teams carefully to see which men make each
play, and as soon as the teams line up again, he notes the position
that each of these men takes, so that he may identify them from his
line-up card. As the game progresses he is able to recognize some of
the players who repeatedly take prominent parts, and he need not refer
to the line-up so frequently. The reporter may take notes on the plays
as they are made, or, if it is necessary to mail or telegraph the story
very soon after the game is over, he may write a running account as the
game progresses, adding the lead after it is over.

In the choice and the arrangement of details, the story of a football
game is not unlike other news stories. In the lead are placed the
essential facts, which are the result, the score, the causes of
victory and defeat, the teams engaged, the time and place of the
contest, and any important circumstances. Because every reader is
most interested in the result, that fact is usually “played up” as
the feature. Why one team lost and the other won, or why the score
was tied, the second fact in point of interest, is likewise given a
prominent place at the beginning of the lead. A characterization of the
playing of each team, an account of how and when the scoring was done,
mention of the work of star players, and a description of the crowd,
the condition of the field, and the weather, are the other details
which are put in the lead. Following the lead is the story of the game
told in as much detail as the assignment requires. If a short account
is desired, only the important plays are given; if a full report is
wanted, every play is described. After each score is made, and at the
end of the report of each quarter, the complete score up to that point
is given. At the end of the story are placed the line-up, a summary of
the plays, and the names of the officials. The story given below may be
taken as typical:

[The detailed report of the other
quarters follows, and then the line-up
is given.]

=“Covering” a Baseball Game.= The accepted methods of reporting
baseball games and other athletic contests, and the form in which
stories of them are written, are very similar to those described above
for football. The example given below shows the application of the
general principles to baseball:

=The Style of Sporting News Stories.= The style of sporting news
stories is marked by the use of terms peculiar to the game or sport and
often by the slang that is popular at the time, particularly the slang
that is in vogue among those interested in each sport. Young reporters,
and some older ones, too, seem to think that they can best prove their
knowledge of sports by using in their stories as much as possible of
the slang current among the professionals and their followers in the
sport. On the other hand, some of the recognized authorities on sports
write interesting and readable accounts of contests without indulging
in such sporting slang. A number of sporting editors, in order to give
variety to their daily reports of baseball games, have sought to coin
new phrases and figures of speech, and the result has sometimes been so
clever and amusing that these writers have established a considerable
reputation for novelty of expression. Too frequently, however, the
imitations of the work of the successful, clever few have not been
effective, and consequently have not been so good as simple, direct
reports. Originality of expression is as desirable in sporting news
stories as it is elsewhere, but a style that is marked by little more
than cheap humor and vulgar slang has nothing to commend it.

=Society News.= Society news is usually collected, written, and edited
by the society editor, almost invariably a woman. In order to insure
accuracy, facts for such stories should be obtained directly from
those concerned in the event. Announcements of engagements and of
weddings, particularly, must never be accepted for publication unless
furnished by the persons themselves or their families, as would-be
practical jokers not infrequently undertake to make victims of their
acquaintances by sending to newspapers false announcements of this
kind. Some newspapers distribute printed forms to be filled out by
those giving important social entertainments, and these are sent out
several days in advance so that they may be returned in time and the
facts correctly reported.

The form and style of news stories of many society events are
determined to some extent by social usages. Those who desire to become
society editors, and reporters generally, because they may be assigned
to cover society events, should notice carefully how news of this
sort is written up in society columns. The typographical style often
differs from that of the other parts of the paper. The whole story of
a wedding, reception, or other social event, in many papers is given
in one paragraph, although it may consist of several hundred words.
A concise story giving all the essential details, and avoiding trite
expressions like “charming,” “beautiful,” and “tastily,” is the most
acceptable one.

Conventional forms for such typical events as weddings, receptions, and
announcements of engagements are given below:

Announcements of Engagements

(1)

(2)

Weddings

(1)

(2)

(3)

Luncheons, Receptions, Etc.

(1)

(2)

Club News

(1)

(2)

(3)

=Banquets and Holiday Celebrations.= News stories of banquets and
of various forms of holiday celebrations are not usually put in the
society columns and are not covered by the society editor. If at a
banquet after-dinner speaking is the important part of the event, such
portions of the speeches as are of great interest are given the most
space. If the speaking is not a feature, a description is given of the
occasion, and particularly of any interesting incidents or unusual
circumstances. For stories of holiday celebrations, such as Christmas
festivities, a general descriptive lead serves to introduce accounts of
various forms of celebration by societies, at public institutions, and
on the streets.

How such an event as a banquet may be written up at some length in
an unconventional manner with enough life and interest to make it
entertaining reading, is shown in the following news story taken from
the New York _Sun_:

The following description of a newsboys’ Christmas “feast,” as reported
in the New York _Tribune_, illustrates another type of work which the
reporter is called upon to do:

Christmas and other holidays give occasion for accounts of various
forms of celebration, of which the following story from the New York
_Evening Post_ is a good example:

=Writing Obituaries.= News stories of deaths, with the biographical
sketch, or obituary, which usually accompanies such announcements in
the case of men of more or less prominence, constitute another type
that differs somewhat from general news stories. The essential facts
for the lead are the name of the person, his position, his address, the
cause of his death and the duration of his illness, the names of the
members of his family that survive him, and any important circumstances
connected with his death. The significance of his career, or an
estimate of his life work, may often serve to connect the lead with the
biography that follows. Every well organized newspaper office files
biographies of well-known men of the city, state, or nation, when these
are published in newspapers or magazines, or are furnished by news
bureaus, so that they may be ready for instant use when an obituary is
to be written. To this “morgue,” or “graveyard,” as it is called, the
reporter or editor goes to get whatever material is on hand concerning
the person whose obituary he is to write. “Who’s Who,” biographical
dictionaries, city, county, and state histories, and other similar
books of reference, furnish valuable data for biographies.

How a biographical sketch of a well-known man may be written up in the
newspaper office when the news of his death is received, is shown in
the following story of Dr. Koch and his work, which appeared in the
Boston _Transcript_:

The following obituary of a writer, though meagre in biographical
detail, is well adapted to convey an impression of her personality and
of the quality of her work. It appeared in the New York _Sun_.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Familiarize yourself with the form of all kinds of news stories.

2. Remember that neither slang nor cheap humor is essential to a good
sporting news story.

3. Be fair in your characterization of the playing of each team.

4. Avoid elaborate descriptions in the average society news story.

5. Don’t use hackneyed phrases in reporting society news.

6. Be accurate in the biographical data of obituaries.

PRACTICE WORK

1. Criticize the following football story and rewrite it:

Mid the strains of “O You Beautiful Doll” with variations of “We
Won’t Get Home Until Morning” played in the gloaming, wherever that
is, of a windy autumn eve, Referee Williams judiciously called a
halt on the annual St. Clair-Winton battle at the Baseball park last
night, just when the top edge of the moon peeped over Lake Erie and
the cardinal cohorts were leading in the battle by a score of 25 to 7.

That’s the official count, three touchdowns, one goal from touchdown
and two drop kicks against the green and white’s one lone touchdown,
scored in the final quarter of a hectic struggle featured by good
open play on the part of both elevens, Harry Hurson’s great kicking
and marred by the poor tackling of both elevens.

It was just another St. Clair victory and thus it will go down in
history. The old hoodoo still abides with the St. Clair boys south
of the river, and Winton was not so much outplayed as outlucked. The
cardinals keyed to the minute for the struggle were on their toes
from the opening whistle. They played football at all times, took
advantage of every weakness and never lagged no matter how great the
advantage and as a result they copped the city laurels which are
theirs by virtue of the victory, in a decidedly easy manner.

Winton on the other hand, outside of one or two individuals on the
whole were content to take matters as they came and appeared averse
to any exceptional effort, combined or otherwise. There was not
that scrap and pep, that characterizes the annual fight between the
two teams, and this more than any superior ability on the part of
Schmidt’s champions, militated against anything like a victory for
the Wintoners.

The first quarter was a feeler for both elevens. In an offensive way,
the green and white did little, playing purely on the defensive,
being content to punt on every first or second down, keeping the ball
in cardinal territory. This worked well in the first quarter and the
Winton men were never in danger of being counted on. The same holds
true of St. Clair.

The second period brought a change of goals and although at the very
start the ball was in St. Clair territory, the advantage of the wind
now lay with the cardinals and Hurson’s sturdy boot soon made that
fact known to the defenders of the east goal.

While Johnson in a measure held his own at this period with the St.
Clair oval mixer, he was decidedly slow in getting off his spirals.
A few minutes after the start of the quarter, St. Clair, with the
advantage of the wind, worked well into their rival’s preserves and
by sturdy plunges carried the pigskin to the thirty yard line. Winton
held finally and after three futile flings at the cardinal line by
the green and white backs, Johnson again stepped back to boot the
leather into safe ground. He made a miscue, however, in holding onto
the ball too long, an accident which featured his play in the North
side game. Devine opposing Franklin at tackle, wormed his way through
the Winton defense and was on Johnson before the latter was aware of
his presence. He blocked the attempted punt and followed up the ball
which rolled well behind Winton’s goal, made one futile attempt to
corral the oval as it rolled over the grass carpet, hopped to his
feet again and this time drove true gathering the ball in his arms
for the first score. A punt out by Hurson was properly heeled and the
same Hurson booted the ball squarely between the goal posts, making
the count 7 to 0. [Etc.]

2. Compare the following two reports of weddings and rewrite the first:

(1)

The beautiful autumn evening Tuesday, was the scene of a happy
wedding at the pleasant country home of Mr. and Mrs. William A.
Milton of Pembroke Park, when their only daughter, Ada May Milton,
was united in marriage to Henry P. Williams, of Harrington, N. Y.
Promptly at 4:30 p. m., the wedding party descended the stairway to
the sweet melody of the wedding march, with Miss Kathrine Parker
presiding at the piano. The procession was led by the small flower
maiden, Miss Mabel Teller, dressed in pure white with a wreath of
white daisies on her head and a large bunch of the same flowers in
her hand. The bride was richly but simply clad in white satin trimmed
in gold jetted passementerie and gold jetted neck yoke, with a filmy
bridal veil daintily covering her golden brown hair and falling
gracefully to the floor.

She carried fragrant white roses and pink carnations, and she was met
in the hallway by the groom. The groom wore the conventional attire.
He was accompanied by his friend Frank J. Norton, of Watertown, N.
Y. The bride was accompanied by her cousin, Miss Henrietta Strong,
now a student of Harrington normal. Miss Strong was dressed in pure
white with a bouquet of pink roses and carnations. Together the bride
and groom entered the flower festooned parlor to the soft strains of
music. Rev. Herrin, of Pembroke Park, united the popular young couple
according to the solemn ritual of the Methodist Episcopal church.

After a shower of congratulations the wedding party entered the
dining room where a sumptuous feast of good things was served to
about seventy guests amidst the usual social conversation whilst the
Pembroke Park Brass Band played its choicest selections. Later there
was music by Mrs. Henry Delton and her son, Master Harry Delton,
on the piano and violin, the latter being a pupil of the bride,
who is a music teacher in her town. Her education is as follows:
Harrington, N.Y., for normal course; Baltimore, Md., for business,
besides Wesleyan College, Middleton, Pa., and Marietta, O., for
musical education. The groom was for some time a telegraph operator
at Buffalo, N. Y. but at present, being the last unmarried of the
family, he has lived with his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Williams. He
belongs to one of Polk county’s well known families, and is a member
of the Harrington Brass Band.

The bride belongs to one of the oldest and best families of her home
county of Madison. Both are popularly and well known in the home
circles of many friends.

Among pleasantly noted friends present were Cashier W. M. Schmidt of
the Harrington bank, Miss Emma Miles of Harrington normal, James B.
Rogers, merchant, of Littletown, and brother-in-law of the groom,
accompanied by his small son, Robert, and Misses Jessie and Nettie
Williams, cousins of the groom.

The wedding presents were numerous and of excellent selection,
several arriving days before from invited guests unable to be present.

(2)

The wedding of Miss Gladys Virginia Du Frain, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. J. Cutter Du Frain, to William Battlesea, adopted son and heir
of the late William Battlesea, was celebrated at noon yesterday at
the Hotel Royal, the Rev. George S. St. Clair, rector of St. John’s
Protestant Episcopal Church of this city, officiating.

Only relatives and a few intimate friends were present for the
ceremony, which was performed in the Renaissance room. There was
a temporary altar erected beneath a bower of palms and white
chrysanthemums, and standards draped with white satin ribbon and
topped with clusters of pink and white chrysanthemums formed an aisle
through which the bridal party passed. An orchestra played during the
service.

The bride walked to the altar with her father, who gave her away. She
wore a gown of white satin trimmed with duchess lace, and a veil of
old point lace which fell over a court train. She carried a bouquet
of lilies of the valley and white orchids, and among her ornaments
was a pearl necklace, the gift of the bridegroom.

Miss Charlotte Hinchkin, a cousin of the bridegroom, was the flower
girl. Her costume was of white lace over pink satin. She wore a hat
to match trimmed with pink tulle and she carried a basket of pink
roses. Arthur Du Frain, brother of the bride, acted as page, and
William J. Hinchkin, a cousin of the bridegroom, was the best man.
There were no ushers.

After the ceremony there was a reception, followed by a wedding
breakfast in the ballroom. The bridal party sat at a heart shaped
table in the centre of a group of five tables. Mr. Battlesea and his
bride left afterward for a short trip. They will live at 144 West
Sixty-ninth street.

CHAPTER VIII

FOLLOW UP AND REWRITE STORIES

=News Possibilities.= The possibilities contained in a piece of news
are seldom completely exhausted by the first story published concerning
it. Causes, results, and significant phases many times cannot be
ascertained when the first story is written. New facts sometimes
develop from hour to hour, and very frequently from day to day. It is
the constant aim in newspaper making to give in each edition the latest
possible phase of every important event. Accordingly, news stories must
be rewritten or must be given new leads as often as the character of
the latest news warrants it. A story is worth rewriting or following up
as long as it is likely to be of interest to any considerable number of
readers.

Even when it is evident that the first story contains all the
significant facts and that additional details cannot be obtained, the
first story may, nevertheless, have sufficient interest to deserve a
rewriting by papers which have not as yet had an opportunity to publish
the news that it contains. A new feature is sought for in the first
story, and this feature, when played up in the rewritten story, gives
it a new turn. New significance, likewise, may be given to the event
in the rewritten story by looking at it from a different point of view
or by showing its relation to other events. Probable causes, possible
results, or striking coincidences may be “played up” as new features.
Often the next development can be anticipated to bring the rewrite up
to the time of going to press. Imagination is necessary for success as
a rewrite man, not in order to invent fictitious details, but to see
the event in all its relations and to select the most significant of
these for emphasis in rewriting.

Whether or not a story is worth “following up,” and how long it
shall be “followed up,” as well as whether or not a story is worth
rewriting, is determined by the newspaper man’s appreciation of news
values. Editors must be keen and accurate judges of popular interest in
current events to know when to continue to give space and prominence to
developments of a piece of news and when to drop it.

The division of the twenty-four-hour day between morning and evening
papers results in editors and reporters on papers of one of these
groups depending, to some extent, on those in the other for part of the
day’s round of news gathering. Consequently when the men on the evening
papers begin work early in the morning, they read with great care all
the morning papers, in order to find out what news has developed since
the last edition of their papers went to press on the preceding day.
The men on morning newspapers, likewise, scan every edition of the
evening papers in order to watch the course of events during the day.
This careful examination of newspapers is not confined to those of the
city; papers published in other cities of the state or of adjacent
states are gone over for any pieces of news that have local phases, or
“local ends.” The reading of all these newspapers furnishes the editors
with many stories that must be rewritten and brought up to the moment.

=Rewriting.= When news is to be rewritten without additional details,
the stories clipped from other papers are turned over to rewrite men
or to reporters to be put at once in a new form for publication. If
the editor desires more facts or later phases, he gives the clipping
to a reporter, who, taking the first story as a basis, proceeds to get
the desired additions before writing the new story. In either case the
first thing to do is to study carefully the first story to see what it
contains and what are its possibilities. Every bearing of the piece of
news on past, present, and future events must be carefully considered.
The importance of every possible relation should be weighed so that the
most timely and most interesting feature may be given due prominence.

Because of the rapid judgments on news values and the hurried writing
of news stories that newspaper making necessitates, the first story
may not bring out at all or may not give prominence to what is in
reality the most interesting aspect of the story, and it remains for
the man who is rewriting the story to take advantage of this neglected
opportunity. In his effort to tell all the details of the event itself,
the reporter who wrote the first story may not have considered ulterior
causes and motives or he may not have had time to see the event in its
relation to other events. With the perspective that a few hours often
gives, the rewrite man can judge more accurately of these elements and
in the rewritten story can give them the emphasis that they deserve.

In the rewriting of stories where no more facts are available, the
possibilities to be considered for the new lead are: (1) some feature
entirely overlooked by the writer of the first story, (2) some element
not given prominence in the first story, that may be made the feature,
(3) the next probable consequence or development, (4) some cause or
motive not suggested or emphasized in the first story, and (5) the
relation of the piece of news to some previous or coincident one.

The rewriting with no new facts but with a new feature played up in the
lead is illustrated in the following stories:

(1)

Lead in Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Rewritten Story in Morning
Paper of Following Day.

(1)

Lead of First Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Rewrite Story in Morning
Paper on the Following Day.

=Anticipating News in Rewriting.= One of the simplest ways of bringing
a story up to the time of the edition in which it is to appear in
rewritten form, is to anticipate the probable result or the next
development. In the morning editions of evening papers, particularly,
much of the day’s news can be forecast and the news stories written
accordingly. Persons arrested during the evening and night, for
example, it is safe to say in advance, will have their cases considered
in the police court the next morning. Accordingly, the fact that a
person will be charged in court with his offense “this morning” rather
than the fact that he was arrested “last night,” constitutes the
feature of the first morning edition of the afternoon paper. Stories of
trials, conventions, investigations, legislative sessions, and other
events extending over a number of days or weeks can often be given a
new turn before anything new actually has been done by setting forth
in the lead what is to be done. The early morning resumption of a
search abandoned because of darkness the night before can be played
up in the rewritten story of a drowning, disappearance, or similar
occurrence. A midnight railroad wreck reported in a morning paper, it
is safe to say in the morning editions of the afternoon papers, will
be investigated by the railroad company and by inspectors of the state
railroad commission in order to fix the responsibility. Conjectures as
to his successor may be made a feature of a rewrite story following the
announcement of the resignation of a public official. To look forward
to what will happen is practically to give the news before it actually
happens, and this can frequently be done.

How without any additional facts the next development of a piece of
news may be anticipated and the time changed from “last night” to “this
morning” is shown by the rewritten leads following:

(1)

Lead of First Story in Morning Paper.

(2)

Lead of Rewritten Story in First
Morning Edition of Evening Paper.

(1)

Lead of First Story in Morning Paper.

(2)

Lead of Rewritten Story in First
Morning Edition of Evening Paper.

=Finding the Relation of Events.= What seemed a single and isolated
event when the first story was written may be seen to be part of
a series of similar or related events by the time the story is to
be rewritten, and this fact can be used as a new, interesting, and
important phase of the rewritten story. Several burglaries, as
reported in the morning papers, may be found to have some peculiar
details in common, and this fact may give rise to the conjecture, as
the feature of the rewritten story, that they were the work of the same
burglars. A local storm story when rewritten may have as a feature the
extent of the storm as shown by telegraph stories received after the
first story was written. A fire, the origin of which was unknown when
the first story was written, may be connected with other recent fires
that broke out under similar conditions, and the probability of all of
them being the work of a “firebug” may be pointed out in the rewritten
story. By seeking relations between events, the newspaper worker often
finds important features for stories to be rewritten.

=“Follow-up” Stories.= In “follow-up” stories the gathering of new
details is the first step necessary to rewriting. Not infrequently the
latest details can be obtained by telephone, and the “follow-up” story
can be written in the office in as short a time as a rewrite story that
requires no additional facts. The condition of a victim of an accident,
for example, may be ascertained by telephoning to his home or to the
hospital where he was taken, and the facts thus obtained may be put at
the very beginning of the “follow-up” story. More often the reporter
must go out to get the latest developments of the event, just as he
would for a first story. However obtained, the new particulars are the
important ones to be emphasized in the lead.

Some of the different directions in which a story may be “followed
up” are similar to those suggested for rewrite stories; they are: (1)
causes and motives other than those given in the first story if these
are uncertain or inadequate, (2) results and consequences of the first
piece of news, (3) interviews with prominent persons in regard to
the event and its significance, (4) clues to the identity of unknown
persons or to the unknown whereabouts of those who figured in the first
news story.

Popular interest in the causes of fires, accidents, and disasters
generally, make such causes good “second day” features when the
explanation given in the first story is insufficient or unsatisfactory.
Motives for crimes or for any significant action are to be sought
for by the reporter. The important question always to be asked in
connection with practically every piece of news is, Why? Every result
of an event has new possibilities and should be “followed up.” In
stories of crime the identity of the culprit and his whereabouts, if
not given in the first story, are, of course, of great news value for
a “second day” story. Finally, the opinions of those concerned or in
any way interested in the event, as obtained by interviews, make good
material for stories following the first one.

In writing the lead of a “follow-up” story the reporter must not fail
to give as many of the essential elements of the first story as are
necessary to make the new details intelligible to those who did not
read the first story, and to recall the main facts to the minds of
those who did read it. This explanatory material is made subordinate to
the latest particulars, but cannot well be omitted.

The way in which a story is “followed up” from hour to hour and from
day to day by “featuring” the latest news and reporting in slightly
varied form the same essential details, is made evident in the
following leads of a railroad wreck, the developments of which had news
value for two days.

(1)

Lead of Story in First Morning
Edition of Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Story in Noon Edition of
Same Paper.

(3)

Lead of Story in Last Afternoon
Edition of Same Paper.

(4)

Lead of Story in Morning Paper
of the Following Day.

(5)

Lead of Story in Evening Paper on
Second Day.

Lack of important additions to facts in the first story often makes the
lead of the “follow-up” story less striking in new features than those
given above, but the very absence of new facts in itself has some news
value, as is shown by the two following leads:

(1)

Lead of Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Lead of Story in Next Morning’s
Paper.

=“Boiling Down” News to One Paragraph.= For some stories the rewriting
consists of “boiling down the news” to a sentence or two containing the
essential facts, in order that they may be used as “fillers” or may
be grouped with similar short items under general headings, such as
“Sparks From the Wires,” “Telegraph Ticks,” “City News In Brief,” “Told
In Brief,” “State News.” Local news stories of this type are rewritten
from other city papers, and state news is often rewritten from daily
and weekly papers received in exchange and known as “state exchanges.”
Some of the news associations furnish brief stories of this kind which
may be grouped under one head or which may be used as “fillers.” A
single cross-line head, or a side head, is often put on these short
“items” by the man who rewrites them. Examples of rewritten stories of
this kind follow:

(1)

First Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Rewritten Story and Head in Next
Morning’s Paper.

THEY PULLED UP TREES.

(1)

First Story in Evening Paper.

(2)

Rewritten Story and Head in Next
Morning’s Paper.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Read all the local papers every day before beginning your work.

2. Remember that few first stories exhaust all the news possibilities.

3. Follow up every story as long as indications point to new and
interesting developments.

4. Look for ulterior causes and motives as new phases.

5. Look forward for new features to possible results and consequences.

6. Get interviews with persons of prominence and authority on all
important events, as new features.

7. Look at the event from a new angle before beginning your rewrite
story.

8. Play up the latest possible phase of the news in the lead.

9. Find a new feature to play up in rewriting when you have no more
facts.

10. Anticipate the next development of the event in beginning the lead
of your rewrite story.

11. Bring the rewritten story “up to the minute” by giving prominence
to features of “to-day.”

PRACTICE WORK

1. Rewrite the following story, putting the unusual feature at the
beginning of the story.

Samuel J. Willsie, an insurance broker living at 1991 Riverside
Drive, did not appear in the City Court yesterday for examination
in the supplementary proceedings in a suit over a loan of $200, and
Hein & Krug of 281 Broadway, the attorneys who obtained the order,
concluded that Mr. Willsie didn’t feel that he had been properly
served.

The lawyers had turned the order over to Samuel Greenman, a process
server of 188 East Ninety-Eighth Street. After trying to serve the
order without success he finally notified the lawyers that he had
seen Mr. Willsie sitting at his window in the Riverside Drive house
one night and that he had tied a copy of the order to a brick and
thrown the brick into the window, hitting Mr. Willsie with it. The
process server said that when Mr. Willsie picked up the paper and
looked at it he, the process server, immediately read the original to
Mr. Willsie at long distance and said “You’re served.”

Mr. Willsie said yesterday that no attempt, so far as he knew, had
been made to serve the order on him, and that he could be found at
his office every day. He said that while he and his family were at
dinner one night something landed on the floor of the room by way
of an open window. His son, he said, went in to see what it was and
threw the stone back into the street. The boy told his father the
object was a stone wrapped in a piece of paper. That was all Mr.
Willsie knew of the alleged “service.”

2. In rewriting this story, summarize the essential facts in the
opening sentence.

When a Third avenue elevated train reached the 166th street station
late yesterday afternoon the guards announced that the next stop
would be 177th street, the intervening stations being skipped.

At once there was a rush for the platform, which was already full of
people, and by the time the train was ready to go on, men and women
were jammed tight against the cars. The conductor was warned not to
start the train, but he pulled the bell and the moving cars rolled
the front row of those on the platform along with it. Six panes of
glass were broken and fully a dozen persons cut or bruised.

Six men who had been injured went to the Morrisania police station
and made a complaint. They were R. Nothstein, a clerk of 451 East
171st street; Frank Schwartz, a mechanic living at 415 East 176th
street; John Hurley, an engineer of 5415 Third avenue; William Balk,
a clerk of 3661 Third avenue, Charles Wold, of 1695 Franklin avenue;
and Thomas O’Brien of 341 West 167th street.

The police set out to find the conductor who started the train, but
as none of the complainants had taken his number, they were still
hunting for him last night.

3. Improve the lead of the following story by playing up a better
feature.

Interstate Commerce Commissioner Clark, in a statement issued today
in connection with the numerous wrecks on railroads in the United
States, said that conditions are deplorable.

“Most of the wrecks,” he said, “may be put in the class of avoidable
accidents. Poor rails, speed craze, and human negligence are the
causes.”

Mr. Clark declared that the commission is powerless to prescribe
adequate regulations to prevent wrecks, and that, though its
recommendations have been generally observed, they cannot be
enforced. He intimated that Congress should give the commission more
power to compel railroads to observe safety rules which are deemed
necessary from the commission’s many investigations.

4. Give this story an entirely different lead without beginning with a
summary.

Julius R. Wein literally sang himself into matrimony, and then sang
himself into a jail cell. The dulcet tones of his tenor voice won him
a bride and also caused his arrest on a charge of forgery.

A few months ago Wein, under the name of Jule LeGrande, was singing
in theatres in Chicago. Among others who admired his singing was Miss
Winnie Riley who characterized his singing as “divine.” So much was
Miss Riley attracted to the voice that she consented to marry its
owner. After the ceremony the two rented apartments at 1961 Western
Avenue. As before, the husband continued to sing in local theatres.

After a few weeks the young wife decided that vaudeville did not
offer sufficient opportunity and requested Wein to seek employment
in the field of business. He sought for and obtained a position as
cashier for the Universal Furniture Company at 1032 16th Street.

The salary of a young cashier was not so large as that he was
accustomed to earn as a singer, so Wein is said to have forged checks
amounting to more than $1,200, signing the name of the firm by which
he was employed.

Detectives who sought his arrest determined to use the voice which
had won Wein’s bride as a “bait” to cause his arrest.

The following advertisement was inserted in papers throughout the
United States:

FOR SALE—A Moving Picture Theatre, cheap. Can be operated to great
advantage by man or woman who is good singer and entertainer.

Three days ago an answer was received from Wintonville, Miss.
The writer signed his name as W. R. Reinhard. The handwriting
was recognized by experts as that of Wein, and the young man was
yesterday arrested by operatives of the Pinkerton Detective Agency
in the Mississippi city. Both Wein and his wife will be brought to
Chicago tomorrow.

CHAPTER IX

FEATURE STORIES

=Kinds of Feature Stories.= Most news stories, it has been seen, aim
to be nothing more than concise presentations of the essential facts
concerning current events. They are intended primarily to inform rather
than to instruct or entertain. In a feature story, on the other hand,
the writer takes the day’s events and tries to present entertaining or
instructive phases of them that cannot well be developed in the limited
compass of the news story itself.

