PRACTICAL JOURNALISM in u o u PRACTICAL JOURNALISM ' A COMPLETE MANUAL OF THE BEST NEWSPAPER METHODS BY EDWIN L. SHUMAN AUTHOR OF STEPS INTO JOURNALISM NEW YORK AND LONDON D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1910 COPYRIGHT, 1903 BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY : Published September, 1903 **' .- TO MY WIFE, WHOSE STEADFAST FAITH AND LOVING COOPERATION HAVE BEEN THE INSPIRATION OF THESE PAGES. , r PREFACE THERE are few things concerning which the gen- eral public is more curious, and about which it knows less, than the inside of a metropolitan newspaper of- fice. This curiosity is at least as healthy and legiti- mate as that regarding the north pole, yet there have been many more polar expeditions than books about the inner workings of the modern newspaper. As one- half of all intelligent young men and women in the United States are said to pass through a period when they imagine they would like to wield the pen, it ought to be an act of humanity to place in their hands a book that will tell just how the work of the best and largest daily papers is done. It is strange that the American newspaper should have reached its present stage of maturity and national importance without having inspired a complete popu- lar manual of journalistic methods. There are many brief treatises of practical value on the more obvious features of newspaper work, but hitherto no attempt has been made to present a detailed practical analysis of all the writing departments of a progressive city daily. The present volume aspires, in spite qf its vii PRACTICAL JOURNALISM inevitable imperfections, to fill the vacant place. The aim has been to meet the needs both of those who seek to enter journalism and of those who have already embarked on a newspaper career. The book is also intended as an aid to students in certain col- legiate courses and in schools of journalism. The contents embody the observations of twenty years spent in more or less close connection with jour- nalistic work, ranging from the onerous responsibil- ities of a printer's devil to the honorable labors of an editorial position, with the usual intervening steps as typesetter, proof-reader, college journalist, editor of a country weekly, correspondent of a large city paper, and then a decade on various Chicago dailies in the capacity of reporter, copy reader, telegraph editor, exchange reader, book reviewer, and editorial writer. It is impossible for such an old-timer to paint rainbow visions of the glory and power that await the youth who is about to make journalism his profession. The view presented in this volume is of the plain and mat- ter-of-fact kind, inspiring no roseate dreams to be dis- pelled, yet trying to make note of the true inspiration that still quickens the pulse of the hurrying reporter and of the pale copy reader under his midnight elec- tric bulb. If the newspaper employee of to-day can not be much of a molder of public opinion, he can at least have the inspiration of realizing that he is a part of the greatest machine for photographing contem- porary human life ever known in the world's history. This book is in a sense the sequel of a more ele- yiii PREFACE mentary treatise published eight years ago under the title, Steps into Journalism, and now out of print. In a few cases I have drawn upon the earlier work for materials, though the language and treatment are en- tirely changed. The former book was for beginners alone. The present volume, it is hoped, will be of value to practical newspaper men of some experience as well as to those who still stand on the threshold. Certain chapters, such as those on libel, copyright, errors, etc., should be useful even to veteran editors, while those on the methods of reporting will be of value chiefly to beginners. No attempt has been made to deal in detail with the business or mechanical de- partments, except incidentally in the chapters relating to country papers. The expedient of sketching the imaginary experi- ences of a typical reporter has been adopted as the most graphic and interesting for the city-room phase of the subject. The historical retrospect in the first chapter is deemed essential to an adequate compre- hension of the twentieth century newspaper. The complicated organization of the metropolitan estab- lishment, described in the second and succeeding chapters, must be understood, even by the outside contributor, before he can use his powers as a press writer to any advantage. For models I have taken only the best papers, de- scribing the methods in use to-day on the great dailies that command the respect and patronage of the in- telligent men and women of their communities. No ix PRACTICAL JOURNALISM attempt has been made to disguise the fact that all our large newspapers are necessarily dominated by the commercial spirit, with whatever of good or bad this may imply. It is not inspiring to the would-be editor to learn that he must measure his ideas by a standard of popularity before he will be allowed to print them in a prosperous journal, but the fact may as well be accepted in the beginning. Though the modern news- paper is run for dividends rather than for ideas, it surely needs no elaborate demonstration to prove that it continues to be a powerful instrument for good. It offers a wide and honorable field for the labor of high-minded young men and women, and they will be able to do the more good if they understand before- hand that preaching and propagandism are not among the forms which a newspaper writer's activities may take. If this be a disappointment to aggressive re- formers, it surely must be compensated for in some degree by the fact that the American newspaper press, as a whole, is clean-minded and incorruptible. George W. Smalley has aptly said that it is a sol- emn thing for a man to make a choice of a career to resolve that, with the whole ocean of life before him, he will sail on this or that sea, steer for some fixed point, take the chances of sunshine or storm, and accept whatever may betide him should he reach the port he wishes. It is not a light thing to advise a young man, for there is a chance a remote chance that he may act upon the advice. In these pages no attempt is made to counsel the reader for or PREFACE against the adoption of a journalistic career. Each must decide that question according to his own tastes and circumstances. The utmost of my desire in this direction is to pre- sent the facts so clearly that they will aid in the deci- sion. One of the most important of these facts is that executive ability will carry a man higher than literary ability in the newspaper world. The greatest re- wards no longer fall to the powerful editorial writer, but to the business-like managing editor, who rarely writes a line in the paper. Yet the rewards of the right kind of literary ability are by no means insig- nificant. I have insisted throughout upon the desirability of beginning at the bottom, preferably on a country paper, and working up through all the degrees of apprenticeship. The untrained candidate has no more right on the staff 'of a large daily newspaper than on the faculty of a college, yet the number of such appli- cants is legion, as every managing editor will attest with fervor. Where there are words of enthusiasm in this book they are meant only for those who are will- ing to go through the labor of preparation who have made up their minds that they would rather be news- paper writers than anything else, and would rather look forward to owning and running a newspaper some day than to standing at the head of a bank or a department store. To these, and to those others who are already part way up the journalistic ladder, I have sought to make plain the full scope of the American PRACTICAL JOURNALISM press and the best methods for attaining success in the various departments. The sources from .which I have drawn materials are partly indicated in the list of books given at the end of this volume, but to a still larger extent I have been indebted to scores of magazine articles, for which I have ransacked the files of all the leading periodicals for the last dozen years. A large portion of the volume, of course, is drawn from the writer's personal experience. For helpful suggestions upon the chapter on libels I wish to thank Mr. George P. Merrick, of Chicago. For the materials of the chap- ter on newspaper art I am indebted to Mr. William Schmedtgen, head of the art department of the Chi- cago Record-Herald. One of the chapters on adver- tising was written by Mr. R. Roy Shuman, as noted under the chapter heading. To these and many other friends I wish to express my gratitude for assistance rendered. No effort has been spared to make the information in each department accurate and practical. / E. L. S. EVANSTON, ILL. Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS i Birth of the new journalism Early papers not devoted to news James Gordon Bennett's innovation Press methods revolutionized by the civil war Effects of tele- graph, railroads, and cylinder press Wonderful work of the perfecting press Importance of wood-pulp pa- per Coming of the typesetting machine The whole world the newspaper's field. II. POSITIONS AND SALARIES 16 Newspaper a business enterprise Three classes of ed- itors Duties of editor-in-chief, managing editor, city and news editors, night editor Reporters and copy readers The whole force at work Business depart- ment Latest newspaper statistics Journalism a busi- ness for young men Average incomes of reporters and various editors Pleasant and unpleasant features of the profession. III.- How A REPORTER is EDUCATED ... 30 Best place to begin is on a small local paper How a successful Kansas editor worked up Early mistakes and their lesson Getting the railroad news Doing the courts Peculiarities of the political field Becoming a correspondent for outside papers Promoted to a daily Becoming an independent space writer Sent to Cuba by a Chicago paper Called to New York. xiii PRACTICAL JOURNALISM CHAPTER PAGE IV. THE REPORTER AT WORK 45 Autocratic powers of the city editor Reporter's dread of failure Importance of condensation The art of in- terviewing Writing by dictation Reporting a great accident How newspapers hear of things The assign- ment book Work done at high pressure Reporting a midnight fire An infinite variety of duties. V. PLAN OF A NEWS STORY 59 Begin with the most important fact Give the gist of the story in the first paragraph Imperative need of following this method How to prepare copy Use of pencil permissible Importance of legibility How to paragraph matter Various technical marks Some points of style Uselessness of fine writing The re- porter's decalogue. VI. How THE NEWS is GATHERED . . . . 73 Origin of the Associated Press Its methods of collec- tion Elaborate system of distribution by wire Thirty- five columns of matter sent daily Connection with for- eign news agencies Sending a telegraphic "query" Classes of news that are not wanted Happenings that are legitimate news Becoming a correspondent of a large paper How to write a telegraphic news story Importance of promptness and right arrangement of matter. VII. EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS .... 89 Function of the copy reader Art of writing head-lines Desk work a stepping-stone to executive positions Status of the editorial writer How editorials are writ- ten A natural interest in politics desirable The book reviewer and the dramatic critic Essentials of a good book review How positions as critics are secured Exchange editor, sporting editor, financial, real estate, and other department editors Washington and Lon- don correspondents The journalistic imagination. xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE VIII. QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM . . .105 Different faculties needed for different departments Mental alertness essential to success Cheery optimism desirable Executive ability receives the highest re- ward Knowledge of human nature required College education valuable, but not necessary Drill needed to perfect the art of expression Shorthand not essential Use of typewriter should be learned Much copy written by dictation. IX. THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT . . . .120 How the Sunday editor works Character of Sunday specials Examples of subjects treated How to get an article into the paper Illustrations a great help Pho- tographs in demand Serious essays not salable Mat- ter about well-known people desired Tales of fiction and literary syndicates Poetry in very slight demand Good market for jokes Long apprenticeship neces- sary for complete success. X. IN THE ARTIST'S ROOM 139 Preliminary training necessary to secure a position Hungry interval between art school and steady work Suggestions for bridging the chasm Necessary to see the news end of a picture Study good newspaper cuts More good positions than good men Creative originality pays best Highest place that of the car- toonist Brisk demand for expert photographers Art- ist's career preferable to that of reporter. XL WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK. . . .147 Journalism offers only a few positions to women Na- ture of their work Specialist has best chance Lack of business knowledge a handicap Yellow journalism a hard taskmaster Work injures womanly qualities How to secure a position Literary work offers a smoother pathway than reporting Newspaper staff not XV PRACTICAL JOURNALISM CHAPTER the place for a reformer Pointed advice from a New York newspaper woman Work judged by same stand- ards as man's work Patient practise in obscurity the only passport to success. XII. A CHAPTER ON ERRORS . Infinite possibilities of mistakes Importance of learn- ing to spell and punctuate Punctuation marks ex- plained Some grammatical pitfalls How errors of fact occur Learning the right use of words Typo- graphical errors Bryant's index expurgatorius Later list of the same kind Western paper's good rules Im- portance of condensation. XIII. WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS . Ad writing a distinct vocation Experts command high salaries Genesis of big department store ads How they are written Advertisements simply business news Should be plain and simple Must appeal to reader's self-interest Deception never pays Qualifications for ad writing Work more remunerative than reporting Some women successful in it It is a growing profes- sion. XIV. FILLING THE " AD " COLUMNS . Importance of getting a right start Plan for getting support of leading merchants Aim should be to make money for the advertisers Keep ahead of the seasons Urge merchants to offer real bargains Encourage special sales Frown upon the bombastic advertiser Heart-to-heart style the best Give preference to local advertisers Make special efforts for classified ads Bar out unsightly electros Subscribe for a good ad- vertising magazine. XV. EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER . New forces transforming rural journalism Local news the mainstay of the country journal Farming commu- xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE nity the most reliableBest system for gathering news Instructions for local and special correspondents Need of the blue pencil Methods of securing subscri- bers Teaching merchants how to advertise Matters of typographical make-up When to change a weekly into a daily Where to draw the line against insignificant items Violent partizanship unprofitable Seeking a position on a metropolitan daily. XVI. THE LAW OF LIBEL 224 Libel defined as malicious defamation All charges of crime are actionable Truth of an accusation usually a full defense Libelous nature of a statement depends upon how the ordinary reader understands the words Law of privileged publications How far an editor may go in criticizing a candidate for public office The word "alleged" of no avail Reporting judicial pro- ceedings Contempt of court Danger in head-lines Book reviews and other privileged publications Dan- ger of libels in ads Maximum penalty for criminal libel a year's imprisonment Average cost of defending a civil suit, $500. XVII. THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT .... 244 Common law right in intellectual property Copyright necessary upon publication When copyright is for- feited Formalities of securing a copyright Protection good for twenty-eight years May be renewed for four- teen years Infringement does not depend on amount of matter taken Depends on whether a substantial part has been copied Book reviewers allowed to quote liberally Extracts that form a substitute for the origi- nal are piracy Law offers three forms of redress. XVIII. EPILOGUE 253 INDEX 257 xvn LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Reporters and copy readers in the City Room Frontispiece Double Sextuple Newspaper Perfecting Press I2 Setting type by machinery on a large daily . Ioo At work in the Mailing Room . . Ig6 XIX PRACTICAL JOURNALISM EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS THERE are few more interesting chapters in the history of human freedom than the story of the evo- lution of the modern American newspaper. It is a story of heroic endeavor, of individual self-denial, of slow progress through an infinitude of errors and gro- pings and findings, and of final triumph through the aid of marvelous mechanical ingenuity. Only when free thought went into partnership with steam and electricity did the modern newspaper become possible. It is not strange, therefore, that the United States surpasses all other lands in the number, the excel- lence, the influence, and the prosperity of its news- papers. Thomas Jefferson once said that he would rather live in a country with newspapers and no laws, than in a country with laws and no newspapers. Though the American press was still in its infancy, he recognized its paramount importance in a republic such as he was helping to found. That republic has since spread be- yond Jefferson's wildest dreams in size and power, a thing it never could have done without the newspaper and the forces that work through the newspaper. Unity of thought alone can hold together such a mighty empire with so mild and beneficent a form of government as ours. Without the telegraph, the press, I PRACTICAL JOURNALISM and the railway the United States could not long exist If we are not a nation governed by newspapers, we are at least a nation held together by the cohesive power of printers' ink. Yet the great modern daily as we now know it, recording each day the happenings of the whole civi- lized world, is a thing of such recent and rapid growth that its beginnings can be remembered by persons still in the prime of life. One might almost name the day on which the new and greater journalism was born. It was the day that saw Fort Sumter fired upon. The civil war made the Americans a nation of newspaper readers. The people's eagerness to get tidings of loved ones in camp and on the battle-field brought to the newspapers a circulation undreamed of before, and they began to^ fill a place as news purveyors unknown previously in the history of human evolution. That place they have never since relinquished. Each year has brought a further expansion of their empire and of their hold upon the interest and respect of the peo- ple. Since the moment when this new era began, there never has been a time when mechanical inven- tion failed to keep pace with the increasing demands of practical journalism. The conditions were unique and they created a unique kind of newspaper. Our journals are distinctively American. They have bor- rowed little from Europe, and they fulfil a different function from that of the press in monarchical coun- tries. They voice the thought of the people rather than that of politicians or rulers. The periodical press is one of the most vital of our institutions. To see how far the science of newspaper making has progressed in the last generation it is necessary only to take a swift glance at the earlier American journalism, before it had blazed its own paths and 2 EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS reached a goal so different from that of the European press. In reading the comparatively humble story of the first century and a half of American journalism it should never be forgotten that much that seems sor- did and violent was a necessary part of the work of evolution. The young nation was crude, and its jour- nalism was crude, but its very errors and excesses sprang from an intense love of individual and national freedom. Carlyle once admitted that even the wisest emperor could not guide America in its great task of fitting a continent for human habitation so fast and well as " America itself, with its very anarchies, gas- conadings, vulgarities, stupidities." Carlyle never was a fair judge of republican institutions, but he was willing to admit that " anarchies, too, have their uses and are appointed with cause." It was so with the American newspapers, which De Tocqueville, when he visited this country in 1831, found full of " open and gross appeals to the passions of their readers ... a deplorable abuse .of the powers of thought." Amer- ican journalism had not yet found itself, but it was even then on the threshold of the formative era which was to prepare it for the sudden and splendid outburst at the nation's call after the fall of Sumter. Journalism began in Europe about the time when the Pilgrim Fathers were sailing for America. In 1639 the pioneer printing-press in this country was brought to Massachusetts Bay colony from England, but for a long time it was not allowable to print the news or even the laws, and the burning of offending books by the common hangman was a frequent occurrence. It is not strange that there was no trace of an attempt at journalism in America until 1690, when an adven- turous citizen of Boston printed the country's first newspaper and was promptly forbidden by the colo- 3 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM nial authorities to issue a second number. This pio- neer editor was Benjamin Harris, and his paper was called Publick Occurrences. It was a little sheet of three printed pages, two columns to a page. It was announced to appear " once a moneth," but the public licensers decided that such an enterprise was contrary to the law and to the best interests of society. Nineteen years earlier Sir William Berkeley, of Virginia, had thanked God that there was no free school and no printing-press in his colony, adding the pious hope that there might be none for the next hun- dred years. His prayer was not quite realized, but it was more nearly so in Virginia than in some of the other colonies. Not until 1704 did a newspaper become established in the New World. It was called the Boston News Letter, and was in the form of a half sheet, about 12 inches by 8, printed in two columns. The printer was Bartholomew Green, and the proprietor was John Campbell, a Scotchman and the postmaster of Bos- ton. This little pioneer paper appeared weekly for nearly three-quarters of a century. It ceased to exist during the troubles of 1776. In the meantime another paper had been started in Boston in 1719, followed almost immediately by one in Philadelphia, and by one in New York in 1725. It required nearly thirty years to increase these four papers to nine. In 1776 the number was thirty-seven, including one semi- weekly. The revolution was fought and independence won without a single daily newspaper. The first daily in America was established in Philadelphia in 1784. At the opening of the nineteenth century there were two hundred newspapers in the United States, with daily editions in only four or five cities. After another decade the number had increased to three hundred EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS and sixty, of which more than twenty were dailies. By 1830 the number was one thousand, in spite of the fact that there were as yet no railroads and no power presses. It is interesting to note how the railroads and the newspapers kept pace with each other in the successive decades : YEAR. Miles of railroad. Number of periodicals. 