For one type of feature story the reporter takes the facts of the
news and finds behind them the real meaning of the event to those who
play a part in it. The event thus becomes an episode in the drama of
human life, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic. Such a story involves
feelings as well as facts. To write it successfully the reporter must
be able to see the picturesque, humorous, and pathetic phases of life
about him; he must feel with those to whom the events mean much. Keen
insight into human nature, and sympathy with its strength and its
weakness, are essential. This type of story, which is often called the
“human interest” story, enjoys no small degree of popularity because it
appeals to the reader’s feelings. In some newspapers it takes a place
of prominence beside the best news stories; in many of them it is given
a less conspicuous position; only a few neglect it entirely.

Another kind of feature story, quite different in character, undertakes
to explain, interpret, and describe fully significant phases of the
day’s news and timely topics generally. Brief news stories often
arouse the reader’s curiosity to know more of the persons and things
that they mention. It remains for the feature story to supply causes,
motives, results,—the full significance of the bare facts of the news.
Accordingly, some newspapers set aside two or three columns on the
editorial pages each day for a feature story of this kind. In magazine
sections of Saturday and Sunday issues such articles are supplied in
greater numbers. These feature stories are frequently illustrated. They
seldom fill less than a column; more often they are several columns in
length.

=“Human Interest” Stories.= Material for the “human interest” type
of feature story is to be found anywhere and everywhere in the
reporter’s daily round of news gathering. The many police court cases
furnish an abundance of humorous and pathetic incidents. Accidents
and minor crimes of all kinds many times are worth only a few lines
as news, but as the basis for feature stories, they contain great
possibilities. An incident in a crowded street car, a mishap on the
street, a bit of conversation between two newsboys, a mistake made by
a person unaccustomed to the ways of the metropolis, or any one of
the hundred little episodes in the daily life of a city may be taken
by the reporter as the subject of his feature story. Little children,
because of the great appeal that they make to men and women of all
classes, often furnish good material. Animals, wild or tame, are always
available as subjects. A visit to the “zoo” is sure to furnish at least
one good story. For the alert reporter with a knowledge of human nature
and an appreciation of the humor and the pathos of life, there is never
any dearth of material.

=Style in Feature Stories.=—Feature stories require some literary
ability beyond that necessary for routine reporting. From the point of
view of its composition the feature story is like a miniature short
story. Therefore no definite rules can be laid down for its treatment.
There need be no summary of essential facts at the beginning as in the
typical news story. Like the short fiction story, the feature story
may begin in any way that will attract the reader’s attention, and may
be developed by conversation, by narration, or by description that
suggests rather than portrays in great detail. A good feature story
frequently tells itself; all that the writer does is to record the
incidents without comment or adornment. A simple, restrained treatment
is far preferable to elaboration of detail. Pathos can easily be made
bathos, and humor can readily descend to cheap buffoonery.

The style of humorous and pathetic feature stories needs careful
attention. Words must be chosen not only with reference to their
general meaning but with consideration for the feelings which have
come to be associated with them and which they therefore arouse in the
reader. One word with the wrong connotation may spoil the whole effect
of an otherwise well-written pathetic story. As in the structure of
the feature story so in its style, no definite rules or principles can
be laid down to guide the reporter. Careful reading of well-written
short stories and novels will show him various methods of producing the
effects that he desires.

The rescue of a small boy from drowning in a cistern would ordinarily
pass unnoticed in the newspapers of a large city and might be worth a
few lines in those of a small one. A reporter with a sense of humor
might see something in the incident that would make good material for a
humorous feature story, as did the reporter on the Chicago _Tribune_,
who wrote it in the following form. The editor gave the story a place
on the front page.

The capture of an unusually large turtle, in and of itself, has little
news value, but out of the incident a New York _Sun_ reporter by simple
literary devices worked up a feature story that holds the reader’s
interest and makes an entertaining little “yarn.”

How a bit of information gleaned from a janitor may furnish the basis
for an amusing little story, developed almost entirely by conversation,
in this instance with the added flavor of Irish brogue, is well
illustrated by this example taken from the New York _Tribune_:

The adventures of a trained elephant that escaped in the streets of
New York furnished a reporter on the _Sun_ with an opportunity for a
humorous animal story that he took every advantage of, as is seen in
the following result:

An East Indian elephant weighing a couple of tons or so and bearing
the Anglo-Saxon name of Nellie, moved into the tenement house at 336
East Thirty-fourth street early yesterday morning carrying her trunk
with her. At or about the same hour most of the other tenants of the
house moved out. Shortly afterward the tenants of the house at 338
followed suit, and it was only a few moments later that the tenants
in 340 emulated the example of their neighbors in 336 and 338.

Andrew Diehl, the owner of the tenement, did not welcome Nellie with
any enthusiasm. He said later that he did not cater to elephants,
and anyhow all the flats in his house were occupied. He seemed a bit
peevish about the whole affair, apparently having conceived the idea
that if it got around the neighborhood that he made a practice of
entertaining elephants unawares it might prejudice his house in the
eyes of prospective tenants.

In short, he spoke quite sharply about the matter, did Mr. Andrew
Diehl. But several thousand persons who saw Nellie moving in at 336
appeared to be having a really good time.

Before Nellie moved into 336, and thence through the backyard fence
into 338, and thence through another backyard fence into 340, her
place of residence was quite a number of blocks further uptown. But
she is hard to suit with regard to her surroundings. In fact, before
she consented to move into 336, 338 and 340 she insisted on making a
number of extensive alterations.

Nellie’s uptown residence was the Hippodrome. She wasn’t exactly an
old resident there either, the janitor says, for she moved in there
no longer ago than Friday morning, coming directly from the steamship
Georgic on the recommendation of a travelling companion, one Alfredo
Rossi, who told her that it was a good place to live and that he
thought that between them they could do themselves some good there
in the way of making a living. This sounded pretty good to Nellie,
and as soon as they had hoisted her out of the Georgic’s hold in an
enormous sling and deposited her on the island of Manhattan, she
started directly for the Hippodrome on Prof. Rossi’s recommendation.
Besides, Prof. Rossi had a good sharp goad and some disposition to
use it.

In addition to Prof. Rossi, Nellie’s companions of the voyage
included three more elephants, Petie, Rosa and Pierrette. Prof. Rossi
having some influence with them too, they also went along to board
with Nellie at the Hippodrome. The new tenants behaved themselves so
admirably at first that the neighbors had no complaints whatsoever to
make.

Prof. Rossi came around very early yesterday morning to put the
elephants through a little drill preparatory to going into the
performance regularly to-morrow afternoon. All would have continued
well had Nellie been accustomed to having pigs in the house. But such
was not the case. At least the Hippodrome janitor says so. He blames
it all on Marcelline’s pig, though he declares that no other tenants
of his apartment house ever have complained about the pig.

But Nellie was clearly of the opinion that a pig was out of place in
the same house with herself. At all events when she heard that pig
squeal and saw him come romping in his usual debonair manner over
the stage, she gave one wild blast of her trumpet and determined
to go elsewhere. In fact she went elsewhere, did Nellie, and that
forthwith. But she went out, as a perfect lady should, by the
customary stage entrance, taking most of it with her and subsequently
accumulating large portions of the storm door as well.

Once in Forty-third street Nellie turned toward the east. She was
closely pursued by Bill Milligan, a Hippodrome groom, who endeavored
with the aid of a shovel to dissuade her from her intention to
travel. Mr. Milligan was subsequently reproached severely by Prof.
Rossi because he did not use a goad. But Mr. Milligan rejoined with
some asperity that he was shaving at the time Nellie tiptoed past
him and it was only by the merest chance that he happened to notice
her. “And,” added Mr. Milligan, “I don’t use no goad to shave with,
anyhow.”

Putting this aside for the moment, the fact remains that Nellie
proceeded eastward as far as Fifth avenue. Here she turned to the
south. As she approached Forty-second street Traffic Policeman John
Finnerty raised one commanding hand, thereby stopping all traffic
that had been previously headed in Nellie’s direction. But Policeman
Finnerty complains that Nellie did not obey his order to stop. He
says he can prove it, too, because there were a number of persons
around and several of them in all probability noticed the elephant
and can swear that she did not stop when he raised his hand. For a
moment, he says, he thought of arresting her, but abandoned the idea,
thinking perhaps it would be making too much of a trifling infraction
of the traffic rules by a stranger in the city.

At all events Nellie turned to the eastward again when she reached
Forty-second street and moved along as far as Second avenue without
meeting a soul she knew. In fact she didn’t meet so very many persons
face to face, though there were quite a number of people in the lobby
of the Manhattan Hotel and the Grand Central Station, and a little
group now and then shinning up a casual lamp post or roosting on the
top of a subway pagoda. And there weren’t more than 10,000 or 20,000
behind her either.

It looked so lonesome in Forty-second street that Nellie turned
southward again when she got to Second avenue out of sheer yearning
for human companionship. As a matter of fact there were several
persons in Second avenue until a few seconds after Nellie turned the
corner, but they all seemed to be in some haste and went away from
there before Nellie could come up to them. In fact Second avenue was
so solitary a place that when Nellie got to Thirty-fourth street she
thought she would try that just for luck.

She would probably have continued right on to the ferry because
nobody thereabouts appeared to have any objection, had it not been
for the fact that a fire engine and hose cart galloped through First
avenue to answer an alarm turned in from the box at First avenue and
Thirty-second street. Nellie was not interested in fire engines. So
she took to the sidewalk in front of 334, and at 336 she seemed to
say to herself: “This is the place I’ve been looking for.”

At all events she entered the doorway at that number. On the ground
floor is Henry Gruner’s barber shop. Henry was shaving a customer
when Nellie passed his window and turned into the hall next door. The
customer left the chair so promptly that he nearly got his throat cut
and disappeared down the street with the towel still about his neck,
in the direction of the East River. Nellie walked right through the
narrow hall, taking with her a segment of the balustrade. The door
that leads into the back yard was not built to accommodate elephants,
as Mr. Diehl explained some time later, but Nellie managed to wiggle
through it, though she knocked down about half the coping in the
process.

High board fences separate 336 from 338, and 338 from 340. That is
to say, they did. They don’t now, because Nellie walked through them
as if they had been paper. But before this she took a look in at
the kitchen window on the ground floor of 336, where Mrs. Gruner,
the barber’s wife, and their children, Tessie, Henry and Louisa,
were eating breakfast. The happy family looked up from their oatmeal
and beheld an uncommon face at the window, the face of an elephant
seeking companionship.

Mrs. Gruner and all the little Gruners experienced spots before the
eyes and a sudden loss of appetite. In fact, they beat it for the
street. It was then that Nellie, again abandoned, moved into 338.
There was nobody there either, except up above on the fire escape. So
she moved through the fence into 340. Every one had gone away from
there too. It was then that the elephant broke down and wept. At
least, she lifted up her trunk and trumpeted to the high heavens.

Meantime Prof. Rossi and his staff of assistants had been trailing
the wandering Nellie. She was never out of their sight, but they
never could quite catch up with her because there were so many
people in the streets who had important engagements and were trying
their best to fill them. But by the time Nellie had moved into 340
Rossi and his force had arrived. There were also the police reserves
from three stations, several fire companies with hooks and ladders,
a squad of mounted cops, the entire force from the Grand Central
Station, and enough mere spectators to do credit to a Chicago-New
York baseball game at the Polo Grounds.

Vainly did Prof. Rossi endeavor to coax Nellie out by the way in
which she had made entrance. Nothing would budge her, and if, as
might well have been the case, the courtyard had been entirely
surrounded by houses, it might have been necessary to pull one of
them down to get her out. Fortunately, however, there’s a vacant lot
behind 340, but it was needful to break down two high board fences
from the Thirty-third street side in order to get at her.

In the meantime Rossi’s assistants had thoughtfully led the other
three elephants, Petie, Rosa and Pierrette, down from the Hippodrome
and lined them up in Thirty-third street, and when Nellie looked
through the broken fences and saw her merry companions, she let out
trumpet peals of delight and all but fell on their necks. So they
marched her out into Thirty-third street and back to the Hippodrome
without further incident of note. And considering the pains she
took to get into her Thirty-fourth street tenement she left it with
extraordinarily little apparent regret.

When Prof. Rossi was asked last evening how he accounted for Nellie’s
performance, he replied in part:

“Name of a name! Name of a dog! Name of a pig! Sacred thousand
thunders! Holy blue!”

In the separation of an old colored couple a reporter might see little
to record in a news story, but, with an appreciation of the human
interest in the event or with insight into the lives and feelings
of the persons concerned, he might write a pathetic story like the
following one adapted from the Pittsburgh _Gazette Times_:

They had climbed the hill together; well on the tottering way down
they decided that they must travel the rest apart. Sylvester and Eva
Hawkins signed papers to that effect yesterday. They are black folk,
these two, old and black, but they have in their natures a meed of
proper sentiment. When the parting came they both wept and the tears
were not maudlin.

They have lived for the most part as good citizens should; they
reared a family that numbers even more than the Rooseveltian figure;
they saved their little earnings until they had their modest home
in addition to having given their children better than they had
themselves.

But the husband and father, it was alleged, was cruel. It is not
denied even by himself that Sylvester was wont to give way to
outbreaks of temper. He always was sorry afterward, but sometimes
regret did not make up for the harm done. It is charged that once
he almost killed his son and only last Saturday choked his daughter
nearly to insensibility. This last act was the cause of the son’s
making the information against the old man. A preliminary hearing
was held last Tuesday and the old man was committed to jail until
yesterday.

The son, Sylvanus, wanted his father committed to jail for a term,
but the mother would not agree to this. She admitted that she feared
her husband when he became violent and that his abuse of her and her
children had become unbearable. But she said she still loved him and
she did not want him behind the bars. When a bill of separation was
suggested she agreed.

Hawkins wept then, as did his wife. He begged to be given another
chance, but between her sobs the woman said he had promised to reform
so often, all to no effect, that she could trust him no longer. She
thought it best for all that they should part.

“I love you still, honey,” the old man murmured, and to show his
statement true, he bravely agreed to sign over their little property
to her. She bade him a tender good-bye.

The old man walked out alone, over the steps of the municipal
building, where he sat down. He saw the family that had renounced him
come up, watched them as they took a car, and looked longingly as it
rolled away. Then he wiped his eyes again, put his head between his
hands and stared vacantly at the ground.

=Special Articles.= The second type of feature story, that prepared
for the magazine sections of Saturday and Sunday editions or for the
editorial pages of any issue, usually consists either of a detailed
narrative or of an exposition of some interesting and timely subject.
In the news columns there is room for only concise announcements of
such events as a scientific discovery, an important invention, the
destruction of a landmark, the death of an old actor, a new design
for coins or postage stamps, an auction of rare books or paintings, a
new theory of the origin of life, the results of an investigation of
child labor conditions, a report on decreasing soil fertility, or the
adoption by a state of a plan for government life insurance. Any one of
these and thousands of other news stories whets the reader’s curiosity
for more details. It remains for the editors of magazine sections to
try to satisfy their readers’ curiosity and to supply interesting
reading matter, by publishing feature articles that are based on these
news stories or are suggested by them. Feature stories may also be
given timeliness, not by particular pieces of news, but by such events
as Christmas, college commencements, the exodus to summer resorts, the
opening of the hunting or fishing season, the beginning of a session
of Congress. Timeliness, although not absolutely essential if the
subject or the treatment has sufficient interest to attract readers, is
regarded by editors as an important asset.

These special articles for newspapers are written by regular reporters,
by “free lance” writers not connected with any publication, or by
men and women in other professions whose special knowledge and whose
ability to write make them particularly well equipped to prepare
articles on subjects in their own fields. Former newspaper writers, as
well as reporters and correspondents in active service, are qualified
to do good work of this type because their training has developed
a keen appreciation of what is interesting, important, and timely
in current events. Reporters and correspondents also have ample
opportunity in the course of their daily round of news gathering to get
valuable material which may be worked up into special articles. Editors
of magazine sections often suggest or assign subjects to reporters,
correspondents, or “free lance” writers, but they are glad to have
suggestions from members of the staff or to get well-written articles
suitable for their purpose.

=Subjects for Feature Articles.= Material for special articles is
obtained in a variety of ways. Interviews with persons who can furnish
the desired information are an effective means of getting facts and
impressions, and they have the advantage of giving the reporter
material for the “human interest” element which not infrequently
adds to the readableness of the article. From books of reference can
be gleaned historical and biographical data. Reports and official
documents, such as government publications, can frequently be used
to secure detailed information. In fact, printed reports of such
government work as that of agricultural experiment stations, divisions
of the department of agriculture, various testing laboratories,
the geological survey, the departments of commerce and labor, or
the interstate commerce commission, and reports of corresponding
work carried on by various cities and states, furnish quantities of
valuable data that need only to be presented in popular form to be of
general interest. Some of these reports are summarized briefly in news
stories; others receive no mention at all. Although they are called
public documents, the general public does not know of their existence.
Personal observation also furnishes material for feature stories. An
assignment that takes the reporter to the state penitentiary may at
the same time give him the opportunity to get facts and impressions
for a special article on some phase of prison life. Statistics, if not
too numerous and if skillfully handled, add to the effectiveness of
the presentation. Photographs and other forms of illustration make an
article attractive. In short, every available source of information can
at different times be used to advantage, and often a single article
requires interviews, books of reference, personal observation, and
printed documents to make it complete and accurate.

Some examples of different kinds of feature articles and their sources
will suggest how to find subjects and what to do with them. A reporter
whose regular work takes him daily to the mayor’s office may get from
the mayor’s secretary some of the hundreds of letters containing
complaints and requests for assistance that are sent to the mayor
constantly, and may make them the basis of a good feature story. Or, if
the mayor writes characteristic replies to these letters, he may secure
these answers and make an article out of them, as did a magazine writer
recently out of those of Mayor Gaynor of New York. From the reports
that he hears from day to day of the devious devices used by burglars
and sneak thieves to gain entrance to homes, a police reporter may
write an interesting article on how to protect homes against robbery.
A sign, “Canaries and Parrots Boarded Here,” may give a reporter a
suggestion that he can follow up by visiting the birds’ boarding-house
and getting material for an article on those who leave their pets at
this house during their absence from the city. From the real estate
column a news story to the effect that an old building is to be torn
down may suggest a feature story on this landmark and its history,
the material being obtained partly from local histories and partly
from interviews with “old inhabitants.” A brief announcement of the
death of an old-time circus clown might lead the reporter to write an
entertaining “human interest” story of his career from facts secured
from the clown’s friends. By spending a few hours watching the building
of a big tunnel under a river, and by talking to the superintendent and
the workmen, a reporter could work up a good story on the undertaking.

The popularizing of scientific and technical material affords excellent
opportunity to a writer whose college training or practical experience
has familiarized him with special fields. A new theory in regard to
the construction of airships presented before a learned society in a
paper on “Some Principles of Aerodynamics,” might make an excellent
popular article if the reporter were able to present the new idea in a
simple, concrete, and interesting manner. The effect of using up the
phosphorus in soil under cultivation, as discussed in an agricultural
experiment station report, may seem to be a subject of little interest
to the average reader, but an explanation by specific examples of the
results of this exhaustion of phosphorus upon the cost of living and
upon the welfare of the race, may be made a readable story. To explain
clearly how the transmission of the germ of infantile paralysis by
means of the ordinary house fly is being determined by laboratory
experiments, requires knowledge of bacteriology. For a writer familiar
with electricity and its application in the telephone, the problem of
explaining in an interesting manner a new device for wireless telephony
is less difficult than for one who knows little about the subject.
Many writers specialize in the particular field in which they are most
interested, and present in popular form all the available new material
in this field.

To those interested in social, political, and economic problems there
is an abundance of good material for feature articles. A report of
the interstate commerce commission on railroad accidents or on safety
devices can be worked up into a good article at the time that the
report is issued or after a disastrous wreck, when such information has
peculiar timeliness. Proposed legislation for state life insurance,
mothers’ pensions, workingmen’s compensation for accidents and
illness, or old age pensions, gives opportunity for timely articles
with concrete examples of the workings of these measures elsewhere and
discussion of their probable effects under local conditions. A story of
child labor in certain industries as reported by a social worker at a
legislative investigation, may be followed up by a feature story with a
strong “human interest” element developed from further material secured
from the investigator. The printed report of a committee of a state
teachers’ association on rural schools and the remedies proposed for
their defects, has possibilities for an article on these problems.

=The Personality Sketch.= The personality sketch, or article that
undertakes to present a vivid impression of the character and
individuality of some person who plays a part in the news of the day,
is another type of feature story that is popular. The interest of most
readers in the human, personal side of famous or infamous characters
in current events is so great that they eagerly read articles of this
kind. Dates and facts of biography have little attraction for them;
they want the man to be portrayed so vividly that they can see and know
him. Not infrequently it is an unusual, quaint, picturesque character
who has not appeared in the current news at all that lends himself to
such a sketch. Every city furnishes plenty of examples of persons
who make good subjects for feature stories. Incidents, anecdotes, and
characteristic utterances, if well chosen and effectively presented,
make the best reading and give the most definite impression of
personality.

=The Style of Special Articles.= The style and manner of treatment
of the feature story deserve careful consideration. Simple, concrete
expression, free from technical or learned terms except when they
are fully explained, is always desirable. Specific examples serve
most effectively to bring home to the reader a general principle
and its application. To lead from these concrete illustrations to
generalizations is to follow the natural order of inductive reasoning.
Furthermore, the story-like character given to an article by an
incident or anecdote at the beginning catches the reader’s attention
and interests him at once. Striking statistics in the opening sentence
may have a similar effect, although, of course, they lack the “human
interest” of the story form. A vivid bit of description is sometimes
used to advantage at the beginning. Exposition by narrative methods
throughout the article is popular because of the story form thus
given to the subject. If, instead of merely describing and explaining
a mechanical process, the writer portrays men actually performing
the work involved in the process, he adds greatly to the interest of
the article. The effectiveness of an explanation of a new surgical
operation can be increased to a marked degree by picturing a surgeon
as he performs the operation upon a patient at a clinic. The method
of procedure and the benefits under a workingmen’s compensation act
are best made clear by telling the experiences of several typical
workingmen and their families who have come under the operation of the
law. Every legitimate literary device for catching and holding the
reader’s attention may be employed to advantage.

How a current event, in this instance the opening of a trial, gives
opportunity for an interesting feature article explaining the
situation, picturing vividly the persons involved, and developing
the “human interest” element in the case, is well illustrated in the
following story written by a correspondent of the New York _Tribune_:

Union City, Tenn., Dec. 13.—Clad in rough homespun, with ragged
trousers tucked deep into cowskin boots innocent of polish, with
straggling beards and huge slouch hats, but always with the
inevitable long barrelled rifle or big pistol in plain view, the
denizens of the Reelfoot Lake region are assembling in this quaint
little town to-night for the opening scene to-morrow of the Night
Rider trials.

They are friends and relatives of the men who are held under military
guard at the barracks. They ignore the townspeople, or look at them
with scowls. When they meet one another a silent nod or a whispered
word is all that passes. Silently and singly they wander through the
streets, or stand for hours outside the barracks, gazing curiously
up at the windows of the room in which their friends are held
incommunicado. Sometimes they approach the trim young sentries on
guard, taking careful inventory of the glistening bayonets and rifles.

They feel keenly this trouble, these rough but simple men of the
Tennessee backwoods. They believe that they are persecuted and that
the entire world is against them. “Old Tom” Johnson, who, the state
says, was the first leader of the band, but was deposed because his
immense stature and huge hand easily identified him, expresses the
belief of most of them when he says:

“It’s like this heah, stranger. God, He put them red hills up theah.
An’ He put some of us pooh folks, that he didn’t have no room foh
nowheah else, up theah, too. An’ then He saw that we couldn’t make a
livin’ farmin’, so He ordered an earthquake, an’ the earthquake left
a big hole. Next He filled the hole with watah an’ put fish in it.
Then He knew we could make a livin’ between farmin’ and fishin’. But
along comes these rich men who don’t have to make no livin’, an’ they
tell us all that we must not fish in the lake any mo’, ’cause they
owns the lake an’ the fish God put theah foh us. It jus’ nachally
ain’t right, stranger; it ain’t no justice.”

This is the Night Riders’ original view, but the primary object of
the band was forgotten by many, officers say, and the organization
began to use its persuasion to vent the personal spites of members
and to regulate private affairs of many persons for miles around.

For instance, merchants whose total sales did not exceed $2 a
day were ordered to sell goods at cost, plus 10 per cent profit;
tenants of farms were ordered to pay no cash rent, but to insist
on working the ground on shares; growers of grain or tobacco were
ordered to plant only so many acres of soil; landlords were bidden
by advertisement not to lease their property for cash rents. A woman
who had left her drunken husband was ordered to return to him, and
when she refused she was taken to the woods, stripped, tied to a
tree and lashed with a cat-o’-ninetails until her back and shoulders
were one big wound. Other women, fond of pretty clothing, were told
to cease wearing it. And every case of refusal to comply instantly
was followed by a visit of the black-masked crew, a swift, violent
seizure of the recalcitrant, a rapid ride to the depths of the forest
and an awful whipping.

For nearly two years these terrors of the wilderness rode nightly.
For two years no man not a member ever retired to rest without
breathing a silent prayer that he and his family be spared the
terrors of a midnight visitation.

Then the riders extended their operations. They began to visit the
larger towns, such as Troy, Dyersburg, Union City. This extension was
followed by the murder of Captain Quentin Rankin. Finally the people
became enraged, the Governor interfered, and in frenzy many persons
said:

“We will stamp out this organization, legally or by mobs, or we will
be stamped out by it.”

And so came a special grand jury, instructed by Judge Jones and
advised by Attorney General Caldwell. Quickly, too, came the defiance
of the Night Riders:

“Dismiss the grand jury, stop the investigation or we will send jury,
judge and prosecutor to join Captain Rankin.”

The answer was the numerous arrests of alleged Night Riders by the
militia and 125 indictments for capital offences. For the trials on
these indictments, which will open to-morrow, the issue is clearly
drawn. It is a struggle between organized lawlessness and the forces
of order.

The proposed destruction of an historic landmark recorded in a news
story and subsequently made prominent by protests against the action,
furnished a reporter on the New York _Evening Post_ with an occasion
for the following article, in which he blends suggestive description,
emotional coloring, and historical background into an harmonious whole:

Mellow notes from an old organ filled the nave of St. John’s Chapel,
on Varick Street, to-day. It was Stainer’s “Nunc Dimittis in A” that
the organist was playing. Somehow it seemed peculiarly appropriate,
for, as every one knows, they are going to discontinue the work of
this chapel, which has stood for more than a hundred years. This
means that, unless present plans are abandoned, the stately church
will be sold within a very short time, and then razed to make place
for factory or office building.

There is little doubt that this will occur, although Trinity
Corporation has received numerous protests from those to whom the
place of worship has meant much, who still regard it as one of the
few links connecting them with things that are gone. The corporation
cannot see its way clear to provide for a chapel officially regarded
as unnecessary. And yet old St. John’s, with its towering brown
spire, its richly colored stones, its heavy columns, and chipped,
time-stained façade—a replica of old St. Martin’s in the Fields, of
London—stands benignly, bearing its past with a genuine dignity.

The peal of the organ ebbed and flowed over the pews with their faded
crimson cushions. In one of them sat the priest in charge, listening,
very young; until he talked of the church he loved, he seemed
strangely apart from the all-pervading atmosphere of things that were
old.

Near by was an earnest woman in the garb of the Episcopal sisterhood,
and the under-sexton had paused in his work about the pews. When
St. John’s organist is at the keys, the roar of the street is
repulsed. The rumble of freight cars, the shouts of the handlers
of merchandise, the beat of horses’ hoofs enter but gently, mere
suggestions of outer confusion.

Inside, to-day, all was harmony and peace. Sunshine flowing through
plain glass windows lay athwart the floor of choir and chancel; when
the music ceased there came a twittering of birds on the window
ledges. Yes, agreed the priest, it was a beautiful old organ. In a
few years, he said, it would be a hundred years old. Then he told a
story concerning it. He could not vouch for it himself, although he
had heard it vouched for by reliable persons.