1 840 4..OOO 1,631 1850 IO,OOO 2,800 1870 5O,OOO 5,871 1880 9O,OOO 11,314 1890 l6o,OOO 16,048 I gOO IQO.OOO 21,272 At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was one newspaper for every 26,450 inhabitants ; at its close there was one for every 3,600 inhabitants. On the basis of copies issued the contrast is still more stri- king. Our population increased fifteenfold during the century, while the newspapers increased a hundred- fold, but the number of copies issued daily has in- creased many thousandfold. There are more than 8,000,000,000 copies of newspapers and other period- icals issued each year, making about 108 copies for every inhabitant. The first American papers were chiefly reprints of English papers. Local news was confined largely to time-tables of coach-lines and the movements of sail- ing vessels. Foreign news consisted entirely of mat- ter reprinted from the London journals, which were months old when received. The editor of the Boston News Letter once naively expressed regret that he was " thirteen months behind in giving the news from Europe." Postmasters were the first editors, for their offices were the centers of news. They printed their 5 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM papers by hand on wooden presses whose capacity was severely taxed by a circulation of 400 or 500. There was little freedom of the press. Newspapers were tolerated so long as they gave no offense to the colonial authorities, otherwise they were summarily suppressed, as they still are in Germany and other countries of continental Europe. Most of the early journals were not newspapers so much as they were vehicles for publishing moral or political essays. Editors were in no hurry about print- ing the news. The Declaration of Independence, adopted by Congress at Philadelphia July 4th, was not published in the chief paper of the town until the 1 3th, and did not appear in a Boston paper until the 22d. Preference was given to controversial matter. A communication from a man of national reputation was considered far more important than any amount of news. The newspapers of the Revolutionary period were chiefly instruments for stirring the people to action. Afterward they flourished as the organs of parties and politicians, bringing about the era of per- sonal journalism and of editors who were greater than their papers. At no time during the first half of the nineteenth century was journalism regarded as a profession re- quiring special ability or preparation. Even in 1850 the business of issuing a newspaper was looked upon as an avocation rather than as a vocation, and editors usually gained their living by practising law or medi- cine or by holding public office. Most of them were as poor as poverty and had to depend upon political or private favors to a humiliating extent. Newspaper profits in those days were derived chiefly from sub- scriptions and job-printing, with the publication of the delinquent tax list as an annual bonanza. When mer- 6 EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS chants advertised they did it in a spirit of benevolence that would be galling to the dictatorial publisher of the modern metropolitan daily. The editor was ex- pected to be continually quarreling with other editors and never to permit himself to be outdone in vitupera- tion. It is no wonder that such papers did not pay, or that belated examples of that style of journalism still existing in remote country districts do not pay to-day. Looking back at that era, it seems amazing that editors did not make better use of such news facilities as they had. But it must be remembered that the papers were expected to comment on the news rather than to gather it for its own sake. News of impor- tant happenings still spread through the country by means of letters, or by word of mouth, through coach- drivers, travelers, and vessel captains. Local news was reported with an editorial tone, and news of the larger cities was clipped from the columns of ex- changes. As late as the Mexican War the movements of armies and the accounts of battles were still ob- tained from official reports and private letters, though there was a swift pony express to carry the war news from New Orleans to the terminus of the New York telegraph line. The first noteworthy departure from old-time methods was made by the New York Herald, founded by the elder James Gordon Bennett in 1835 on a nom- inal cash capital of $500. In his first issue Mr. Ben- nett announced that his paper would be independent and not a party organ. From the beginning he worked on the theory that the people wanted news rather than views. He had a positive genius for news- gathering and grudged no expense in getting what he wanted. When the pioneer ocean steamer Sirius began crossing the Atlantic in 1838, he seized the 7 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM opportunity and secured for his paper the first Euro- pean news service. He was the first to use illustra- tions as a news feature. From the beginning he printed " money articles," or reports of the transac- tions in Wall Street, the first newspaper reports of this kind in America. To-day the financial page is one of the most important in every leading paper. At the same time Mr. Bennett's methods were sensational and often unscrupulous. He gave the yellow journals of our day most of their points, but he also blazed the path which enterprising and progressive newspapers were to follow. His jealous contemporaries had some cause for the vituperation with which they unanimous- ly assailed him, but they long overlooked the fact that the Herald cpntained the germ of the greater jour- nalism. From this was gradually evolved the modern newspaper the journal devoted to a chronicle of the world's happenings day by day. In the meantime the slavery issue, Which shook the nation for the next quarter of a century, developed American journalism along both the new and the old lines. That was the era of criticism, when a man like Horace Greeley could make or unmake a poli- tician by an editorial article. But the Bennett type of journalism was gathering force, too, and less than a dozen years after the Herald was founded the " lightning press " arrived and became a powerful ally. Other editors followed reluctantly and hesi- tatingly, until the civil war demonstrated once for all that the chief function of the newspaper henceforth was to print the news. Up to 1861 mechanical invention had followed editorial enterprise with laggard steps, but from that time forward invention kept pace with all the de- mands of circulation. The telegraph suddenly came 8 EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS into general use for the transmission of news. Even in the crowning excitement previous to the war a paper like the New York Tribune under Horace Greeley had been printing less than two columns of telegraphic matter daily. This order of things sud- denly ceased forever. The war brought such a tre- mendous increase of subscriptions for all papers that the publishers could incur expenditures which would have appalled, if not ruined, them a year before. Ad- vertisers were prompt to see the advantage of the increased circulation, and their money became avail- able for extending the news service still farther. Reporters and artists were sent to the front. The correspondents at Washington were instructed to give less space to personal opinions and more to news. The eager rivalry to be the first to print an important piece of news, then already strong, has grown more intense in each succeeding decade. Within a year the new journalism was well advanced on its marvelous career of development. The public appetite for news grew with what it fed upon. Journalism had become a legitimate business, if not a stable profession. The collection of news was reduced to a system almost to an exact science until to-day every event of impor- tance in the world is recorded daily by the press. The story of the mechanical side of the evolution of the newspaper is fully as interesting as that of the intellectual side. A detailed record thereof covering the last sixty years would be almost a synopsis of the world's progress in invention. Though Gutenberg had discovered the art of printing with movable types about the year 1438, little had been added to his invention four centuries later. Each decade in the latter part of the nineteenth century brought more improvements in printing than all the previous centuries combined. 9 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM At the time when the elder Bennett started his paper, in 1835, nearly all the newspapers in the coun- try still were printed on hand-presses, one side at a time. The Washington hand-press, an improved form of the primitive machine, still survives in some remote country districts, and there are veteran edi- tors who can recall how they printed the first editions of papers now famous on a lever press of this kind. The flat type form was inked laboriously each time by hand. The dampened sheet of rag paper was laid carefully upon the type, and then with a back-break- ing pull on the lever the impression was taken. With the perspiration trickling down his brow the pioneer editor and publisher pulled out the printed sheet cautiously, so as not to tear it rolled his sleeves a little higher, and went to work on the next copy. Each copy had to go through the press twice. Those were the days when the circulation of a paper de- pended upon the number of pulls that one pair of arms could give to a lever during the few hours that span the life of a news item ; 500 was a large circula- tion, 1,000 enormous, and beyond 1,500 an impossi- bility. If some prophet had told those muscular edi- tors that before the end of the century a New York paper would be issuing half a million copies daily he would have been regarded as a lunatic. Newspaper work has been revolutionized repeat- edly by new inventions in the last two-thirds of a cen- tury. The chief agencies that did it were the cylinder press, the railroads and telegraph-lines, the multiple press, the stereotyping process, the perfecting press, wood-pulp paper, and the typesetting machine. The first important advance came with the ordinary cyl- inder press. This was not introduced to any extent until 1832. It is still in use for the printing of books 10 EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS and country newspapers, though in a greatly im- proved form. In this the type stands on a flat bed and the paper is printed by passing between it and a heavy roller. With steam-power hitched to such a press the possibilities of journalism already were becoming great. But the advent of railroads about this time increased the area of circulation a thousandfold. There was need of a swifter machine, and it came in the form of Hoe's " lightning press " in 1846. It is no exaggeration to say that Richard M. Hoe created a new era in journalism when he showed how type could be placed on a revolving cylinder so that half a dozen men could feed in sheets of paper against it at the same time. With this multiple press came the possibility of addressing many thousands, at the moment of their keenest interest, on the events of the hour. Almost at the same time Morse's electric tele- graph had come into existence. Before 1844 a fast pony express service, with relays, had carried the news from Washington to New York in two days. The first telegraph-line to be used for news purposes was that from Washington to Wilmington, which re- duced the time between Washington and New York to one day. Hoe's " lightning press " is antiquated now. Even that machine could not supply the millions of eager readers in the days of the civil war and in the era of in- dustrial and railway expansion that followed. Under this enormous stimulus the mechanical experts be- thought themselves of the stereotyping process, which had been discovered many years before but never put into extensive use. By this process the type page is duplicated in solid metal within a few minutes, and any number of plates may be made, so that the same matter can be set to running on a dozen or two dozen II PRACTICAL JOURNALISM presses at the same time. Here, at last, was the pos- sibility of supplying a circulation of a million if neces- sary. That possibility took definite shape in Mr. Hoe's wonderful web-perfecting press. The machine was invented in 1871, and has been improved marvel- ously since then, especially by the application of the multiple principle, which combines six or eight press- es in one machine. In its latest form this may justly be regarded as the greatest piece of machinery that the ingenuity of man has created. The octuple press devours the blank paper in four continuous ribbons, prints both sides, and folds, cuts, pastes, and counts out the completed copies at the incredible rate of 96,000 eight-page papers an hour. It requires eight- een months to build one of these presses, and the cost of one machine exceeds the total value of all the newspaper presses in the United States at the begin- ning of the nineteenth century. To keep pace with such a press the typesetting machine was sure to come. After innumerable ex- periments, involving infinite toil and wasted fortunes, the chief prize finally fell to Ottmar Mergenthaler's linotype, a machine of amazing ingenuity. Instead of setting type it sets the molds for casting type, drop- ping them into place as fast as the operator touches the keys, until the line is completed, when the moving of a lever forces molten type metal against the ma- trices and casts a solid line. The molds distribute themselves automatically and are ready to be used again when the next line is set. With such a machine one man can do the work of five ordinary printers. In fact, an expert can do a week's work in a day. Al- ready the type-case and the hand compositor are be- coming things of the past, like the lever-press and the stage-coach. Practically every large newspaper in the 12 en in w EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS country now uses these or similar machines. Some offices have fifty or sixty, representing a fortune in themselves ; but the machine reduces the cost of com- position more than one-half, and has brought profit to the publishers. In 1894 only 200 linotypes were in use. Now there are more than 8,000, and the number is growing steadily. Apparently the machine is about to revolutionize the country newspaper as it has the city press. A remarkable example of how one invention be- gets another is seen in the revolution which has re- duced the price of paper in the last thirty years from twenty-four cents a pound to two and a quarter cents a pound. Few readers stop to think that if print paper were still made of rags the modern press could not exist, and we could have no penny papers such as we have. There came a time when even the old cylinder- press began eating up paper at such a rate that all the rags in America and Europe could not keep it going. Paper became costly, and it looked as if a large part of the population would have to go without news- papers. Then came the application of the chemical pulp method to wood, and the presses have been devouring spruce forests at a terrific rate ever since. Now all newspapers are printed on wood-pulp paper, and that is why we can have a daily paper for one or two cents and a Sunday paper weighing a pound for five cents. The trees are put through a mill and ground into a powder as fine as flour, and this is converted into a pulp from which the paper is made. The paper is manufactured in a continuous ribbon the width of a newspaper, and is wound around an iron spool. Each spool holds from two to four miles of paper, and each roll weighs from 800 to 1,200 pounds. The web-press 3 13 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM feeds itself with this ribbon, printing it on both sides, and making newspapers of it faster than the quickest eye can count them. The present enormous extension of the telegraph and cable lines, which we now regard as a matter of course, has taken place wholly within the memory of men and women still in the prime of life. Some pa- pers now pay $100,000 annually in telegraph tolls for special correspondence, aside from the regular Asso- ciated Press service. During the first few years after the Atlantic cable was laid it was used sparingly be- cause of the high tolls. The first decided movement to use the new device for press purposes was during the Franco-Prussian War. It was the New York Tribune that led in the new departure at that time by printing tnany columns of cable news sent by spe- cial correspondents at enormous cost. Since then the European cable news has become a regular feature of all the leading papers. Though the press rate has reached the comparatively low figure of twelve cents a word between London and Chicago, the foreign news is still one of the most costly features of the modern newspaper. The press of no other country spends money so lavishly for news. In no other country is the organ- ization for collecting and arranging news so thorough and elaborate. A search-light is ready to be turned in- stantly upon any locality of the earth. No place is so inaccessible, no peril so great, no expense so heavy that the press hesitates for a moment to send its repre- sentative or expedition to the spot, if news is to be found by so doing. Hiring special trains, stringing special telegraph- wires, chartering ships, and sending a corps of report- ers to the firing line in a foreign war are now ordinary 14 EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS incidents of American journalism. Readers in this country often get a better report of a great event in London or Paris than the Londoners and Parisians get. The account of a battle fought in China y ester- day is read this morning at the New York or San Francisco breakfast table. We know the result of a battle in South Africa almost before the smoke has cleared from the veldt. It is the same with our domes- tic news. Telegraph-wires are run from a national convention hall to every newspaper. An operator sits near the chair of the presiding officer and with a muf- fled key sends full reports of the proceedings, with de- scriptions of every incident of note. At the other end of the line, in each news center, another operator sits and takes the despatches from the wire on a type- writer. After passing through the hands of an editor the copy is rushed to the linotype man, and in an in- credibly short time the public is reading the news in the streets. Every paper now puts page after page of tele- graphic news into type each day, while almost as much more is thrown away for lack of space. The watchword of the news room is " Boil down ! " What not to print is the perennial problem of the editor's life. Such a state of affairs naturally has produced radical changes in journalistic methods. The long- winded verbatim reporting of Charles Dickens's time would be as much out of place in the twentieth cen- tury newspaper as Tony Weller's stage-coach would be in a modern railway station. Journalism is a pro- fession requiring special training and aptitude as well as much hard work. It is no small task merely to get a fair understanding of the organization and methods of a large newspaper. 15 II POSITIONS AND SALARIES THE modern newspaper is a business enterprise, and the men who run it are animated by much the same motives as the men who conduct a department store. Before the era of large circulations and fast presses the publisher of a newspaper often was in- spired by a desire to inculcate some truth or to defend a certain set of political principles. To-day his para- mount object is to make money, though his devotion to certain principles may still play a large part in sha- ping the policy of his paper. Before Frederick the Great ascended the throne of Prussia he wrote a book in enthusiastic advocacy of universal peace. Before the book was off the press he had become a king and found himself preparing to precipitate Europe into a war. Instead of ruling his kingdom he found that his kingdom was ruling him. The editor of the great metropolitan newspaper is in much the same predicament. Such a paper scarcely can be run on a capital of less than a million, while the most prosperous ones are paying dividends on from five to fifteen millions. With such enormous interests at stake the paramount duty of the head of the enterprise is to keep it from financial collapse. He is only one of many whose money is invested in the paper, hence he has no right to wreck it for the sake of any idea, however dear to him. Some editors 16 POSITIONS AND SALARIES are fortunate enough to be able to make their papers pay on lines conforming with their own ideas in most matters, but there is none who has not had to suppress many of his private views in trying to suit the public. The people, by bestowing their patronage on this or that kind of paper, do more than all the editors com- bined to shape the policy of the press. If a publisher sees that a sensational style sells the most papers, he is strongly tempted to give the public a " yellow journal," just as a merchant gives his customers calico if they want it instead of silk. The reporter must hand the desired goods over the counter. He must write the World or Journal style, the Tribune or Herald style, the Sun or Post style, as his position requires, or go elsewhere. So long as he writes matter conforming with the paper's policy he may entertain whatever private views and political prin- ciples he likes. There are three classes of men in every newspaper office those who write, those who edit, and those who neither write nor edit, but direct. At the head of every metropolitan newspaper is the editor-in-chief, usually called simply the editor. Usually he also is the chief stockholder and publisher, with control over the business office as well as over the editorial rooms. The final responsibility for everything that appears in the paper rests on him. He has special charge of the editorial page and shapes the policy of the paper largely by means of the editorials written under his direction. Next in authority under the editor is the mana- ging editor, who is the chief executive officer of the establishment. As a rule, he is the highest function- ary with whom the public comes in contact. He sel- dom writes or edits, but directs the doing of these 17 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM things. He has supervision of the collection of the news and of its preparation for publication. On his shoulders falls all the responsibility which the chief editor does not care to assume. He must be a man of quick and sure judgment, of great executive ability, and of inexhaustible originality. One of the most im- portant of his duties is that of constantly devising new features and new ways and means for filling the pa- per's columns. Under the managing editor are the city editor, who collects the local news ; the telegraph or news editor, who collects the matter that comes by wire; and the various department editors dramatic, liter- ary, sporting, financial, commercial, real estate, and others. The city editor has a corps of reporters under his charge, and the news editor has a corps of corre- spondents in the various cities of importance. Each of these departments also has a force of copy readers, whose duty it is to edit the matter written by the re- porters and correspondents. Only on the largest pa- pers, however, is there a separate man in charge of collecting the telegraphic news. The managing editor or the night editor in most offices looks after this part of the work. A few of the editors on a morning paper may do their work altogether in the daytime, such as the editorial writers, the Sunday editor, the exchange reader, and some of the department editors. The reporters are ready to begin work about one o'clock in the afternoon and continue on duty until some time after midnight. Before evening they have com- pleted most of their afternoon assignments. At six or seven o'clock a new force of men takes charge the men who edit. They are called copy readers, and they perform an important function not usually 18 POSITIONS AND SALARIES realized by the outside world. They begin at once preparing the copy that has been written by the re- porters or sent in by telegraph during the afternoon. Every newspaper receives each night from two to five times the amount of matter it can print. Rarely is an article sent to the composing-room without condensa- tion or change. A large staff of copy readers is neces- sary to cull out what is printable, to avoid libelous matter, to write the head-lines, to condense, to verify statements. As soon as each article or portion thereof is complete it is sent to the composing-room, and usu- ally in half an hour the proof is ready. The compositors begin work at seven o'clock as a rule, and the whole establishment soon is in full blast. The building fairly throbs with activity until three or four o'clock in the morning. The managing editor often goes home for several hours in the early part of the evening, and the office drops into a rou- tine. The night city editor is in charge of the collec- tion of local news and the editing of copy in his de- partment. On the larger papers he has six or eight copy readers to assist him, while in the telegraph- room the news editor has a similar force. As soon as a reporter finishes an article it is handed to the night city editor, and he checks it off his assignment list and either prepares it himself or gives it to one of his assistants. The news from the courts, the city hall, the coro- ner's office, and other routine or department matters usually are the first to be handled. Two or more editors are at work on the sporting news. Reporters continue to come in from time to time to announce the results of quests assigned to them during the after- noon and evening. The night city editor hears their reports and gives each a few rapid directions as to the 19 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM length or treatment of the story. Two reporters are held in reserve for emergencies throughout the eve- ning. Of these, the short- wait man goes off duty at midnight and the long-wait man remains until three or four in the morning. The average reporter gets off at any time after midnight when his day's task happens to be completed. The night city editor has a difficult and responsible position. Though the regular city editor has planned the campaign for the day, some of the liveliest and most strenuous battles often fall to the lot of the night city editor. He must be a man of keen and swift judgment and must know how to deal with emer- gencies. When the news comes of some accident, defalcation, or murder, or the death of some promi- nent man, he must not only judge instantly what is to be done, but he must know where to send to get the fullest information. It has been said aptly that he is the one man in the establishment who has reason to become excited, but he has been trained to expect the unexpected, and in ten minutes he usually has his reporters out. It is easily seen that the only school which can give a man the requisite training for such a position is that found in years of hard work as a reporter. Usually this experience is fol- lowed by an interim in the position of copy reader, which is the general stepping stone to all the higher positions. The night editor's task requires the same swift thinking and rapid action as that of the night city edi- tor, and it carries with it a still heavier share of respon- sibility. This little known but important functionary gives final shape to the printed page, and has the last word in regard to the matter to be used. He is next in authority after the managing editor, and he takes 20 POSITIONS AND SALARIES the managing editor's place after the latter goes home in the small hours of the morning. Next to the man- aging editor there is no officer on a metropolitan daily requiring greater executive ability than the night editor. One of the first things the night editor must do each evening is to get an estimate of the space needed for the advertisements, and then to get an idea of the space each of the most important news stories will fill. Then he allots the remaining space arid notifies each department of the limits thus set. An important part of his work is to look over the proofs of all mat- ter for errors. He must go through the editorial articles with great care to see that the editor has not said something which is invalidated by the later news. With sufficient cause he may change any article, or hold it out till the next issue, or kill it, or place it in a prominent or obscure position in the paper, according as his judgment dictates. Usually he also has the responsibilities of a news editor and answers the telegraphic queries of corre- spondents. About midnight the night editor becomes especial- ly busy. It is time for him to send the first pages to the stereotyper. At the same time he must continue skimming with the eye of a hawk through his proofs, which keep raining down upon him. He gives his orders swiftly to the make-up men at the forms, tell- ing them what articles to put in each page. His posi- tion is one of great responsibility and of delicate judg- ment. It is as precarious as it is lucrative. One of the best night editors of my acquaintance once happened, by some unaccountable slip, to print a long obituary of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe several years before her death. She was seriously ill, and the usual obitu- 21 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM ary article had been written in advance and put into type for quick use if needed. In some way the article got into the forms, and the readers of the first edition of that paper learned of the great novelist's death. Mrs. Stowe did not pass away at that time, but the night editor did. There are other fatal opportunities always lying in wait for the night editor. One of his last duties is to decide what to leave out for lack of room, and a dreaded question next day is, " Why didn't we print this story ? " Perhaps his most constant worry is to get each page to the stereotypers on schedule time. His most deadly dereliction is to miss the mail. Days in advance the city editor has prepared for the events that are foreseen. He keeps an assignment book, in which are entered all the important happen- ings expected for weeks ahead. His reporters are deployed with the care of a general. But there are always emergencies that can not be foreseen, and these are what throw the greatest strain on the night men. Fire may be sweeping through a block with a heavy loss of life, and there is little time to get a connected story in the first edition. The reporters ask a few hurried questions as soon as they arrive on the scene and then rush for the telephones. The story they tell is hastily put into writing in the office, and often it is an exciting race to get the news prepared before the time set for the night editor to close the forms. In the telegraph-room possibly a presidential elec- tion or a nominating convention causes the greatest strain. The telegraph companies have a way of divi- ding every long article into sections, known as A, B, and so on. The news editor frequently gets section G before section C has begun, and it takes a cool brain and a steady hand to eliminate objectionable 22 POSITIONS AND SALARIES matter and keep the words in their proper order, at the same time maintaining a steady rate in sending matter to the composing-room. Ordinarily there is no more confusion or feverish haste in a metropolitan newspaper office than in the daily conduct of a railroad plant. Everything is done by system. Emergencies are what are expected most, and that paper is the best equipped which grapples with them without undue excitement. It is clear that the most difficult positions in such an establishment are those of an executive nature. The qualities of the general rather than those of the literary man are what count for most and bring the highest pay in jour- nalism. The publisher, who stands at the head of this edi- torial machine, also controls the business office. He appoints a business manager, whose duty it is to reap where the editors have sown, and to push the business of the paper in all directions. The work is divided into departments here also, and a separate book might be written about the organization and methods of the business half of the modern newspaper office. There are the counting-room, the advertising department, and the circulating department, each with its respon- sible head and its subdivisions. The advertising office has its advertising manager, solicitors, and clerks. The circulating department has its city and country circulation managers, who push the sale of the paper by all the arts and allurements known to modern newspaper enterprise. Between the editorial and the business branches of the concern stand the mechanical departments. There is the delivery department, with its superintendent of delivery and its superintendent of the mailing-room. There is the etching room, with its artists and experts, 23 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM who make the cuts for the pictures that go into the paper. The proof-room has its responsible head and its experts. There are the composing, stereotyping, and press rooms, each with a foreman in charge. Perfect cooperation exists among all the departments in both sections. Almost a million people in the United States are supported, directly or indirectly, by the newspaper in- dustry and the enterprises dependent upon it. Nearly 100,000 persons are employed on the 21,272 newspa- pers and other periodicals of the country, to whom are paid nearly $80,000,000 annually in wages. The last census shows the receipts of the newspaper publishers during 1900 to have been $175,000,000, of which $95,- 000,000 came from advertising and $80,000,000 from subscriptions. Advertising at last fairly overshadows the sale of copies as a source of income, in spite of the amazing increase in circulation. The aggregate number of copies of newspapers and other periodicals issued during the last census year was 8,000,000,000, nearly double the circulation of a decade previous. If printed in book form the newspapers and maga- zines issued in a single year in the United States would make a library of 4,000,000,000 copies as large as David Harum. In some cases the cost of producing a newspaper exceeds that of carrying on the Government of the State in which it is published. The regular expenses of the larger dailies average between $20,000 and $35> a week. The cost of white paper in some cases nearly equals that of all the labor employed. One New York paper recently used 337,000 miles of paper in a year, costing $617,000. The expenses of the whole establishment are more than $2,000,000 a year. That paper gives regular employment to 1,300 24 POSITIONS AND SALARIES men and women, and has the occasional service of twice that number besides. The newspapers have fallen into the hands of busi- ness men. This means that the establishments are conducted on sound financial principles and that the employees are as sure of their pay as in any other industry. In the business and mechanical depart- ments the wages average well with those in stores and factories. In the writing departments the salaries are perhaps on a par with those of teachers and college professors, but never equal the best incomes obtain- able in law, medicine, or the more lucrative lines of business. Yet it must not be forgotten that news- paper work begins paying a fair salary at a time when the young lawyer or doctor is still starving and wait- ing for a practice, and when the would-be professor is still paying tuition. Newspaper writing, in the essential qualifications required, is a learned profession ; but in its exactions and its comparative insecurity of employment it more nearly resembles a trade. In the first ten years the young journalist masters reporting, copy reading, and the rest of the routine work. In the next ten years he usually receives the best salaries the profession has to offer for his degree of ability. Probably by the close of the third decade he sees his salary decreasing, if he does not find it impossible to secure employment at all. The tendency to throw out the older men exists in all lines of business in large cities, but the swiftness of the pace in journalism makes this evil rather worse in this profession than in others. The only man who can hold his own against the onward march of youth in the newspaper office is the special- ist. His specialty may be reminiscence, or statistics, or politics, or books, or Wall Street affairs, but only 25 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM when he speaks with authority on some subject are his years tolerated. In other words, the man who makes himself indispensable may for a time defy even the age limit if he retain his mental and bodily vigor. The income of many a young man who gets a foothold on a large New York daily is from $500 to $700 the first year. This may be doubled the second year. In the third year, or even sooner, if he be clever, he begins receiving the best assignments, and finds himself working as a space writer on equal terms with the most experienced men. Perhaps he earns $3,000 that year and each year thereafter until he is crowded out by younger men. This is a case some- what better than the average among the newspaper writers of that city. The average income of the whole profession in New York is said to be $2,000 a year. The ordinary pay of a reporter in all the larger cities of the United States is about $30 a week. There is no uniformity of wages, even in the same town. The wealthiest papers try to get the best men by paying the highest salaries. The profession is a refuge for hundreds of men who have failed in other walks of life, and the supply of ordinary writers is so great that any large newspaper might change its en- tire force in a day. But these facts need not trouble the ambitious and wide-awake youth who has the qualities and the industry to raise himself above the dead level of mediocrity. In New York city there are two or three papers that pay their managing editors $15,000 a year, and in the same city two or three other managing editors draw $10,000 a year. Editorial writers and the vari- ous subeditors get salaries ranging from $2,500 to $5,000. Assignment reporters earn from $2,000 to $3,000 a year when successful, but others average from 26 POSITIONS AND SALARIES $1,500 down to $1,000 or less. In Chicago there are two or three managing editors who receive from $7,500 to $10,000 a year. Editorial writers in Chicago get from $2,000 to $3,750, and the pay of city editors and night editors has about the same range. Copy readers draw from $1,500 to $2,000, and department editors from $2,500 to $3,000. Reporters receive from $750 to $2,000, according to experience and ability. These Chicago salaries are fairly typical of those in the newspaper offices of Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. In all the smaller cities they are somewhat lower. There are in the United States 2,226 daily news- papers, of which more than 2,000 are published in towns of less than 100,000 inhabitants. In these smaller cities and villages there are not many salaried positions that pay more than $30 a week, yet in every town of 25,000 inhabitants there are a few positions paying about that salary. The number of papers pub- lished in English in the thirty-eight cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants in the United States is 180, and these constitute practically the entire field in which the trained journalist may reasonably expect to earn more than $1,500 a year. The market for the sale of manu- scripts, outside of the magazines, also is practically confined to the more prosperous of these 180 papers. Engagements to write for a newspaper are usually made verbally, with a possibility of discharge at any moment; but this insecurity is offset by the fact that an experienced and reliable man on the sunny side of fifty can almost always find a new position with little difficulty. Salaries are paid weekly. Journalism is one of the most exacting professions. The successful newspaper man must be ever on the alert. John A. Cockerill once remarked that a news- 27 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM paper man should have no friends, no social relations, no family. He should live, eat, and sleep in his office, and Uie first time he ventures out of its door he should be hit on the head with a club. This may be taken as the pessimistic raillery of an overworked man, but there is a good deal of truth in it. The night work and long hours cut the newspaper man off from social intercourse to a considerable degree. He must have more than ordinary interest in his profession to make it a pleasure to him. He needs a good constitution to stand the irregularities of eating and sleeping that are at times unavoidable. The glamour surrounding journalism in the popu- lar mind must be discounted in some respects. The young man yearns for the free tickets to the theaters, the free passes on the railroads, the gay little suppers with pretty actresses, the midnight gatherings of bril- liant wits over their pipes and beer, and possibly under this he has a feeling that he has something to tell the public. When he gets into the business he finds that the free tickets and passes are few or none, that the working day is too long and the pay too small for the gay diversions of which he dreamed, and that his message to the world must wait until he can buy a paper of his own in which to print it. These discoveries disappoint him, yet the work of the great newspaper office comes to have a fascination for him. Its excitements, its outlook upon the world, its op- portunities for knowing men, and the sense of power that comes from being a part of such an engine of civilization these things create a spell which the born journalist is loath to break. He may not always get his reward in money, but he gets it in doing the one thing in the world that he finds most pleasure in doing. 28 POSITIONS AND SALARIES Happily the wages and the quality of work on the newspapers are growing better each year. A half a century ago there was only one newspaper salary of $2,500 in the country, and in the small towns reporters and editorial writers were paid from $12 to $20 a month about the same as farm hands. Now every newspaper man with a love for his profession and with average intellectual powers can enter journalism with a fair assurance that he can make a respectable living in it. It is not brain strength so much as it is alert and agile mentality that is required to make a good newspaper man. For those who have this faculty the chances in journalism are better than they ever were before. 29 m HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED EVERY managing editor and city editor on a met- ropolitan daily is troubled with an endless procession of applicants for places on the paper. As the normal vacancies in a newspaper office are no more abundant than those in a factory or a store of the same size, it naturally follows that most of these tenders of serv- ice must be refused. It is also apparent that when the editor does choose a new reporter he will take one who can give proof of experience in the craft. It is practically useless for a green hand, even though he be a college graduate or a well-informed business man, to apply to a large morning paper for a position. All papers that pay good salaries want none but experts. They have no time to train raw recruits. The morning papers in American cities draw most frequently upon the staffs of the evening papers for their new men, and the evening papers get many of their recruits from prosperous dailies in the smaller towns. There is no fixed starting-place and no inevitable line of promotion through which the young newspa- per man must go, but it is certain that he should not make the mistake of seeking the large city before he has learned the rudiments of the profession. There are romantic stories about plucky youths who have staked everything on such a venture, and who have 30 HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED been saved from starvation at the last moment by an editor's recognition of their brilliant literary qualities ; but it really is not romantic to be starving to death. Besides, one never hears of those who are not saved at the last moment. The open door to journalism for the country boy or for the dweller in a small town or city is the local paper. The humblest country weekly will serve as a starting-point. The proper apprenticeship is in the position of a reporter of neighborhood news. Every country paper wants a wide-awake correspondent to report the local happenings in each village or cross- roads in the county,. as well as in each school, club, church, and court. /On small weeklies these neigh- borhood items are usually paid for by giving the cor- respondent a free copy of the paper and by furnishing him with postage stamps and stationery .J There will be little or no money in the work at first, but here the primary lessons in news-gathering can be learned. From this obscure beginning there is a continuous ladder of possible promotions leading up to the high- salaried positions on the largest city dailies. A boy born in a large city must begin in much the same way perhaps as a reporter of news items from his school or from his ward. Unless a man be so fortu- nate as to have a father who is part owner of a great daily, it is folly for him to expect to serve his appren- ticeship on such a paper. He must begin at the be- ginning, and long before he has traversed the thorny and devious path to success he will have become im- pressed with the fact that journalism is a profession requiring special training as imperatively as does that of medicine or the law. Perhaps the best way to describe the course of training through which the reporter must go will be 31 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM to present a typical case, based on the actual expeii- ence of a successful Kansas editor, whose story ap- peared in a technical journal not long ago. His name, for present purposes, may be Brown. He was a farm- er's boy and knew the meaning of work. One day he was induced to write neighborhood notes for the local weekly paper. Duly impressed with the responsibility of his position, he kept his paper fully informed when Johnson's cow wandered away, or when Mrs. Tomp- kins recovered from the influenza, or when Josiah Smith broke the county record in husking corn. He was found to have the faculty of seeing things worth telling and of narrating them in a breezy way. In the winter months Brown went to school, and by rigid economy his father managed to send him to college. He dabbled in college journalism and wrote an occa- sional letter for his home paper, and when he had completed his course the editor of the weekly recom- mended him to a neighboring small city daily that needed a reporter. Thus he suddenly found himself on what he then regarded as the highway to power and wealth with the lucrative salary of $10 a week. Brown was assigned to "do" the suburbs, and after he had canvassed them for news he was to re- turn in the evening and hold copy for the proof-reader. It. did not take him long to learn that " legs " are among the essentials of reporting, for he had to walk an appalling number of miles for the meager bunch of personals that he hung on the city editor's hook dur- ing the first few days. But he also learned that a re- porter can not live by foot-power alone. This lesson was impressed upon him by accident one day when he entered a grocery store and asked the usual ques- tion, " Have you any news ? " Of course, the local merchant answered in the negative, as anybody will to 32 HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED a general query of that sort. But he was at leisure and in a sociable mood, so he talked about the weather and the crops, and finally mentioned that there had been a little excitement in the neighborhood over a curious incident. The four-year-old child of the local bank president had fallen into a well and had been saved by her fifteen-year-old sister, who had climbed down and held the child above water until help arrived. Brown's face lighted up and he reached for his note-book. " Oh, you don't want that," said the mer- chant. " The child was not injured in the least." Brown felt ashamed that he should have misjudged the value of the item, so he put up his pencil, and when he made his report to the city editor that even- ing he turned in a five-line paragraph about the well incident. While he was watching the city edi- tor's blue pencil go down through his pages he sud- denly saw that murderous weapon pause with a jerk and heard himself called to the desk. " What is the rest of this story about the child that fell into the well ? " asked his superior. " I did not get the details." The face of the city editor wore a vexed look, but all he said was : " Mr. Brown, you may go down and find out all about the incident. Talk to the father and to the girl who saved the child. It is worth a column." The story was written, and Brown learned a les- son. He learned that a reporter must be able to scent news and to judge its value independently of the peo- ple who tell it. Most people do not know a news story from a sun spot. The reporter who depends only on his legs, or who rushes about asking people, " What's new ? " is likely to walk blindly over more 33 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM news than he gets into his note-book. He must have both self-reliance and a nose for news. Brown was so thoroughly impressed with this les- son that it inspired him to learn another at the same time. Why not write a condensed but dramatic ver- sion of this