At the time of the war of 1812, when the church was comparatively
new, it had sufficient money in hand for a pipe organ, which was
ordered of a company in Philadelphia, and when completed was shipped
to New York by water. On the way the vessel which bore it was
captured by a British frigate, and the organ was taken to London.
Here it remained two years, and was then yielded up after the payment
of two thousand dollars. Time has imparted to it a rare tonal
richness. It is just the organ for this edifice, so suggestive of
things that once were.

Men who know say that you will find such chapel interiors only in
the old Sir Christopher Wren churches in London. The cruciform
architecture of more modern houses of worship is not here in St.
John’s. Lines are sweeping, stately. Heavy fluted columns support the
gallery. The windows are of the older sort, unstained, and the walls
and ceilings are an even gray, undecorated.

Notes of color are confined to organ pipes and choir stalls, which
are red and blue and white, with gilding. But these are not as bright
as they once were; neither are the blue-starred arches above chancel
and choir.

Years ago, when St. John’s Park was not covered by a freight
station, and when many of the “first families” lived hereabouts, the
congregations bore comparison with those of any church in the city.
But tide of travel made uptown before encroaching commerce, which
eventually flowed over the district, converting it utterly.

Congregations which gather here each Sunday are not so fashionable
as in years gone. But they are none the less faithful and earnest
and devout. You will find ’longshoremen and their families here
now—dwellers of the Laight and Vestry and Hudson Street tenements;
you will find their children in the Sunday-school. To-day there are
nearly, if not quite, 500 communicants in this parish—no indication,
it might be thought, that the church has outlived its usefulness.

This year, according to a parishioner who should know, this
congregation of the lowly contributed $300 to the diocesan mission
fund, and that, he asserted, was a better showing comparatively
than St. Thomas’s twelve or fifteen thousand dollar contribution.
Certainly, as he said, the St. John’s parishioners gave all they
could afford, probably more; and since the teachings of the church
hold that it is the spirit in giving rather than what is given that
counts, St. John’s has no need to be ashamed.

It has been suggested by the Rev. Dr. Manning, rector of Trinity,
that St. Luke’s Chapel can adequately attend to the needs of the
parishioners of the older chapel. But, as a matter of fact, St.
Luke’s is a mile above, and is more a Sunday-school room than a
church edifice at best. Those who attend service on Varick Street
say that congregations average from two hundred and fifty to three
hundred each Sunday morning. The breaking up of a company of
worshippers of this size presents a problem in parish economics and
ethics that the Trinity Corporation has probably seriously considered
in contemplating abandonment of the chapel.

Many houses in the vicinity of the chapel, formerly the abodes of
wealthy parishioners, now shelter four and five families. Huge
warehouses adjoin each side of the parish property, but there is no
impression of crowding. The churchyard is wide. On one side is a
playground for children. There are many shade trees here, and bushes
which in summer bear flowers, making of the place a beauty spot
amid a grimy environment. Directly across the street is the great
New York Central freight station, where dummy trains receive and
deposit freight. The station site was formerly a private playground,
as Gramercy Park is to-day, but those who lived in the houses which
surrounded it had begun to move away before the depot was erected in
1868.

St. John’s Park was laid out in order to attract persons to the
chapel, which, when built, in 1807, had been spoken of as “too far
uptown,” small congregations for the first year or so justifying
this contention. As a means of attracting dwellers to the vicinity,
the park was planned, and took the name of the chapel. This design
succeeded beyond all expectations. Alexander Hamilton and Gen.
Schuyler were among the early migrants north of Great Jones Street,
and the section soon received the stamp of fashionable approval.

Many of these old dwellings still stand. You may see them on Hudson
Street, on Laight Street, on Vestry Street, with their dormer
windows, their fanlight doorways, and high porches, flanked by tall
iron posts. In those days, St. John’s vied with Trinity itself, and
with St. Paul’s.

In 1839, when Trinity Church, deemed unsafe, was pulled down and work
on the present structure was begun, many communicants of that church
came to St. John’s, following their great organist, Dr. Hodges, who
played here during the seven years occupied in the building of the
new Trinity. Organists who followed were devoted to the task of
maintaining St. John’s excellent repute in music.

In 1876, long after the environment of this chapel had been given
over to commercialism, George F. Le Jeune came to the chapel as
organist, and under his ministrations the chapel was famous as a
place where the most excellent sacred music in the city was to
be heard. Le Jeune it was who introduced the cathedral form of
service in this city. In 1877 he instituted a series of musical
services which continued at St. John’s for ten years, and served to
familiarize the public with a large number of cantatas and oratorios
not generally known. Old residents often speak of the music they
used to hear at St. John’s, and there is not a Sunday morning that
does not find some one of them here, reviving old memories. This is
not difficult, because the music at St. John’s is still altogether
excellent.

South of the church stands the vine-clad parish house. Here, each
Saturday morning, year in and year out, rain or shine, sixty-seven
loaves of bread are distributed to the poor women and children of the
district, in accordance with provisions of the will of Gen. Leake, a
wealthy communicant of the parish, who died in 1792, leaving $5,000
to be put out at interest, the income to be laid out in sixpenny
wheaten loaves, to be distributed among the poor. This charity, known
as the “Leake Dole of Bread,” has been faithfully observed for more
than a century.

Back of the chapel there was a little street called St. John’s Lane,
a beautiful tree-shaded bypath in the old days. In the course of
years the city advanced, blotting it out of usefulness. Few know it
still exists. It is a quiet, deserted, odd little nook of a place, a
harbor where shelter may be found from the roar of the city.

By noticing the various odd ways in which some men make a living in
New York, a reporter on the _Sun_ secured interesting material for
an article which the editor entitled, “Little Wants of a Big City.” A
selection from the article follows:

Anybody can be a clerk or a clergyman or a bank president or a
teamster. It takes more individuality to strike out in a career like
that of the man who works but one week in the year. This man is Santa
Claus. His head is covered with a mass of snow-white hair. It falls
down over his venerable shoulders and mingles with his equally white
beard. The latter falls far down his chest and the old gentleman
looks for all the world like the pictures of Santa Claus. Every
holiday season he can be found working in some store, posing as the
holiday saint, rattling shiny toys before the fascinated gaze of New
York’s million children.

Fifty-one weeks in the year he works not at all, and how he subsists
and has enough money to buy his little red drinks no man can tell.

The line-up man is a product of New York and of nowhere else. He
belongs to a clan of agile, sinewy legged brethren who infest back
yards, and his business is to shin up the poles from which are
suspended innumerable clotheslines, to fix up frayed out lines, tie
on new ropes and get the courtyard rigging into shipshape condition
against the Monday wash. He will climb the highest pole in Harlem
without the aid of a net and fix your ropes for 25 cents.

“Lady, it is decidedly unsafe to trundle your baby about in that
rickety carriage,” is the greeting of the vender of rubber tires for
perambulators.

After convincing a startled mother that she has been carelessly
subjecting her child to terrible danger from capsizing, the crafty
salesman swoops down upon the carriage, tacks on a set of new tires,
tinkers up a rickety spoke, slaps a cracked hub together and goes on
his way with a merry quarter in his jeans. It’s another odd job.

Take the industrious sellers of keys. They come up to your tenement
home, knock at the door and ask whether you need a new key to the
chateau. If you have just lost your last key the keyhole genius
stoops down, twiddles around with a blank key and some beeswax, files
a couple of notches in the blank, and presto—you have a shining new
key all for ten cents. A locksmith would take two days and charge you
a quarter.

Precisely speaking, the man with the camera cannot be included in
this list of people who make a living out of curious jobs. Most folks
have seen him anchored on a bright corner of a Sunday afternoon
taking the pictures of one and all for the small sum of 10 cents.

When you have on your best bib and tucker you strike a dignified
pose, with your smaller sister leaning against you, and in two jerks
of a lamb’s tail your likeness is slipped upon the post card, which
is kept forever after in the family album, where in years to come you
gaze upon it and wonder how two such spindly legs supported such a
large child.

The man with the telescope doesn’t make a handsome income, and he
usually looks unhappy and ill at ease, but for a nickel he will show
you the ridges in the moon and the canals on Mars, and if the bulbous
top piece of the Metropolitan tower gets in the way it’s your own
fault and your nickel is lost.

Next comes what is in reality a woman’s calling, but strangely enough
it is followed by a large man with an extremely red face and a stubby
mustache. Children must like him because his business is checking
them while bargain seeking mammas thread their ways through the
aisles of stores.

He stands at the head of a line of baby carriages, soothing his round
faced charges and waving a tinkling strapful of ragged edged checks.
Upon delivery to him of the check which he gave you when you entered
the store you may receive again your baby. No check, no baby, just as
in the Chink’s place.

You mightn’t think that a man could eke out an existence selling
catnip. One does, though. He stands at an uptown corner with a
basketful of cat’s delight, selling it for two cents a bunch, and the
old maids in the vicinity make daily trips to his corner. When you’re
inclined to growl about your present salary, think of the man selling
catnip for two cents a bunch.

Here’s another funny occupation. A man goes around through the
sweatshop district mending shoes. If you are a sweatshop employee you
generally have one pair of shoes, and of necessity they are on your
feet. You can’t leave them with the cobbler when the roof springs a
leak or the uppers secede from the lowers. You haven’t time to sit
around his shop in your stockings.

So this itinerant cobbler hunts you up at your shop, takes off your
shoes while you sew and caulks up the seams, tacks on soles and
heels, and you pay him with a cheerful smile and some small change.

People who go downtown at night rarely miss seeing the man who
advertises various things through an electric sign on his chest. He
presses a button at intervals and a light flashes urging you to buy
a cigar or a stick of gum or something else. The right thing to say,
because everyone says it upon passing this individual, is, “That’s a
fine thing for a grown man to be doing.”

Down the bay there is another industry most people never hear of.
Enterprising venders owning their own boats meet incoming tramp
freighters and sell the crews everything from a pair of mittens to
a cough cure. They load their craft with most things you find in a
department store and they drive fine bargains with the sailors.

Among the newly arrived immigrants a number of men manage to scrape
a living by selling first lessons in English to the strangers
struggling with the tongue. These lessons are in the form of simple
English sentences followed by the translation in the tongue of the
foreigner. Five cents will buy enough assorted conversation to last a
new immigrant several weeks.

When in the course of his regular work the reporter comes upon a
picturesque bit of local color, as did a writer on the New York
_Evening Post_ in going through the Italian quarter of that city, he
may use it to as good advantage as the _Post_ reporter did in the
following feature story:

Under the tinsel, gilt, and colored paper shrine erected before a
café in Mulberry Street, just north of the Bend, there is a picture
of St. Mary of the Virgin Mount, and the devout who pass by drop
their mites into the plates. The clinking of pennies, nickels, and
quarters rings fair and true through the medley of sounds which rise
from the crowds about the push-carts, and it is music to the ear of
Michel Siniscalchi, giver of this year’s festa in honor of the saint.

A year ago they gave a festa in honor of Maria SS. di Monte Vergine,
as the placards and lithographs displayed in the shop windows style
her, and it proved a financial failure. It costs money to give a
festa—that is to say, a festa of the style and extent which are
necessary in doing adequate honor to this saint. In Italy, in the
villages from which the people who live about the Bend come, it is
customary to have a festa in honor of the saint every year. And it
seemed hard when the people who got up last year’s festa decided that
they did not again wish to have to shoulder the burden of the festa’s
bad debts.

At this time, when everybody else had backed down, Michel
Siniscalchi, who deals in colored glass bulbs and similar
decorations, stepped to the fore. He said it seemed a shame that they
could not honor the saint. Indeed he was so pained by the thought
that he would be willing to bear the expenses of the festa himself.
He would, of course, furnish all the decorations himself, and his
name would appear as president of the comitato on the banners and
placards.

This offer was accepted with glee by the men and more especially by
the women, who would have taken to heart the loss of a chance to
honor their saint. And Michel Siniscalchi set to work to organize his
festa. It was, by the way, part of the agreement, that the offerings
placed in the saint’s shrine should go to help Siniscalchi.

Colored lights were strung in arches over the narrow street at
frequent intervals, banners and yards of bunting draped the house
windows, the confetti men and peddlers of fruit and sweetmeats came
from blocks around, and on Saturday night the festa opened with much
braying of music and no little religious devotion.

The most important decoration was the shrine of the saint’s picture.
In a niche of the shrine the picture was placed, and rows of candles
were set before it and the tasseled cloth of gold on which it rests.
Then there were the plates and certain lithographic reproductions of
the picture.

Since Saturday night the festa has held full sway. There is a
preliminary celebration in the morning, and then everybody stops
until two o’clock in the afternoon. For a brief spell around dinner
time, every one but the band rests, and after dinner the people turn
out to listen to the music and to gossip. It is a great occasion for
gossip, the festa.

At present everybody is talking about the amount of money Michel
Siniscalchi may lose by his speculations. The old men sit before
the banca across the street from the shrine and chuckle over his
discomfiture, for, while yesterday and Saturday night the coins
clinked in the dishes with merry rapidity, now they barely dribble,
and, when a clink is heard, by its very novelty it strikes through
all other noises.

“Caught,” they chuckle. “Yes, our Michel is caught this time. A
cute one, he is. Yes, a cute one, Signor. No, not a politician. But
cute, so cute. Ay, and this time he has been caught. Has the signor
heard? The signor has but to cross the street and examine the blessed
saint’s shrine. ’Tis bare, Signor. Nought but pennies.”

But there are others who are not so sure that Michel Siniscalchi is
going to lose by his speculation. Among the younger generation of
Italians his scheme is treated with considerable respect, and his
Bowery friends wink when Michel’s intelligence is aspersed.

“Lose?” queried Jack Gallagher, sitting with a group of friends in
the café behind the shrine. “Lose, did you say? Aw, g’wan. Say,
Michel wasn’t born yesterday. He’s got his brains in his head. He’s
too rapid for dese wops. Michel’s got a business eye, he has. He’s
thinking of advertisin’. See that sign up there? See Michel’s name on
it, good and big? See them lights? All from Michel’s store. Aw, he’s
a wise guy. He knows his game.”

While Gallagher talked, the infrequent pennies, with an occasional
nickel, dropped into the plates, and presently the figure was carried
toward Spring Street, with at least 150 women and children and a band
in the procession.

Simplicity and naturalness may be given to an explanatory article by
putting it in the form of an interview with the person from whom the
information is obtained; this was done in the following story from the
New York _Sun_:

“For the last three years I have devoted my summer to making balanced
aquariums to order,” said a woman who is now in middle life. “I earn
enough by this work to keep me comfortably during the winter, so I
call myself a successful woman wage earner.

“I make my aquariums as nearly a perfect reproduction of natural
conditions as possible. It is only since the discovery of balanced
aquariums that the full decorative effect of displays of aquatic
life has begun to be realized. Now many architects and interior
decorators include them in their plans. This is true not only of
country places but of many of the newest city homes. Certainly there
is no easier and cheaper way to keep some living thing about the
house. The care of the balanced aquarium amounts to so little that it
may be practically disregarded.

“The cost of the vessel depends entirely upon the wishes of the
person who is filling it. It may be an ordinary fruit jar with a wide
mouth or a glass tank costing $20 or more. The simplest tanks cost
about $1 and are of something more than one gallon capacity. They may
be had either rectangular in shape or globular. For an eight gallon
tank of domestic glass I have paid as little as $2.50. The main
essential is to have a tank perfectly tight and clean, with no paint
or other injurious material to contaminate the water.

“To begin with, the water should be as pure as the water we drink.
The bottom should be covered with pebbles and sand to the depth of
two inches with the plants rooted in it. There is a great variety of
aquatic plants that may be had at a cost of from 10 cents to half a
dollar a bunch. Of them all fanwort is the most valuable. Hornwort,
water starwort, tape grass, water poppy, willow moss, milfoil and
a number of floating plants such as lemma, duckweed, salvinia,
hydrocharis and hyacinth are among the most important varieties. If
one has lived long enough on any water course in the country to know
these plants, taking them from their native soil and transplanting
them to the sand of the aquarium is a simple matter.

“The most important occupants of the aquarium are the fish, and great
care should be taken not to put in too many for the size of the tank.
The basis of the balanced aquarium is one fish, say three inches in
length, to each gallon of water. If your tank holds five gallons of
water you could not make a well balanced aquarium by putting ten fish
three inches long in it. If the fish are smaller the number to the
gallon can be very greatly increased.

“Gold fish or golden carp are the most popular stock for an aquarium,
and the common varieties can be had for ten cents each. This price
means the best fish of these varieties. If there is more money to
be spent I would advise purchasing some of the really marvellously
colored Japanese varieties.

“These fish have wonderful flowing tails with colors that change
as though by magic from week to week. In the case of the variety
known as the telescope fish the color to begin with is velvety black
and gradually becomes silvery, then white, and after three years a
wonderful orange red. Nearly all varieties of goldfish are constantly
changing their colors, which range from black to silver and many
shades of amber and golden red.

“There is an almost endless variety of these beautiful Japanese
fish to choose from, the more common of which include the fantails,
fringetails and comets. Good specimens of these varieties may be
bought at from 25 cents to $5 each. The bulgy eyed telescope fish,
the aristocrats of the aquarium world, will cost from $5 apiece up,
according to size, color, shape and eyes.

“In addition to the Japanese fish there are many other rare varieties
suited to balanced aquariums. Among the most popular are the banded
tench, the banded sunfish, the paradise fish, the bitterling and the
golden tench. Besides these I have orders for many varieties of our
own native waters.

“Such orders usually come to me singly, and the one giving the order
is quite willing to pay the cost of having his taste suited. These
people, usually men, want an aquarium with the fish of their boyhood
days. They candidly admit that they wish them as reminders of the
happy days long past.

“Where native fish are wanted I usually use sunfish, dace, catfish,
minnows, sticklebacks, chub, mirror carp, rockfish, small eels,
alligators, newts, frogs and turtles of all sizes and shapes and
colors. I always when possible have a snail, tadpole or a few newts
in my aquariums, as they are scavengers and will consume much of the
decaying matter thrown off by the plants, besides preventing the
green scum that will form in still bodies of water.

“Beginners must be particular not to mix their fish indiscriminately.
They must always remember that goldfish cannot live in peace with
catfish, sunfish, eels, turtles, crawfish, rockfish or sticklebacks.
If this rule is not observed, the goldfish will eventually lose the
battle for life and be killed.

“Goldfish if properly cared for live to a great age. There is an
aquarium in Washington where the goldfish are known to be more than
fifty years old.

“Balanced salt water aquariums are as easily made and kept as those
of fresh water. Of course they must be filled with sea water fresh
from the sea and all the inhabitants must be the young of various sea
creatures, such as crabs, starfish, shrimps, and anemones. The plant
life also must be the varieties that flourish in the sea, and where
possible I believe in taking the pebbles and sand from a sea washed
beach.

“Beginners must be careful about two points. First, in making
aquariums they must not overcrowd them by trying to have too many
fish for the volume of water. Second, they must not overfeed their
pets. Failure to observe these two rules causes more trouble than all
other points connected with the making and care of aquariums.

“In a balanced aquarium the daily care consists in feeding the fish
with prepared wafers, dried ants’ eggs, or fish food. Fish should
never be fed more than they will eat up clean at the time.

“Fortunately fish are subject to few diseases. The amateur has only
to remember that salt water is the cure-all for sick fish. If a fish
is out of health and the trouble is caused neither by overcrowding
nor by overfeeding, a five minutes bath in salt water every day for
a week will in nine cases out of ten restore it to its usual good
health and spirits.

“All that is necessary to catch the sick fish is a small net that can
be conveniently handled in the aquarium. Though I have been making
aquariums of different sorts ever since I was a small country girl, I
still use a net and avoid touching the inmates with my hands unless
it is positively necessary.

“When I catch my own fish from their native waters I use a small net,
very little larger than the one used in the aquariums, and a minnow
bucket. These are my only tools.

“I find a ready sale for all the aquariums I have time to make after
filling my special orders. Of course there are seasons when the
demand is more brisk than others. When those times come I always have
a dozen aquariums on hand which I have stocked either for my own
satisfaction or to try some new theory.”

The interview form may be combined with a character sketch and
biographical material in order to give the reader a glimpse of the
speaker’s personality as well as an account of his or her work. The
selection from the New York _Times_ given below is the first part
of a long article which is in the form of an interview after this
introduction:

Even when Mrs. Alice Stebbins Wells fishes about in her bag and
produces her policeman’s star for verification one can hardly
believe that she is the famous first “policewoman” of Los Angeles.
Scarcely five feet in height, slender, with a mild, almost timorous
voice and a pair of very round blue eyes, Mrs. Wells presents an
appearance about as formidable as that of a kitten. Yet she has been
permanently appointed as a regular member of the police force of a
city of 400,000, subject to the same regulations, vested with the
same authority, and under civil service, as any male member of Los
Angeles’ bluecoat squad. She makes arrests and prefers charges in the
same way and with as much success as any policeman, and is a very
substantial vindication of the power of personality in an institution
where brute force and a six-foot stature have formerly been thought
to be indispensable prerequisites. Here is what she says of a phase
of police work:

“And do I carry weapons? No, indeed. That is something which I do not
feel called upon to do. I am very firmly convinced that under the
right conditions a policeman would not have to carry a weapon at all.
But before the policeman can give up his gun and his stick, weapons
must not be sold indiscriminately to citizens. The only reason now
that a policeman requires a weapon is because the other fellow may
have one, and the law must enforce its demands against all objection.
It is a very sad commentary on our civilization that guns and brass
knuckles are displayed openly for sale, and that almost the only
restriction in our most careful communities is a provision for a
license, which is easily obtained.”

Mrs. Wells is the first woman to be appointed to a police force
in any city of the United States. The woman detective, the police
matron, the probation officer, the district nurse, are all places
which have been filled by women, and were of course the forerunners
of the policewoman. But while they were vested with partial
police authority their power was greatly restricted along certain
well-defined lines, and they did not work in recognized co-operation
with the police department.

Before entering her work on the Los Angeles police force Mrs.
Wells had been in active training as a social worker. The general
attitude which she takes toward that stratum of society with which
she comes most in contact is hinted at in her adaptation of the
philanthropist’s, the cheery social worker’s, vocabulary. Mrs. Wells
never resorts to the threadbare term of “uplift,” but puts in its
place that rather more welcome “upbuilding.”

Returning to California from social work in the East, Mrs. Wells
entered upon a scientific study of crime. She became impressed with
the importance of the police department in its capacity to prevent
crime as well as to punish it, and was convinced of the need of
women workers on the inside of the police department to strengthen
the emphasis on the side of prevention. She set to work to obtain
signatures to a petition for a woman police officer, which resulted
very promptly in her appointment to the police force of Los Angeles,
where she has been at work for the last three years.

In addition to her regular police duties, Mrs. Wells conducts a
bureau of information to which clubs and civic organizations which
are working to obtain women on the police force of their home cities
may apply. She is now on a six months’ leave of absence, not only to
investigate conditions throughout the country, but to carry on her
“campaign” for women police. She is speaking before city clubs and
organizations of every sort, and is visiting the mayor and chief of
police in every city.

“I have spoken all the way across the continent and I shall speak all
the way back. I realize that I am in a way doing propaganda work.
When I applied for my appointment in Los Angeles I thought chiefly of
the immediate work to be done right there by a woman. But when I was
appointed, then came this—this terrifying publicity—and I realized
what it meant.

“I realized that I should have to stand behind a sort of ‘movement’
for women in the police departments of other cities, just because I
was the first in the field.”

Effective presentation of the life and the character of a man who has
“done things” is illustrated by the following “personality sketch” by
Mr. Brand Whitlock, published in the _American Magazine_, but equally
well adapted for newspaper publication:

Those citizens of Ohio who a dozen years ago used to throng the
big circus-tent in which Tom L. Johnson was then making his first
campaigns in the country districts will recall the figure of the
slender youth with the Grecian profile and the fair hair who used
to stand there under the flaring light and speak of fundamental
democracy. They, or those of them who were accessible to such
impressions, caught something of the spirit of youthful idealism that
was in the young man; if they did not, his presence and personality
gave them reassurance, for attendance on one of Tom Johnson’s
meetings in those days was, in Ohio, an enterprise to impart the
thrill of a spicy and dangerous adventure. Time flies, and time has
flown fast in this last decade, and the political ideas that Herbert
S. Bigelow was helping Tom Johnson to disseminate, though they were
flouted and scorned then as heretical, insane, and wicked, have since
become, by the inevitable and monotonous operation of the universal
law of progress, conventional, respectable, orthodox, and popular.

Herbert Bigelow was then not many years out of Lane Theological
Seminary—strange spectacle in Ohio, that of a minister addressing
Democratic meetings!—and he was pastor of the Vine Street
Congregational Church, in Cincinnati. Vine Street Congregational
Church was in itself an instance of the operation of the old law.
Before the Civil War it was a hotbed of abolition when abolition was
unpopular and unorthodox even in Ohio, though everybody in Ohio is an
abolitionist to-day, and, if he is old enough, claims to have been so
then. But after the war the Vine Street Church became respectable,
with a cold and formal atmosphere of black walnut and musty cushions
of a magenta shade, and when Herbert Bigelow began to preach a
somewhat too literal application of the social ethics of Jesus, not
to Hankow or Kordofan, but to Cincinnati, there was a disconcerting
rustle in the pews, the tendency of that doctrine being to decrease
the revenues of the church in an inverse ratio to the increase in the
number of human beings in the congregation.

It is an interesting story, not to be told here in detail, of how
Herbert Bigelow struggled, of how they tried to get him out of his
pulpit, and of how he worked for a long time without salary, until
Daniel Kiefer devised means of financing the institution, so that it
lost its ecclesiastical atmosphere, became a People’s Church or forum
for free speech, and moved into a theater where radicals preach their
various and conflicting heresies on Sunday afternoons, after moving
pictures have illustrated the progress of the species.

Meanwhile Herbert Bigelow was increasingly prominent in political
reform movement; he lectured everywhere, wrote articles for radical
publications, organized the Ohio Direct Legislation League, and
poured all his energy into the propaganda of the initiative and
referendum. The privileged interests opposed him, of course, and
still oppose him. One way they did it was to call him Reverend;
whenever it was necessary to frighten “good” people, by holding
up his image, they printed the Reverend with the subtle and
sinister implication of quotation-marks; whenever it was necessary
to influence “bad” people, printing the Reverend without the
quotation-marks.

But Herbert Bigelow was an idealist growing day by day more
practical. He had had hard knocks in boyhood; he knew what it was
to be poor; he had a love of his fellow man; he was saddened and
appalled by the shadow of poverty everywhere, the shadow which so
many are too blind to see, or too selfish and cowardly to admit. But
this spirit of sympathy and of pity in him had been somehow ordered,
organized, and made coherent by the philosophy of Henry George, and
when that vision came to him, as does nearly every other who has a
vision, he went to work for social justice.

His great opportunity came when, last year, a convention was called
to draft a new constitution for Ohio, and he set out to impress the
people with the fact that it was their opportunity. He organized the
Ohio Progressive Constitution League, with subsidiary leagues in
every county; he worked all summer; and through that league, aided
and inspired by what the lecturers call the Spirit of the Times, a
majority of delegates elected to the convention were pledged to the
principles of direct legislation.

And for the first half of the year Mr. Bigelow was at Columbus,
presiding over the constitutional convention as its president. At
forty his figure is no longer slender; it has taken on the rotundity
of the middle years; but as he sat there in gray tweeds, with the
yellow hair hanging over his forehead, smiling, it must have been
gratifying to him now and then to reflect that his old heresies had
become so orthodox in his own time. The convention adopted articles
providing for home rule for cities, for a license system to control
the liquor traffic, for equal suffrage, for verdicts in civil cases
by a three-fourths vote of the jury, for the welfare of labor, and,
under Mr. Bigelow’s leadership, a clause adopting the initiative and
referendum in the State. When the vote was taken, and Herbert Bigelow
had the satisfaction of announcing the triumph of the principle he
had so long advocated, it was a moment that all his friends were glad
to have him experience. The irony in which the fates usually award
their laurels was not wanting in that instance, for in the clause
there is a proviso that the initiative and referendum shall not be
used by the people to adopt the single tax, supposed, in Ohio, to
be a method of despoiling farmers by taxing land according to its
superficial area. But Herbert Bigelow, whom fate taught long ago,
like Josh Whitcomb, to accommodate himself to circumstances and to
take what he can get, smiles and is happy; and his friends are happy
with him.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Find the “human interest” in current events.

2. Notice the comedy and tragedy in life.

3. Look for good subjects for character sketches.

4. Look to future events as well as to current news for subjects for
feature articles.

5. Jot down suggestions for feature articles.

6. File news clippings, statistics, and other material bearing on good
subjects.

7. Write your feature article while it is new and timely.

8. Give your article timeliness by connecting it with topics of current
interest.

9. Don’t forget that the story that touches the reader’s heart is the
story he remembers.

10. Make your pathetic story simple and restrained.

11. Don’t confuse sentiment with sentimentality.

12. Avoid cheap humor and vulgar slang.

13. Don’t ridicule another’s religion, race, or nationality.

14. Make your explanation clear to a reader who knows nothing about the
subject.

15. Use incidents, anecdotes, and concrete examples for clearness and
interest.

16. Avoid technical and scientific terms.

17. Let your first sentence arouse interest and curiosity.

PRACTICE WORK

1. Write a humorous animal story based on the material in the following
news story:

Just because they thought an ostrich was a timid, harmless sort
of creature, two men, one white and one black, were badly hurt at
Mineola, Long Island, yesterday. Each of the men tried to catch and
hold an ostrich at the Mineola Fair Grounds. The negro was kicked in
the face, and landed about 20 feet from the bird; the white man was
kicked in the chest and knocked down and had his clothes torn off him.

The ostrich that did all the damage is named Fleetwing. He and
another ostrich, named Fleetfoot, arrived from Florida in two
crates yesterday morning. They were brought to Mineola to race on
the fair grounds this week at the fair of the Queens-Nassau County
Agricultural Society. The birds have been trained to run races and
pull light sulkies to which they are harnessed.

They are bad tempered, however, and are kept blindfolded frequently
when they are not racing. A blindfolded ostrich is gentle as a lamb.

The blinding hood slipped off the eyes of Fleetwing at the fair
grounds yesterday morning and in an instant the big bird was out of
its crate, which was not covered. It started off on a run, and about
two hundred persons ran after it. There was a merry chase around and
around the racing track, and finally the ostrich was cornered.

A big negro looked at the ostrich and said:

“I reckon there ain’t no chicken ever were raised that I couldn’t
hold, boss. I’ll hold his laig, an’ then you grab his haid.”

The negro wrapped his arms about one of Fleetwing’s legs and in a
second was lifted into the air and landed about 20 feet away, with an
ugly wound in the side of his face. Then Keeper Ford approached the
ostrich from the front, and got an uppercut on his diaphragm, cutting
his chest and tearing his clothes. Finally the ostrich was roped and
recrated.

“That ain’t no chicken,” said the negro as he watched these
proceedings from a safe distance. “That there’s a two-laiged mule.”

2. Make a more entertaining “Zoo” story out of the facts in the
following article:

The Chinese wildcat in the Central Park Zoo has received a new lease
of life, according to the keepers there, and a graphophone may be
used now to make life seem more worth while to him. If this plan is
adopted one of the machines will collect sounds in Mott Street that
are expected to help to cure the cat’s recurrent fits of nostalgia,
which is the dictionary name for homesickness.

There is a box nailed to the wall by the side of the quarters of the
lady hippopotamus and her young son, and on a shelf of this lies all
day long a slim and long-bodied little animal with green eyes and a
sweeping tail. The yellow sign says that it is a “Felis Chinensis.”
He may take exercise at night, but all day he is motionless, still,
apparently melancholy, noticing nothing.

He is in surroundings that offer little congeniality. The lady hippo
and her young son are out of his class. The capybara not only is from
South America, but is like a rat magnified some two hundred times.
The lions across the aisle are from climes unknown to the Chinese
wildcat. Practically everything in the Central Park Zoo has long
ago learned how to eat peanuts, and has thus become more or less
Americanized. The Felis Chinensis will not have peanuts.

Last week a couple of Chinamen, rare visitors at the Zoo, strayed
into the lion house, stopping before the home of the wildcat. The
minute he heard their talk he jumped from his shelf and began purring
and rubbing himself against the side of his box. He played ball with
a chicken bone on the floor, and had a good time. The uplift he got
from this rode him along joyously for two days afterward.

And there is a plan on foot, say the keepers, to collect Mott Street
sounds in a graphophone for the Felis Chinensis, if more laundrymen
don’t visit the Zoo. There is some apprehension, however, as to how
the lions and the tiger will take the graphophone.

3. Use the facts in the following clipping as the basis for an amusing
hunting story:

A rabbit that residents of Sayville, L. I., declare plays on the
piano has taken possession of a big house near Oakland, owned by
Alexander H. Hunter. Mr. Hunter and his family are in Europe, and
until they return bunny will lord it over parlor and pantry.

The rabbit didn’t go into the house because it wanted to. It was
chased there by men with guns and dogs intent on taking its life, and
the rabbit, unwilling to yield itself up for stew, bolted into the
Hunter house via a drain pipe.

This was the way of it:

Herman Schmidt and a friend went out with dogs and guns yesterday for
a hunt, and the hounds soon started the particular Br’er Rabbit who
is making faces at the hunters from the front window of the Hunter
place. When the dogs got close Br’er Rabbit didn’t hesitate. He laid
his ears back and was away like a streak, with dogs and men in hot
pursuit.

Toward the Hunter home ran the hunted and hunters, and it looked as
if Schmidt would have a rabbit stew for supper. But the hunters had
not calculated on a drain pipe which stuck out of the ground about
150 yards from the house, and great was their chagrin when cunning
Br’er Rabbit whisked into it and disappeared.

Now that pipe leads right into the Hunter house, and pretty soon the
hunters saw bunny at one of the windows. When they approached he
retreated to the piano and kept running back and forth over the keys,
making soft music.

There is no caretaker in the house, and the possibility of the damage
that the rabbit will do, for which the hunters may have to pay, is
appalling.

On the other hand, the rabbit may have to come out of the house to
get something to eat. If he does he will get a warm reception at the
end of the drain pipe. A couple of dogs are lurking about there. They
tried hard to get into the pipe but they were too wide.

4. Write a pathetic story, using the particulars given in the following
narrative:

Dog Catcher Larson visited the Home for the Friendless with his
little blue wagon Thursday afternoon, and he left behind him one
hundred little tots with saddened hearts and cheeks that burned with
scalding tears.

The bewhiskered dog catcher is no respecter of persons or of
dogs. The high and low are the same to him, and he recognizes
no distinction between the poodle and the fice. And so Thursday
afternoon he gathered in the little pet of the children of the Home
of the Friendless.

True, it was the pet of these little unfortunates. True, that they
had raised this little dog, and that now it was only seven months
old—not old enough to know about Atlanta’s dog law. Still, Jerry had
no tag, and tagless Jerry therefore must take his place in the blue
wagon and must await his turn to be ducked to death.

The children had no money and so could not pay the dollar for the
tag. Now that the dog was arrested, still less did they have the
$2.25 necessary to save him from a watery grave.

One and all they went to bed with heavy hearts, and as they knelt
down beside their beds they did not forget to put in a word for “Poor
Jerry!”

Friday morning the pangs of sorrow were too great, and their grief
burst forth in wails. Jerry had been a companion to them, a faithful
friend and a source of solace and comfort. He had never deserted
them—and then Jerry was theirs, had been fed by them, raised by them,
taught by them.

They knew it was not their fault he had not been tagged, and also
they knew that Jerry was not to blame. And so they appealed to the
superintendent. They begged, pleaded, cried. Nothing would suffice
but the restoration of their fice.

The superintendent appealed to the mayor, the mayor to the probation
officer, and now the probation officer is trying to touch the heart
of the dog catcher.

All of the children are writing letters to city officials. “The cook
got mad with Jerry,” writes little Ruth Wilson, “because he stole two
of Mother Henry’s chickens, but Jerry didn’t mean any harm. Cook gave
the dog to the dog catcher. We have got all the cats we want, but
only one little dog—and that is Jerry. Please give him back to us,
for we love him very much.”

5. With the facts given in the news story below as a basis, write a
pathetic feature story.

Moving pictures inspired ten boys to “lynch” Harry Werner, their
9-year-old playmate, in Glencoe yesterday. So serious are his
injuries that he may be crippled for life.

It was a “wild west” picture, absurd to the practical mind in its
unrealities, that gave the boys their idea.

They saw in the flickering pictures a score of “cowboys,” their
revolvers strapped on the wrong side, while they mounted their horses
also from the wrong side, and rode with the grace and skill of wooden
Indians.

The boys did not notice these details. They saw only the rakishness
and swaggering daredeviltry. They applauded vociferously the
“stringing-up” of the actor-cowboy.

“Let’s play wild west,” one 10-year-old enthusiast proposed after the
show. The vote was unanimous.

Wooden revolvers were fashioned. Fathers’ discarded hats took the
place of sombréros. Broom sticks served as prancing bronchos.

“Who’ll we lynch?” one asked. Harry Werner was selected. His dark
hair and eyes led to his unwilling selection by them for the rôle of
“villain.”

They tied a clothes-line under his arms and threw the rope over a
branch of a tree. Whooping madly, in true moving-picture-wild-west
fashion, they pulled him up until his feet were far from the ground.

The thin rope cut into his tender flesh. He struggled and implored
his comrades to let him down. His pleas brought renewed whoops. Had
not the “villain” in the moving-picture struggled and cried for mercy?

For half an hour they kept him there. Then they cut the rope and let
his body fall to the ground. Their childish eyes did not see that he
was unconscious. They seized the rope and dragged him for several
minutes, leaving him on the ground to find his way home alone.

Physicians who examined him declared that he may be disabled
permanently.

6. Rewrite the following humorous story, making it more effective in
every way possible.

Tommy is a hero to-day. All his playmates that live on Greene
street, near Wolcott avenue, are envious, and speak to him in awed
whispers, for did he not go to hunt a Saracen and return covered with
bean-juice and glory? All their mothers, too, are keeping a sharp
watch on the family crockery.

This is how it happened:

Papa Devine had told Tommy about a lot of men who called themselves
Crusaders, who went to lick a lot of other chaps known as Saracens.
And when papa told him how the Crusaders wore armor plates on their
chests and backs and arms and legs and big helmets on their heads,
Tommy decided that he would take a crack at the Saracens himself.

When Papa Devine went out, and Mamma Devine was busy upstairs, Tommy
thought it would be a good time to start on his crusade.

Going into the kitchen, he tied a frying pan about his neck so that
it hung down over his stomach, strung the lid of the clothes boiler
over his back, and then sought a helmet that would resist the swords
and battle-axes of the enemy.

As he pondered he sniffed the air. Then a bright idea came.
Cautiously he opened the stove door. Mamma Devine was cooking beans à
la Boston and Tommy Devine drew forth a big round stone pot full of
the delicious fruit. Carefully he emptied the contents into the sink
and thrust the pot on his head.

The bean juice ran down into his eyes and ears, but that
didn’t matter—he was going to hunt Saracens. Then the pot felt
uncomfortable, and Tommy decided to take it off and refit it to his
head.

Horrors! The pot would not budge. It was stuck on his head. Pull as
he might he could not get it off. He sat down in the corner to plan
a campaign of action, and consoled himself with licking the dripping
bean treacle from his nose end. That got tiresome after a while, so
Tommy sought his mother.

Mrs. Devine scolded over the lost beans at first, and then tried
to remove the pot, but she, too, was unsuccessful. Then she became
alarmed. In desperation she started for the doctor’s with the pot
still on Tommy’s head, the pans jangling around his neck, and the
bean juice running down his back.

Passengers in the street car dropped their papers in amazement, for
they did not know that Tommy was a crusader, while Mrs. Devine
looked out of the window and tried to make it appear that crusading
was an every day affair.

But Tommy’s tears and wails attracted the attention of an old man. He
stopped the car and called the motorman, who came with his controller
handle in his hand.

“Crack the blamed thing off,” ordered the old man.

The motorman cracked, and off fell the jar. Tommy set up a whoop of
joy, and Mrs. Devine hurried home to give the erstwhile crusader a
bath—and a spanking.

CHAPTER X

EDITING COPY

=What Copy-Reading Means.= All news stories, whether written by
reporters, sent through the mail by correspondents, or received by
telegraph or telephone, must be read and edited before they are set up
in type. This work is done either by the editor in whose department
the news belongs or by a copy-reader. The reading and editing of copy
consists of:

(1) Correcting all errors whether in expression or in fact.
(2) Making the story conform to the so-called “style” of the newspaper.
(3) Improving the story in any respect.
(4) Eliminating libelous matter.
(5) Marking copy for the printer.
(6) Writing headlines and subheads.

The good copy-reader must be able to catch instantly, and correct
quickly, errors of all kinds. Good copy, or “clean copy,” as it
is called, should be free from mistakes in spelling, grammar, and
rhetoric; but rapid writing too often leads to carelessness, and the
copy-reader’s work is correspondingly increased by the necessity of
doing what the writer has neglected to do. The correction of such
errors, however, is not the most important part of his work. He must
be able to detect and correct errors of fact. As every art, science,
business, occupation, sport, recreation,—in short, every form of
activity, is the subject of news, the copy-reader should be able to
pass intelligent judgment on the accuracy of stories written about
these various activities. He must also be familiar with proper names
that appear in the news, such as names of prominent persons and places
the world over, the titles of well-known books, plays, pictures,
and musical compositions, the names of railroads and important
corporations, and special trade-mark names. To no one in the newspaper
office and to few outside of it, can the words of Terence more truly be
applied than to the copy-reader, _humani nihil a me alienum puto_, “I
consider nothing human to be outside of my sphere.”

Like the good reporter, the copy-reader must be an accurate judge of
news values. He must be able to see the significance of the news in the
story. He must be able to decide how much space it is worth. If the
real point of the news has been buried by the writer, the copy-reader
must get it out and give it the prominence that it deserves. The
ineffective lead must be rewritten, the needless details cut out, and
the parts of the story rearranged for the best effect.

To improve the style of the story, he must consider carefully the
construction of paragraphs and sentences, the choice of words and
figures. Each paragraph should be given an effective beginning that
will catch the reader’s eye in rapid reading. Close connection should
be maintained between the sentences in the paragraph. The copy-reader
must transform the weak, rambling sentence into a firm, coherent
statement with an emphatic beginning. For the trite, colorless word
or phrase, he must substitute the fresh, picturesque one. The too
figurative flights of exuberant fancy in one young reporter’s copy
must be toned down, and the bald, prosaic narrative or description in
another’s given life and interest. In short, the copy-reader’s work is
constructive as well as critical; it is as important for him to rewrite
and rearrange as to cut out and boil down.

The responsibility of determining whether or not any statements or
implications of the story as written are libelous also rests upon
the copy-reader. He must know the law of libel, therefore, as it is
construed in his state, and must prevent violations of it in the matter
that he edits. Less often he is called upon to decide whether or not
anything in the news story violates laws regulating the transmission of
printed matter through the mail. Whenever the copy-reader is uncertain
on any important point involving the management of the newspaper, he
refers the question to his superiors.

=Some Common Errors.= In reading copy rapidly the beginner will do well
to be on the lookout for certain kinds of common errors in spelling,
grammar, and punctuation. The quick eye of the copy-reader will catch
the frequently misspelled words without difficulty, but uncommon proper
names are more likely to cause trouble, and in cases of doubt, books
of reference should be consulted. To prevent errors in grammar from
slipping through in a story, the copy-reader should note such points as
(1) the agreement of the verb with the subject, particularly when they
are separated from each other by words or phrases; (2) the relation
of pronouns to their antecedents; (3) the position of participles in
relation to the words that they modify; (4) the use of coördinate
conjunctions to connect elements of the same kind; (5) the position
of correlative conjunctions with relation to the elements that they
connect.

In punctuation, not infrequent errors are (1) the use of a comma
instead of a semicolon to separate independent, grammatically
unconnected statements; (2) the omission of apostrophes in the
possessive case and in contractions; (3) the omission of a period
after abbreviations; (4) the use of double instead of single quotation
marks; (5) the failure to put quotation marks at the beginning of each
paragraph of a continuous quotation and at the end of only the last
paragraph.

=Following the “Style Book.”= As each newspaper has its peculiar
“style,” so-called, the copy-reader must learn the rules set forth in
the “style book” which his newspaper prints for the guidance of its
reporters, editors, copy-readers, and compositors. These rules have to
do with capitalization, abbreviation, hyphenation, punctuation, use of
numerical figures, and also with the use of certain words and phrases.
The form and size of each kind of headline and the number or letter by
which it is to be designated in the copy, are sometimes included in the
style book. Every newspaper office has its own method of designating
the heads, either by number or letter, whether or not the method is
printed in the style book. Almost every style book has a long or
short list of “Don’ts,” which includes common errors to be avoided
and frequently those words and phrases that are pet aversions of the
editor-in-chief or of the managing editor.

=How the Copy-Reader Works.= In all this work of the copy-reader the
important element is speed. Every minute is valuable in the newspaper
office, and only those who can work rapidly as well as accurately
can expect to hold a position long. To rearrange, to reconstruct,
to correct, rather than to rewrite, and to do this quickly and
skillfully, is the real work of the copy-reader. To putter over details
is an inexcusable fault. The combination of speed and accuracy in a
copy-reader is the ideal of the editor.

On large newspapers under the plan of having all news copy read at one
desk by copy-readers under the direction of a head copy-reader, every
news story goes to the head copy-reader, who, after deciding on its
value, determines how much space it is worth and what size head it
shall have. Before passing the story over to one of the copy-readers,
the head reader gives it a catch-line, or “slugs” it, to indicate its
character and to serve as a means of identification. He also indicates
by means of a number the size of head to be written for it; for
example, “No. 1 Wreck” indicates the name of the story and the style of
head.

If the copy is being read page by page as fast as it is written rather
than after the whole story is completed, the guide or catch-line may
be repeated at the top of each page, thus “4 Storm,” which means that
this is page 4 of the storm story. The head copy-reader also keeps a
record of all copy that passes through his hands, the entries in which
may be something like this, “Walters—Wreck—500—No. 1—11.15 A.M.—more,”
which means that from one of the members of the staff named Walters,
he received a story of a wreck that contained about 500 words; that he
gave it a No. 1 head; that it went to the composing room to be set up
in type at 11.15 A.M.; and that more of the story is to follow.

When the head copy-reader passes over the story to the copy-reader who
is to edit it, he may give verbal directions in regard to cutting it
down, “playing up” important facts buried by the writer, or improving
the form or expression as he thinks best; or he may leave all these
details to the discretion of the copy-reader. The latter begins to
correct and improve the story as soon as he has finished the piece of
work that he has in hand. It is not unusual during the rush hours when
time is very valuable to send stories to the copy desk as each page
is written, and as the page is edited, to send it up to the composing
room to be put into type, without waiting for the complete story. Under
these circumstances a copy-reader is often editing alternate pages of
several entirely different stories, all the details of which he must
carry in mind in order to handle them intelligently and to write a
complete and accurate headline if, as is sometimes the case, this is
written only after the last page of copy on the story has been read.

=Use of Guide Lines.= Catch-lines, such as “Society,” “State,” “Sport,”
aid in assembling news that is to go on one page or in one department.
When several independent stories, each with a separate head, are to
be assembled so that one will follow the other, the catch-lines may
indicate this thus: “Lead Convention,” “Follow Convention,” “First
Follow Convention,” “Second Follow Convention,” etc. In making up a
report of a state or national political convention, these catch-lines
are of considerable assistance. When, on the other hand, copy is being
edited that is to follow immediately upon the lead or any part of the
story without a separate head, the copy is marked “Add Convention,”
“First Add Convention,” “Second Add Convention,” etc.

Not infrequently after the story has gone to the composing room new
facts of sufficient importance develop to warrant the writing of a
new lead or of a new paragraph or two to be inserted somewhere in
the story. In the case of a new lead the copy is marked “New Lead
Convention,” and the copy of the inserts is marked “First Insert
Convention” or “Insert A Convention.” Whenever it is known in advance
that there are to be additions to the story later, the copy-reader
writes “more” at the end of the piece of copy, instead of the end mark
(#). If the head is not sent to the composing room with the copy, the
copy is marked “Head to Come.” This is often done when it is known that
important news is coming that should be embodied in the head. If this
later news is to be put into the lead, the story may be sent up without
a lead and with the explanation “Lead to Come.” Stories to be used in
a particular edition are marked “Noon Edition,” “Market Edition,” etc.
All these catch-lines should be taken out when the type is assembled in
the forms in making up.

The typewritten copy of telegraph news furnished by news distributing
agencies like the Associated Press and the United Press has guide lines
on stories for the benefit of the editors whenever such explanatory
matter is necessary. In order to keep their newspaper clients informed
of the latest phases of the news, these associations send brief
bulletins and “flash” statements, which they follow with more complete
stories as the news develops. The first news of an accident, for
example, comes as a bulletin, and later more details are furnished in
one or more additions to the original bulletin or in substitution for
it. The following example taken from the United Press telegraph news
service illustrates how news stories, the parts of which are furnished
at intervals during the day, are supplied with guide lines:

(1)
BULLETIN
Norfolk, Va., Nov. 2.—Six men have been reported injured, two
probably fatally, in an explosion on the battleship Vermont, early
today.
———————

(2)
(ADD BULLETIN ... NORFOLK)
The Vermont is now in Hampton Roads and only meagre details of
the reported accident were received by the navy yard here. It was
understood that the explosion occurred in the boiler room of the
vessel.
———————

(3)
(SUBSTITUTE)
Norfolk, Va., Nov. 2.—In an explosion in the boiler room of the
battleship Vermont last night, six men were scalded, two receiving
possibly fatal injuries. While the ship was cruising a short distance
off the capes which form the entrance to Hampton Roads, a part of the
boiler burst, filling the engine room with scalding water and steam.
Captain Hughes immediately sent a wireless message to the hospital
ship Solace and the wounded men were transferred at sea to that
vessel, which brought them to the Norfolk hospital to-day.

The injured men are:

R. M. Wagner, fireman second class.
M. C. Horan, coal passer.
J. R. Newberry, fireman first class.
M. T. Green, fireman first class.
C. A. Hoteling, coal passer.
P. W. Cramer, coal passer.
(MORE)
———————

(4)

(ADD ACCIDENT VERMONT ... NORFOLK)
The accident occurred while the Vermont was anchored off the southern
battlefield drill grounds, where the annual fall target practice
began today. The head of the boiler burst and a torrent of boiling
water and steam poured out over the firemen and coal passers. Wagner
and Haran (correct) who were nearest the boiler head, were the
most seriously injured, both being scalded from head to foot. The
hospital ship Solace asked that the navy hospital here make ready
for the injured men and said that she expected to reach Norfolk this
afternoon. It was reported, but without confirmation, that Haran had
died of his injuries.
———————

(5)

BULLETIN
(LEAD)
Norfolk, Va., Nov. 2.—Two men are dead and four others this afternoon
lie swathed in bandages suffering terribly from scalds, as a result
of a boiler explosion on the battleship Vermont early today. R. M.
Wagner, a fireman, first class, and M. C. Haran, a coal passer, are
the dead.

The hospital ship Solace brought the dead and wounded to the naval
hospital here today. The Vermont broke all her former speed records
in a run
(MORE)
———————

(6)

(ADD BULLETIN LEAD ... NORFOLK)
in a run from the southern drill grounds, outside the capes, to
Hampton Roads, arriving here late this afternoon.

Wagner and Haran both died on the Solace, suffering terribly from the
scalds that covered them from head to foot.
———————

(1)

FLASH: Salem, Mass., Nov. 26.—Ettor, Giovannitti, and Caruso
acquitted.

(2)

BULLETIN: SUBSTITUTE FLASH ALL
Court House, Salem, Mass., Nov. 26.—Ettor, Giovannitti and Caruso,
the three labor leaders who have been on trial nearly two months
charged with murder as the result of the killing of a woman striker
during the textile troubles at Lawrence, were acquitted to-day
(MORE)

=Sizes and Kinds of Type.= Editors and copy-readers need some knowledge
of type in order to do their work efficiently. The size of type
is measured by the point system. The unit of measure, a point, is
one seventy-second of an inch. Six-point type, accordingly, is six
seventy-seconds of an inch, 10-point is ten seventy-seconds of an inch,
and 36-point is thirty-six seventy-seconds, or one half, of an inch
in size. Before the point system was adopted, each size of type had a
name, and these names are still in common use. Thus, 5½-point type is
known as agate, 6-point as nonpareil, 7-point as minion, 8-point as
brevier, 9-point as bourgeois, 10-point as long primer, and 12-point
as pica. Nonpareil, or 6-point, is the size commonly used by large
newspapers, and minion and brevier by smaller papers.

Type is classified as body type and display type. Body type is that
which is used in newspapers for all reading matter; display type is the
large sizes, or “faces,” of type used in headlines and in advertising.
As distinguished from the light-face body type, the heavy faces,
that print blacker than the body type, are known as bold-face type
(abbreviated, “b.f.”). Thus the boxed summaries and lists on pages
86–88 were marked to be set in 6-point bold-face type (abbreviated,
“6-pt. b.f.”).

Type is further classified on the basis of the proportion of the height
of the letter to its width, as extra-condensed, condensed, regular or
medium, and extended. Extra-condensed and condensed faces are used in
the top deck of large headlines, and medium, or regular, faces are
usually used for banner heads extending across the page, as well as in
underline and overline heads for cuts. As distinct from slanting or
Italic type, the usual perpendicular type is called Roman.

Different kinds, or faces, of type are given names by type founders,
such as “Caslon,” “Cheltenham,” “De Vinne,” “Ronaldson.” Each kind or
face is generally made in different sizes, body sizes commonly ranging
from 5½-point to 12-point, and display type from 8-point to 120-point.

A “font” of type of a particular size and kind consists of a complete
set of letters, figures, etc., each character being furnished in
numbers proportional to the frequency with which it appears in ordinary
printed matter. Type is kept in shallow wooden trays, or “cases,”
divided into compartments, or “boxes,” one for each character. Capital
letters (abbreviated “caps.”) are often called “upper case,” and small
letters are always known as “lower case” (abbreviated “l. c.”), because
the capital letters are in the upper of the two type cases and the
small letters in the lower one.

The amount of type set is measured by the number of “ems” (from the
letter “M”). An “em” is a square of a given size of type; i.e., an
em in 8-point type is eight seventy-seconds of an inch square. The
standard unit of measure for type matter is usually the 12-point, or
pica, em. A column of a newspaper that is thirteen ems wide, therefore,
is thirteen 12-point ems, or thirteen picas, in width; i.e., it is one
hundred and fifty-six seventy-seconds of an inch, or two and one sixth
inches wide. Advertising space is measured by the so-called “agate
line,” on the basis of fourteen agate lines to one inch.

In setting type by hand, the compositor has a small metal tray, or
“stick,” inclosed on three sides and adjusted to the width of a column
or a line, into which he places the type, letter by letter, as he picks
it out of the case before him. As a stick holds about two inches of
type, a “stickful” has come to be a common expression for about two
or two and one half inches of printed matter. A news story is spoken
of by editors and compositors as being two or three “stickfuls” long,
and an editor often tells a reporter to “write a stickful or two” on
a particular story, or directs a copy-reader to “cut it down to a
stickful.”

Type is “leaded” when thin strips of lead or brass are placed between
the lines, these “leads” being two points in thickness. When two
of these 2-point leads are placed between the lines, the type is
“double-leaded.” If no leads are used, the type is said to be “solid.”
The first paragraphs of news stories are often leaded, and very
important news, particularly short bulletins for extra editions, are
frequently double-leaded. In most parts of a newspaper, however, the
type is solid. All type and cuts are made of the same height—that is,
they are “type-high”—so that when used together they will present an
even surface for printing and stereotyping.

=Marks Used in Copy Reading.= The marks used in editing copy are a few
simple time-saving devices to indicate to the compositor how the matter
is to be set in type. They are as follows:

[Illustration: Three short lines under a letter or word indicate that
it is to be set in capital letters.]

[Illustration: Two short lines under a letter or word indicate that
it is to be set in small caps.]

[Illustration: One line under a letter or word indicates that it is
to be set in Italics.]

[Illustration: A circle around figures or abbreviations indicates
that they are to be spelled out.]

[Illustration: A circle around a word or numbers spelled out
indicates that they are to be abbreviated or figures used.]

[Illustration: A caret is placed at the point in the line where the
words written above the line are to be inserted.]

[Illustration: The paragraph mark (¶) or the sign ⅃ is placed at
the beginning of each paragraph.]

[Illustration: A cross (×) is used for a period.]

[Illustration: Quotation marks are often put in half circles to
indicate clearly whether they are beginning or end marks.]

Elements to be transposed are marked thus:
[Illustration]

A line is used to connect the end of one line with
the beginning of another when both are to form a
continuous line of print.