same story and mail it to a Chicago paper ? When he got through with his regular work that night he devoted an hour to this outside venture. Happily the story was of a kind which the Associated Press did not cover. The Chicago paper accepted it for the graphic style in which it was told, and a few days later Brown received a check for $3. After that he never forgot to be on the lookout for " space " stories. He wrote many that were never accepted, but he also wrote some that brought him more than his whole week's salary on the country daily. Best of all, he made his name known in many city offices in a way that was extremely valuable to him later. It was not long after the rescue story had been published that Brown found himself summoned into the august presence of the chief editor. He almost feared that his journalistic career was about to come to a sudden end, so it was with a thrill of pleasure that he heard the editor say a good word about his story and then tell him he was to be given a trial on the " rail- roads." At the same time his salary was raised to $12 a week. It did not take Brown long to learn that railroad clerks are the busiest people on earth especially when a reporter calls and when their superiors are in the room. While the heads of the departments were not quite so industrious as the clerks, they were strangely averse to talking to Brown, though they seemed to be communicative enough with their friends. In short, Brown was making the discovery 34 HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED that the underlings in great establishments are afraid to talk to reporters for fear they may tell something that will lose them their places. Meanwhile the rail- road department of Brown's paper was meager, and even a local weekly " scooped " him unmercifully. Brown saw that something would have to be done. He had a conference with himself early one morning when he ought to have been asleep, and after a great deal of thought he evolved a desperate plan. He would ask the superintendent of telegraph whether new lines were to be built into Indian Territory. He would ask the general freight agent a series of definite questions about the California traffic. He would beard the general passenger agent in his den and ask whether the through business would not justify a lim- ited train. In a word, he would go to the head officials in person and would ask them specific questions that would call for definite answers of some kind. He put the plan into operation at once, and it worked his salvation. He found that a railroad official can not well refuse to answer a question of public interest directly associated with his department. He also found that the news elicited was often a good advertisement for the railroad, and that the officials soon gave him certain kinds of news of their own ac- cord. Before his new scheme had been in use a week he found that his dry half-column of personal items had expanded into two or three columns of interest- ing matter, sometimes worthy of a place on the first page. One day Brown heard that there had been a wreck near the city. An office-boy met him in the corridor and said the general manager wanted to see him. The general manager was especially cordial, and told the young reporter that he would consider it a great 35 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM favor if he would say nothing about the little mishap that had occurred on his company's road that morn- ing. Brown was flattered, for even reporters are sometimes vain, and he wrote nothing about the wreck. He even forgot to mention the matter to the city editor. The opposition paper came out with the story, and the " little mishap " proved to be much larger than Brown had been led to suppose. Brown had an involuntary interview with the city editor, in which some things were said that would not look well in print. It did not clear the atmosphere when he admitted that he had heard of the accident, but had been requested to print nothing about it. It only brought upon his head a sulfurous reference to his greenness. The accident had reflected upon the management of the road, and he had let the general manager muzzle him. He accepted his reprimand without a word, but it did not heal the sore spot the next day when the little clerk at the outer office of the general manager laughed at him and said : " The old man worked you on that wreck story, didn't he ? " That was the time when Brown made an indelible entry upon the tablets of his private memory to this effect : " The man who asks you to do him a favor by neglecting your duty doesn't pay your salary." It was soon after Brown had been assigned to the court beat that he learned his next lesson of this kind. If there is any place on earth where the suppression fiend flourishes more than another it is in the atmos- phere of the courts. The second day Brown encoun- tered a " prominent citizen," who admitted that he had been intoxicated and that his eye had gone into mourning because he had attempted to whip a police- man for advising him to go home. The prominent citizen had been fined $50, but the judge had volun- 36 HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED teered of his own motion to keep the name off the docket. " This would ruin me," explained the victim to Brown. " My wife couldn't stand it. Here is $10 to buy something for yourself and cigars for the boys, but please say nothing about this trouble." Brown could never explain why he reached out his hand and took the money, but on the way to the office that $10 bill in his pocket made him most un- comfortable. It seemed as large as a football. When he reached the office he walked straight to the city editor, told him the whole story, and laid the money on his desk. The city editor said nothing to Brown until he had inclosed the $10 in an envelope with a note to the prominent citizen explaining that when the reporter had accepted the money he had not real- ized that an attempt was being made to bribe him. Then the editor turned to Brown. " Write the story," was all he said. Before Brown's nerves settled again to their normal calm he had added another entry upon his memory tablets : " The man who gets into trouble should weigh the consequences beforehand, instead of trusting the newspapers to shield his reputa- tion after he has dragged it in the mire." Brown learned many things in the courts. He found that the officials would go to almost any amount of trouble to keep him from getting the par- ticulars about the divorce of a prominent politician, while they could be most accommodating if the case were that of a drayman. He learned that lying to reporters is not considered a sin, and that this rule even extended to a minister who performed a midnight wedding which the couple was anxious to keep se- cret. He learned that he must fight for all his impor- tant news stories because there is always some one 37 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM who is interested in keeping them out of the papers. The young man's confidence in human nature had been slowly crumbling, and there was not much of it left by the time he was transferred from the court beat to politics. The political field held some surprises for Brown. A new condition of things seemed to exist here. In- stead of having to fight for items he found them pour- ing in on him. Every politician was more than will- ing to accommodate him with biographical details of all sorts, or with nicely polished items all ready to print. The curious thing was that these paragraphs were always complimentary, and contained incidental suggestions as to future honors in store for the per- sons in question. But by this time Brown was almost able to tell 'when he was being worked, and a few forcible comments from the city editor helped him to know the dividing line more definitely between a news item and a raw puff. Brown learned many things as political reporter, but they were not things that re- stored his shattered faith in human nature. He learned that things are done in politics which are in violation of the laws of God and man, and that the rascals are not all in one political party. He also learned that a good reporter can not himself be a partizan without danger of coloring his news and thus proving false to his own trust. After five years' schooling in this hard but legiti- mate university of journalism the city room of a hus- tling daily Brown was fairly ready to be graduated into something better financially than he had yet known. He had learned to express his thoughts in plain, simple language, and to use two small words rather than one large word. He had learned to avoid such expressions as " lurid flames," " the devouring 38 HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED element," " the fire fiend," " the last sad rites," " as it were," " a red-letter day," and a hundred other phrases of hoary antiquity that are still " in our midst." He had learned always to use the initials of a man's name, no matter how much trouble it is to find them, and to be sure to spell the name correctly, for a man never quite forgives a newspaper that mis- spells his name. He no longer believed everything that was told him, but investigated for himself. He no longer let his personal likes and dislikes creep into his copy, for he had learned that the public is entitled to the news and cares nothing for the wri- ter's personal quarrels. He had reached the point where he could refrain from garbling the news in order to make a good story and that is something which the greatest of the sensational journals have not yet learned. Finally, Brown had learned not to try to dictate the policy of the paper on which he worked, but to be generous and leave something for the chief editor to do. Evidently Brown was growing good enough to be called up higher. By this time his salary had crept up to the high- water mark of reportorial pay in that town. He was getting $20 a week. He might be working there still for the same salary if he had been that kind of man. But I have hinted that Brown had learned the secret of serving up a good local story for the big city dailies in distant States. He was such a useful man that his superiors were rather glad to have him eke out his slender pay in this way, so long as it did not interfere with his regular work. One day the leading Wichita paper telegraphed in quest of a good man to be its local telegraphic correspondent, and the editor recommended Brown. This gave Brown some additional pocket-money, for he was paid according to 39 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM the space his matter filled in the Wichita paper. In time he became the correspondent of several other Kansas papers, including one in Topeka. All this outside work made him lead the life of a slave, so when he got an offer of $25 a week from the Wichita editor, who had been watching his good work as cor- respondent, he accepted it. In the new town he found his work difficult, and had little leisure to pick up outside lines. He was a first-rate reporter by this time, and got the best as- signments on his paper, but he could not hope for much increase in salary. Gradually he resumed the work of telegraphic correspondent for some of the papers which he had represented in the smaller town, and he found he could more than double his salary if only he had 'time to write all the matter that these outside papers wanted. So one bright morning Brown resigned his place as reporter and opened an office of his own in Wichita, having first laid in a liberal stock of letter-heads bearing the proud legend, " Carl Brown, Newspaper Correspondent." There followed a period of strenuous life for him, but a year later he was able to write to his brother : It gratifies my pride to be able to report that I am succeeding far beyond my expectations, and seem to have got " on the inside," with every prospect of being able to stay there. I have for several months been giving my exclusive attention to special work on outside papers, and I find it pays well. My income for this work has been from $125 to $150 a month. I have a good room in the best office building in town and have the run of both news- paper offices for the collection of news. I am the accred- ited correspondent for the New York World, Press, Herald, and Tribune, for the Kansas City Star and the Kansas City World, for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Republic, 40 HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED and Chronicle, for the Chicago Record-Herald and the Chicago Chronicle, for the San Francisco Call, the Indi- anapolis News, the Denver Times, and the Dallas News. Some of these papers I got by inducing their former cor- respondents to recommend me, and the rest ordered news in response to my repeated queries on " hot " stories. What I have done heretofore has been mostly by telegraph, but I am learning the knack of writing mail stories and am going to work that field for whatever there is in it. Hav- ing such a large list of papers enables me to do a great deal of duplicating on straight news stories. I am ac- quiring some facility in dictating, and I find that it pays to make use of a stenographer when I have a good story to prepare in a hurry in different forms for several papers in the same city. A year ago I would have laughed at the idea of my ever having use for a stenographer. I have excellent health and no end of ambition. It was probably Brown's ambition rather than the hope of any immediate wealth that took him to Chi- cago a year or two later. His numerous connections, clever writing, and general reliability had brought him several tempting offers, but none that promised to pay much more than his Wichita news bureau. However, he finally accepted a roving commission for a Chicago daily, requiring a good deal of travel in the Rocky Mountain region, and acquitted himself so well that the managing editor offered him a regular position on the local staff. After a strenuous period on gen- eral assignments in Chicago he was ordered to Cuba to investigate General Weyler's reconcentration meth- ods, which were beginning to arouse deep public feel- ing in the United States. It is not surprising that Brown should have repre- sented his paper at the front in Cuba during the war, or that he should have acquired considerable glory 41 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM and experience, with a reasonable income, in that exciting period of his life. By the time the soldiers were mustered out, Brown was also ready to take the next step in his career. His war articles, which he had been allowed to sign, had opened the domain of New York journalism to him, and he went to work as a local reporter in that city at $40 a week, which was raised to $50 when he was promoted to a desk job. At last accounts Brown was getting $60 a week as the Washington correspondent of his paper, and was as full of enthusiasm and of hard work as when he took his first assignment at $10 a week in that little Kansas town. The last time he went through Chi- cago he was returning from the West with a remark- ably pretty Kansas girl on his arm. Rumor has it that Brown and his wife are saving up money to buy a daily paper in Kansas, in which case he may learn by experience that good reporters do not always make successful editors. Yet it would not be surprising if he were some day to be city editor of that New York daily, and then managing editor, with a salary of $15,000 a year. That would be the top round on the ladder of promotion. The course of instruction through which Brown went is the legitimate and usual one for successful en- trance into journalism. Practical experience is the only university that can confer the degree of Master of the Pen. Some help can be had from the journalis- tic courses now springing up in the larger universities. Correspondence schools of journalism also may give some useful aid if they be conscientiously conducted. But nothing can teach journalism so thoroughly as hard experience under exacting editors in the ascend- ing scale of responsibility outlined in the foregoing sketch. Different persons will be able to step upon 42 HOW A REPORTER IS EDUCATED different rounds of this ladder for a beginning, but it pays to start near the bottom. For persons in large cities it is sometimes neces- sary to start with special articles for the Sunday pa- pers, but the task of winning an entrance at that door is a long one and full of rebuffs and discouragements for beginners. They usually begin by writing essays on some ancient or abstruse subject, and they meet many bitter disappointments before they learn that a newspaper has no use for learned disquisitions on The Pharaohs of Egypt or on The Innateness of Re- ligiosity. In time they may learn to study the paper for which they are attempting to write, and thus grope their way toward success, but the process as a whole is almost as long as that through which Brown went, and not so thorough. It is the only method open to some, however, and must be followed with persistence until the necessary experience is acquired. The current of promotion naturally flows from the country toward the city. The 13,000 country weeklies in the United States are the primary schools in which men are trained for the higher positions in journalism. Almost every large city newspaper has a special corre- spondent in each of the more important towns for hun- dreds of miles around. But there is not news enough in most towns of 10,000 inhabitants to bring in more than a few dollars a week, except when some great accident occurs or some other unusual event calls for extra space. The best person for local correspondent, therefore, is the editor or reporter on a local paper, who can send the news to a large city daily with but little extra effort. This is how it happens that the great majority of country correspondents and agents of the Associated Press are editors or employees of papers in their own towns. These correspondents are 43 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM paid " space " that is, they are paid according to the amount of their matter printed. Many of them make respectable sums even in comparatively small towns, and they are naturally the men and women who have the first chance on the large dailies with whose edi- tors they thus come into frequent communication. 44 IV THE REPORTER AT WORK PROBABLY in nine cases out of ten the beginner gets his first training as a reporter, and in four cases out of five he does his first reporting in a country town, as did the enterprising young Brown, whose apprenticeship was described in the preceding chapter. By the time this candidate from Kansas was ready to take the Chicago degree in the journalistic guild he was something of an expert. He already knew what hard work was, and he could throw together a story quite handily, but he never had learned what it was to work under high pressure until he entered the city room of a Chicago morning paper. At the end of the first week he wrote home that he had discovered the strenuous life in its native lair. One of the first things Brown learned was that a large newspaper office is neither a pure democracy nor a model republic, but an absolute despotism. He found that when once on duty for the day he could not even go out to luncheon without the city editor's permission. He discovered that he might be kept at work all night or every day in the week if the paper required it. He learned that the editor-in-chief of every successful paper is an autocrat, and that the head of every division likewise is an autocrat in that department. Brown speedily became impressed with the fact that the city editor is the czar of the local 5 45 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM room, but he also saw that the unfortunate tyrant had responsibilities to match his powers of life and death, for it is no light thing to be held accountable for the reporting of every important event occurring daily within a radius of a hundred miles. Another thing learned by the young man was that the city editor has an uncomfortable way of dropping his own weight of responsibility upon the shoulders of his re- porters. Otherwise he found his chief a rather hu- mane sort of creature, with symptoms of a heart. There is a pillar of dread by day and terror by night that moves forever before the eyes of the city reporter the fear of " falling down on " an assign- ment. Brown learned this the first day, and it was impressed upon his mind anew every week by dilem- mas that brought the perspiration to his brow. He was in a stern school, and his mind became trained to a degree of alertness he never had known before. He learned to see things from the newspaper point of view, which is the popular point of view, and to put his thoughts on paper rapidly and in logical order. When he reached his room at two or three o'clock in the morning he was tired, mentally and physically, but when he rose for breakfast at eleven the next day he was ready for another round of the same ex- citing life. Brown was fortunate in having a good city editor. This gave him a chance to learn the relative values of news from an expert judge. When a reporter is sent out on an assignment that promises a story, his first duty upon returning to the office is to report the re- sult to the city editor in the fewest possible words. In an instant the latter will weigh the value of the story, take into account the pressure upon his columns, and tell the reporter how many words to make of it THE REPORTER AT WORK whether a stickful (about 160 words), two or three sticks, half a column, or a column (about 1,400 words). Under this training Brown soon learned to judge for himself the value of his materials and to avoid wasting time in gathering useless details. He was fortunate, too, in being on a paper that cut out every needless word. This forced him to learn a condensed style of writing, and to depend solely upon additional details in giving unusual length to a story. By this means he escaped the besetting sin of the poor reporter a wordy style. There was still one of the hardest branches of re- porting, however, which Brown had not quite mas- tered the art of interviewing. One day he was sent to get an important interview with a strike leader. The man began to talk freely on exactly the point de- sired, and Brown was so anxious to get the words accurately that he pulled out his note-book and pencil and began making notes. The sight of this process alarmed the man, and he suddenly ceased talking and could not be induced to say another word. He had known from the first that Brown was a reporter, but the thought of having his exact words put into print frightened him. Brown had to report his failure at the city editor's desk, and the acrid remarks of that gentleman served to etch upon the young reporter's mind this wise rule : " Keep your pencil and note- book in your pocket as long as possible when inter- viewing." In time he became noted as an expert in- terviewer. Here are his views on the subject : ' The interview was first employed as a vehicle of news by the New York Herald in 1859. When the John Brown raid occurred at Harper's Ferry the Her- ald sent a reporter to call on Gerrit Smith in his home in Peterborough. Smith discussed the matter freely, 47 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM and the result was an interview in the modern sense. During the civil war it was applied to many men and became a permanent feature of journalism. It is an American invention and long was denounced by Eng- lish journals, but in recent years it has been adopted quite generally by London papers. The interview is a journalistic tool that can be abused, especially in the hands of reckless papers and irresponsible reporters, but when rightly used it is one of the most valuable features of modern journalism. " The cut-and-dried interview, consisting of set questions and answers in alternation, is now practi- cally dead, except with the obliging gentlemen who sometimes interview themselves and hand the com- pleted result to the unfortunate reporter. The best writers of interviews now put their matter into much the same form as that used by the novelist. What formerly was a dull broadside of set talk is enlivened by bits of description portraying the speaker as well as his ideas. Clever condensations of his words are made where he becomes too prolix, and explanatory remarks are dropped in where necessary, while the questions may be omitted entirely where the connec- tion is clear without them. "The modus operandi is simple, but not easy. The reporter meets his man, has a talk with him on the subjects desired, and, instead of taking a verbatim record of every word, watches