The end mark (#) or the number 30 in a circle is
written at the end of every complete piece of copy.

The application of these marks and the catch-lines in the editing of
copy are shown by the following typical pages:

[Illustration:]

SUGGESTIONS

1. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with all details of the
typographical style of your paper.

2. Read every word of copy carefully.

3. Work as rapidly as is consistent with accuracy; don’t putter over
corrections.

4. Make all corrections and changes so clear that the compositor can
not misunderstand them.

5. Revise and rearrange whenever possible instead of rewriting.

6. Cut out all needless words and phrases.

7. Don’t think that your own way of expressing an idea is the only good
way.

8. Scrutinize carefully all participles, pronouns, conjunctions,
correlatives, and “only’s.”

9. Watch for the omission of the apostrophe in possessives and
contractions.

10. See that all quoted matter is properly enclosed in “quotes.”

11. Be sure to put single “quotes” on quotations within quotations.

12. Verify names, initials, addresses, dates, and facts generally.

13. Be on the lookout for libelous matter.

14. Give every story a distinctive guide line.

15. Don’t confuse “add’s” and “follow’s” in marking copy.

16. Keep a record of all copy read with size of head, length of story,
author, and time.

17. Draw a line around all directions intended for the compositors.

18. Consult your superior when in doubt about the propriety of anything
in copy.

PRACTICE WORK

Point out all changes that should be made in editing the following
piece of copy and show how each change should be indicated:

Washington, D. C. August 21—

According to a statement issued here to day by the treasury
department the first deposits of the Governments fifty million dollar
fund to aid crop movements will be made in the Southern States in
Aug. and Sept. All deposits in all states, declares William B.
MacAdoo, secretary of the Treasury and who orginated the plan of
assisting banks of the South and West, will be made in 2 equal
allottments. He outlined the Treasury Department’s requirements for
security in to-days statement

While all deposits may be recalled without notice the treasury
expects to recall 25 per centum Dec. 15th, another 25 per centum on
Jan. 15th, another February 15 and the final portion on March 1. The
banks will pay two per cent. interest and all expenses

Secretary McAdoo’s statement says the government expect by making
the deposits in National Banks in principle cities the funds will
be used in good faith for releiving stringancy and not to speculate
with and that it will be distributed to smaller banks at moderate and
reasonable interest. Deposits only will be placed with banks who have
forty per cent of their circulation of banknotes out standing.

10 per cent of the security must be in Government Bonds and the
remaining 90 per cent. may be high class state, municipal and other
bonds at 75 per cent of their market value and approved by the
secretary. Prime commercial or business paper will be excepted at 65
per cent. of their face value when indorsed by the bank, approved by
the Secretary and unanimously approved by a “securities committee”
of 6 members in the clearing house district in which it comes. The
secretary of the treasury will name one member of each comittee.
Commercial paper the statement point out must represent legitinate
commercial transactions preferably endorsed with two names and
the borrowing bank but single name paper will be accepted in the
judgement of the Treasury.

Any of the banks may return the deposits at any time before Mar. 1.

The Secretary’s statement of to day outlined many details which are
chiefly of interest to bankers concerned.

CHAPTER XI

THE WRITING OF HEADLINES

=The Function of the Headline.= Headlines as developed by the American
press during the last half-century have come to be, next to the news
itself, the most important part of our newspapers. From mere labels to
indicate the kind of reading matter to be found in the columns under
them, headlines in this country have developed into bulletins giving
the substance of the articles to which they are attached. By presenting
conspicuously in large type the important facts of the story which
it precedes, the headline serves a double purpose: it makes possible
rapid reading of the news thus outlined in the head, and it becomes an
advertisement of the news to attract the purchaser.

=Heads Promote Rapid Reading.= As concise summaries of the facts of the
news, headlines fill an important place in contemporary American life,
for, by reading only the headlines, the busy man or woman can get in
brief outline the news of the whole world. The size of the type and
the arrangement of the parts of the headline aid in a marked degree
this rapid reading. Well-written heads that give clearly and accurately
the information of greatest significance in the stories under them are
an integral part of the newspaper, the function of which, as has been
said, is to give the readers in a clear and interesting form the news
of the day.

=How Heads Advertise News.= By their form and position, likewise, the
headlines act as advertisements for what the paper contains. Like all
good advertisements, headlines should create interest and lead to
the sale of the paper. By arousing the reader’s curiosity and at the
same time partially satisfying it, the head, when skillfully written,
attracts the reader’s attention and influences him to read the story.

A newspaper that aims to have large street sales will naturally take
advantage of the advertising element in the heads, by making them as
attractive as possible. In fact, the efforts of some newspapers of this
class to make the most powerful appeal possible, have led to extreme
forms of headlines with great black type and with varicolored effects.
In general, morning papers and evening papers with regular subscribers
are less inclined to employ large heads for advertising their news than
are those evening papers with several street editions that seek to have
large sales. Large heads extending across several columns and printed
in green, red, or black ink set forth the latest phases of the news in
a manner well calculated to catch the eye as the paper is displayed on
the news stand or in the hands of the newsboy. As in advertising in
general there is always a temptation to make alluring statements at the
expense of truth, so in headline advertisement there is a tendency to
exaggerate and magnify in order to catch the unwary reader.

=Large Heads and “Yellow Journalism.”= Since the more sensational
papers have taken advantage of this advertising element and have
yielded at times to the temptation to exaggerate or even to
misrepresent, as is not unheard of in advertising generally, large
display effects in headlines have come to be associated in the popular
mind with so-called “yellow journalism.” The connection between the
two is by no means inevitable, however, for large headlines need not
be any more sensational or inaccurate than smaller ones, and may
legitimately be used to attract attention to the real features of the
news. Conservative papers that do not depend to any considerable extent
on street sales tend to keep up the smaller headlines long used in
American newspapers, which, while giving the substance of the news in
outline, do not attempt to advertise prominently the contents.

=Clearness and Conciseness.= Regarded as a bulletin of the most
important facts in the news, the headline should present these facts
in a clear and concise manner. To be clear the form should be one that
can be taken in by the eye at a glance. The relation of the divisions,
or “decks,” of the head should be evident, so that the reader may get a
clear idea of the bearing of one statement on another. The statements
should be concrete and specific. The limitations of space make it
necessary for the headline to be concise so that the maximum number of
important facts may be included.

=Action in Headlines.= As news is largely concerned with activities,
headlines should express the action related in the news story. In
defining oratory Demosthenes said that the three essential elements
are: first, “action”; second, “action”; and third, “action.” The same
characteristics may well be ascribed to the most effective headlines.
Life and vividness of expression give interest to heads as they do
to the news story. Freshness and originality of phrasing are also
successful provided the uncommon form is clear. Short, crisp, specific
words constituting definite statements that can be readily grasped in
rapid reading, generally make the best headlines.

=Headlines are Impartial.= Headlines, like the news stories of which
they are summaries, should be impartial. It is possible to “color”
headlines so that they give a false impression of the news in the
stories to which they are attached. The reader tends to carry over into
the news story the impression which he gets from the headline, and a
“colored” head, therefore, tends to “color” even an impartial, accurate
news story. Headlines likewise should not comment on the news; comments
on the news should be made in the editorial columns.

=Divisions of Headlines.= The headline is composed of one or more
divisions called “lines,” “decks,” or “banks.” These divisions are
separated by dashes and are frequently different in form and in size of
type. In the following head, each deck has a distinct form and size of
type.

cross-line |WEEKLY LOSS $2,500,000|
——— ———————

Headlines are constructed on the basis of the four forms that appear
in the above example, which may be called respectively, (1) the
drop-line; (2) the pyramid; (3) the cross-line; and (4) the hanging
indention. Graphically these forms may be represented thus:

(1)

| Drop-line |
|—————————————————————————————— |
| ——————————————————————————————|

(2)

| Pyramid |
|————————————————————————————————————————|
| —————————————————————————————————— |
| ———————————————————————————— |

(3)

| Cross-line |
|————————————————————————————————————————|

(4)

| Hanging indention |
|————————————————————————————————————————|
| ——————————————————————————————————|
| ——————————————————————————————————|
| ——————————————————————————————————|

=Drop-Line Heads.= The drop-line head may consist of two, three, or
four parts arranged as in the following three heads:

(1)

|MOVING PICTURE MEN |
| START WAR ON TRUST|

(2)

(3)

=Cross-Line Heads.= The cross-line head consists of but one line which
may or may not fill the whole space between the column rules. In the
following examples, the first head fills the line, and the second only
part of the line.

(1)

|POSTAL BANK BILL PASSES|

(2)

| SEES PERIL IN TARIFF |

=Pyramid Banks.= The pyramid head may consist of two, three, or four
parts, graduated in length to produce the inverted pyramid effect. The
following “bank” illustrates the pyramid of three parts:

=Hanging Indention.= The hanging indention head consists of several
parts, the first of which begins at the column rule on the left, while
all the others are indented the width of one or two letters.

The drop-line, cross-line, or pyramid may be used in any deck, whereas
the hanging indention head is used only for a deck other than the first.

=Combinations of Forms.= Various combinations of these four forms
may be used to give the variety required for all kinds of stories.
For large heads a combination of a two part drop-line, a three part
pyramid, a cross-line or another drop-line, and a second pyramid,
constitutes a frequent form, as is seen in the following example:

A large three part drop-line head may be followed by a hanging
indention line and by a cross-line, as in the following case:

For smaller heads there are several sizes of two part drop-heads, or
of cross-lines combined with pyramids or hanging indentions of two or
three parts; for example:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Practically every symmetrical arrangement of the four forms of heads
can be found in various newspapers, but the principles underlying the
writing of any of the combinations are the same.

=Type Limits of Heads.= The typographical limitations are the most
important considerations governing the writing of headlines. These
limitations are determined by the size of type and the form of each
deck of the head. The possible variation in the parts of the first deck
is not more than a letter or two from the normal form. So small is the
variation possible within the column width that the size of the letters
used has to be considered. Thus the letters “M” and “W” are one and
one-half times the size of all the other letters except “I,” which is
only one-half as large as the others. In the counting of unit letters
in a headline, the writer must consider “M” and “W” as one and one-half
units each, and the letter “I” and the figure “1” as half a unit each.
Each space between words is counted as one unit. Since the form and
symmetry of a head are marred or entirely destroyed by having too few
or too many units in any part, great skill is necessary in the choice
and the arrangement of words to secure as nearly as possible the exact
number of units required for a perfect head.

The effect produced by having too many units is shown in the following
heads for which 18 units is the normal number in each half of the
two-line drop head.

(1)

|GOVERNOR NAMES FIRST|
|OF MUNICIPAL REFORMS|

(2)

|TWO FIRES IN ONE HOUSE|
|INSIDE OF THREE HOURS|

When the number of units is less than that required for the best
effect, the headline is not so unsatisfactory as when too many units
are crowded into it, because the short line is more legible than the
long one. In each of the following heads the first half contains only
15 units instead of 18, and as a result there is too much space at the
end of each of these halves. Both, however, are much more easily read
than the crowded ones given above.

(1)

|STATE SECRETARY |
| ON TRIP TO COAST|

(2)

|WEISS REASSURES |
| BUSINESS WORLD|

That much better results are produced by having each half contain more
nearly the required number of units is shown by comparing the next two
heads with those preceding.

(1)

|STORY OF DYING MAN |
| REOPENS GRAFT CASE|

(2)

|MAY LOSE EXTRA PAY |
| FOR NIGHT CAR RUNS|

In headline writing a number of points must be borne in mind. It should
be remembered, however, that these are not hard and fast rules but
general principles based on newspaper practice.

=Why the Head is Based on the “Lead.”= As in the normal type of news
story all the important facts are given in the lead, the headline, as
the bulletin of these facts, is based largely, if not entirely, on the
material in the lead. One reason for giving all the essential details
in the lead, as has already been pointed out, is that the story may
be cut down before or after it is in type. This possibility that the
story may be cut down is an additional reason why the headline should
be based on the first part of the story, for if the headline contains
only the substance of the lead, it need not be rewritten when any part
of the story is cut off.

=The Tone of the Head.= To adapt the character of the headline to
the tone of the story is important for the best effect of both. The
head should prepare the reader for what is to follow. A humorous or
witty headline is well adapted for a story written in a light vein but
usually is out of keeping with a plain news story. A suggestion of
pathos even may be given in the headline when the story warrants it.
Efforts to be funny or tearful, however, ought always to be carefully
considered and should not be made unless the circumstances justify them.

=Avoiding Repetition.= It has come to be a generally recognized point
that there should be a minimum amount of repetition of words throughout
the head. The same word should not be used more than once either in the
same deck or in different decks unless the lack of synonyms makes it
absolutely necessary, or unless emphasis is gained by so doing. This,
of course, applies in only a limited degree to the necessary connective
words, such as conjunctions and prepositions, and parts of the verb
“to be.” The writer of heads should have at his command a number of
synonymous words and expressions, so that, when he must refer to the
same person, object, or action a second or third time, he may be able
to vary the expression.

=The Interrelation of the Decks.= If the grammatical subject remains
the same in statements made in two or more decks, it need not be
repeated, as it will be understood with the verbs in the following deck
or decks. In the head given below, the subject of the verb “stricken”
in the first deck, serves as the subject of the verbs “found” in the
second deck, “is” in the third, and “will be taken” in the fourth.

Since the subject, when suppressed in any deck, is understood to be the
same as that in the deck just preceding, care must be taken to have the
verb agree with it grammatically. There is a not unnatural tendency,
for example, to use in one deck a singular verb with a collective
noun like “common council,” or “faculty” (of a college), and then,
changing the idea to the members of these bodies, to use in the next
deck a plural verb with the subject suppressed. Thus, in the following
head, “tariff board” should not be made the subject of “reports” and
“declare.”

Failure to remember that a verb without a subject is assumed to have
the same subject as the statement in the deck immediately preceding,
not that in any other of the preceding decks, also leads to confusion.
The following head, for example, is poor because it is not clear that
“president” is the subject of “gives,” since “governor” is the subject
of the statement in the preceding deck; nor is it evident that “troops”
of the first deck is the subject of “to camp” in the fourth.

The subject is sometimes incorrectly suppressed in one deck when there
is no subject in the preceding deck that can be understood for that
verb; for example, in the following head there is no word in the first
deck that can be taken for the subject of “was” in the second.

Often it is necessary to repeat in other decks with additional details
or in more definite form the statement made in the first deck; for
example:

When such repetition is necessary for greater clearness, there is no
objection to it, but to make several decks merely repetition in other
words of the first is a not uncommon fault that should be avoided.
If, for example, the foregoing head had been expanded into four decks
by mere repetition, the result might have been the following head, in
which but one fact is presented.

Most newspapers prefer to have the statement in each deck grammatically
independent of that in the preceding deck; that is, they avoid
extending a statement through two decks. How such a continuous
statement is sometimes made, however, is shown in the following head
from the New York _Sun_:

One peculiar form of headline, some of the best examples of which are
found in the Cincinnati _Enquirer_, depends for its effect upon this
continuation of a statement through several decks. Only one word is
used for the first deck of large heads of this type, and only one or
two in the first deck of smaller heads, as is seen in the following
examples:

(1)

(2)

=Style in Heads.= Rhyme and alliteration may be used to advantage on
rare occasions, but generally this similarity of sound produces a
jingling result that is not pleasing. Originality and novelty can be
given by choice and combination of words much more effectively than by
the artificial means of similar sounds.

To make headlines as concise as possible the articles “a,” “an,” and
“the” are omitted, and auxiliary verbs not absolutely necessary are
suppressed. When articles and auxiliaries are convenient to fill out
the line to the required number of units, they may be retained, but
should not be used at the beginning of a deck.

To give freshness and vividness to the head, the verb is usually
put in the present tense even though the action is in the past; for
example, “Roosevelt Speaks in Cleveland.” Future action is expressed
by the infinitive or by the regular future form with “will”; for
example, “Roosevelt to Speak in Cleveland,” or “Roosevelt Will Speak in
Cleveland.”

The active voice of the verb is preferred to the passive because the
active is more vivid and more concise. “Cornell Wins Intercollegiate
Regatta,” is better than “Intercollegiate Regatta Won by Cornell.”
When, however, the passive is required to give the more significant
part of the statement prominence in the first part of the top deck it
should be used in preference to the active. In the following head the
important point is that the post office has been robbed, rather than
the fact that it was robbed by tramps.

|POST OFFICE ROBBED |
| BY BAND OF TRAMPS|

This head would be less effective with the active verb, since the
robbery of the post office would then go into the second part of the
deck, thus:

|BAND OF TRAMPS ROB |
| POST OFFICE SAFE|

News value rather than rules must determine in any case whether the
active or passive voice is desirable.

The use of abbreviations, likewise, cannot be fixed by rule. In
general, only commonly used abbreviations, like “Dr.,” “Prof.,” “Mrs.,”
“Mr.,” “St.,” “Co.,” are to be found in headlines. In particular cases,
however, others are employed because they are convenient and clear.
In Boston, for example, “Tech” as an abbreviation for “Massachusetts
Institute of Technology,” is common, and the Boston _Herald_,
therefore, used it to advantage in the head:

|200 TECH MEN SEE |
| YULE LOG BLAZE|

During a long campaign for “immediate municipal ownership” in Chicago,
the newspapers of that city used almost daily the abbreviation “I.M.O.”
So “L” for “elevated railroad” is perfectly clear to readers in
New York, Boston, and Chicago. The names of states are not usually
abbreviated, although “U.S.” is frequent. Abbreviations like “auto,”
“taxi,” and “phone” are so general that they are used without question
in headlines.

Colloquial contractions like “can’t,” “we’re,” etc., although not
common, may give the life and naturalness often well suited to a story,
as for example in the following head:

In the first deck short words are preferred, because in rapid reading
they are more easily grasped than long ones, and because two or three
words in each part of the line make a better looking, more symmetrical
head. To meet the need for short equivalents for long words that are
generally accepted terms, new words have been coined and new functions
given to old ones. For the long noun “investigation” and the verb
“to investigate,” the words “probe” and “quiz” are favorites with
the headline writer, and are often used to excess. Long words like
“criticize,” “censure,” “rebuke” give way to shorter ones like “hit,”
“rap,” and “score.” The concise but inelegant “nab” is a headline
substitute for “arrest.” The verb “peril,” rarely used elsewhere,
appears in heads as an equivalent for “imperil” or “endanger,” as in
“Shipwreck Perils Many.” The verb “wed” is a convenient short form for
“marry.” Words condemned by good usage, such as “to suicide” and “to
kill self,” have found a place in the headlines of some newspapers
because of their clearness and brevity.

Slang, likewise, on account of its conciseness, novelty, and colloquial
character, is not infrequently found in heads, although some newspapers
have a rule against its use. If the slang word or phrase is put
in quotation marks, it is considered by some newspapers as less
objectionable. All that may be said for or against slang in newspapers
as a whole, applies with equal force to its use in heads. If the
question of good taste is involved in the use of a slang word, the safe
course is to avoid it.

Some newspapers have a rule that numerical figures should be put into
headlines only when they are absolutely necessary, an injunction that
implies a very limited use of them, whereas the general practice
clearly is to employ figures when they are the most effective means of
conveying the important facts. The advantage of figures is seen in the
following heads taken from representative newspapers:

(1)

|TO SELL 81 PICTURES |
| VALUED AT $2,000,000|

(2)

|5,000 WOMEN MARCH |
| IN SUFFRAGE PARADE|

(3)

(4)

Figures for numbers under ten appear less frequently in headlines,
particularly at the beginning of a deck, but again the practice in
regard to this usage is not uniform. Newspapers, like the New York
_Evening Post_, that have but one line in the top deck of their large
headlines, not infrequently use figures below ten at the beginning or
anywhere in the first deck. With the greater space of the drop-line
head it is easier to avoid small figures.

The division of words in headlines so that one syllable is in one part
of the deck and one in another part, is to be avoided. Similarly,
hyphenated words, or two words constituting a name or term each word
of which is not clear alone, should not be divided between parts of
the top deck. The following four heads illustrate these undesirable
divisions:

(1)

|TROOPS SOON TO EM- |
| BARK FOR PANAMA|

(2)

|CAMP PICKS ALL- |
| AMERICAN TEAM|

(3)

|CUT IN SCHEDULE |
| “K” IS PROBABLE|

(4)

|CURLERS PLAN BON |
| SPIEL IN MARCH|

The use of unemphatic words, like “of,” “to,” “for,” “and,” “but,”
“if,” “a,” “the,” at the end of parts of the top deck is not desirable,
as in this position they are given prominence and emphasis out of all
proportion to their importance. Typographical limitations and the
exigencies of rapid headline writing, however, result not infrequently
in their appearance in these positions. Whenever it is possible, they
should be avoided at the end of parts of the top deck.

=Punctuation.= Punctuation in headlines and subheads follows the
accepted rules. When marks are not absolutely necessary for clearness,
they should be omitted. In the first deck, and in cross-line heads,
independent sentences not connected by conjunctions are separated by
semicolons; for example:

In other decks dashes are usually used to separate independent
unconnected statements. Care should be taken to avoid a dash at the
end of one of the parts of a deck. The use of the dash is shown in the
following example:

Headline punctuation in various forms is illustrated in the heads given
below:

(1)

|GIVE UP WAR SPOILS? |
| “NO”, SHOUT CHINESE|

(2)

|“THEATRE ON FIRE!” |
| CRY ON BROADWAY|

(3)

(4)

|“GIVE BAD POLITICS |
| FRESH AIR”—WILSON|

(5)

|NED TODD, GAMBLER, DIES|

(6)

|WILL GIVE “PINAFORE” |
| WITH ALL-STAR CAST|

(7)

|ALL CITIZENS, BEWARE! |
| “HOLD-UP” MEN ARE OUT|

(8)

(9)

=Methods of Building Headlines.= The editor or copy-reader who is
constantly writing heads comes to think unconsciously in headline
units; that is, his daily practice makes it possible for him to frame
readily statements of the essential facts that will fulfill the
requirements of each deck of the head. Nevertheless, he always counts
the units to be sure that the number is correct. For the beginner the
process of building up the several decks of a typical headline is
analyzed at some length in the following pages, in order to demonstrate
the methods pursued.

The story selected for showing the process of headline writing has
been taken from the Chicago _Record-Herald_, which gave it a headline
constructed on the following plan:

The story for which the headline is to be written follows:

The city council finance committee last night unanimously agreed to
a proposition made by Mayor Harrison to have a committee of experts
decide each year how much money shall be spent in each ward for
street cleaning and garbage and refuse collection.

The mayor said the plan could not be adopted this year, as the
committee was engaged in making up the budget for 1912 and there
would not be time.

The suggestion of the mayor came during the annual “squabble” of the
committee over the ward appropriations. As usual every member was
contending for an increase.

“I’ll tell you, gentlemen,” suddenly broke in Mayor Harrison, “this
helter skelter method of making up ward appropriations should be
discontinued. It is a system that is out of date and one that works
an injustice on many sections of the city. I would suggest that we
have a commission or a committee of experts begin next year, about
three months before the committee begins making up the budget, and
work out a scientific plan for the proper distribution of the street
cleaning and garbage removal funds.”

“I’m with you there,” declared Aldermen Cermak and Egan in unison,
and every alderman around the table enthusiastically endorsed the
proposition.

The work of making the ward appropriations was continued after the
mayor’s suggestions and raises were granted along the line.

In editing this story of the meeting of the city council finance
committee, the copy-reader would get these four main points:

(1) Mayor Harrison’s proposal to the finance committee in regard to
the allotment of ward funds was approved.

(2) His plan is to have experts decide the division on a scientific
basis.

(3) The new method cannot be put into operation until next year on
account of lack of time.

(4) The fight, or “squabble,” among the aldermen on this matter has
been an annual one.

As the subject of the story is the “ward funds,” the headline may be
constructed around these words. The words “ward fund” contain 9½ units,
and the plural “ward funds,” 10½ units, which, on the basis of 18 units
to be filled in each half of the first deck, will leave 7½ or 8½ units
to be filled, according as the singular or plural form of “fund” is
used. If a verb is desired for the first half deck, the “dividing” or
“allotting” of the fund expresses the idea involved; and, since the
action is in the future, “to divide” or “to allot” (8 units each),
or “will divide” or “will allot” (10 units each), are possibilities.
The combination of these elements gives “To Allot Ward Fund” (18½
units) and “To Divide Ward Fund” (18½ units), either of which may be
used for the first half of the top deck. This deck may be completed
in the second half by introducing the second point; namely, that the
allotment is to be made “On a Scientific Basis” (19 units), which can
be reduced to 17 units by omitting the article “a.” The result will
then be as follows:

|TO DIVIDE WARD FUND | 18½ unit letters
| ON SCIENTIFIC BASIS| 17 unit letters

Or the second point may be used in the form of the allotment’s being
made “with the aid of experts” (22½ units), which may be reduced to 18½
units by omitting the article “the.” The resulting combination will be:

|TO ALLOT WARD FUND | 18½ unit letters
| WITH AID OF EXPERTS| 18½ unit letters

If it is desired to emphasize the fact that the mayor has solved the
ward fund problem, or has ended the “grab,” or settled the “squabble,”
or dispute, or fight, these phrases may be arranged in the following
forms:

(1)

|WARD FUND PROBLEM | 18 units
| IS SOLVED BY MAYOR| 18 units

(2)

|WARD FUND SQUABBLE | 18½ units
| IS SETTLED BY MAYOR| 19 units

(3)

|FIGHT FOR WARD FUND | 19 units
| IS ENDED BY MAYOR| 17 units

(4)

|GRAB FOR WARD FUND | 18½ units
| IS STOPPED BY MAYOR| 19 units

Still greater prominence can be given to the mayor by putting the word
at the beginning of the first half of the first deck, but by so doing
the real subject, that is, the ward fund division or wrangle, must go
over into the second half. In this arrangement the forms would be:

(1)

|MAYOR HAS SETTLED | 17 units
| WARD FUND WRANGLE| 18 units

(2)

|MAYOR PUTS AN END | 17½ units
| TO WARD FUND SCRAP| 18½ units

(3)

|MAYOR’S PLAN SOLVES| 19 units
| WARD FUND PROBLEM| 18 units

If more emphasis is desired for the point that experts are to settle
or decide the ward fund division or fight, these statements may be
combined as follows, but again the real subject, by going into the
second half of the deck, is less conspicuous:

(1)

|EXPERTS WILL DECIDE | 18½ units
| WARD FUND DIVISION| 17 units

(2)

|EXPERTS WILL SETTLE | 19 units
| FIGHT FOR WARD FUND| 19 units

These various forms for the top deck show some of the possibilities
of variety of emphasis and tone in the headline. As the first half of
the top deck is more conspicuous than the second, the most significant
part of the statement should, if possible, be placed in the first half.
Consequently those forms in which the idea of the allotting or dividing
of the ward funds is placed first, would generally be preferred.
The words “squabble,” “scrap,” and “grab,” although colloquial and
inelegant, might be admissible to characterize effectively the
situation growing out of the efforts of each alderman to get the most
for his own ward, if the circumstances of the dispute were undignified.

The other decks of the headline for this story may be constructed to
follow any one of these top decks, but, for convenience, only two of
the top decks will be used for illustration. If the one chosen is “To
Divide Ward Fund On Scientific Basis,” it may be developed by the other
points already given (page 296); that is, (1) The mayor’s proposal was
approved by the finance committee; (2) The division is to be made by
experts; (3) The method cannot be put into operation until next year
for lack of time; and (4) the fight on the matter has been an annual
one. The second deck of ten words should explain the “scientific basis”
of division and give the action of the finance committee by which this
plan was determined upon, both of which points may be stated in the
following forms:

The third deck, which, because of the size of type, is next in
prominence to the top deck, should contain the mayor’s part in the
solution, and within the limits of 23 unit letters, this may be
expressed in the following forms:

(1)

PROPOSAL MADE BY MAYOR| 23 units

(2)

MAYOR PROPOSES SOLUTION| 23 units

(3)

PLAN IS OFFERED BY MAYOR| 24 units

(4)

MAYOR ENDS THE SQUABBLE| 23½ units

(5)

MAYOR PROPOSES THE PLAN| 23½ units

If the third or fifth forms are used, they should not be combined with
the second form, “Plan To Let Experts, etc.,” suggested for the second
deck, because of the repetition of the word “plan.”

For the fourth deck the idea that the dispute is an annual one, and,
if not already used, the point that the plan is going into effect next
year, may both be expressed within the limits, which are the same as
those for the second deck, as follows:

In complete form with one of each of these possibilities chosen to
avoid repetition, the head will read:

If the first deck chosen is one of the forms in which the part played
by the mayor in the solution of the problem is emphasized, the other
three decks could be so composed as to include the other points,
without repetition, as follows:

=Subheads.= Besides writing headlines for stories, the copy-reader
inserts subheads at intervals to break up the solid masses of type
which are unrelieved except by paragraph division. These subheads make
possible more rapid reading.

The subhead, which is set up either in bold face capitals or in bold
face capitals and lower case, is like a cross-line head that does not
fill the entire column width. The subhead should be an announcement in
three or four words of the most significant point in the section of the
story which it precedes. The same limitation as to the number of units
exists as in any cross-line head. In a story of some length subheads
are placed at intervals of about 200 words, and in shorter stories at
intervals of from 100 to 150 words. The insertion of these subheads
at comparatively regular intervals makes for symmetry of effect.
Significant matter in the story, or an important change of topic,
warrants a subhead, regardless of the regularity of the interval. It
is generally considered preferable not to place a subhead immediately
after a sentence ending with a colon and introducing a quotation,
because the subhead interrupts the quotation and appears to be part of
it. This difficulty can usually be avoided by placing the subhead just
before the introductory sentence, thus:

=Jump-Heads.= When a story is continued from one page to another,
a head called a jump-head, or “run-over” head, is placed above the
continuation. This jump-head may be either the top deck of the head at
the beginning set in the same type or in smaller type, or it may be a
new head. Examples of jump-heads follow:

(1) _First Page Head_

(2) _Jump-Head on Third Page_

(1) _Top Deck of First Page Head_

(2) _Jump-Head on Fourth Page_

|EXPRESS BEATEN |
| BY PARCELS POST|
| ————— |
+————————————————————+
| (Continued from |
| first page.) |
+————————————————————+

=Big Heads.= In this discussion only one column heads have been
considered, but the same general principles apply to the construction
of headlines extending over any number of columns. Important news may
be given a head of one, two, or three parts extending across the whole
front page. Such a head is often called a “banner.”

SUGGESTIONS

1. Get the important facts of the story clearly and accurately in mind
before writing the head.

2. Study carefully each kind of headline to find out its possibilities
and limitations.

3. Give the story a headline proportionate in size to its importance.

4. Base the head as far as possible on the facts in the lead.

5. Have the tone of the head in keeping with that of the story.

6. Don’t make the head a comment on the news.

7. Avoid trite, hackneyed words or phrases.

8. Make the statement in each deck clear, concise, and specific.

9. Put the most significant fact into the first deck.

10. Use short, specific words in the first deck.

11. Count the unit letters and spaces in every deck.

12. Don’t try to crowd in more units than the space will permit.

13. Don’t fill out a short line with weak words.

14. Make clear the relation of the statement of each deck to that in
the preceding deck.

15. Use only such abbreviations as are commonly to be found in heads.

16. Omit articles and unnecessary auxiliary verbs whenever it is
possible.

17. Punctuate only when clearness requires it.

18. Use figures when they are the significant facts.

19. Avoid repetition of words other than connectives.

20. Use the present tense of the verb for past events and the
infinitive or future tense for coming ones.

21. Keep the tenses uniform throughout the head.

22. Avoid libelous statements.

PRACTICE WORK

Criticize the following heads and rewrite each, retaining as far as
possible the ideas and point of view of the original:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

CHAPTER XII

PROOF-READING

=How Proof is Corrected.= After copy has been set up in type, the
type is put into a long, narrow metal tray called a “galley.” On a
small hand or power press a printed sheet of each galley is made, or
“pulled,” called a “proof,” or “galley proof.” To “pull a galley proof”
is to make a printed copy of the type in the tray.

Each “proof” is carefully compared with the copy so that errors made
by compositors or operators in setting up the copy in type may be
discovered and corrected. On large newspapers the proof is corrected
by proof-readers employed for the purpose, and the proof-reading room
is connected with the composing room. Each proof-reader is assisted by
a copy-holder who reads in a monotone everything in the copy including
punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing, so that the proof-reader
may see whether or not the printed form corresponds exactly to the
copy. In smaller offices editors and reporters read proof, comparing
the printed form with the copy only when it is necessary. Every one who
writes for publication should know how to correct proof, so that he may
be able to do this work quickly and accurately when occasion demands it.

By the use of a few marks and signs it is easy to indicate clearly just
how proof is to be changed and corrected. The least possible change
should be made because every correction means a loss of time. When
linotypes are used, every change makes necessary the recasting of one
whole line at least, while when monotypes are used, each piece of type
must be handled separately. Accordingly, when one or more words have
been inadvertently omitted and must be inserted, effort is made to cut
out other words of about the same length and not absolutely necessary
in the same line, in the preceding line, or in the following one, so
that not more than one or two lines will have to be recast or reset to
make room for the added words. Likewise, when one or more words must
be taken out, others should be inserted in the same line or adjoining
lines to fill up the space.

As in the editing of copy, so in the correcting of proof, the
changes should be indicated in a manner that makes unmistakable to
the compositor the exact character of the modifications. Confused
correction of proof, like poor editing of copy, causes loss of time and
increases the probability of error.

Errors in proof are most readily detected if a card is used to cover
all lines except the one that is being corrected. The card is moved
down from line to line as each is read and corrected. By having but one
line before him at a time and by scrutinizing sharply every word, the
reader more readily catches any errors.

=Marks used in Correcting Proof.= The proof-reading signs and marks,
grouped according to their use, are as follows:

_Paragraphing_

[Illustration: Begin a new paragraph.]

[Illustration: Don’t begin a new paragraph.]

[Illustration: Make one element follow the other in the same line.]

_Spacing_

[Illustration: Correct uneven spacing between words.]

[Illustration: Put in space.]

[Illustration: Reduce the space.]

[Illustration: Close up by taking out all the spacing.]

[Illustration: Close up but leave some space.]

[Illustration: Push down a space that prints.]

[Illustration: Put in thin spaces between letters, i.e., “letter
space.”]

_Position_

[Illustration: Move to the left.]

[Illustration: Move to the right.]

[Illustration: Move up.]

[Illustration: Move down.]

[Illustration: Indent one em.]

[Illustration: Make lines parallel.]

[Illustration: Make letter align.]

[Illustration: Turn over element that is upside down.]

[Illustration: Transpose order of words, letters, or figures.]

_Kind of Type_

[Illustration: Change to Roman type.]

[Illustration: Change to Italic type.]

[Illustration: Change to capital letter.]

[Illustration: Change to small capital letter.]

[Illustration: Change to lower case, or small, letters.]

[Illustration: Change to black, or bold face type.]

[Illustration: Substitute type from regular font for that of wrong
font.]

[Illustration: Substitute perfect for imperfect type.]

_Punctuation_

[Illustration: Insert period.]

[Illustration: Insert comma.]

[Illustration: Insert semi-colon.]

[Illustration: Insert colon.]

[Illustration: Insert apostrophe.]

[Illustration: Insert double quotation marks.]

[Illustration: Insert single quotation marks.]

[Illustration: Put in one-em dash.]

[Illustration: Put in two-em dash.]

[Illustration: Put in hyphen.]

[Illustration: Put in question mark.]

[Illustration: Put in exclamation point.]

_Insertion and Omission_

[Illustration: Put in element indicated in margin at place shown by
caret.]

[Illustration: Take out element indicated.]

[Illustration: Don’t make change indicated; let it stand as it is.]

[Illustration: A line of dots is placed under the element that is to
remain as it is.]

_Uncertainty_

[Illustration: Look this up to see whether or not it is correct.]

[Illustration: See what has been omitted in proof by comparing with
the copy.]

_Abbreviation_

[Illustration: Substitute full form for abbreviation.]

[Illustration: Substitute numerical figures.]

The signs used to indicate changes should always be placed in the
margin of the proof-sheets, and only those marks that show what
elements are to be changed should be put in or between the lines of
the proof-sheets. The marks in the printed lines and the signs in the
margin are often joined by a line to show the connection between them.
If this is not done, the signs for the corrections in each line are
arranged in the margin in the order in which the marks indicating the
elements to be changed appear in the printed line, each sign being set
off by a line slanting from right to left. How proof is corrected is
shown in the following example:

[Illustration]

SUGGESTIONS

1. Read proof word by word.

2. Cover with a card all lines following the one being read.

3. Always compare with copy all names, figures, and unusual terms.

4. Put all correction signs in the margin of proof.

5. Indicate clearly the element to be changed.

6. Make changes and corrections so that they cannot be misunderstood.

7. Watch for errors in punctuation.

8. Be on the lookout for omission of quotation marks.

9. Put in one or more words to fill space created by taking out other
words.

10. Take out one or more words to make room for those inserted.

11. Make only such changes as are absolutely necessary.

12. Read proof accurately and rapidly.

CHAPTER XIII

MAKING UP THE PAPER

=Importance of the “Make-Up.”= Although the editing of a newspaper is
often regarded as completed when the managing editor has passed upon
the proofs of all the matter that the newspaper is to contain, yet
the arranging of this material on the several pages, the so-called
“making up,” still remains to be done under the direction of one of
the editors. The arrangement, or “make-up,” particularly of the front
page, plays a very important part in the success of the newspaper. To
display the important news of the day in the most effective way is to
attract readers. What has been said elsewhere of the advertising value
of headlines applies equally to the “make-up.” The best arrangement
is that in which the important news stands out prominently, and
can therefore be most easily read. A symmetrical balancing of the
headlines, half-tones, and cartoons adds greatly to the attractiveness
and readableness of the newspaper. Although the average reader does not
analyze this element any more than he does any of the other elements of
the newspaper that he reads daily, still the “make-up” doubtless leaves
an impression upon him.

=How the “Make-Up” Varies.= Newspaper practice regarding make-up varies
as greatly as it does in the case of headlines. The seven-column
page is still the normal type, but the eight-column page is rapidly
superseding it, because the narrower columns and margins make possible
a considerable saving in paper. Some papers like the New York _Sun_,
the New York _Evening Post_, the Chicago _Daily News_, and the
Springfield (Mass.) _Republican_, follow a very simple plan of placing
large heads at the top of alternate columns, and of having small heads
on all the other stories on the front page, so that the four top heads
in the first, third, fifth, and last columns are the only ones that
stand out prominently. Other papers, like the Chicago _Tribune_, put
a three-column cartoon in the fourth, fifth, and sixth columns, an
arrangement which makes possible large heads in the first, third and
last columns and somewhat smaller heads of several decks in the fourth
and sixth columns under the cartoon. Still other papers, keeping to the
general scheme of alternate columns for large heads, use one-, two-,
three-, or four-column cuts of people, places, or events that figure in
the news, at the top of the columns and then use slightly smaller heads
under these cuts. Two-column heads in the first and second columns are
often balanced with two-column heads in the sixth and seventh columns.
Some newspapers have practically abandoned the symmetrical arrangement
of the front page, and spread headlines in black, red, or green ink,
and cuts over the front page in a way that seems to have no other
purpose than to produce as bizarre an effect as possible.

=Principle of Contrast.= The two general principles that underlie the
make-up are those of contrast and symmetry. Large heads are alternated
at the top of the column with smaller heads so that the large heads
will stand out in contrast with the other columns of less prominence.
Two or more large heads side by side at the top of the columns do not
stand out with as marked effect as when they alternate with smaller
heads or no heads at all at the tops of the columns. The same is true
when cuts or cartoons serve to furnish the contrast. With heads not
at the top of the columns, effort is made to secure contrast by some
form of alternation. A careful study of a number of papers will show
a variety of ways in which the principle of contrast determines the
arrangement of material on each page.

=Principle of Symmetry.= That this alternation of the prominent and the
less prominent should be closely related to symmetry in arrangement, is
evident. In the seven-column form, which is the usual one, the large
heads in alternate columns produce a naturally symmetrical effect.
When somewhat smaller heads are used lower down on the page, a similar
alternation continues to carry out the symmetry. Large two-column
heads in the first and second and in the sixth and seventh columns,
or smaller two-column ones in the second and third and in the fifth
and sixth columns, produce an even balance. In an eight-column page,
in which this regular alternation is impossible, some symmetry is
often maintained by means of cuts. Many papers do not attempt to have
perfect balance on the front page, because of the desire to have the
daily cartoon or a cut at the top of the right half of the page where
it will attract most attention. Usually when symmetry is sacrificed,
the regularity of arrangement is departed from by putting the largest
heads, or the illustrations, on the right half of the front page.

=Positions of Prominence.= The most important news is generally put
in the last column to the right on the first page. This is done for
two reasons: first, because a long story in this column can run
on continuously to the first column of the second page without a
jump-head; and second, because, as the papers are laid out on the news
stand, the right side of the paper is prominently displayed. This fact
accounts for the placing of cuts and cartoons on the right side. If
there are two very important stories carrying larger heads than usual,
the one second in importance is put into the first column, partly for
symmetry and partly for the reason that, as the paper is read, the
first column is prominent. In fact, some papers, especially those that
do not count much on street sales, put the most important news in the
first column in preference to the last. On all pages except the front
one, the first column is usually considered the best.

=“Breaking Over” Front Page Stories.= In order to preserve the
alternation of large heads with smaller ones on the front page, as
well as to get as much of the most important news as possible on this
page, long stories with large heads are continued from the first page
to one of the inside pages. One column of these stories, or often only
one-half or two-thirds of a column, is put on the first page, according
to the make-up of the lower half of the page, and the remaining part is
put with a jump-head on an inside page. When a story is “broken over”
from the front page, a dash or rule is put at the end, with the words
“Continued on third page” beneath, if the break is at the end of a
column; and a dash, or rule, and these words followed by another rule
are used if the break is not at the end of a column, the purpose of the
second rule being to set off the explanation “Continued on third page,”
from the following matter. The jump-heads, as was shown in Chapter XI,
are of several kinds: (1) a reproduction of the whole of the original
head, (2) a reproduction of the top deck of the original head, or (3)
an entirely new head, usually in smaller type than the original one.

=Grouping News.= Various kinds and forms of news matter are grouped
in various ways. Local, state, national, and foreign news is often
arranged each kind on a separate page, as is also the society, the
sporting, and the market news. Short one-paragraph news stories,
usually with one line of type for a head, are often assembled under
such heads as “City News In Brief,” “News of the State,” “Sporting
Gossip,” and are arranged in order of size, the smallest being put
first, or vice versa. The society news is also frequently arranged in
order of size, the longest stories being put at the beginning. In some
papers, the heading of these one-paragraph stories, instead of being
a separate line, forms a part of the first line of the story and is
separated by a dash from the beginning of the story, which fills the
remaining third or quarter of the first line.

=The “Make-Up” Page by Page.= The pages that contain little or no live
news matter are made up as far as possible in advance of the first
edition of the paper so that they will be out of the way when the news
pages are to be arranged. The editorial page, and special pages such as
the woman’s page, the theatrical page, the continued story or feature
page, can usually be made up, stereotyped, and put on the press ready
for printing before the news pages are made up. The first page is, as
a rule, made up last, so that all of the very latest news may be given
a prominent place. Evening papers that make a special feature of the
financial and market page, make up that page last in order to print the
closing quotations of the day and to get the papers out on the street
as soon as possible after the closing hour of the exchanges.

=The Man Who “Makes Up.”= The actual work of arranging the type in
the page forms is done by the make-up men of the composing room under
the direction of one of the editors. On some newspapers the managing
editor directs the make-up, on others the assistant managing editor,
and on still others the night editor, or the news editor. With a set
of proofs at hand the editor directing the make-up indicates where
all the important stories and cuts are to be placed, and then usually
allows the make-up men to fill in the shorter matter with the smaller
heads. The experienced editor can picture in his mind the appearance of
the first page in print, as he directs the arrangement of the masses of
type and the cuts. A diagram, or schedule, is usually made out by the
editor in advance to indicate the position of the most important news
and cuts.

=“Making Up” Different Editions.= As every large newspaper prints
several editions, the page forms, after being stereotyped, are returned
to the composing room to be made over for the next edition. On a
morning paper the first edition, intended for places at a considerable
distance, is made up to leave the composing room about 9.30 in the
evening. A second mail edition follows this at about 11.30 P.M.,
another at 1.30 A.M., and the regular city edition at about 2.30 or
3.30 A.M.

On an afternoon paper the first edition may be made up at 6 o’clock in
the morning, and other editions may follow at intervals of about two
hours throughout the day. Generally, however, the noon edition, made up
about 10.30, is the first. This is followed by a mail edition made up
at about 12.30; by the home edition for distribution by carriers made
up at 2.30; and by the market edition made up at about 3.15, or as soon
as the closing quotations are received from the leading exchanges all
over the country. The sporting extra, following the market edition,
is made up the instant the complete score is received of the baseball
game in which the local team played, or whenever the result of the
most important sporting event of the day is announced. Following the
sporting edition, many afternoon papers get out a special mail edition,
dated the following morning, for distribution to distant points in
competition with the earliest mail edition of the morning papers.

In making up the several editions, it is desirable to change as few
pages as possible in order to save time and to avoid additional
stereotyping. When arranging the news on the inside pages for the first
edition, the editor can make up some of the news pages so that they
need not be made over for several editions at least. The front page is
made over for each edition and usually one or two inside pages. As the
value of news changes considerably in the five or six hours between the
first and the last editions, the longer stories with large heads that
occupy prominent places on the front page in the earlier editions are
often cut down, given smaller heads, and put in less conspicuous places
when later news requires the best position. Front-page stories of the
first editions often go over into the inside pages with headlines
unchanged, sometimes with the story cut down and sometimes in the
original form. Often only the top deck of the head is rewritten to be
set in smaller type, and one or two of the decks are cut off to reduce
the size and prominence of the head.

=Composing-Room Terms.= In the composing-room the editor in charge of
the make-up finds a number of technical terms in common use in addition
to those pertaining to type that are explained in Chapter X.

When all the “takes,” or pieces, of copy have been given out to the
linotype operators or compositors, the copy is said to be “all in
hand”; when it is all in type, or all set, it is said to be “all up.”
Each operator puts a “slug” containing his number at the beginning of
matter that he sets as his take. Advertisements are set in the part of
the composing-room known as the “ad alley.” Matter set by hand or on a
linotype machine is arranged by “bank men” in proper order in galleys
on a “bank,” or sloping shelf. After type has been used or has been
killed, it is “distributed” by hand, letter by letter, into the cases.
Linotype slugs, and usually all type smaller than 12-point that is
cast on a monotype, are thrown into the “hell-box” to be taken to the
stereotyping-room and melted up, so that the metal can be used again.

Page forms are made up on the “stone,” a smooth table top, formerly of
stone, now of metal. Forms are “justified” to make all of the columns
exactly the same length by inserting leads here and there between the
lines when a column is too short, and by taking out a few leads when
it is too long. After being “justified,” the forms are “planed down,”
or leveled, with a “planer,” or wooden block, which is tapped with a
mallet to force all type and cuts down to the level surface of the
stone. Type that does not stand squarely on its base is said to be “off
its feet.” The forms are “locked” by means of screws, or of wedges
known as “quoins.” After the first page form is thus “closed,” it may
have to be “ripped open” for late news. The forms are “put away” when
they are sent to the stereotyping-room.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Observe carefully the “make-up” of representative newspapers in
different parts of the country.

2. Study the “make-up” of your own paper.

3. Display the important news in a conspicuous position on the front
page.

4. Arrange the front page to secure as much symmetry as possible.

5. Put the most important news story in the last, or outside, column of
the first page.

6. Place the second best story in the first column of the front page.

7. Break over into the inside pages front-page stories of more than a
column in length.

8. Alternate large and small heads at the top of the columns for
contrast.

9. Remember that the upper right hand quarter of the first page is the
most conspicuous.

10. Group on separate pages market, society, sporting, state, foreign,
and other distinct kinds of news.

11. See that all guide lines are taken out when the type is assembled
in the form.

12. Don’t use any matter before it is “released.”

13. Have some good two or three line “fillers” on hand.

14. Don’t “hold over” or “kill” really live news matter.

15. Remember that the number of street sales depends considerably upon
the “make-up” of the front page.

CHAPTER XIV

THE FUNCTION OF THE NEWSPAPER

=The Newspaper Worker and His Work.= Any discussion of newspaper
writing and editing would be incomplete if it did not consider the
function of the newspaper and the relation of the newspaper worker to
that function. In this presentation of methods of newspaper making
the object has been to explain and to exemplify current practices in
journalism rather than to discuss the ultimate purpose and results of
such methods. It is evident, however, that unless the reporter and the
editor, consciously or unconsciously, set up for themselves ideals
based on their conception of the function of the newspaper, they have
no standards by which to measure the character of their work. Merely
to accept existing methods without analyzing them to determine their
results, is to overlook their underlying purpose. Not until a reporter
or an editor realizes the effect that his news story or his headline
produces upon the opinions, and hence upon the lives, of the thousands
of persons who read it, does he appreciate the full significance of
his work. Ideals and standards for any kind of work appeal much more
strongly to the average worker when he knows the ultimate effect of
what he is doing.

=The Newspaper and the Community.= Like all other undertakings, public
and private, newspaper making tends to conform to the current ideals
and tastes of the community. As far as it is a private business
enterprise, it is influenced by the conditions and the practices
prevailing in the business world. As a medium of information and
publicity, it is measured by the standards of the community in which it
circulates. It is a product of its environment, and at the same time it
is a force in creating that environment.

Conditions in newspaper making to-day are the outgrowth of the
journalism of preceding generations. The changes that have produced
these conditions are to a considerable extent the results of social,
political, and economic forces. A brief survey of the development of
newspaper editing and publishing, with special reference to present
problems in journalism, will help to a better understanding of the
function of the newspaper of to-day.

=Growth of the Business Element.= In the last seventy-five years
in this country, the editing and the managing of newspapers have
undergone a significant development. From being a comparatively simple
undertaking, newspaper publishing has become a big, complex, highly
organized enterprise. In 1835 it was possible for one man, James Gordon
Bennett, Sr., to start the New York _Herald_ with a cash capital of
$500, and to perform the greater part of the work connected with its
publication, for the owner-editor’s duties ranged from editorial
writing to keeping books, from gathering police news to making out
bills, and from commenting on conditions in Wall Street to writing
advertisements. The first instance of ownership of a newspaper by an
incorporated stock company came ten years later when Horace Greeley
and Thomas M’Elrath, editor and business manager respectively of the
New York _Tribune_, decided to share their personal ownership of that
paper with five assistant editors and with the five employees of the
business and mechanical departments who had been connected with the
_Tribune_ for the longest time. This joint ownership plan Greeley
and his assistants hoped would in time result in the “still further
application of the general principle that the workman should be his
own employer and director, and should receive the full reward of
his labor.” The amount raised by this stock company, $100,000, was
considered at that time a very large sum to be devoted to newspaper
publishing. How rapidly the conditions of newspaper making changed
is shown by the fact that less than thirty years after the New York
_Tribune_ was incorporated with its shares at $100 each, these shares
sold for as much as $10,000 each, and in 1869, less than thirty-five
years after the New York _Herald_ began with $500 cash capital, Bennett
refused an offer of $2,000,000 for his paper. Within the lifetime of
these two great editor-publishers newspaper making had become a big
business enterprise.

=Newspapers Require Large Capital.= During the last quarter of a
century the amount of capital required for success in newspaper
publishing has been further increased by the need for huge presses,
expensive linotypes and other type-casting machines, and more elaborate
stereotyping apparatus, as well as for better news service, new special
features, and more numerous illustrations. Expensive additions to the
mechanical equipment and other exigencies often make it necessary for
the newspaper company, like other business enterprises, to secure
financial assistance by borrowing considerable sums from banks.
Such has become the magnitude of the business side of the newspaper
that ownership by stock companies is the rule to-day instead of the
exception as it was in 1845. Not infrequently the majority of the stock
of a newspaper is held by one man or in one family, and one person,
often known as the publisher-owner, directs the publishing. In large
cities the amount of capital required to establish and maintain a
daily newspaper is so great that the publisher-owner must be a man of
considerable wealth. Stock in newspaper companies, however, is not
held exclusively by those directly connected with the paper. From the
point of view of the stockholders of a newspaper company, who are not
directly connected with the newspaper and who are interested in it
largely if not entirely as an investment, the important consideration
is that the newspaper shall be profitable, that dividends shall be
adequate and regular. In short, newspaper publishing has become a
large business undertaking subject to the conditions of big business
enterprises.

=Increase in Advertising.= Another important factor in newspaper
publication, that has developed in the last twenty-five years almost
step by step with the increased cost, has been the remarkable growth
of newspaper advertising. With growing combination and competition in
business, managers of great retail stores discovered that daily news
of their establishments, in the form of description of new goods,
bargains, and special prices and sales, was read by many with as much
interest as were other kinds of news. Newspaper advertising of this
kind has proved very profitable both to the advertiser and to the paper.

Half-page, full-page, and even two-page advertisements of department
stores and other retail business concerns have necessitated an increase
in the size of regular editions of daily papers from eight pages
to twelve, sixteen, or twenty-four pages. The number of classified
advertisements, such as “want ads,” has also increased greatly within
recent years. The large revenues from all forms of advertising have
made it possible to give the reader a better paper as well as a bigger
one, and at the same time to reduce the price generally from three or
five cents to one or two cents a copy. The reduction in price, in turn,
has resulted in remarkable gains in circulation. Whereas a generation
ago 50,000 copies daily was considered a very large circulation,
we now have newspapers printing daily editions of from 150,000 to
900,000 copies. Thus, although the cost of producing the newspaper has
constantly increased, the price to the reader has been reduced.

The result of these readjustments has been that from two thirds to
three quarters of the cost of maintaining a newspaper comes from the
advertising, and only from one quarter to one third from subscriptions
and sales. This means that when a man buys a penny paper, he is buying
for one cent what it costs three or four cents to produce, and that the
difference between the cost and the price he pays is paid for by the
advertisers.

=Decline of Personal Journalism.= Coincident with the change in the
financial organization of newspapers, significant changes have taken
place in the editing of them. Two generations ago the owner-editor who
established a newspaper with a limited amount of capital, as Greeley
did the _Tribune_, was the real head of his paper, who expressed
vigorously his own opinions in its editorial columns. Personal
journalism, as the expression of the political, social, and economic
beliefs of great editors, like Greeley, Bennett, Bowles, Raymond, Dana,
and Godkin, was an important influence in American life. These men
were recognized as leaders. The opinions set forth in their editorials
were accepted by readers as significant contributions to the solution
of current problems. In short, it was a period of great editorial
leadership.

With the development of the telegraph, the telephone, and the railroad
mail service, and with the expansion of the nation and its interests,
the amount of news available for publication increased many fold.
Distance, once a formidable obstacle to newsgathering, practically
ceased to exist when news could be flashed in a few minutes from
one end of the world to the other. The news field was enlarged from
the city and its suburbs to include the whole earth. The newspaper
became truly a paper of news, a budget of facts rather than a medium
for expressing the editor’s opinions. As a purveyor of the news, it
increased in circulation and prosperity. With an ample supply of facts
upon which to base their opinions, the readers no longer needed to
accept opinions ready-made from the editor. With greater independence
in thinking and in voting on the part of the reading public the
editorial leadership of the newspapers declined. At present the three
or four columns of editorials are relatively unimportant as compared
with the ten or twelve pages of news. To-day the names of the editors
are unknown to the majority of the readers. Company ownership has
contributed toward minimizing the opportunities of personal editorship,
until now it is said that personal journalism, in the old sense of the
term, has all but ceased to exist in this country.

=Wars Develop Newspapers.= In the gathering of news and in the
effective presenting of it, the two most important influences have
been the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The great demand from
readers of all classes for the latest reports from the front during
the War of the Rebellion was a great stimulus to newspaper editors
and publishers. The beginning of the present summary “lead,” and of
the long bulletin form of headline for news stories, is to be found
in connection with the telegraph dispatches of war news. The advent
of “yellow journalism,” especially in New York City, coincided with
the breaking-out of the Spanish-American War. Big headlines, and news
displayed in larger type, served to advertise the latest reports,
which the public eagerly sought. The climax of large headlines is
found in two metropolitan newspapers which announced the declaration
of hostilities with the single word “WAR,” spread over the whole of
the front page. Banner heads in red and black, and large headlines two
and three columns in width, that are now not uncommon in newspapers
as a means of advertising the news, had their beginning in the
Spanish-American War days.