to catch the spirit of what is said and the manner in which it is uttered, and jots down the man's exact words only on vital or technical points. He may use the note-book or not, according to circumstances, but he should defer re- sorting to it as long as possible. With his materials mostly in his head, he goes to his desk and writes the interview in the form just described. One-half the THE REPORTER AT WORK words credited to the speaker may not have been uttered by him, yet if the work be well done it will be more just and infinitely more readable than if it had been taken down in shorthand and written out verbatim. " Interviewing is hard work. Finding your man sometimes is the worst part of the task, but more often it is still harder to get him to talk. People to be interviewed are of three kinds those who talk too much, those who talk too little, and those who will not talk at all. And after you do get your man to talk- ing it takes the concentration of all your mental pow- ers to do your part of the work. You must pay the closest attention to what he is saying, grasp and re- member the points he makes, take notes on the statis- tics he may quote, jot down some of his striking sen- tences, keep up your end of the conversation, and at the same time bear in mind all the other questions which you still must ask, for it will avail nothing to think of a neglected point after you get back to your office. The task often is one to make even an expe- rienced interviewer perspire. Before approaching your man, be sure you have outlined clearly in your mind just what questions you wish to ask him ; the only people who get things in this world are those who know what they want. Impress each thought upon your mind when it is uttered, and when you re- turn to your desk you will be surprised to see how much of the conversation you can reproduce from memory. An important trick in interviewing is to be on the lookout for any pet phrase which the speaker is in the habit of using, and to work this into the article once or twice. It gives a lifelike touch to the story. " There are two good ways to begin an interview 49 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM story. Either start with a brief paragraph of intro- duction, giving the name of the speaker and locating the conversation in time and place, or begin with the man's most important sentence, and then go on to state who said it and what was the occasion for the utterance. As you proceed with the body of the article take care not to be too rigidly verbatim. Wherever there is any part of the talk that is dull or wordy, give the pith of the matter in your own words, and then drop into direct quotation again. A well- written interview with a prominent man on an impor- tant subject is a thing in which any reporter may take pride." By the time Brown had been graduated into New York journalism he was worthy to be entrusted with the most responsible assignments. The thrill of seeing his story on the first page had become familiar. He always worked hard and could be relied upon to get a story out of a " tip " if any man could. Sometimes he would follow up a subject a whole day only to find at last that there was no story in it, but when a paper has a good man on a salary it cheerfully pays for his lean days as well as for his fat ones. At other times Brown would come suddenly upon some subject that demanded several columns, and then he would have to work at high pressure all day and nearly all night, with scarcely time to snatch a meal. Once he had been working a week on a City Hall scandal, secretly securing a great mass of materials for a whole-page story of exposure, when suddenly something happened that made it imperative that the story be printed the next day in order to get ahead of the other papers. Brown found himself under orders to write seven columns within less than six hours. To do this with a pen would be almost a 50 THE REPORTER AT WORK physical impossibility, and it is doubtful whether any man could do it on a machine, but Brown achieved it by dictating the story to several shorthand writers. If he had not acquired the habit of getting his stories clearly before his mind, as if about to make an extem- pore speech, he could not have scored the triumph he did on that occasion. The ability to make copy by dictation is extremely valuable to a newspaper man. After finishing his afternoon assignment and get- ting a more or less hasty dinner, the reporter usually receives an evening assignment, which he is expected to finish by midnight if possible. Late one afternoon Brown and all the rest of the available staff in the local room were called out by the sinking of a ferryboat on the East River with hundreds of people on board. He and his companions leaped into cabs at the first corner and went dashing to a slip where they could hire a steam-launch, and in a remarkably short time they were at the scene of the disaster. The boiler had burst, tearing a hole in the vessel's side, but the cap- tain had managed to get his craft near the shore be- fore it sank. When Brown and his fellow-reporters reached the place, the boat lay on the bottom, with parts of its cabin and wheel-house above water. To these clung women and men by scores. Others were in the water swimming toward land, while cries for help came from some who were sinking. Several small boats were busy with the work of rescue, and in this task the reporters joined, doing swift and gal- lant service with their launch. Brown was in charge of the assignment and directed the work, and he was quick to appreciate the fact that the exploits of his paper's own relief boat would make a good story in themselves. As fast as people were picked up out of 51 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM the water their names and addresses were secured if they were not too exhausted to talk and while they were being conveyed to the dock they were inter- viewed regarding their personal experiences and im- pressions. When the stragglers in the water had all been at- tended to, Brown ran his launch alongside the wreck and continued the work of rescue. The captain still clung to his post of duty, insisting that he would be the last to leave the boat. Seizing his opportunity, Brown left the launch and climbed to the precarious perch on the pilot-house where the captain stood, and had a brief but valuable talk with him, securing the names of the men who had been in the engine-room at the time of the explosion, nearly all of whom were missing. That interview with the captain enabled Brown to give his paper the best report of the acci- dent printed in any paper. It also enabled him to make a closer guess than the others as to the number of lives lost. The engineer in charge of the fatal boiler was dead. Brown had been sufficiently foresighted to se- cure the man's home address from the captain. It was extremely important that a clue be secured, if pos- sible, to the cause of the accident. The engineer's family might have heard him say the boiler was de- fective. Brown determined to go and see them him- self. As soon as the work of rescue was completed and the other men had returned to the office to put their part of the story into copy, Brown jumped into a cab and drove swiftly to the engineer's home. The wife came to the door herself, and one glance at her smiling face told Brown that she had not yet heard the dreadful news. She cordially invited him to come in when he introduced himself, and two shy little girls 52 THE REPORTER AT WORK and a tiny boy with a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes suspended their games to look at the re- porter. It was Brown's duty to tell this woman that she was a widow, and these children that they were orphans. It was not the first or last time he had to carry tidings of death into a happy home circle, but he says it never seemed harder than it did that even- ing. He felt like a murderer as he struck the blow that drove the color from the woman's face and the sunshine from her eyes. A reporter is like a soldier. He must do many things against his will, because duty so orders it. In this case Brown was rewarded by hearing the unhappy woman tell how " Jim " had said repeatedly that the boiler was defective and would yet be the death of him. From the view-point of the professional journal- ist this interview fixing the blame upon the owners of the ferryboat was worth any amount of suffering on the part of Brown or anybody else. It was in this light that the city editor and the managing editor viewed the subject by the time Brown had finished writing the last page of his story at two o'clock the next morning, and this achievement did as much as any other one thing to secure for him the lucrative place of head of the Washington bureau of his paper. It is not necessary to follow Brown's career far- ther. The reader has had glimpses of him while at work on his more important tasks, but little has been said about the countless disagreeable or trivial as- signments that fall to every reporter's lot. No man can have pleasant or exciting subjects every day. Each must take the lean with the fat. Even the desk men must be able and willing to go out on the street and " hustle " in an emergency. A metropolitan newspaper is like a vessel bound on a long voyage. It 53 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM can not afford to carry any but expert sailors. Every man, from captain to scullion, must be both able and willing to help reef the main topsail in a storm. Every man also must be willing to do more prosaic things. There is a large amount of drudgery in the reporter's work, but there is also an infinite variety in it. Many people have an idea that reporters wander about the streets, waiting, like Micawber, for some- thing to turn up. Nothing could be much farther from the fact. News-gathering on every large paper is reduced to an exact system. The reporter seldom goes out without being sent for a particular piece of news, and usually he is sent to a designated place or person. He is acting as feet and fingers to execute the plans of the editor. If he sometimes seems impu- dent in his persistence, it may be pleaded in his behalf that he is under a pressure that would make anybody bold. Many people also have the idea that reporters get a chance to attend all kinds of speeches and enter- tainments, enjoy the programs to the end, and then go to their offices and write at leisure. For the re- porter's sake one wishes this might be true. The fact is that the reporter usually has to hunt up the speaker beforehand, secure an outline or a manuscript copy of the speech, make extracts from it, and write his report in the past tense before the speech has been delivered. Many an entertainment must be described from a printed program or from a brief glance into the room and an interview with the manager. How does a newspaper learn about everything that happens? In a hundred ways through the tele- phone, the telegraph, the mail, and the verbal hints of friends ; by watching all the latest issues of other pa- pers, far and near, for announcements of future events, and for topics that have not been exhausted, or that 54 THE REPORTER AT WORK promise new developments. Much of the court and police news, and similar routine matter, is gathered by men who make a systematic round every day for that purpose, and these reporters, like all the rest of the staff, are always on the watch for important " tips," which they communicate to the city editor. Many similar hints come from friends of the paper, or from people who are interested in having a certain event reported. But the most desirable stories often are those which have to be ferreted out in spite of the opposition of those most concerned, and it is here that the keen scent and indomitable resourcefulness of the trained reporter comes into play. Exposures of fraud and official corruption come in this class of news. All " tips " of future and expected events are re- corded carefully in an " assignment book," in which is indicated the day when each subject will be ripe for publication. This important volume contains future issues of the paper in embryo for weeks ahead. The more systematically and carefully it is kept, the more thoroughly the paper is likely to cover the news field, especially in local matters. It is the task of the execu- tive editors to see that each assignment is covered properly at the right time, and that all the unexpected events of each day also are dealt with quickly and competently. The means of communication now are so perfect and the assistance of local and international news agencies is so competent that every wide-awake newspaper is almost certain to hear of every important event. The test of comparative excellence lies in choosing the best subjects to enlarge upon and in get- ting the most thorough and reliable reports on those subjects. The daily endeavor to do this work within a limited time is what constitutes the stress and strain of the newspaper man's life. 55 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM One can not work long on a city newspaper with- out discovering that one is being driven. When press time approaches, and when the copy boy snatches each sheet from your hand without giving you a chance to read it over, your nerves are sure to feel the test. It requires a cool head to write well under such conditions. The work teaches concentration of mind. It teaches one the value of time as nothing else can. The pressure on an afternoon paper is especially se- vere, for the working hours are shorter, and a delay of a few minutes in completing a story may mean all the difference between success and failure. If you become a reporter on a morning paper the mental strain is likely to be spread over a larger num- ber of hours. You may have covered your afternoon and evening ^assignments, and with the clock's hands pointing to midnight you may be entertaining furtive thoughts of supper and bed, when the fire-alarm on the office wall rings, and suddenly you are off upon the hardest assignment of the day. You find yourself threading dark alleys, hunting up the night watchman of the burning building to learn how the fire origi- nated, interviewing the fire marshal, and rousing the owner of the building from sleep to tell him the news and learn the value of the structure and the amount of the insurance. Perhaps you must run several blocks before you can find a telephone and send in the main facts in time for the first edition. Or perhaps a wall falls and kills a fireman. No matter how narrow your own escape, your business is to get the name and address of the unfortunate man, to give a vivid de- scription of how he fell at the post of duty, and perhaps to tell of a wife and family left in sorrow and want. At last the long and wearing day of twelve or 56 THE REPORTER AT WORK thirteen hours is ended. After a plain but hearty sup- per, finished by the light of the rising sun, perhaps, the reporter throws himself on his bed and sleeps the sleep of a tired man if he can for the city's din. Be- fore noon he must be up again, ready for breakfast and for another turn in the kaleidoscopic round. And so his work runs on from one month's end to another, until the very variety of his duties becomes monoto- nous. Sunday usually is not a day of rest for the morn- ing newspaper man, for the Monday's paper must be written on that day. If there be a Sunday edition, as there is on almost all morning papers, then no general day of rest can be set aside for the whole staff ; usually it is so arranged that each man has one day off during the week. A man's days are turned into nights and his nights into working days, while his Sundays may fall on Friday or any other day of the week. These facts play havoc with his social life, but his work brings diversions of its own. His task is not easy, yet it possesses a fascination for any alert mind. It is excellent training for a young writer intending to enter almost any field of literature. The reporter should be a local Macaulay, study- ing to clothe the events which he chronicles in a be- fitting garment woven of the myriad trifling scenes and incidents that surround the main facts, thus giv- ing vividness and life to the narrative. For such re- porters there is an increasing demand and abundant employment. The work acquaints one with humanity as no other course of instruction can ; and humanity, with its faults, foibles, hatreds, crimes, sorrows, loves, and joys, is a subject of exhaustless interest. Yet too much of this hard and grinding work is liable to make a man somewhat cynical, to crush the finer sentiments 57 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM out of his nature, and to mar the delicacy of touch needed in the higher grades of literary work. If you have a simple, sensible, breezy style with a sparkle in it, the newspaper reader will forgive a good deal of inaccuracy in your matter; and if you are in- variably reliable in your statements, the public will tolerate a moderate degree of dulness in your style. But the writer who can combine both reliability and sparkle is the one who will get the choicest assign- ments and have the best chance of reaching the top of his profession. On the other hand, the unpardon- able sin in journalism is to be both stupid and inac- curate. PLAN OF A NEWS STORY A NEWS article, or " story/' as it is called, is con- structed upon plans and specifications of its own, which may be defined as clearly as those governing a poem or a novel. In its aim and in its form the newspaper article is the exact opposite of a sermon or a tale of fiction. The well-constructed sermon, novel, or drama begins with the less important details and works up to a climax near the end, in which the vital point of the whole production is revealed. The well- constructed news story begins with its most important fact and ends with the least important. The novelist conceals his message as long as possible. The news- paper writer tells forth his message as quickly as words will let him. The fiction writer begins at the beginning and follows the course of events chronolog- ically until he reaches his dramatic climax. The re- porter puts his climax into his first sentence. This is the most important professional secret that can be im- parted to the beginner. Put the point of your whole story into the first sentence, and the shorter the sentence the better. Whether the story be two columns or two inches long, cram the marrow of it into the first paragraph. Ban- ish the school-essay idea that there must be an intro- duction or preliminary explanation of any kind. Put your best, strongest, most startling statement first, and 59 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM follow it with a few other brief sentences summing up the whole matter, so that the rest of the article might be " killed " and the story still would be " covered." Every newspaper report should answer the questions, "What? Who? Where? When? Why?" and should do it in the first paragraph as nearly as pos- sible. This is the first and greatest commandment in the matter of journalistic style, and the penalty for breaking it is the waste-basket and swift oblivion. Such is the rule now followed, avowedly or un- consciously, by all the larger newspapers in the United States. One rarely hears it formulated, even by a city editor, but every young reporter has it borne in upon him with painful distinctness as soon as he begins sub- mitting manuscript to the copy reader. The mode of applying the rule may and must be varied in a hun- dred ways so as to avoid stereotyped forms, but the principle is no less important for that reason. Some- times a story may be begun effectively with a bright bit of dialogue, followed immediately with a con- densed statement of the whole matter to be covered by the article. It is difficult to formulate any steady rules for so unsteady and unruly a thing as the Amer- ican newspaper, whose main object in life apparently is to be different to-day from what it was yesterday, but this rule of putting the newest and most striking facts in the first sentences of a story is one to which the beginner can not tie too securely. Lack of knowl- edge of this simple law of journalism will account for the failure of many would-be reporters. It also will account for the frequent rejection of news stories con- tributed by well-educated outsiders, such as clergy- men or school-teachers. Every person who expects ever to write anything for a newspaper will be the gainer by realizing the facts here stated. 60 PLAN OF A NEWS STORY The usual mistake is to begin the story at the chronological beginning instead of at the point of greatest interest. Another error is to forget to men- tion one of the three essentials the actors, the place, and the time. The beginner can not go far wrong if he gets these three things into his first sentence and the nub of the whole story into his first para- graph. If some poor woman has been abused by her hus- band, thrown out on the street, and, after struggling for weeks against poverty and disgrace, finally suc- cumbs to her load of sorrow and ends the tragedy of her life by suicide, it is this last most startling fact that should make the first sentence. " Mrs. Eliphalet Jones committed suicide by taking poison last even- ing on the steps of her former home in Kaiser Street." Don't begin back at her marriage or at the time when her husband first began his cruelty, as you would and should in an oration or a tale of fiction. Tell the whole story of the tragedy and its causes in the first half-dozen lines. Then begin a new paragraph and give the narrative in such detail as the space allows, taking care, wherever possible, to put the best and freshest matter to the front, and to crowd the parts of the story already known into the background toward the end of the article. When a story has appeared in the evening papers it must be put into another form in the morning papers than that which would have been called for if the matter had been entirely new. Two potent causes have cast the American news- paper article into this form. One is the tremendous volume of news demanding a place in the press ; the other is the wish to catch the eye of the reader, fix his attention, and give him a chance to get the gist of the 6 61 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM story at a glance if he has not the time or desire to go into details. The more nearly any newspaper, large or small, can follow this style in the construction of its news stories and of its head-lines, the more likely it will be to succeed. It is a plan that never can be im- proved upon for suiting the purposes of the hurried business man, who has only twenty or thirty minutes a day to give to newspapers, and yet is anxious to keep the run of the world's events. A knowledge of this one professional secret often will give the editor of a country daily an advantage that will enable him to outstrip all rivals in his field. This is especially likely to be true in a hustling Western town where news- paper readers are kept constantly in mind of the fact that time is .money. They have not the time to waste over news that is thrown together in the old and cumbrous style and served up with head-lines that tell practically nothing. No large paper can succeed now with incorrect methods of serving the news. All the towns of fair size in which this method has not been applied form an inviting field for starting new and up-to-date journals. The multiplicity of interests demanding represen- tation in the modern newspaper also has aided in evolving this typical Yankee newspaper style. It is necessary to be able to " boil down " everything, often at a moment's notice. It is imperative that all matter be put into a shape allowing of quick condensation, even after it is in type. This inverted pyramid form this trick of serving the dessert first and the soup last meets the requirements of the case. When some unexpected and important event demands several col- umns in a paper already full to the last line, the editor can make room simply by killing the last paragraphs 62 PLAN OF A NEWS STORY of the other stories instead of having to rewrite every- thing in more condensed form or to throw out whole articles. Many a young reporter and out-of-town corre- spondent suffers frequent and bitter disappointment before he learns the proper form for a news story by hard experience. Some severe lessons usually are necessary, too, before he realizes the importance of getting his copy in early. When he has learned these two things he is well on the way to become a success- ful newspaper man. Until he has learned them his copy will be slaughtered mercilessly. The best of copy, when