=The Growth of Cities.= The growth in the population of cities, partly
as a result of the movement from the country to the city, and partly
as a result of immigration, has made possible large increases in
newspaper circulation. New papers have not been established generally
to meet this growth in population; existing papers, rather, have
added to the number of their readers. The result has been that a few
large papers are to be found in all the big cities of the country
rather than an ever-increasing number of small ones. In great centres
of population, like New York and Chicago, the influx of foreign
immigrants has also been a factor in the development of so-called
“yellow journalism.” With a limited knowledge of the English language
and of American institutions, this foreign element has been attracted
by large, striking headlines, sensational news stories, diagrammatic
illustrations, and well-displayed editorials, and has become a
considerable part of the total number of readers of the “yellow
journals.”

=The Development of Features.= Hand in hand with the remarkable growth
of advertising in newspapers has gone the development of important
features in the editing of them. The success of department store
advertisements, for example, depends to a considerable extent on the
number of women readers. To secure and retain these readers, newspapers
have, accordingly, developed a number of features primarily intended
for women. Fashion news, cooking and household recipes, discussions
of etiquette, articles on health and beauty, advice in affairs of the
heart, society news, reports of women’s clubs, and similar subjects
have been given greater space from year to year because of the
constantly growing importance of women readers as a factor in the
business success of the newspaper.

The increase in the amount of advertising has made possible also the
expansion, in size and scope, of the Sunday paper. Special articles,
fiction, humor, and illustrations in black and colors, fill special
supplements, magazine sections, and “comics.” In fact, aside from the
news sections, the reading matter in Sunday newspapers has become
practically identical in character with that of the popular weekly and
monthly magazines.

Reading matter the primary purpose of which is entertainment rather
than information has always had a place in daily papers. Despite the
great increase in the amount of news available, this kind of material
has not been crowded out. The daily short story, a chapter of a serial
novel, feature articles, humor in verse and prose, and similar forms
of entertaining reading matter are a recognized part of every issue of
many newspapers in all parts of the country.

The perfecting of photo-engraving processes, by which half-tone
illustrations and zinc etchings can be made rapidly at relatively small
cost, has added another important feature to the newspaper. Photographs
of persons, places, and events that appear in the day’s news are now
quickly reproduced by the newspaper half-tone. Cartoons printed by
means of zinc etchings occupy a prominent place in many papers.

=Aims of the Newspaper.= The present-day newspaper, as a result of this
evolution, undertakes to accomplish five ends: (1) to furnish news,
(2) to interpret the news and to discuss current issues, (3) to give
useful information and practical advice, (4) to supply entertaining
reading matter, and (5) to serve as an advertising medium. The
primary purpose of the newspaper is undoubtedly to furnish news and
editorial discussions; the secondary one to supply useful information
and entertaining reading matter. These results, however, can be
accomplished with the present small cost to the reader only by reason
of the fact that the newspaper is a valuable purveyor of advertising
publicity.

The interrelation between the advertising matter and the other contents
of the newspaper is a vital one. The value of newspaper advertisements
is determined by the number and the character of the persons who
read the “ads,” that is, by the circulation of the newspaper. The
circulation, in turn, depends on the amount and the character of the
news and other features of the newspaper. Increases in circulation
make possible higher advertising rates, and higher rates produce
larger revenues from advertisements. The greater income received from
advertising and circulation is generally used to increase and improve
the reading matter. Decreases in advertising revenues usually mean
retrenchment in expenses and a reduction of reading matter. If this
reduction in news and other features of the newspaper is marked, the
paper will lose readers. Advertising, circulation, and the character of
the contents of a newspaper are thus closely bound up with one another.

=Recognition of Its Public Function.= That in its primary purpose,
of furnishing the news of the day with an interpretation of it and a
discussion of current issues, the newspaper is a public institution,
has been recognized from earliest times both in this country and
abroad. Although the American newspaper has at all times been a
private enterprise, its public function has always been emphasized.
In guaranteeing the freedom of the press, the framers of the first
amendments to the Constitution realized that it is necessary in
a democracy to have full information and free discussion on all
questions, social, economic, and political. They believed as did Milton
when he wrote, in his great defense of liberty of the press addressed
to the English Parliament at the very dawn of English journalism,
“Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity must be much
arguing, much writing, many opinions, for opinion in good men is but
knowledge in the making.”

The responsibility of the press to the public has been repeatedly
emphasized. In condemning the appointment of editors to public office
as a means of securing their support, Daniel Webster, in 1832,
declared: “In popular governments, a free press is the most important
of all agents and instruments. The conductors of the press, in popular
governments, occupy a place in the social and political system of
highest consequence. They wear the character of public instructors.”

That the newspapers are the teachers of the people has been reiterated
on the platform, in the pulpit, and in the newspapers themselves.
Wendell Phillips, a generation ago, in speaking of the importance of
newspapers in this country, said: “It is a momentous, yes, a fearful
truth, that millions have no literature, no schools, almost no pulpit
but the press. It is parent, school, college, pulpit, theatre, example,
counselor, all in one. Let me make the newspapers, and I care not who
makes the religion or the laws.”

=The Function of Newspapers in a Democracy.= To accept this generally
recognized function of the newspaper as the distributor of information
on all the varied subjects presented in the day’s news, is to give the
newspaper a place of great responsibility in a democracy like ours. If
we consider only its news-distributing function and disregard editorial
influence, the place of the newspaper is still a vital one in our
country, for the success of a democratic form of government depends
upon intelligent action by the individual voter. Such voting must be
based upon accurate information concerning all important events of
the day,—events of a social, commercial, and industrial significance,
as well as those of political import,—because many of the important
questions upon which the voter should cast an intelligent ballot
concern economic and social problems rather than purely political
ones. Practically the only source of information for the average voter
concerning local, national, and international events, is the newspaper.

The rapidly increasing tendency of citizens in voting to disregard
party affiliations, and the recent extension of methods of direct
making of laws by means of the initiative and the referendum, require
that citizens have accurate information on a great variety of subjects
to enable them to vote intelligently on men and issues. Any influence
that tends to affect the accuracy of statements concerning current
events thereby tends to affect the basis underlying the opinions of
the voters. Upon the accuracy of the newspapers in matters of news,
therefore, depends to a great extent the character of our government.

=Limitations to Accuracy and Completeness.= Absolute accuracy in
gathering and presenting the news is subject to human limitations.
Seldom do two eye-witnesses from whom the reporter gets information
agree in their accounts of what happened. The reporter must judge
of the value of the testimony of each witness, and must make up a
composite account of the truth as he sees it in these different
narratives. The copy-reader, in editing the reporter’s story,
frequently finds it necessary to cut it down considerably because of
the importance of other news. Again the accuracy of the report may be
affected by reason of this “boiling down.” The headline writer, working
under strict limitations of space, may modify the impression produced
upon the reader by the original story. Even on the mechanical side
the accuracy of the news may be affected by a careless compositor or
proof-reader. The rapidity with which all the processes of newspaper
making are performed greatly increases the possibility of error. The
personal equation, for which allowance is made in all scientific and
technical work, enters into every part of the process of newspaper
making, from the gathering and writing of the news by the reporter,
through the editing of it and the writing of a headline for it, to the
compositor, proof-reader, and make-up man. The chances of printing
inaccurate statements under such conditions may be reduced to a minimum
only by the exercise of the greatest possible care on the part of all
those concerned in the rapid production of newspapers, but mistakes of
this type can never be entirely eliminated.

Failure to give a complete report of the day’s news is due in part to
the amount of news available. Inasmuch as the average newspaper in a
large city receives from two to three times as much news daily as it
can publish, it is necessary for editors to select from the available
news, and to decide quickly which news is the most important for
their readers. The fact that this news comes in by mail, telephone,
and telegraph, as well as from reporters, at intervals throughout the
day and the night, makes it impossible for the editors to judge with
absolute accuracy of the relative value of each piece of news as it is
received. Consequently news values are constantly being readjusted as
each important piece of news reaches the office. In the final decision
in regard to what news shall be printed, what shall be omitted, and how
much space shall be given to each piece of news that is published, the
personal judgment of the editors is the determining factor.

Besides inaccuracy and incompleteness in presenting the news of the
day due to the personal judgment of those responsible for the making
of the newspaper, other forms of suppression or distortion of news are
to be found in newspaper publishing due to the influence of various
forces. It is to these influences that peculiar significance attaches
from the point of view of the ethics of newspaper publishing, because
in such cases the incomplete and inaccurate presentation of the news is
deliberate.

=Some Sinister Influences.= The forces that make for the suppression
and the “coloring” of news as well as for the restriction of
editorial independence, critics of newspapers assert, are the result
of the changes in business and editorial management during the last
seventy-five years. The charge is made that too many newspapers are
“edited from the counting-room.” Business interests, it is said,
particularly those of advertisers, influence news and editorials.
Because of stock company ownership and the absence of editorial
management by men known to the public, as were the editors in the days
of personal journalism, wealthy men or corporations, it is charged,
have been able quietly to buy up the stock of some newspapers and
through hired editors, of whom in these days the public knows nothing,
to direct secretly the news and editorial policies for personal
advantage. Some banks, these critics declare, have refused loans
to newspapers the policies of which were inimical to the interests
largely represented among the stockholders or the customers of the
banks; and when loans have been made to newspapers by other banks, such
indebtedness has sometimes been used to prevent the newspapers from
maintaining or adopting policies hostile to their interests. So-called
“yellow journalism,” critics of newspapers point out, furnishes another
example of the commercializing of the press, because, in order to
increase their circulation and profits, the publishers of “yellow”
journals pander to their readers’ cravings for the sensational. A
number of newspapers have published advertisements of fraudulent and
questionable enterprises because of the additional revenues to be
obtained from this source. Whether these charges are true of a number
of newspapers or of only a few, the existence of these conditions
and the possibility of these dangers make the subject one of vital
importance not only to newspaper men but to every citizen of the
country.

=Suppression of News.= If, for example, owners of retail stores
request newspapers in which they advertise to suppress all news of
elevator accidents in their stores because such news hurts their
business, the newspaper publishers might consent to this suppression
on the ground that it is more important to retain the good will and
patronage of these advertisers than to give their readers the news
of the accidents. The very existence of the paper, they may argue,
depends upon these advertisers, and, after all, newspapers give their
readers the accounts of so many other accidents that those concerning
elevators in department stores will never be missed. This seems to
be a logical argument for omitting news of this kind, but when the
results of such suppression are traced, the action, it is realized,
is unjustifiable. In the first place, elevator accidents are often due
to carelessness and haste on the part of passengers, and newspaper
accounts of them accordingly serve to warn many people to be more
careful. Thus the publication of the news helps to prevent accidents.
Again, the accidents may be due in part to the employment of young,
inexperienced, or careless operators. When it is proposed to correct
these difficulties by a local ordinance or by a state law providing
that elevator operators must be over eighteen years of age and must be
licensed as competent, the importance of passing such a regulation is
more evident to the average voter if he knows of the frequency of such
accidents. The suppression of news of these accidents would deprive
most citizens of knowledge upon which to base an opinion as to the need
of laws governing elevator operators.

The business interests of some cities, it is said, have urged
newspapers to suppress the news of epidemics or threatened epidemics
of such diseases as typhoid fever, smallpox, and even bubonic plague,
because reports of the presence of these diseases in a city keep away
travelers and hurt business. At first glance this plea might seem a
just one, and records show that it has been successful in a number of
instances. But the question inevitably arises, Has not the tourist,
the buyer, and every one else who is planning to go to that particular
city a right to know of the health conditions that prevail there, in
order to decide whether he wishes to expose himself to the possibility
of sickness and death? Again, Has not every citizen and voter of
the city a right to know of these conditions, not only that he may
protect himself and his family, but that he with other citizens and
voters may remedy the conditions responsible for the epidemic and may
provide for stamping it out? Reformers in some cities have declared
that local newspapers have refused to give publicity to campaigns
against graft and vice because the exposure of such conditions, the
publishers said, would reflect on the reputation of the city and would
hurt business. Others have said that newspapers have reported and
upheld investigations of municipal corruption as long as those affected
by such exposure were persons of little influence or importance in
the community, and that as soon as more important business interests
were threatened by the investigations, the attitude of the newspapers
changed completely. The question to consider is, Should the business
interests of the city be paramount to the welfare of all the people?
The vital questions for editors to decide must be, Are newspapers in
such cases doing their duty as distributors of complete and accurate
reports of the news of the day? Are they not morally responsible when
they fail to perform this duty?

=“Coloring” the News.= The so-called “coloring” or “shading” of news
is in the same category as the suppression of news. It is possible
to change the facts more or less completely so that a story not only
is incomplete but produces a false impression on the mind of the
reader. The sin is then no longer one of omission; it becomes one of
commission. To belittle the campaign of the opposing political party,
newspapers have misrepresented the size of the political meetings,
the enthusiasm of the audiences, the arguments of the speakers, and
in general, the success of the efforts to win votes. Candidates,
likewise, have been assailed and misrepresented in news stories. In
economic disturbances, such as strikes and lockouts, some newspapers
have given their readers colored reports by “playing up” the disorder
of the strikers, their threats of violence, and their unreasonableness
in refusing terms of settlement. Other newspapers, representing the
labor interests, have printed “shaded” reports to show that employers
have treated their men unjustly, that the militia has been brutal, and
officers of the law unfair to strikers.

Newspaper editors and publishers, in these and other instances, often
maintain that they only print what their readers want. The questions
involved, therefore, are, Do readers want unbiased news reports of the
events of the day, or do they prefer to have them “colored” or “shaded”
to favor the side in which they as a class are interested? Does the
business man who takes a conservative, well-edited newspaper want news
stories written to suit his point of view? Does the workingman who
buys the Socialist daily or the labor union daily really want his news
“shaded” to favor the cause of labor? In the case of a strike in which
business or manufacturing interests are involved, do not both employers
and employees want the actual facts as an unprejudiced reporter sees
them? If readers do want “colored” news in such cases, are editors
justified in departing from the truth in order to satisfy them?

Some men of wealth and some big business corporations have undoubtedly
bought existing newspapers or have established new ones, secretly
or openly, with the evident intention of using news and editorial
columns to advance their own interests. Ambition to secure political
office or power has obviously been the purpose of some of these men.
Creation of public opinion favorable to their business interests has
undoubtedly been the aim of other men and of corporations. Suppression
of unfavorable news, and the “coloring” of other news to make it more
favorable, as well as editorial argument and comment, are the means
used to accomplish these ends. In one notorious example in a large
city in the Middle West, reporters and editors were furnished with a
list of certain business enterprises that were not to be mentioned
in any unfavorable connection in the news, because the owner of the
paper was financially interested in these enterprises. Although men
and corporations have a right to present their side of any case
through the medium of the newspapers, and although there may be no
valid objection to the ownership or control of newspapers by men with
political ambitions or by corporations, it is plain that such ownership
and control are fraught with danger to public welfare by reason of the
public opinion thus created.

=Making News “Yellow.”= “Yellow journalism,” it is conceded, has been
developed largely by furnishing the readers with sensational phases
of the day’s events. In order to make the everyday news seem more
startling, large headlines with bold-face type printed in black, green,
and red have blazoned forth the striking facts of the news. Sensational
news stories of all kinds have constantly been “played up” prominently.
When the facts were not particularly unusual or striking, they have
been “colored” to seem so. This “sensationalizing” of the news has been
the result of an effort to attract large numbers of readers and by
enlarging circulation to increase profits. The effect on the readers
of this giving over of a large part of the news columns to sensational
news, and this “coloring” of news to make it more sensational, is, of
course, to give them a distorted idea of current events. To what extent
this distorted view of life affects the relation of these readers to
society is the question to be determined in analyzing the effects of
“yellow journalism.”

=Three Causes.= The three principal reasons for suppressing or coloring
news, as we have seen, therefore, are: (1) the desire of the owners of
the newspaper to use it to advance their own private interests or those
of their party or faction; (2) the influence of advertisers and other
business interests that wish to protect their own enterprises; (3) the
effort to make the news more attractive and sensational than it really
is in order to gain readers.

=Effects of Adulterated News.= Whatever may be the reason for the
“coloring” or the suppression of news, the effect of this distortion
or suppression upon the opinions and the votes of citizens is a matter
of sufficient importance to the people generally to warrant careful
consideration, not only by citizens but by newspaper men themselves.
If the social and political interests of the community are vitally
affected by news furnished in the newspapers, as has been shown in
the examples given, publishers cannot claim that the purpose of the
newspapers is to sell as many copies as possible, to get as much
advertising as possible, and to give the people what they want to read,
rather than to furnish their readers with a record of the interesting
and significant activities of the day, as complete and accurate as it
can be made. Like common carriers, such as railroads, the newspapers
have a public function as well as the private one of making money, and
that public function is to furnish news, the commodity in which they
deal, in a complete and accurate form.

News adulterated and “colored” is as harmful to the opinions of
newspaper readers as impure and poisonous food is to their physical
constitutions. Before pure food legislation prohibited adulterating,
coloring, and misbranding of foods, the buyer was at the mercy of the
unscrupulous manufacturer, just as the newspaper reader is at the
mercy of the unscrupulous newspaper maker. Although public sentiment
has demanded laws to prevent impure food, it has not yet insisted
that its food for thought be furnished unadulterated. A generation
ago government regulation of railroad rates, foodstuffs, and the size
of business combinations would have been regarded as unjustifiable
interference with personal liberty. To-day any government interference
with newspapers is considered as an attack on the freedom of the press.
Is it not possible that the next generation may see every newspaper of
this country compelled by public opinion, if not by legislation, to
give complete, unbiased reports of all events of general interest?

=Questionable Advertisements.= As an advertising medium, the newspaper
also has an obligation to the community. By giving widespread publicity
in their advertising columns to fraudulent investment schemes,
dangerous patent nostrums, disreputable medical practitioners, and
other objectionable matter, some newspapers, doubtless unintentionally,
have aided in grossly deceiving and seriously injuring the reading
public that they claimed to serve. For such practices the excuse has
been offered that the business of the newspaper is to sell advertising
space to any one who will buy it, and that it is not the business of
advertising managers and publishers to investigate the truthfulness or
moral character of the advertisements that they publish. Realization by
newspapers of the fact that by printing objectionable advertising they
may cause great harm to their readers has led many of them to reject
entirely all forms of questionable advertisement even though to do so
has, in some instances, cut off annually from $50,000 to $200,000 of
possible revenue.

=Honesty in Journalism.= The discussion of these various undesirable
tendencies in newspaper making, and the presentation of these
criticisms of some newspapers, do not imply that all newspaper editors
and publishers have subordinated public welfare to private gain, or
that all have permitted sinister external influences to affect their
news and editorial policies. Neither is it to be assumed that these
questionable methods are necessary for business success in newspaper
publishing. There are many notable examples of honest, independent
newspapers that have enjoyed marked financial success. In fact, a
careful survey of the whole country would doubtless show that few
newspapers that have continued to juggle with the truth in news and
editorials have been permanently successful in making money or in
keeping the confidence of their readers. Lincoln’s words are as true of
newspapers as of politicians, “You can fool all the people some of the
time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all
of the people all of the time.”

The stronger a newspaper grows because of the size and the character of
its circulation, and because of the money value of the good will thus
acquired, the more independent it becomes of the external influences
that may seek to modify its news and editorial policy. Unless such
papers are maintained to represent special business or political
interests, well-established papers with adequate capital behind them
are not likely to be affected by the demands of advertisers or other
outside forces. Strong, independent newspapers can publish the facts in
the news and can print editorial comments without fear or favor.

Unfortunately the rapidly increasing cost of newspaper production
has reduced the margin of profit of a large number of newspapers to
a point where the loss of any considerable amount of advertising or
other support means financial failure. Under such circumstances,
publishers have yielded to pressure from various interests and have
made concessions which doubtless they would not have done if they had
been in positions of greater financial independence. A few editors and
publishers have simply regarded newspaper making as an enterprise in no
wise different from business and politics, and have accepted the less
commendable standards that have resulted from competition in business
and rivalry in politics. Whatever the explanation that is offered for
deliberate failure to give newspaper readers the truth, it must not be
regarded as condoning the offense, however great or slight.

=The Reporter and His Problems.= The student of journalism should
know the conditions as they exist, so that he may face the problems
squarely and choose deliberately the course that he desires to pursue.
Too often reporters, editors, or publishers have not weighed fully the
ultimate effects produced by suppressing or coloring the news. It is
only by full consideration of the public function of the newspaper as
a factor in the social and political life of the community that the
true significance of dealing lightly with the truth as a crime against
society is revealed in unmistakable colors.

Although the news policy of the newspaper is determined by those above
him in authority, the reporter must decide his own attitude toward
that policy. If he finds that he cannot conscientiously accept the
ideas and ideals of his superiors because these do not conform to his
own standards of truth and honesty, he must look for a position on a
paper that does conform to those standards. A man cannot retain his
self-respect if he undertakes to do work that he believes to be false
or dishonest.

On any newspaper, however, the reporter finds himself confronted with
various problems that involve the public function of the newspaper.
He may be requested by an acquaintance, or by some person with whom
his work brings him into contact, to suppress, as a whole or in part,
a piece of news that it falls to his lot to report. Men and women
threatened with exposure or disgrace because of one wrong step, will
plead with him to spare them and their families by suppressing the
news of their downfall. In all such cases the reporter will do well to
refer the request to his superiors and to avoid promising to suppress
any news. Older and more experienced newspaper men in positions
of authority on the paper are usually better able to judge of the
desirability of yielding to requests and pleas of this kind than is the
young reporter.

=How “Faking” Does Harm.= In collecting and presenting facts the
reporter should make every reasonable effort to have them as complete
and accurate as possible. He is not justified in defending his failure
to get and present the truth and the whole truth on the ground that as
long as a story is interesting it makes little difference whether or
not it is entirely true. The first temptation to depart from the truth
not infrequently comes in an apparently innocent form. In the absence
of real news, or in an effort to show his cleverness, the reporter
takes some trivial incident and, by amplifying it with humorous but
imaginary details, makes of it an amusing little feature story. Such
stories often seem quite harmless in their effects on the readers or on
the persons mentioned in the stories. Instances are on record, however,
of persons who have committed suicide because their acquaintances
bantered them about the ridiculous situations in which they had been
portrayed in such newspaper stories. The reporter must remember that
the persons who play a part in his stories are human beings with
feelings, and that to hold them up before thousands of readers in a
ridiculous situation may cause them much suffering. But besides any
effect it may have on particular individuals, this embroidering of the
truth with fictitious fancies, even when it does not deceive the reader
in the least, tends to form in the reporter the habit of embellishing
all his stories with imaginary details. Thus it becomes the first step
in so-called “faking.”

Newspaper “faking” often appeals to the young reporter as clever and
commendable, particularly when he hears older newspaper men tell
stories of successful “fakes.” The “cub” may even hear his humorous
little feature story praised for its cleverness by his superiors who
know that it is largely imaginary. If he does not stop to consider,
he may consciously or unconsciously decide that fiction makes better
news than truth, and may proceed to write his stories accordingly.
Encouraged by some other newspaper man’s account of a similar exploit,
he “fakes” an interview when he fails to get one that has been assigned
to him. His “fake” interview may deceive the city editor, and when
printed may not be repudiated by the man falsely quoted. Although
apparently a success from the reporter’s point of view, the “fake”
story injures him more than he realizes, for it dulls his moral sense,
makes less keen his appreciation of the difference between truth
and falsehood. If his superiors discover the deception, they lose
confidence in his reliability and may discharge him at once. If his
identity is known to the victim of the “fake,” the reporter loses that
man’s respect and often makes him an enemy, from whom he cannot hope
to secure news in the future. In fact, “faking” is another term for
“lying” and the reporter guilty of it deserves to be called by the
“short and ugly word.”

Furthermore, every “fake,” whether it deceives few or many, lowers
both the newspaper that publishes it and newspapers generally in the
estimation of all who know that it is false. Stories recognized by the
reader as untrue, either as a whole or in part, shake his confidence
in the truth of all newspaper reports and lead him to discount all the
news that he reads. Thus the value of the press as a source of reliable
information is seriously impaired. From whatever point of view “faking”
is regarded, therefore, it is indefensible. It hurts the guilty
writer; it hurts the victim of “the fake”; it hurts the newspaper that
publishes it; it hurts journalism generally.

=The Dangers of Inaccuracy.= Inaccuracy due to carelessness or failure
to verify facts is less reprehensible because it is not deliberate,
but it is nevertheless a form of misrepresentation that in its results
may be as bad as “faking.” An error made by a reporter in the initials
or spelling of the name of a person charged with some crime has often
injured an innocent man or woman whose name happened to be the same
as the incorrect form of the real criminal’s name. In one instance, a
firm spent hundreds of dollars in sending out letters contradicting an
erroneous newspaper report of its failure, the error having been due
to the reporter’s carelessness in confusing the solvent firm with an
insolvent one engaged in the same business and having the same name
except for different initials. In such cases the newspaper is put in
an embarrassing position by its careless reporter, and is compelled to
make a public retraction of his mistake. Even if he is not discharged,
he is not likely thereafter to be entrusted with important assignments,
and everything that he does will be carefully scrutinized until he has
established a reputation for accuracy.

If reporters and correspondents remember that every story they write
not only affects themselves, their newspapers, and the persons they
write about, but also contributes toward forming the readers’ opinions,
they will consider carefully whether or not they can afford to permit
haste and carelessness to impair the completeness and accuracy of their
work. Although they are at the foot of the journalistic ladder when
they begin their work, reporters and correspondents should realize that
upon the character of their work in gathering and writing the news
depend, to some extent, at least, the opinions of the citizens and
voters who read their paper.

=How Editors Determine the News Policy.= The editors of the news,
by determining what shall be printed and how it shall be printed,
naturally have greater responsibility for the general character of the
newspaper than have the reporters. The editor’s failure to verify facts
in the work of reporters and correspondents means that any errors in
such work receive his approval and he thereby becomes responsible for
them. The results of faithful, accurate reporting, on the other hand,
may be entirely destroyed by the editor’s efforts to make the news
more striking and sensational. By their instructions to reporters,
correspondents, and copy-readers, editors directly determine the
character of the newspaper. When an editor tells a reporter, a rewrite
man, or a copy-reader to play up a certain “feature” in a news story,
he determines to a considerable extent what the effect of that piece
of news will be upon the readers. By cutting out important details, by
shifting the emphasis from one particular to another, by inserting a
word here and there, editors and copy-readers may completely alter the
impression made by the news. The size and character of the headline
given a story produce quite as great an impression on the reader as the
story itself. Headlines, as has already been pointed out, have played
no small part in so-called “yellow journalism.” All that has been
said of the importance of giving readers complete and accurate news
reports, and of the evils growing out of suppressing or distorting the
news, applies quite as much to editors and copy-readers as it does to
reporters and correspondents.

=The Newspaper Worker’s Problem.= A vital question for every one
engaged in newspaper writing or editing is whether or not he will obey
the orders of his superiors when these orders do not square with his
own standards of truth and right. The reporter must decide the question
when the city editor gives him his instructions; the city editor must
decide when the managing editor directs him in his work; the managing
editor must decide when the owners announce to him their policy for
the paper. Then it is that every newspaper worker is brought face to
face with the problems of present-day newspaper making. Then it is that
these problems cease to be general questions for discussion and become
a personal matter that each newspaper worker must decide for himself.
When it becomes a personal question to him, its solution does not
always seem so easy as when it is a general problem, because to disobey
the orders of his superiors usually means to lose his position.

This question, however, is not peculiar to the newspaper profession.
The problem is not unlike that which confronts men engaged in every
kind of business or professional work. Every business man, every
lawyer, every physician finds himself called upon again and again to
settle for himself the same ethical question. Competition in business
not infrequently leads to questionable practices for getting the better
of business rivals, employees, or customers; and it is repeatedly
necessary for men in positions of all grades to determine whether
or not they will carry out their employers’ policies when these do
not agree with their own standards of right and wrong. Lawyers and
physicians in their struggle to build up a practice are tempted to
resort to methods condemned as unethical by the standards of their
profession, or in the offices of established practitioners they find
practices in use which do not harmonize with their own ethical ideals.
In the older professions of law and medicine the members have directly
or indirectly regulated the conditions of admission to practice,
and have established codes of professional ethics. Such regulation,
reinforced by government legislation, has tended to maintain better
professional and ethical standards than would be possible without it.

Journalism, among the last of the callings to be generally recognized
as a profession, has established neither standards of admission nor a
formulated code of ethics. Only recently has the need of professional
college courses in preparation for journalism been recognized by the
public and by newspapers themselves. With the quickening of the public
conscience in regard to political and social conditions has come a
keener appreciation of the importance of the newspaper as the greatest
single source of information in our democracy, and a realization of
the dangers of abuse of this power by editors and publishers. Whatever
opinions may be held as to present-day standards in journalism, every
one will grant that it is the duty of those who enjoy the advantages
of university training in preparation for this profession to maintain
the highest ideals in their own work. Opportunity to know the truth
carries with it responsibility for making the truth prevail. _Noblesse
oblige_ is as true of the privilege of knowledge as it ever was of the
privilege of rank.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Remember that whatever you write is read by thousands.

2. Don’t forget that your story or headline helps to influence public
opinion.

3. Realize that every mistake you make hurts someone.

4. Don’t embroider facts with fancy; “truth is stranger than fiction.”

5. Don’t try to make cleverness a substitute for truth.

6. Remember that faking is lying.

7. Refer all requests to “keep it out of the paper” to those higher in
authority.

8. Stand firmly for what your conscience tells you is right.

9. Sacrifice your position, if need be, rather than your principles.

10. See the bright side of life; don’t be pessimistic or cynical.

11. Seek to know the truth and endeavor to make the truth prevail.

FOOTNOTES

[1] “Telling the Tale of the ‘Titanic,’” by Alex. McD. Stoddart; _The
Independent_, May 2, 1912.

[2] _Collier’s Weekly_, March 18, 1911, p. 22.

[3] “What the City Editor does when a Gaynor is shot,” by Alex. McD
Stoddart; _The Independent_, August 25, 1910.

INDEX

Abbreviations in copy, 226.
Abbreviations in headlines, 288.
Accidents, news stories of, 101, 109.
Accuracy in news, limitations to, 341.
Accuracy in news, necessity for, 51, 341.
Ad alley, 328.
Addresses, reporting, 46.
Adds in copy, 61, 260.
Advance copy of speeches, etc., 47, 58.
Advance stories, release of, 48, 57.
Advertisements, position for, 8.
Advertisers, suppression of news by, 344.
Advertising, growth of, 334.
Advertising, influence of, on news, 343.
Advertising of news in headlines, 271.
Advertising, questionable, 350.
Advertising manager, 3.
Advertising space, how measured, 265.
Agate line measure for advertisements, 265.
Animal stories, 218.
Art department, 14.
Articles, beginning news stories with, 75.
Assignment book, or sheet, 33, 36.
Assignments, reporters’, 32, 36.
Associated Press, 56.
Associated Press, news bulletin of, 12.
Autoplate stereotyping machine, 9, 10.

Bank in composing room, 328.
Bankmen, 328.
Banks in headlines, 274.
Banner heads, 305.
Banquets, reporting, 174.
Baseball games, news stories of, 167.
Beat in publishing news, 31, 51.
Beat, or news run, 31.
Beginnings for news stories, 69, 103, 110, 128, 144.
Beginnings to be avoided, 74.
Body of news story, 88, 132.
Body type, 264.
Boiling down news, 205.
Bold-face type, 264.
Boston _Transcript_, story from, 184.
Boxed facts in news stories, 86.
Bulletins, news, 34, 57, 261.
Bulletins, news, double leaded, 265.
Bureaus, city news, 32.
Burglaries, news stories of, 110.
Business element in newspaper publishing, growth of, 332.
Business management of newspapers, 2.

Cable editor, 12.
Camera, reporter’s use of, 49.
Capital necessary in newspaper publishing, 333.
Cases, type, 264.
Cashier, 3.
Casting box, stereotyping, 9.
Catch-lines in copy, 259, 260.
Chase, 8.
Chicago _Tribune_, stories from, 82, 83, 214.
Children, news value of, 23.
Children in human interest stories, 213.
Christmas celebrations, 174, 181.
City editors, 5, 32.
City news bureaus, 32.
_Collier’s Weekly_, definitions of news in, 17.
Colored headlines, 273.
Colored news, 343.
Column rules, 8.
Column, width of, 265.
Comics, printing of, 11.
Composing room, 3.
Composing room terms, 328.
Composing stick, 265.
Compositors, 3.
Conventions, reporting, 136.
Copy, 5.
Copy, common errors in, 257.
Copy, essentials of good, 60.
Copy-cutter, 3, 7, 14.
Copy-desk, 5, 13, 258.
Copy-reader, how he works, 258.
Copy-reader, qualifications of, 255.
Copy-reading, 255.
Copy-reading, example of, 267.
Copy-reading, marks used in, 266.
Correspondent, duties of, 54.
Correspondent, instructions to, 57.
Courts as news sources, 30.
Courts, news stories of, 144.
Crime, news stories of, 110.
Crime stories, leads for, 112.
Criminal court news, 30.
Cross-line heads, 276.
Cuts, 5, 338.

Decisions, news stories of, 150.
Decks in headlines, 274.
Defalcations, news stories of, 110.
Department store advertising, 334.
Dispatches, filing of, 57.
Display type, 264.
Drop-line heads, 274, 275.

Editing copy, 255, 266.
Editor, city, 5, 32.
Editor, managing, 5.
Editor, telegraph, 5.
Editorial policy, 4.
Editorials, purpose of, 4.
Editorial writers, 4.
Editor-in-chief, 4.
Editors, news, 5.
Em as type measure, 265.
Embezzlements, news stories of, 110.
End mark in copy, 61, 260.
Engagements, announcements of, 170.
Ethics of journalism, 339, 357.
Exchange editor, 5.
Exchanges, news rewritten from, 206.
Extraordinary events, news value of, 19.

Faces of type, 264.
Fakes, effects of, 354.
Faking news, 353.
Feature articles, style in, 229.
Feature articles, subjects for, 225.
Feature stories, 211.
Features for crime stories, 110.
Features for fire stories, 103.
Features for rewrite stories, 196.
Features, playing up the, 67.
Figures at beginning of sentence, 75.
Figures in headlines, 290.
Filing news despatches, 57.
Filing queries and schedules, 54.
Fillers, 206.
Fire losses, boxed, 86.
Fires, stories of, 101, 106.
Flash, or news bulletin, 35, 261.
Flimsy, guide lines on, 261.
Following up the news, 43, 194.
Follows in copy, 260.
Follow up stories, 194, 201.
Fonts of type, 264.
Football games, stories of, 162.
Forms, page, 8, 329.
Free lance writers, 224.
Fudge printing device, 11.
Function of newspaper, 331.
Future books, editors’, 32.

Gaynor, Mayor, news of shooting of, 34.
Government publications, news stories from, 154.
Government publications, special articles from, 225.
Grammatical errors in copy, 257.
Graveyard, obituaries in, 183.
Guide-lines in copy, 259, 261.

Hanging indention in heads, 274, 277.
Headlines, abbreviations in, 288.
Headlines and yellow journalism, 272.
Headlines as advertisements of news, 271.
Headlines, figures in, 290.
Headlines, forms of, 274, 277.
Headlines, function of, 271.
Headlines, impartial and colored, 273.
Headlines, methods of building, 294.
Headlines, punctuation in, 292.
Headlines, style in, 287.
Headlines, tone of, 282.
Headlines, type limits of, 279.
Heads, banner, 305.
Heads, jump-, 304.
Heads, side-, 126.
Heads, sub-, 302.
Hearings, reporting, 145.
Hell-box, 329.
Holidays, stories of celebrations of, 174.
Home edition, 327.
Hotels as news source, 30.
Human interest, news value of, 22.
Human interest stories, 211, 212, 213.
Humorous feature stories, 213.

Illustrations, increase in, 338.
Inaccuracy in news, dangers of, 355.
_Independent_, articles from the, 12, 34.
Inserts in copy, 61, 260.
Instructions to correspondents, 57.
International News Service, 56.
Interviewing, 44.
Interviews by telephone, 48.
Interviews, form of, 139.
Interviews, groups of, 140.
Interviews in feature articles, 240, 243.
Investigations, news stories of, 145.
Items, news, 206.

Jump-heads, 304.
Justifying forms, 329.

Labor editor, 5.
Leaded type, 265.
Leads between lines of type, 265.
Leads, or beginnings, 66.
Leads, explanatory details in, 75.
Leads for crime stories, 110.
Leads for fire stories, 103.
Leads for rewrite stories, 196.
Leads for speeches, etc., 128.
Leads for trials, 144.
Leads, how to begin, 69.
Leads, leaded, 265.
Leads, unconventional, 75.
Lectures, reporting, 126.
Legal proceedings, reporting, 152.
Librarian, 5.
Linotype machine, 3, 10.
Linotype slugs, 10, 11, 329.
Lists of dead and injured, boxed, 88.
Local ends of news, 6, 25, 195.
Local news, value of, 24.
Locking page forms, 329.
Long-hand copy, 60.
Long-hand reporting, 46.
Lower case letters in type, 265.

Magazine articles, news stories from, 154.
Magazine articles, style in, 229.
Magazine articles, subjects for, 225.
Magazine section, editor of, 5.
Magazine section, printing of, 11.
Magazine section, stories for, 223.
Mail editions, 327.
Mailing machine for newspapers, 11.
Mailing newspapers, 9.
Make-up of newspapers, 8, 322.
Make-up, contrast in, 323.
Make-up, front page, 322, 325.
Make-up, importance of, 322.
Make-up, positions of prominence in, 324.
Make-up schedule, 327.
Make-up, symmetry in, 324.
Make-up, types of, 322.
Making-up different editions, 327.
Managing editor, 5.
Marine editor, 5.
Market edition, 327.
Market editor, 5.
Market reports, 26.
Mat, stereotyping, 9.
Matrix, stereotyping, 9.
Measurement of type, 263.
Meetings, reporting, 136.
Monotype machine, 3, 10.
Morgue, newspaper, 5, 6, 183.
Murders, news stories of, 110.

Names, accuracy in printing, 51.
News, accuracy and completeness of, 341.
News, adulterated, 349.
News associations, 56.
News, boiling down, 205.
News bureaus, city, 32.
News, coloring of, 346, 349.
News, covering big, 33.
News, defined by editors, 17.
News, definition of, 18.
News editor, 5.
News, effects of adulterated, 349.
News, essentials of, 18.
News, following up the, 43, 194.
News gathering, 29, 34, 36.
News, getting it into print, 6, 12.
News, grouping of, in make-up, 325.
News items, 206.
News, nose for, 50.
News policy, sinister influences on, 343.
News policy determined by editors, 356.
News runs, 31.
News sources, 30.
News staff, 5.
News, suppression of, 53, 343, 352.
News, timeliness in, 19.
News values, 18.
New York _Evening Post_, stories from, 181, 232, 238.
New York _Herald_, establishment of, 332.
New York _Sun_, stories from, 78, 80, 174, 187, 215, 218, 236,
240.
New York _Times_, story from, 244.
New York _Tribune_, establishment of, 332.
New York _Tribune_, stories from, 178, 216, 230.
Night city editor, 5.
Night editor, 5.
Night press rate, telegraph, 57.
Noon edition, 327.
Nose for news, 50.
Note book in reporting, 52.
Note taking, 46.

Obituaries, 183.
Organization of a newspaper, 2.
Ownership of newspapers, 333.
Ownership of newspapers, influence of, on policy, 343, 347.

Paragraph length in news stories, 64.
Paragraph marks in copy, 61, 266.
Pathetic feature stories, 222.
Pathetic feature stories, style in, 213.
Personality sketch, 228.
Personal journalism, decline of, 335.
Photographer, staff, 49.
Photographs for newspaper cuts, 49.
Pi, type, 9.
Pica as type measure, 265.
Pied type, 9.
Pittsburgh _Gazette-Times_, story from, 222.
Planer, 329.
Planing down forms, 329.
Plate, stereotyping, 9.
Platform, political, boxed, 87.
Point system of measuring type, 263.
Police headquarters as news source, 30.
Police news stories, 110.
Political subjects for feature stories, 228.
Politics, news value of, 22.
Position of advertisements, 8.
Practice work, 94, 116, 156, 191, 208, 249, 306.
Press associations, 56.
Presses, newspaper, 10.
Press, proof, 7.
Press room, 3.
Printing newspapers, process of, 9.
Printing presses, newspaper, 10.
Proof correcting, 315.
Proof, example of corrected, 319.
Proof, galley, 7, 315.
Proof, marks for correcting, 316.
Proof, revised, 8.
Proof-reading, 3, 315.
Proof-room, 315.
Punctuation, common errors in, 257.
Pyramid banks in headlines, 274, 276.

Queries, schedule of, 55.
Query, correspondent’s, 54.
Questions at beginning of lead, 82.
Quoins, 9, 329.
Quotation marks in copy, 60, 266.
Quotations in lead of news stories, 128.
Quotations, misleading, playing up, 128.
Quotations, verbatim in news stories, 126.

Railroad editor, 5.
Real estate editor, 5.
Receptions, stories of, 169.
Release date on advance stories, 48, 57.
Reporter, ethical problems of, 352, 357.
Reporter, how he gets news, 36.
Reporter, qualifications of, 50.
Reporter, suppression of news by, 53, 352.
Revises, proof, 8.
Rewrite man, 5, 194.
Rewrite stories, 194.
Robberies, news stories of, 110.
Rules, column, 8.
Running stories, 46.
Runs, reporters’, 31.

Schedule, make-up, 327.
Schedule of queries, 55.
Science, popularizing in special articles, 227.
Scoop in publishing news, 31, 51.
Second day stories, 43, 201.
Sentence length in news stories, 64.
Sermons, reporting, 126.
Ship news reporters, 30.
Short-hand reporting, 46.
Side heads on news items, 126.
Slang in headlines, 290.
Slang in sporting news, 169.
Slug, compositor’s, 328.
Slug, linotype, 10, 11.
Slugging a story, 259.
Society editor, 5, 169.
Society news, 169.
Special articles, 211, 223.
Special articles, style in, 229.
Special articles, subjects for, 225.
Special feature stories, 211, 223.
Speeches, boxed excerpts from, 87.
Speeches, news stories of, 126.
Speeches, reporting, 46, 126.
Speeches, reporting series of, 136.
Sporting editor, 5.
Sporting extra, 11, 327.
Sporting news stories, form of, 161.
Sporting news stories, style of, 169.
Sports, news value of, 22.
State exchanges, news rewritten from, 206.
Statistics at beginning of special articles, 229.
Stereotyped plates, 9, 10.
Stereotyping, 9, 10.
Stereotyping room, 3.
Stick, composing, 265.
Stickful as measure of copy, 265.
Stock company ownership of newspapers, 333.
Stock exchanges, news of, 31.
Stoddart, Alex. McD., articles by, 12, 34.
Stone, composing, 329.
Stories, human interest, 211.
Stories, news, body of, 88.
Stories, news, handling big, 12.
Stories, news, leads for, 66, 69, 75, 110, 128.
Stories, news, style in, 61.
Stories, special feature, 211, 223.
String, correspondent’s, 55.
Style book, newspaper, 258.
Style, newspaper, essentials of, 61.
Style in headlines, 287.
Style in human interest stories, 213.
Style in special articles, 229.
Style, typographical, 63.
Subheads, 302.
Suggestions, 16, 28, 58, 93, 115, 155, 192, 207, 248, 269, 305,
321,329, 359.
Suicides, news stories of, 110.
Summaries boxed in news stories, 86.
Sunday editor, 5.
Sunday magazine articles, 223.
Sunday newspapers, growth of, 338.
Suppression of news, 53, 343, 352.

Takes of copy, 7, 14, 328.
Technical subjects for special articles, 227.
Telegraph copy, guide lines on, 261.
Telegraph editor, 5.
Telegraph news, filing of, 57.
Telegraph news, form of, 12, 261.
Telephone, assignments by, 48.
Telephone directory, value of, 51.
Telephone, getting news by, 48.
Testimony, forms of, 147.
Timeliness in news, 19.
_Titanic_ disaster, news of, 12, 32.
Trials, news stories of, 144.
Trials, reporting, 47.
Type cases, 264.
Type cast on monotype, 10, 329.
Type, distributing, 329.
Type-high cuts, 266.
Type, leaded and solid, 265.
Type, measurement of, 263, 265.
Type, names of, 263, 264.
Type, off its feet, 329.
Type, set by hand, 265.
Type, sizes and kinds, 263.

Unexpected occurrences, news stories of, 101.
United Press, 56.
United Press, news stories from, 261.
Unusual, news value of the, 19.
Uplift run, 31.
Upper case letters in type, 265.
Utterances, news stories of, 126.

Want ad at beginning of news story, 85.
Weddings, stories of, 169.
Whitlock, Brand, article by, 245.
Witnesses, news stories of testimony by, 147.
Woman’s clubs, news of, 173.
Women as newspaper readers, 338.

Yellow journalism and big headlines, 272.
Yellow journalism, criticisms of, 344, 348.
Yellow journalism, advent of, in New York, 336.
Yellow journalism and foreign population in cities, 337.

Zoo, animal stories from, 23, 218.

ENGLISH FOR COLLEGE COURSES

EXPOSITORY WRITING
By MERVIN J. CURL.
Gives freshmen and sophomores something to write about, and helps
them in their writing.

SENTENCES AND THINKING
By NORMAN FOERSTER, University of North Carolina, and J. M. STEDMAN,
Jr., Emory University.
A practice book in sentence-making for college freshmen.

A HANDBOOK OF ORAL READING
By LEE EMERSON BASSETT, Leland Stanford Junior University.
Especial emphasis is placed on the relation of thought and speech,
technical vocal exercises being subordinated to a study of the
principles underlying the expression of ideas. Illustrative selections
of both poetry and prose are freely employed.

ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATING (_Revised Edition_)
By WILLIAM T. FOSTER, Reed College.
The point of view throughout is that of the student rather than that
of the teacher.

THE RHETORICAL PRINCIPLES OF NARRATION
By CARROLL LEWIS MAXCY, Williams College.
A clear and thorough analysis of the three elements of narrative
writing, viz.: setting, character, and plot.

REPRESENTATIVE NARRATIVES
Edited by CARROLL LEWIS MAXCY.
This compilation contains twenty-two complete selections of various
types of narrative composition.

THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF WRITING ENGLISH
By GERHARD R. LOMER, Ph.D., and MARGARET ASHMUN.
A textbook for use in college Freshman courses.

HOW TO WRITE SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLES
By WILLARD G. BLEYER, University of Wisconsin.
A textbook for classes in Journalism and in advanced English
Composition.

NEWSPAPER WRITING AND EDITING
By WILLARD G. BLEYER.
This fully meets the requirements of courses in Journalism as given
in our colleges and universities, and at the same time appeals to
practical newspaper men.

TYPES OF NEWS WRITING
By WILLARD G. BLEYER.
Over two hundred typical stories taken from representative American
newspapers are here presented in a form convenient for college classes
in Journalism.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

RIVERSIDE ESSAYS
Edited by ADA L. F. SNELL
_Associate Professor of English, Mount Holyoke College_

The purpose of the Riverside Essays is to present to students of
English composition essays by modern authors which deal in a fresh way
with such subjects as politics, science, literature, and nature. The
close study of vigorous and artistic writing is generally acknowledged
to be the best method of gaining a mastery of the technique of
composition.

In the Riverside Essays the material consists of essays which, with
few exceptions, have been printed entire. Other advantages of the
Riverside Essays for both instructor and student lie in the fact that
the material is presented in separate volumes, each of which is devoted
to a single author and contains two or more representative essays.

Finally, the series has none of the earmarks of the ordinary textbook
which the student passes on, marked and battered, to the next college
generation. The books are attractively printed, and bound in the
Library Binding of the Riverside Literature Series. The student will
therefore be glad to keep these books for his own library.

PROMOTING GOOD CITIZENSHIP
By JAMES BRYCE. With an Introduction. _Riverside Literature Series_,
No. 227, Library Binding.

STUDIES IN NATURE AND LITERATURE
By JOHN BURROUGHS. _Riverside Literature Series_, No. 226, Library
Binding.

UNIVERSITY SUBJECTS
By JOHN HENRY NEWMAN. _Riverside Literature Series_, No. 225, Library
Binding.

THE AMERICAN MIND AND AMERICAN IDEALISM
By BLISS PERRY. With an Introduction. _Riverside Literature Series_,
No. 224, Library Binding.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

FOR COURSES ON THE DRAMA

DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE
By GEORGE PIERCE BAKER, Harvard University.

THE TUDOR DRAMA
By C. F. TUCKER BROOKE, Yale University.
An illuminating history of the development of English Drama during
the Tudor Period, from 1485 to the close of the reign of Elizabeth.

CHIEF CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS, First Series
Edited by THOMAS H. DICKINSON, formerly of the University of
Wisconsin.

CHIEF CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS. Second Series
Edited by THOMAS H. DICKINSON.
This book supplements the _First Series_ by making available in a
companion volume plays which represent the later tendencies in the
drama of Europe and America.

CHIEF EUROPEAN DRAMATISTS
Edited by BRANDER MATTHEWS, Columbia University, Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Letters.
This volume contains one typical play from each of the master
dramatists of Europe, with the exception of the English writers.

A STUDY OF THE DRAMA
By BRANDER MATTHEWS.
Devoted mainly to an examination of the structural framework which
the great dramatists of various epochs have given to their plays; it
discusses only incidentally the psychology, the philosophy, and the
poetry of these pieces.

THE CHIEF ELIZABETHAN DRAMATISTS
Edited by W. A. NEILSON, President of Smith College, formerly
Professor of English Literature in Harvard University.
This volume presents typical examples of the work of the most
important of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, so that, taken with
Shakespeare’s own works, it affords a view of the development of
the English drama through its most brilliant period.

A HISTORY OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA
By FELIX E. SCHELLING, University of Pennsylvania. 2 vols.

SHAKESPEAREAN PLAYHOUSES
By JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS, Cornell University.
A History of English Theatres from the Beginnings to the Restoration.
Fully illustrated.

SHAKESPEARE QUESTIONS
By ODELL SHEPARD, Trinity College. _Riv. Lit. Series._ No. 246.
An outline for the study of the leading plays.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

PROBLEMS OF CONDUCT
BY
DURANT DRAKE
_Professor of Philosophy, Vassar College_

=_An Introductory Survey of Ethics_=

The _Boston Transcript_ says: “It is the great merit of Professor
Drake’s book that it moves always in a concrete sphere of life as we
daily live it. It never moralizes, it never lays down _obiter dicta_,
it simply talks over with us our personal problems precisely as a
keen, experienced, and always sympathetic friend might do. Through and
through scientific and scholarly, it is never academic in method and
matter.”

—————————

PROBLEMS OF RELIGION
BY
DURANT DRAKE

This book, like Professor Drake’s _Problems of Conduct_, represents
a course of lectures given for several years to undergraduates of
Wesleyan University. Their aim is to give a rapid survey of the field,
such that the man who is confused by the chaos of opinions on these
matters, and himself but little able to judge between conflicting
statements, may here get his bearings and see his way to stable belief
and energetic action.

—————————

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

THE CAMBRIDGE POETS—STUDENTS’ EDITION

Robert Browning’s Complete Poetical and Dramatic Works.
Burns’s Complete Poetical Works.
Byron’s Complete Poetical Works.
Dryden’s Complete Poetical Works.
English and Scottish Ballads.
Keats’s Complete Poetical Works and Letters.
Longfellow’s Complete Poetical Works.
Milton’s Complete Poetical Works.
Pope’s Complete Poetical Works.
Shakespeare’s Complete Works.
Shelley’s Complete Poetical Works.
Spenser’s Complete Poetical Works.
Tennyson’s Poetic and Dramatic Works.
Whittier’s Complete Poetical Works.
Wordsworth’s Complete Poetical Works.

ANTHOLOGIES: POETRY AND DRAMA

=The Chief Middle English Poets.= Translated and Edited by JESSIE
L. WESTON.
=The Chief British Poets of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.=
Edited by W. A. NEILSON and K. G. T. WEBSTER.
=The Leading English Poets from Chaucer to Browning.= Edited by
L. H. HOLT.
=A Victorian Anthology.= Edited by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.
=The Chief American Poets.= Edited by C. H. PAGE.
=An American Anthology.= Edited by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.
=Little Book of Modern Verse.= Edited by JESSIE B. RITTENHOUSE.
R.L.S. No. 254.
=Second Book of Modern Verse.= Edited by JESSIE B. RITTENHOUSE.
R.L.S. No. 267.
=Little Book of American Poets.= Edited by JESSIE B. RITTENHOUSE.
R.L.S. No. 255.
=High Tide.= Edited by Mrs. WALDO RICHARDS. R.L.S. No. 256.
=A Treasury of War Poetry.= Edited by GEORGE H. CLARKE. R.L.S.
No. 262.
=The Chief Elizabethan Dramatists.= Edited by W. A. NEILSON.
=Chief European Dramatists.= In Translation. Edited by BRANDER
MATTHEWS.
=Chief Contemporary Dramatists, First Series.= Edited by
THOMAS H. DICKINSON.
=Chief Contemporary Dramatists, Second Series.= Edited by
THOMAS H. DICKINSON.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Riverside Literature Series

LIBRARY BINDING

—————————

=Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Piers the Ploughman.=
WEBSTER AND NEILSON.
=Chaucer’s The Prologue, The Knight’s Tale, and The Nun’s
Priest’s Tale.= MATHER.
=Ralph Roister Doister.= CHILD.
=The Second Shepherds’ Play, Everyman, and Other Early Plays=.
CHILD.
=Bacon’s Essays.= NORTHUP.
=Shakespeare Questions.= SHEPARD.
=Milton’s Of Education, Areopagitica, The Commonwealth.= LOCKWOOD.
=Boswell’s Life of Johnson.= JENSEN.
=Goldsmith’s The Good-Natured Man, and She Stoops to Conquer.=
DICKINSON.
=Sheridan’s The School for Scandal.= WEBSTER.
=Shelley’s Poems.= (=Selected.=) CLARKE.
=Huxley’s Autobiography, and Selected Essays.= SNELL.
=Selections from the Prose Works of Matthew Arnold.= JOHNSON.
=Selected Literary Essays from James Russell Lowell.= HOWE and
FOERSTER.
=Howells’s A Modern Instance.=
=Briggs’s College Life.=
=Briggs’s To College Girls.=
=Perry’s The American Mind and American Idealism.=
=Burroughs’s Studies in Nature and Literature.=
=Newman’s University Subjects.=
=Bryce’s Promoting Good Citizenship.=
=Eliot’s The Training for an Effective Life.=
=English and American Sonnets.= LOCKWOOD.
=The Little Book of American Poets.= RITTENHOUSE.
=The Little Book of Modern Verse.= RITTENHOUSE.
=High Tide.= An Anthology of Contemporary Poems. RICHARDS.
=Minimum College Requirements in English for Study.=
=The Second Book of Modern Verse.= RITTENHOUSE.
=Abraham Lincoln. A Play.= DRINKWATER.

—————————————————— End of Book ——————————————————

Transcriber’s Note (continued)

Punctuation errors in the general text have been repaired. In the
practice work examples however, which requires the student journalist
to mark up or rewrite a passage of text, there may be deliberate
punctuation errors and misspellings. These have been left unchanged.

Except as noted below, unusual or variable spelling and hyphenation
published in the original book have been retained in this transcription.

Page 10 — “semi-circular” changed to “semicircular” (semicircular
stereotype plates)
Page 52 — “newpapers” changed to “newspapers” (not what newspapers or
their readers want)
Page 67 — “defiintely” changed to “definitely” (be definitely fixed in
advance)
Page 112 — “near by” changed to “nearby” (the railroad yards nearby)
Page 113 — “day light” changed to “daylight” (Seized by thugs in broad
daylight)
Page 149 — “anyway” changed to “any way” (Q.—Did you regulate their
duties in any way?)
Page 159 — “acccumulated” changed to “accumulated” (protecting
gathered and accumulated)
Page 192 — “daintly” changed to “daintily” (daintily covering her
golden brown hair)
Page 212 — “requires” changed to “require” (Feature stories require
some literary ability)
Page 222 — “Hipprodrome” changed to “Hippodrome” (back to the
Hippodrome)
Page 260 — “Catch lines” changed to “Catch-lines” (Catch-lines, such
as “Society,”)
Page 260 — “catch lines” changed to “catch-lines” (the catch-lines
may indicate)
Page 267 — “catch lines” changed to “catch-lines” (The application of
these marks and the catch-lines)

Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and placed before the Index.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Newspaper Writing and Editing" ***

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