received late, has chances none too good. Copy that is both late and badly put together has no chance of publication at all. Getting -the news, of course, is the first requisite for success. It is better to print an important story in the crudest shape than to spend too much time trying to write it correctly, but no man can prosper as a reporter until he learns the art of throwing a story into the proper form swiftly and almost instinctively. This is as good a place as any for recording a mul- titude of minor mechanical points that must be ob- served in preparing all kinds of manuscripts for the press. Many of the directions are elementary and will be familiar to the majority of people who read this book, but even the simplest of these rules is liable to be violated by beginners. The points mentioned should be mastered so thoroughly that the right method in each case will be followed without giving it a thought. Never write on both sides of the paper when wri- ting for publication not even if you have to use a new sheet for the last half-dozen words. In daily 63 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM newspaper offices each page of copy is cut into shoi 1 pieces or " takes," and the takes are numbered cor secutively and given to as many different compositor;., Imagine the mixture a foreman would have on his hands if he undertook to cut up copy written on botn sides. A part of each man's take would be on the back of some other printer's copy. The best size of paper for copy is about six by nine inches. Unruled print paper of about that size and of sufficient firmness to allow the use of either ink or pencil usually is furnished gratis in newspaper offices. It may "be bought cheaply at any paper house. Copy written with a pencil is perfectly acceptable if the manuscript be clear and the pencil soft and black. Editors dislike dim writing, whether in pencil or ink. Reporters usually use a soft pencil or a coarse pen. In nearly all large newspaper offices now, how- ever, every reporter is supplied with a typewriting machine and is expected to make his copy on that whenever possible. The reporter of the future must know how to operate the typewriter. The outside contributor will do well to have his article typewritten if he can do so conveniently. It will still have a fair chance, however, if it be written in a perfectly legible; hand with ink or pencil. In manuscript it often is wise to print out proper names or unusual words, letter by letter, in order to keep the typesetter from making mistakes. If a name is worth printing, it is worth printing correctly. Noth- ing lowers a man's estimate of a newspaper more quickly than to see his name misspelled in it. Illegible copy deserves the handicap that always rests upon it. It comes under the inexorable law of the non-survival of the unfit. It is an imposition upon 64 PLAN OF A NEWS STORY the editor, who has to puzzle over it, and still more upon the compositor, whose wages it reduces. There is a prevalent idea that a printer can decipher anything short of a cuneiform inscription. It is true that an old printer can make sense out of scrawls which a self- respecting business man would not pretend to read; but it is also true that it takes much time and often considerable profanity to do it, and after it is done the author is not unlikely to consider the translation pain- fully free. Mistakes enough creep into the printed page without adding to them by means of blind wri- ting. The satisfaction of having your matter printed with a minimum of errors is in itself a sufficient re- ward for learning to use the typewriter. Don't be stingy of paper. Leave a margin of about an inch at the tops of pages and of a half or three-quarters of an inch at the left-hand side and at the bottom. The top margin is needed because the pages are pasted together, one sheet after another, before the copy is cut for the printer. The other mar- gins afford the copy reader room for making correc- tions. Leave at least one-eighth of an inch between the lines. Try to get about the same number of words on all the pages, so that the editor can estimate the length of the article from the number of sheets. Be sure to number your pages. The folio figure usually is placed in the middle at the top of the page, with a quarter of a circle under it to prevent its being mistaken for a part of the article. Draw a small dash under the end of your story to show that there is no more to follow. Let the sheets remain flat, if possible. Folding, especially crosswise, makes them inconvenient to han- dle. If the copy is to be sent by mail, and if it is not 65 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM convenient to enclose it flat between sheets of card- board, it is allowable to fold the sheets lengthwise. A long envelope to contain copy in that shape always can be secured at the post-office. Never pin the sheets together. Pins betray the novice. Above all, do not roll the sheets. This is not only because a rolled package is liable to become mixed with the newspa- pers in the mail and go astray or be delayed, but be- cause copy once rolled can never be made flat again, and is a nuisance to all who handle it. If a letter to the editor is enclosed with the copy it should be on a separate sheet, of course. Letters of this kind should be brief, or they will do more harm than good. There is no need to tell the editor that you think the article is worth its weight in gold. He will decide its merits for himself. That is what he is paid for, and his conscience would trouble him if he did not earn his salary. Don't tell him you have just dashed off this production at a moment's notice. Probably he would prefer to have something that re- quired a little thought. Don't write to say that you hope he will buy the article because you need the money very much. It will not improve your chances of fame to say that you are starving, or maimed, or halt, or blind, or are trying to support a large family. The editor's own position depends upon the merits of the articles he prints. He will not print a poor article and injure his own reputation for the asking. He prefers to do his charity work in other ways. In short, there is little that the would-be contributor can say in a letter to the editor. In the majority of cases it is as well to omit the letter altogether and simply write your name and address in the upper right-hand corner of the first sheet of your copy, enclosing the necessary stamps for the return of the manu- PLAN OF A NEWS STORY script if not used. Every editor will understand what is wanted. A few corrections on your copy will not injure it, but in making any considerable addition it is better to cut the sheet and paste in the new lines than to inter- line or write the additions on the margin. When a leaf has been lengthened in this way it may be brought to the same length as the other sheets by folding the lower edge forward upon the writing. If it be folded backward it is liable to be overlooked and to cause an omission on the part of the printer. If an article is to be illustrated, proofs of the cuts should be pasted on the copy as near as possible to the places where they are to be inserted. If no proof of the picture can be secured, leave a square space in the manuscript and write in it the word " Cut," with the title that is to go under the picture. It is best not to venture upon many abbreviations in your copy until you learn how far they are allow- able. The coming of the typewriter has created a tendency to write all words out in full. In manuscript, however, it is allowable to write the abbreviation for " and " with a semicircle under and half enclosing it. This circling of any abbreviated word indicates that it is to be spelled out in full. Many newspaper men enclose the abbreviation in a complete circle. As the dot or period is hard to distinguish from the comma in manuscript, it has become the custom to enclose the period in a small circle, or to substitute a small cross for the ordinary dot indicating a full stop. Be sure to indent the first line of each paragraph. Write the first word at least an inch farther to the right than the beginning of the rest of the lines. Nothing will give a slovenly look to a manuscript more quickly than beginning its paragraphs flush with PRACTICAL JOURNALISM the left-hand edge. The compositor detests this kind of irregularity, for he can not be sure whether he should make a paragraph in the type or not. To avoid all such doubts most newspaper men make a paragraph mark (|) at the beginning or at the end of each paragraph, or in both places if there is the least chance of misunderstanding. This mark is necessary, for instance, when the end of a paragraph happens to come at the end of a sheet, with a full line. The printer getting this sheet would not know, in the absence of such a mark, whether to end with a broken line or not. The beginner will have little trouble in paragraph- ing his matter if he will keep in mind the fact that every paragraph is a little article in itself, and might have a separate head-line. The present one, for in- stance, might be entitled " How to Paragraph Mat- ter." It is true that different persons will subdivide the same article differently, but the beginner can not go far wrong if he makes a new paragraph each time he makes a new point in the argument. It is better to make too many paragraphs than too few. In newspaper work it is well never to let a paragraph be longer than 200 words. In writing dialogue, make a new paragraph every time there is a change of speakers. If you have forgotten to make a paragraph where there should be one, all that is necessary to have it set in type correctly is to write a paragraph mark at the point in question. If you have made a paragraph where there should be none, make a " run-in " mark a curving line connecting the end of one sentence with the beginning of the next. Use the same mark when you have canceled several words or sentences, thus bridging the break. When a paragraph has been 68 PLAN OF A NEWS STORY made by mistake at the top or bottom of a page, run a line out from the beginning or end of the sentence, as the case may be, to the edge of the paper. This means " Make even," and the printer will make no paragraph there. If you have canceled a word or sentence and after- ward rue the cancellation, put a line of dots under the words that you wish to restore, and write on the mar- gin the word " Stet." This means " Let it stand," and every printer is enough of a Latin scholar to compre- hend it. When writing in dialect, or in quoting a misspelled passage which you wish to have printed just as writ- ten, put on the margin the words " Follow copy." The same should be done when you wish to preserve a peculiarity of capitalization or punctuation differing from the style of the office to which the manuscript is going. Divide words only at the ends of syllables. Avoid the division of a word at the end of a page. Also avoid running the last words of a paragraph over to the top of a new page ; it vexes and inconveniences the printer. It is better to crowd the writing a little at the bottom of the page in order to make room for the few extra words. One line drawn under a word shows that it is to be set in Italic type; two lines, that it is to be set in SMALL CAPS ; and three lines, in CAPS or full capital letters. The tendency now is to avoid Italics and small caps as much as possible. Most newspapers have abandoned their use altogether, because there are usu- ally no Italic letters in the linotype machine. This fact sometimes requires a slight change in the word- ing of a sentence in which Italics might have been used to make the meaning clear. Even in magazine 69 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM and book-work it is best to use Italics as sparingly as possible. The constant underscoring of words to de- note emphasis is out of date and counts against the writer who does it. If a word has been begun with a small letter when it should be capitalized, draw three short lines under the letter, and the printer will make it a capital. The disuse of Italics in newspaper work has thrown a new burden on the overworked quotation marks. These, too, can be misused. The quoting of words to emphasize them is a mark of rusticity. It often is nec- essary to quote strange words, or ordinary words em- ployed in an unusual sense, but an excessive use of the inverted commas is annoying to any intelligent reader. The proper rule in this matter is to use quotation marks only where the sense is not clear without them, or where they enclose the actual words of a new speaker. There is no need either to quote or to Itali- cize the names of magazines, newspapers, or ships. It is the almost universal custom to enclose in quota- tion marks the titles of books, songs, or dramas ; also the titles of articles or stories when referred to in the text. But every well-regulated office has rules of its own regarding quotation marks, Italics, capitalization, and a hundred other minor points. These rules constitute what is known as the paper's " style," and one of the many revelations that come to the new recruit in jour- nalism is the amazing diversity of " style." One paper may capitalize a liberal percentage of all the nouns in the language, while another may capitalize scarcely anything but its own name, and perhaps that of the Deity. But these minor matters need not trou- ble the beginner until he has a place on the staff of some paper. The printer and proof-reader will attend 70 PLAN OF A NEWS STORY to capitalizing words according to the style of the office, no matter how they may be written in the manuscript. In an article over your own name use " I " when you mean " I," and not " your humble servant," or " the scribe/' or any other stilted phrase of that kind. In unsigned newspaper work it sometimes becomes necessary to use the phrase " the editor," or " the re- porter," or " the correspondent," though it is well to avoid the use of such expressions when possible. Usage does not sanction the " I " in an unsigned newspaper article when referring to the writer, but good taste long ago condemned the " we " for that purpose. The much-abused " editorial we," even on the editorial page, is going out of use. The most frequent and troublesome fault with young writers is a tendency to use too many words. The writer who learns to compress the most meaning into the fewest and shortest words has the best chance of success. When you have expressed one idea clearly and tersely, go on to the next. Above all things, stop when you have done. Avoid " fine writing," oddities of style, grotesque phrases, and obsolete words. Af- fectations and Carlyleisms are useless even in literary work, but in newspaper work they are intolerable. A clear and easy style alone can gain success in jour- nalism. Avoid parentheses and parenthetical expres- sions; two short sentences are better than one long sentence with a parenthesis in the middle. Learn to be direct. Plunge into the midst of things and go straight to the point. In conclusion, let me give in brief what seem to me the most important rules for success in journal- ism. For the last three commandments in the fol- lowing " decalogue " I am indebted to an experienced 7 1 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM managing editor, Mr. Charles H. Dennis, of the Chi- cago Daily News. THE REPORTER'S DECALOGUE 1. Put the pith and point of each story into the first paragraph. 2. Try always to cram as much meaning as possible into the fewest words compatible with clearness. Never write a sentence that must be read twice before it can be under- stood. 3. Put no editorial comments or debatable statements into news matter. Keep your personal likes and dislikes out of your copy. 4. Try never to let a rival score a " beat " against you, yet betoare of hasty and unconfirmed statements, especially if a fyJnnay lurk in them. 5. Strive always for accuracy, and scorn a " fake." When a story is doubtful, get other versions of it. Most newspaper errors are due to the fact that the reporter has heard only one witness. 6. Don't neglect to read your paper every day, including the editorials. Go through your own work and try to see how you might have improved it. 7. Never break a promise. Make no promises that you may not be able to keep. 8. Be industrious. Obey orders implicitly at all times, if you can do so with honor. 9. Respect your business. Meet every man frankly and fearlessly. Never apologize for being a reporter; it is a great and honorable calling. On the other hand, do not regard yourself as entitled to peculiar favors because of your position. 10. Respect yourself. Cultivate good habits, good health, good morals, good manners. Aim high. VI HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED FEW people who read the Associated Press news every day in their favorite papers understand the exact nature of that organization or realize its scope. It is the greatest agency in the world for gathering and dis- tributing news. It dates its life back to within four years of the advent of the telegraph, which alone makes its existence possible. It is of purely American origin and is still the largest organization of its kind, though it now has its counterpart in every civilized country in the world. By affiliation with these foreign associa- tions it is able to give its patrons the news not only of the United States, but of the whole world, every day. Practically every large daily in this country now gets most of its telegraphic news through the Associated Press, though every leading paper also has a complete corps of domestic and foreign correspondents besides. Like most other useful things, the Associated Press is the result of evolution. Toward the end of the year 1848 the publishers of competing dailies in New York city entered into an agreement to obtain certain kinds of news at their common expense and for their common benefit. In conjunction with papers in other cities they appointed a joint agent at each important point to collect the news for the use of this cooperative association, which was called the New York Associated Press. The papers all agreed to 73 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM exchange certain kinds of news with each other every day. Thus the papers in different towns each received the benefit of the local news-gathering facilities of all the others. In the larger towns the association had to have special agents to forward the news thus collected, while in the smaller places the editors themselves often attended to putting their share of the day's news on the wire. This plan of cooperation soon proved to be a great success. Outside papers either sought to be- come members or else they bought news of the asso- ciation to keep abreast of the times. Soon other associations of the same kind sprang up in other parts of the country, each paying tribute to the New York Associated Press and exchanging news with it. Thus the New York concern became the clearing-house for the news of the country and of the world. Powerful as this confederation was, it was strongly opposed for many years by a rival concern, the United Press. There was also friction within the Associated Press circles. The Western Associated Press, which was organized in 1865, wearied of play- ing a subordinate part and demanded an equal voice with the New York concern in determining the char- acter of the news to be gathered. In 1882 the West- ern association severed its connection with the New York papers, sent its own agents to London and to Washington, and began a competitive service. The Eastern organization was forced to come to terms and a combination resulted. Ten years later a complete consolidation followed, with the organizing of the As- sociated Press under an Illinois charter as a concern of national scope. An Illinois Supreme Court deci- sion compelling it to give its service to any newspaper that demanded it caused a reincorporation under the laws of New York in 1900. 74 HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED The whole process of evolution from a local enter- prise to a national monopoly is strangely similar to that through which some of our manufacturing indus- tries went a little later. There is this important dif- ference, however, that the Associated Press is not organized to pay dividends. Its stock is held by many persons, none of whom may hold more than eight shares, and each of whom must be the proprietor of a paper which agrees to turn its own news into the common fund for the use of members in other towns. It is the greatest cooperative enterprise in the business world. The general manager of the Associated Press, who gets a salary of $15,000 a year, has his headquarters in Chicago. The assistant general manager is in New York. The whole country is apportioned into divi- sions, each in charge of a superintendent. There are about 650 salaried employees of the Associated Press, and probably about the same number of men " on space " who are scattered all over the country. At each point where there is a paper there is also a sal- aried or unsalaried representative of the association who puts the news in shape and files it. The concern has an enormous network of leased telegraph-wires covering the whole country. Its day wires aggregate 9,300 miles and its night wires 20,400 miles. The As- sociated Press now has about 700 members. It also serves about 2,500 papers with its minor or " pony " report. The method by which this great cooperative sys- tem works is simple in principle. The Associated Press papers of Cincinnati, for instance, gather the news of the city and of the surrounding country through their reporters and special correspondents. The Associated Press agents have access to the proofs 75 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM of these papers, and pick out all news items that are likely to be of interest in other States. The Cin- cinnati agent sends his budget to Chicago, to New York, and to other distributing centers. From Chi- cago it is sent on to St. Louis, and in more con- densed form to San Francisco. At the same time the Cincinnati papers are receiving similar budgets from all the other cities of the United States. The largest news centers, of course, are New York and Washington, the financial and political capitals. The Associated Press has a resident bureau in each of these cities. All the news is poured into the main artery of the leased wire system, and at various points along this artery the report is sluiced off to interior cities. In the larger cities the Associated Press has its own telegraph operators, who make carbon copies of the news on tissue-paper or " flimsy," as it is called ; this is delivered to the various offices by a pneumatic tube system, which shoots it underground, often a distance of half a mile or more, and up to the tele- graph room in each newspaper building. The Asso- ciated Press daily receives and transmits at Chicago and other central points no less than 50,000 words, or 35 columns of ordinary newspaper print. Of course no paper prints the whole of this mass of news, but it is edited in every office to suit the ideals and exi- gencies of each. The annual cost of this service is nearly $2,000,000, which is paid by assessments on the members holding Associated Press franchises. Nearly every large city has a local press associa- tion of its own which gathers minor kinds of routine news for all the papers of the city. The Associated Press has alliances with many such local associations. In like manner it has close and constant relations with HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED all the leading foreign associations the Reuter, Ha- vas, Wolf, and others, which cover Europe from Lon- don and Stockholm to Rome and Constantinople. The mode of operation between nations is similar to that between cities in this country. For instance, the Stefanie agency gathers all the news of Italy into Rome and distributes it to the different cities of Italy. Then it sends its budget of news to Paris and to Lon- don, receiving from these places similar budgets in return, which it also distributes over Italy. All the news that comes into Rome or Berlin or London is looked over by an Associated Press agent at each of those points, who selects what he thinks the American people will want to read and cables it to New York, whence it is distributed all over the United States. In the same way the European agencies have their men in the Associated Press office at New York, looking over the American budget and sending abroad whatever may be of interest to Europeans. By this means there is a perfect system of exchange of news all over the world. From this sketch of the elaborate modern ma- chinery for gathering telegraphic news it will be ap- parent that the Associated Press may wield an enor- mous power. In unscrupulous hands it might be used to turn elections, to aid stock-jobbing schemes, or to ruin reputations. But it is remarkably free from any such abuse, largely because of its great scope and its cooperative nature. It serves papers of all political parties and of all shades of belief on every conceiv- able question. This makes it imperative that the Associated Press news be entirely free of partizan coloring. Its reporters and agents are under strict Instructions to give the facts without religious or polit- ical bias, no matter what their own beliefs may be. 7 77 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM They must report a prize-fight or a Christian En- deavor convention with equal absence of comment. Special advocacy belongs only in the editorial columns of the individual papers. The Associated Press deals in news as a profes- sional shipper might deal in wheat or corn. It handles 50,000 words daily as dispassionately as the shipper handles so many bushels of grain. Its influence in eliminating the partizan bias from the news columns of American papers has been tremendous and is still at work. Its only concern is with the truth of the news it sends, and its statements are usually reliable. Its methods are worthy of study at the hands of the would-be journalist. Access to the ranks of the Associated Press work- ers is through the same door as that into the metro- politan daily office through the press of the smaller towns and cities. The work of gathering this mass of telegraphic news is done chiefly by the local staffs of the papers throughout the country, and it is in the local room that the more important features of the art must be studied. The man who is already on a paper in a small town and is looking for connections with a large city daily may attain his object in one of two ways. He may write to the managing editors of the chief dailies in neighboring cities, asking permission to act in the capacity of local representative and correspondent; or he may introduce himself by sending some important piece of news promptly and in attractive form. The news, of course, must be something that the editor would not get through the regular channels. If the story can be given to one paper exclusively, that will be the best recommendation of all, for there is noth- 78 HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED ing like a " beat " for winning the appreciation and good-will of an editor. But the beginner must not expect to telegraph an article to a paper at its expense without first securing an order from the editor. Even an old correspondent is usually not allowed to do that, for the editor may already have a report of that event from another source, or he may be overcrowded with matter and may not want the story. The proper way is to send, at the earliest possible moment, a short telegram called a " query," giving the pith of the whole story in two or three lines, and ask- ing the editor whether or not he wants the article. This despatch may always be sent " collect " that is, at the expense of the paper. The cost of a dozen words more or less is nothing to a newspaper, and the sending of a query, even by a stranger, is allow- able. If you query a paper and get no reply, the editor's decision is negative, and there is nothing more for you to do unless it be to try some other paper. If you get an answer it will probably come within less than an hour and will specify the length of the despatch desired. Whatever the limit of words, the correspondent will find favor by coming as close to it as possible without actually counting every word. Before undertaking to " query " a city paper and send news by telegraph, however, it would be well for the average beginner, even though he be a suc- cessful country editor, to tone down considerably his ideas of what constitutes news. Every managing edi- tor, of course, has his own theories on the subject, and the difference in standards is as wide as the difference in the tone and character of the papers, but the fol- lowing extract from the Chicago Tribune's instruc- 79 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM tions to country correspondents gives a fair idea of what kinds of news not to send. The classes of news matter here indicated are NOT WANTED: Fatal or other accidents to conductors, engineers, brakemen, switchmen, or persons not identified, or per- sons in obscure positions in life, except when two or more fatalities result from the same accident or there is a great loss of property involved. Trivial accidents, such as the breaking of legs, losing of fingers by mowing machines, or other like events. Insignificant robberies, burglaries, till-tappings, etc. Obituaries of ordinary individuals. But deaths of men of State or National repute should be noticed. In such cases, when there is time, wire the Tribune for instruc- tions. Rapes, abortions or seductions, except when persons of marked prominence are involved, and then be careful to give only facts that are in proof through judicial pro- ceedings. Send nothing on mere rumor. Cases of incest or infanticide are never wanted. Reports of the celebration or observance of holidays, except when persons of State or National importance are to speak, and in such cases give advance notice by mail and receive instructions. Daily accounts of testimony in murder trials, unless on instructions. Specials regarding sporting matters, except after first asking and obtaining instructions. Abstracts of sermons by telegraph, unless they are ordered. Accounts of county fairs. But succinct reports of the openings of State fairs may be sent. Puffs of hotels, or any other advertising. Theatrical or other amusement notices, except in the case of large cities and artists of National repute, first productions of important plays or operas, or other note- So HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED worthy events; and in all such cases instructions should be asked for. Reports of the proceedings of secret societies, except on special instructions. Reports of school commencements, or teachers' or other institutes, unless they are ordered. Crop news, unless specially ordered. In case of rain or frost at critical times, however, wire the Tribune and receive instructions. Weddings, unless previously ordered. Give advance notice thereof, when the parties are prominent, and await instructions. Ordinary damage suits. Births of freaks or monstrosities. Far-away crimes (unless persons of prominence are involved), or executions unless ordered. These are some of the kinds of news that the best papers do not care to get and will not print if a care- less correspondent sends it to them. The beginner may feel like exclaiming in dismay that there is noth- ing left to send, but a moment's thought will dispel that discouraging illusion. The sheet of printed in- structions sent by the Associated Press to its corre- spondents contains a similar list of forbidden subjects, but it also states the positive as well as the negative side of the reporter's limitations. The following ex- tracts will show the classes of happenings that are regarded as news. The kinds of news here indicated ARE WANTED, except where otherwise specified: Political news must be without personal or partizan bias, and of such importance as to be of general interest beyond the confines of your State. Instructions will be given for covering State and Congressional conventions and others if wanted. 8l PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Election returns of only local significance should not be sent except when called for. Mass-meetings, speeches, banquets, etc., will be ordered when wanted. Appointments of railway officers of the rank of gen- eral passenger and freight agents, and their superiors, and of any other official in whose selection the State or country at large would be interested. The organization of new, or the consolidation of old, railway companies; the formation of trusts or corpora- tions affecting large aggregations of capital or property, or the welfare of the general public, always eliminating any suggestion of advertising. Failures, when in excess of $30,000, the assets, liabili- ties, and preference being given; also the receiver or assignee when one is appointed. Defalcations should be handled only when in excess of $10,000 unless attended by sensational circumstances. Strikes, where the number of employees thrown out of work is in excess of 200, or of such a nature as to affect large property interests, or block transportation; or if there should be violence offered on the part of the strikers. Storms, when of phenomenal severity, or attended by loss of much property or of life. Accidents, when there is a loss of two or more lives, or great destruction of property. Railway disasters, resulting in the destruction of prop- erty in excess of $50,000, or the loss of one or more lives, or the injury of a number of persons, or with circum- stances such as usually follow the collision of passenger trains. The common mishaps of freight trains are not wanted. Wrecks of vessels when valued at $10,000 or over, or there is loss of life. Fires, when $50,000 or over is involved, there is loss of life, or a panic and people are injured or endangered, or three or more business buildings are destroyed. Insur- HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED ance by companies is not wanted unless ordered, but the total amount should be stated. Trials. Proceedings in important cases before the courts must be sent in accordance with special instruc- tions, which will be forwarded on application. Decisions affecting railway corporations, large aggregations of prop- erty, the interests of the general public, and test cases of national importance, should be covered concisely. The preliminary hearing or trials of ordinary criminal cases, or the verdicts, or the sentences are not wanted. Murders. Briefly, unless accompanied by unusual cir- cumstances, or the parties should be of such social stand- ing as to make them known beyond their locality. Robberies, of $5,000 or over, unless more than ordi- narily sensational. Hangings. The story of the crime (if ordered) should be written up and sent in advance by mail to the Central Office. Instructions as to the quantity of matter to be telegraphed will be given in each case. Rapes and Abortions. Not wanted, except when the victim of the latter is well known and dies, or the perpe- trator of the former is pursued and lynched by a mob, or is rescued by the authorities. Sporting Events. Notice should be given the Central Office in advance of all sporting events of State or Na- tional interest, in order that, if desired, instructions may be sent regarding them. Prize fights, athletic contests, shooting matches, etc., the participants in which are known only locally, should not be handled unless death results, or a State or world's record is broken. Correspondents of the Associated Press are in- structed not to " query " the Central Office, asking how many words to send, but if the news is of the proper kind they are expected to send a " bulletin " of 100 words at once and await instructions. If an order is not received it may be assumed that nothing further on that subject is wanted. The minimum compensa- 83 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM tion is 50 cents for a despatch, or for two small de- spatches sent the same day. The price is increased according to the number of words and the character of the news, the basis being $i for 200 words. An extra allowance is made for exceptional work, but nothing is paid for matter sent in violation of instruc- tions. Every correspondent is placed in charge of a certain district and is expected to confine his de- spatches to that territory except when asked to cover something occurring outside. The representative of the Associated Press is in- structed, first of all, to be " fair toward all interests." He is told that he must avoid fine writing, padding, puffs, advertisements, wild rumors, unverified stories, and remarks of an editorial character. It is impera- tive that care be taken to write despatches without grammatical errors or involved sentences. A story is expected to be told as briefly as is consistent with an intelligent statement of facts. The correspondent is told to keep always in mind that " only events of general interest are wanted." Certain hours are established before which despatches must be filed for the morning, noon, and evening editions of papers. These instructions to the Associated Press corre- spondents have been given at some length because they are typical of the news standards on all the large papers of the country. From them the unattached writer should be able to get a fairly accurate idea of what is general news and what is not. His next task is to find a large newspaper that has no special repre- sentative in his town, and to try to get the position by one of the methods before described. If the " query " method be chosen, his first attempt may be after this fashion : HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED POPLAR BLUFF, Mo., June /jr. Editor St. Louis Globe-Democrat: Family of four persons burned to death. Mother tried to save children and all perished. Do you want story? JOHN JONES. Filed 4.15 P. M. Should the editor have no way of getting this story through regular channels he will probably wire the new man to send 500 words. If the correspondent be of the enterprising kind he will already have his despatch well under way, for it is better to risk wasting some labor than to be behindhand in filling a news order. The matter that gets into the office early is put into type first, and then it is much less likely to be cut down or thrown away than when it comes late. As the correspondent is paid by the amount printed, it is to the interest of his pocket as well as of his repu- tation to be as prompt as possible in sending matter. The question of how to begin a telegraphic news story is almost as important as that of promptness. The principles are the same as those laid down for the reporter in the local room. The object is to build the story so that it can always be curtailed by dropping off whole paragraphs from the end without injuring the sense. Unless your story be written on this plan it is liable to go into the waste-basket bodily, espe- cially if it arrives late. After the date line begin with the most striking fact. Make the first two or three sentences tell the whole story in a nutshell. Then begin a new para- graph and start in on the details, enlarging on the sub- ject as much as necessary to fill the limit of words allowed. Don't use a needless word. Don't indulge in big adjectives or spread-eagle rhetoric. It is more effective to say " Fifty people were killed in a rail- 85 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM road accident," than to say " A horrible railroad acci- dent inflicted a frightful and appalling death upon half a hundred people/' etc. Use short sentences, short words, and simple constructions ; these are nearly always the best for newspaper purposes. Write the story just as it is to go into the paper. It is not neces- sary to drop out the little words such as " the," " to," or " of " in a telegram that is meant for publication. Few papers now wish to have their telegraphic matter skeletonized ; the money saved in the telegraph bill is lost in the time spent by the copy reader in filling in the missing words. This rule, of course, does not apply to cable despatches. When a new correspondent sends in a story con- structed on the lines just described it is easily handled in the office.' The telegraph editor has no trouble in trimming it down or expanding it to suit the space at his command. The news editor will make a mental note of the fact that a good man is available at the town in question, and the new man is likely to receive more orders soon. When some local event worth a two-column article occurs the managing editor will give him the assignment instead of sending a special staff reporter from the office to do it. The man who knows the right methods will soon find that they have a cash value. In sending news by wire begin with the date line, as provided for in the blanks at the telegraph-office, and in using the words " yesterday," " to-day," etc., always apply them with reference to the date under which you are writing, even though the story is to appear in next morning's paper. Newspapers do not use the year in the date line. Follow with your story, without heading of any kind ; sign your name at the end, and on the bottom of the last sheet do not fail 86 HOW THE NEWS IS GATHERED to write " Filed 8.40 P. M.," or whatever the hour and minute may be when you hand the message to the operator. All despatches ordered by newspapers are sent " collect." There are special press rates which make the cost of telegraphic service considerably less for the newspapers than for ordinary individuals. " Gets the news at any cost " is now practically the motto of all the larger papers. Almost every man- aging editor will pay cheerfully all legitimate expenses incurred by a correspondent in getting important news. The city reporter's expense account for cab and carriage hire often amounts to almost as much as his salary. The telegraphic correspondent usually is paid by " space rates," which vary according to the prosperity of the paper, but which probably average $6 a column. Usually the correspondent is expected to present his bill about once a month with a " string " made by cutting out all his matter from the columns of the paper and pasting it into a continuous piece, which can be measured with a column rule and paid for according to its length. The chief points in the science of successful news- gathering may be summed up thus : Be quick in send- \/ ing your news, for news, like buckwheat cakes, is not good for much after it becomes cold. Write your best point first, so that it will strike the eye and make the reader look at what follows. Be clear, or you will never be anything. Learn the art of being brief, and the art of writing against space will take care of itself. Never violate a promise, but be chary about making promises. Never let a rival get a " beat " at your expense. Be careful not to write anything derogatory to anybody's character unless you have valid proofs or unless the matter has been passed upon by a grand jury or a court. Remember that to bring a libel suit 87 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM upon your paper is a crime for which beheading is the kindest punishment known. Don't editorialize that is, don't color your statements even with an adjective or an adverb that will indicate your personal opinion on a disputed case concerning which the editorial page has not committed itself. It is wisest to let the chief editor shape the policy of the paper. He may often appear to need some help in this line, but the young reporter or correspondent can scarcely afford to give it to him. VII EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS THE functions and relative rank of the members of the directing staff the managing editor, city editor, news editor, night editor, and the rest have been de- scribed sufficiently in another chapter. It remains still to describe the methods and qualifications of the edi- torial writers, the department editors, and the copy readers. The work of the copy reader is in some respects the exact opposite of the reporter's work. The func- tion of the editor with the blue pencil is to criticize and repress, while that of the reporter is to produce and describe. The work of the editorial writer also is essentially critical. Thus it is easy to see how a man may be an excellent reporter and yet be incapable of doing good editorial work, or how a comparatively poor reporter may become a famous editor. No man without the news instinct can succeed in any jour- nalistic position, but it is evident that a man with the lightning-like faculties needed to report a furious tu- mult in a political convention may lack the calm judg- ment needed to write an editorial leader giving the wisest counsel on a difficult problem of statesman- ship. In fact, there is much to support George W. Smalley's contention that reporting is bad training for an editor. No doubt too many years spent in news writing may unfit a young man in some degree for 89 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM good critical writing. But the fact remains that almost the only open door to the editorial room is through the local room, so it does but little good to theorize on the point. It also is well to remember that the edi- torial department is dwindling, while the great cur- rents of life that sweep nightly through the repor- torial departments are increasing yearly. There is no fixed system of promotion in a news- paper office, but usually the reporter gets his start in desk work, as the editorial function is called, by be- coming a copy reader. This means a slight increase in his pay and an entire change in his work. Instead of being sent out in the afternoon to cover an assign- ment, he reports for duty to the night city editor at six or seven o'clock in the evening and spends the night in reading and correcting the matter written by the reporters. He goes swiftly through the copy, blue pencil in hand, crossing out whole pages, rewriting others, cutting down, amplifying, and polishing, be- coming thereby jointly responsible with the reporter for the correctness of the article. The copy reader takes a large share of the responsibility for the tone and style of the matter and for its liability to make trouble of any kind if published. It behooves him to be extremely cautious about statements bordering on the libelous. While one corps of copy readers is at work on the local matter another corps is doing similar work upon the " flimsy " and the special despatches in the tele- graph room. Usually the city editor or the news editor has told the reporter or the correspondent what points to make prominent and what attitude to assume, if the matter be something involving the policy of the paper. The copy reader is under the same instructions, and it is his duty to see that the 90 EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS reporter has followed orders, that the style of the paper has been adhered to, that the words and sen- tences are in proper form, that every comma is in its place in short, that the copy is all ready for the printer, including the marks to show in what size of type it is to be printed, and which parts of it shall be leaded and which solid. One of the hardest parts of the copy reader's task is to write head-lines over the stories he edits. Usually a reporter does not write the head-lines over his own stories. One reason for this is that his article often is completely changed when it comes out of the copy reader's hands. Another is that it is wise to make every statement undergo the scrutiny of a second pair of eyes before it can get into the composing-room. But the chief reason is that head-line writing is an art in itself, and the copy reader must be an expert in this work. It is as difficult to write good " display heads " as to write good verse. A perfect newspaper heading is one that tells as much of the story as possible in the limited number of lines and letters of which it is composed. The top line usually should contain a verb, expressed or im- plied, along with the leading noun in the story. It should be a full line, and as such it always will contain about the same number of letters and spaces when a given type is used. The head-line writer must say what he wishes in exactly that number of letters. The first subhead usually should be explanatory of the top line, amplifying the original statement. The remain- ing lines or subheads should sum up the more impor- tant details of the story. A good paper seldom uses exclamation points in its head-lines. It is a good rule to avoid beginning a head-line with " the," as this col- orless word merely crowds out some other with more 91 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM meaning. When the words " to-day " or " yesterday " are used in head-lines they have reference to the day of publication, even though the body of the article be written under a different date. A well-worded head- ing in many cases tells the busy reader all he wishes to know without reading the article itself. It is said that the first heavy display heads were used to record the death of Daniel Webster in 1852. The invention has been abused by sensational papers, but it has become one of the most valuable features of modern journalism in wise hands. The ignorance of many country editors in the art of building a good head is among their worst handicaps. Their head- lines often tell nothing of the story. It would be money in their pockets if they would study the head- lines of a good metropolitan daily and copy its style as nearly as possible. The work of copy reading is likely to be drudgery to a man of active temperament who has grown accus- tomed to the rush and varied excitements of the re- porter's life. If he be fond of seeing himself in print, he also misses the keen pleasure of authorship when he reads the paper each morning, unless he can find it in his head-lines and in the satisfaction of knowing that he has made clear and condensed English out of some bungling reporter's diffuse story. He knows that the reporters call him a butcher and resent the ruthless way in which he cuts out their finest flourishes. The copy reader is an obscure individual. The public knows the reporter and it knows the editor, but of the man who toils through the night putting copy on a hook the public knows little or nothing. Yet the copy reader is the man who is doing most to make American newspaper English the limpid, strong, sim- ple, and fairly admirable vehicle of thought that it is 92 EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS to-day. He is by no means to be pitied, for he is on the high road to possible promotion to the executive posts. From reporter to managing editor sometimes is a matter of but a few years by this route. Strangely enough, the position of editorial writer, which is higher in rank and pay than that of a copy reader, seldom leads to an executive position. The same is true of all the specialists' departments. They are desirable berths, but they are off the main line of pro- motion. The editorial writers are under the direct control of the owner-editor, and their rank and pay are among the highest. The head editorial writer's salary usually is second only to that of the managing editor. The men in this department nearly all have come up by way of the local room and the copy reader's desk, but as a rule they must have a broader education and a critical training besides. It is on the editorial staff that the college graduate has his best opportunity. Usually the chief editor and owner of the paper suggests or dictates the substance of the leading edi- torials to members of his staff. He has the final au- thority as to how each topic shall be treated, but it is not customary for him to assign all the subjects and tell every man what line of argument is to be fol- lowed. As a rule each editorial writer reads the pa- pers through in the morning and chooses certain sub- jects on which he desires to write. Then in many cases the members of the staff meet in a brief confer- ence with their chief, discuss the subjects that are up- permost, get each other's ideas and those of the chief, agree on an allotment of the various subjects, and then go to their desks and spend the rest of the day in wri- ting on the various topics as they think best. Usu- ally each member of the staff has a special line of sub- 8 93 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM jects on which he can speak with authority. In many cases they must write opinions widely different from their own. The editorials then are handed to the editor, or to a head editorial writer who acts for him. Thus the editor becomes in his turn a copy reader, with full power to alter, rewrite, curtail, or suppress any article at will. The fate of each depends upon its power to convince the editor or upon how nearly it coincides with the policy of the paper. If it is not acceptable it is thrown into the waste-basket as summarily as the production of the humblest country correspondent. If a man's articles meet this fate too frequently and per- sistently he is dropped from the staff. A typical editorial article is a critical interpretation of current news. The editorial writer takes up the more important news topics of the day and philoso- phizes upon them, attempting to point out the rela- tion of isolated facts to each other and to general principles. He seeks out historical precedents and lends perspective to events that are flat and meaning- less when seen only close at hand. The editorial goes beneath the surface and seeks for causes, effects, and remedies. In this aspect M. de Blowitz's dictum prob- ably is true : " One good comment is worth ten infor- mations/' The editorial opinion of a well-trained mind is to news matter what the finished linen is to the raw flax. But one man wants his raw material woven into a free-trade editorial, while another wants a protective tariff product ; one wants liberalism, and another orthodoxy; one likes slashing and savage criticism of other people while another prefers dig- nified and temperate comment. Each paper must choose which class of readers it will serve. A good editorial should be timely, brief, well 94 EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS informed, comprehensive, and pungent. The best model embodies a restatement of the news involved, followed by clear-cut comment on it from the paper's point of view. Sometimes an editorial may consist largely of a resume of news matter that has been ap- pearing piecemeal in the telegraphic or local columns ; in fact, many people read the editorials chiefly for the condensations of news found there. But the essence of the editorial is the comment it contains. The edi- torial page is the one set aside for special pleading, for partizan views, for distinctive opinions on debata- ble questions. The more this element fades out of it the less reason will it have for existing. The writing of the best class of editorials requires ripe judgment and a wide range of knowledge, espe- cially in political and social history. The highest suc- cess as an editorial writer requires an exhaustive study of American politics, from the foundation principles of the Constitution to the last election returns in every State. Politics is a hard and complicated subject, and only years of study and observation can make one an expert writer in this most important journalistic spe- cialty. A man should have a natural interest in poli- tics in order to reach the top of the newspaper profes- sion. Mr. Dana had this fact in mind when he said that he could tell whether a young man would make a good journalist or not merely by watching what part of the paper he turns to first in the morning. If he looks for the political page it is a good sign. If his first thought is to look for a love story he is not a hopeful candidate for journalistic honors, though he may succeed as a fiction writer. There are other branches besides politics, however, that may give a man a lucrative place on an editorial staff. Finance is one of the best of these. 95 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Two other critical departments that partake largely of the editorial nature are those of the book reviewer and the dramatic critic. Both the dramatic and the literary reviews consist of news more or less critically interpreted. The work of the dramatic critic usually must be done in feverish haste late at night, in the hour or two that intervene between the close of the play and the time when the paper goes to press. The book reviewer can do his work in the daytime and more at his leisure, but his hours are longer. True, one may go on Mark Twain's theory that it is better to review a book without reading it, because it preju- dices one so to read it ; but the plan is not conducive to long tenure of office. The literary and dramatic de- partments are among the most desirable on a news- paper. A book review is essentially an editorial article. This fact alone may serve to explain to many aspiring literary novices why their services as book critics are rejected even when proffered gratis. The ripeness of judgment displayed in a book review is half its value ; the other half lies in the skill with which the author's story or ideas are summed up by the reviewer. A good review ought to give the reader a glimpse of all that is best in the book, combined with the critic's opinion of the value of the work for the average read- er's purpose. Though the typical review or dramatic criticism consists of a mingling of information and comment, it by no means follows that the comment should fill one-half the space. A review that contains more of the reviewer than of the book is likely to be dull reading for the average person. For newspaper purposes a book review should consist largely of the news element, and it should avoid too much analysis or learned comment. Light 96 EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS but dignified gossip about the best books of the hour is good newspaper stuff. The chief thing for the re- viewer to keep in mind is that he is writing for the public and not for the author's instruction or the pub- lisher's profit. A catalogue of all the errors in a book, with the page on which each may be found, is not nearly so good a review for newspaper purposes as one that tells what the author has tried to do, gives a glimpse of the best he has done, and dismisses the errors with a mere statement that they are there and mar the work. Some of the best reviewers, like Mr. Mayo W. Haseltine and Miss Jeannette L. Gilder, de- vote their space chiefly to telling what is in the book, often confining their comments to a few incidental adjectives or expressions of personal opinion. But the few words of comment which they use are the right words, and there also is a world of comment in their selection of material and in the mere choice of books about which to write. The position of dramatic or musical critic is reached most easily through the reportorial gateway or through a reputation obtained as a dramatist or a music-teacher. Many book critics also begin as re- porters, but this apprenticeship is less necessary in the literary department than in almost any other. A col- lege education and a reputation as a story writer are qualifications that often will secure their possessor a position as literary critic. Many bright women have reached such positions through these avenues. For those who have a considerable knowledge of books, but lack experience in critical writing, the best course is to give themselves some private training. They should begin writing reviews of all kinds of books, modeling their methods upon those of some good critic, but expressing views entirely their own, and 97 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM looking especially for the weak points in the books, for these are most liable to escape the beginner. After you have written two or three dozen such arti- cles in the seclusion of your own room you may be justified in showing a sample of your work to the literary editor of some paper and asking him for the privilege of reviewing any book he may choose to give you. For this first work you probably will get no pay except the book. The beginner may have to work for that kind of pay a long time, but patience and good reviews ultimately will open up an opportunity to get a salaried position as book critic on that or some other paper. The exchange editor is the man who writes with the shears. It is his duty to look through the news- papers of the rest of the English-speaking world in search of interesting miscellany and pointed com- ments of other editors, to choose such articles or ex- tracts as will suit the policy and politics of his paper, to give them the proper credit lines telling what paper they are from, and to write new head-lines that will suit the typographical make-up of his own journal. This sounds simple, but the work requires the news instinct and other journalistic talents to a high degree. Mr. Dana considered the exchange editor one of the most important men on the whole paper, and there is much to justify his view. The man with the shears is held quite closely with- in the limits of his paper's policy. He must read the editorial page of his own sheet every day and confine his clippings chiefly to those voicing the same views. His widest latitude is in the search for personal items about noted people, his choice of jokes and interesting miscellany, and the like. His greatest opportunity for making himself useful and winning the favor of the 98 EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS managing editor is in finding plenty of " tips " or sto- ries in other papers that can be made the basis for sim- ilar articles with a local application. In some of the large offices the exchange editor himself is expected to write original articles from suggestions gleaned in the course of his reading, but as a rule his labors in this direction are confined to an industrious search for clippings that will help other men in the various crit- ical and news departments. It is evident that only a good all-around newspaper man can do the best work in such a position, though on the smaller papers the exchange desk sometimes is made the entrance way to newspaperdom for intelligent novices. An exchange editor must have the faculty of swift reading. Each day he must read a pile of papers almost as high as his desk, and it will count against him if he misses any important article of special inter- est to his own community. He must have the ability to know at a glance whether or not there is anything quotable on a page, and to run his eye down an edi- torial column and pick out its salient paragraph in a moment. A man or woman must have accurate judg- ment, good taste, and up-to-date knowledge on all subjects in order to be a successful exchange reader. The sporting editor is one of the busiest men on the modern newspaper. Nearly all the large dailies now give at least one whole page to sporting matters every day, and some give four pages every Sunday. To conduct such a department successfully a man must not only have a thorough knowledge of every kind of indoor and outdoor games and sports, but must also combine the qualities of a good reporter with those of a managing editor. Though he works under the direction of the city editor or managing editor, he must do most of his own planning to get the news. 99 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM The telegraph is at his service for securing reports of distant events, while he always can get assistance from the local room on important events in his own town when necessary. Sporting news from all sources is turned over to him and to his copy readers. He must be equally able to write a good report of an im- portant prize-fight, or to supervise the writing of a page story about a horse-race that calls out the fash- ionable society of the city. He has to be careful not to become involved in any of the disputes that attend athletic contests and sporting events of all kinds. Upon the impartiality and completeness of his reports will depend the degree of his success. Such positions usually are secured by first serving an apprenticeship as a reporter on general assignments. The same may be said of the positions at the head of the commercial and financial departments. These are places requiring a large amount of technical knowl- edge and a wide acquaintance among Board of Trade men and bankers and brokers. The railroad, real estate, and insurance editors must have similar quali- fications in their respective fields. A man may fit himself to become a specialist in any one of these de- partments by reading and study along the required lines, but usually he also must have some practical ex- perience as a reporter before he can secure a position. Experience in a business office will be valuable to him. Sometimes the easiest line of approach to these cov- eted posts is through the avenue of the tfade paper or technical journal, and sometimes a department man on a newspaper can better his position by taking an edi- torial desk on a trade or financial weekly. There are some who manage to do both kinds of work at the same time, often nearly duplicating their salaries by their outside earnings. It would not benefit the aver- 100 8 o W 5 0, J h O 2* H w en EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS age reader at this stage to go into technical details as to the nature and methods of the work in these depart- ments, but as a rule they are desirable berths, not be- cause the salaries are particularly high, but because they throw a young man into contact with many prom- inent business men and enable him to make valuable acquaintances and to find lucrative business openings after a time. The money and the activities of the world in the present age are concentrated in large business enterprises, and it is among these that the largest rewards are to be found. In the main the work of these department editors is reportorial in its nature, but it often requires slight- ly different methods from those of the ordinary re- porter. The real-estate editor, for instance, must visit the offices of realty dealers and architects, seeking news of transfers and building projects. The railroad editor must canvass the railway offices for news of all kinds relating to that kind of enterprise. In many cases the editor does not know just what information to seek. His task is like that of fishing in cloudy waters, and his success will depend entirely upon his choosing the right bait for the kind of fish that hap- pens to be at the bottom. It does almost no good to go into a busy man's office and ask, " What's the news ? '' Unless he has some information which he is particularly anxious to get into print, he will stare blankly a moment and then reply that he knows of nothing. The reporter in this kind of work must be able to make shrewd guesses as to what is likely to be going on, and to ask questions that will elicit the desired information. If he can not do this he may fall back upon the expedient of telling a bit of news similar to that which he is seeking. The law of the association of ideas is likely to suggest a similar item 101 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM to the hearer. This peculiarity in the working of the human mind is one which all reporters will do well to remember. Every large paper has regular correspondents in Washington, New York, London, and other leading cities in America and Europe. The representatives in these large news centers differ from the correspond- ents in the smaller towns in that they are expected to send matter every day. Some of them also are al- lowed a good deal of liberty in choosing what news they will send and how they will treat it. This is especially true of the Washington correspondents. There is an increasing tendency to place men of marked ability in these positions, and to allow them to combine the powers of reporter and editor in their work. Some of the more noted correspondents, like De Blowitz, George W. Smalley, or William E. Cur- tis, practically have the powers of editorial writers, often commenting upon the news they send. The Washington " specials " and the London cable de- spatches are largely in the hands of such men. Such positions are especially desirable for men who wish to be more than mere chroniclers of the day's happen- ings. They have the responsibilities and the privileges both of reporters and of editors, and they have a chance to impress their own individuality upon their work to a degree seldom allowed to a reporter. Posi- tions of this kind are worthy of the ambition of the ablest men. It may be explained in passing that a man who represents a New York paper in Chicago, for instance, gets his materials from the news columns of the Chi- cago papers. His work must be done late at night by reading the proofs and telegraphing portions of the more important stories to his own paper. The Chi - 1 02 EDITORS AND THEIR METHODS cago papers have representatives in the offices of New York papers doing the same thing. There is a sim- ilar interchange of news among the papers of all the large cities, entirely independent of the Associated Press. These correspondents usually work under con- stant directions from their managing editors and are supposed to confine themselves to giving the news in condensed form much as they find it in the proofs. The Sunday supplement is treated elsewhere in a special chapter. The woman's page and the society columns are sufficiently touched upon in the chapter on " Women in Newspaper Work." There are other minor subdivisions, but I believe all the chief wheels and cogs of the great intellectual machine have been described. As it is impossible for the chief editor to read everything before going to press, the work of the de- partment editors usually is regulated by keeping a close watch over their matter as it appears from day to day and reprimanding them for errors committed. The same method is applied to staff correspondents in distant cities. Their course is directed by telling them what they ought not to have done and warning them not to let the mistake occur again. Words of praise are few and far between. If a subeditor or cor- respondent hears no adverse criticism from his supe- rior he is fairly safe in concluding that his work is giving satisfaction. Newspapers frequently receive important pieces of news that lack the necessary details for presenting them with due dignity of length. It becomes neces- sary to supply the missing materials in the office. In many cases this can be done with the aid of the " morgue " or cabinet of biographical and obituary materials that is maintained in every wide-awake 103 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM newspaper office. Sometimes books of reference will stjpply much of the needed information. In not a few cases, however, it becomes the duty of the reporter or editor to supply the missing fnaterials from his inner consciousness, drawing upon his memory or his im- agination. So long as he uses his imagination only upon non-essential details the method appears to be permissible. This kind of license has become absolutely neces- sary in writing the reports of events which will be past when the paper appears, but which must be de- scribed before they occur. Intense rivalry for the latest news long ago drove editors to the use of the " journalistic imagination" in such cases. The amount of .matter that is prepared in this way, espe- cially for evening papers, probably would surprise the average reader. The fact will account for many of the inaccuracies of the press, but on the whole it is cause for wonder that the newspapers can be as accurate as they are under the circumstances. The ethics of the subject may be left to the individual reader. I merely record the fact that the practise exists to some degree on every enterprising paper. 104 VIII QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM To write or edit copy for a newspaper is one thing ; to perform the executive duties of a managing or city editor, or of a night editor, is quite another thing; while to own a paper and control its policy so as to make it pay dividends is a different thing from either of the other two. The young man who wishes to enter journalism should first ask himself what he means by the word which department he will seek to enter. The business side would need a chapter by itself, written by somebody who has made a fortune through a newspaper or lost one. The whole mod- ern newspaper is a commercial enterprise, but its purely business problems do not come within the scope of this book. To a large extent the qualifications that bring financial success in the newspaper business are the same as those that enable a man to make money in any other highly organized industry. To buy a large newspaper plant and expect to make it pay without knowing the business is similar to buying a steelr plant under the same conditions. In either case the pur- chaser probably would have to pay roundly for his lessons, but if he had a sound judgment, abundant capital, and good business ability he might succeed in either field. One of the most necessary qualifications for success as a newspaper owner is courage to back 105 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM his judgment with a large outlay of capital. The stakes to be played for are high and the risks are heavy. The present volume concerns itself only with the men and women who are employed to write and edit newspapers. To some extent they are like the clerks in a dry-goods store, destined to handle the kind of goods carried in stock. But whether the newspaper man must give his readers sensational or authentic news whether he must hand out Republican or Democratic political theories his success in any case will depend upon certain qualifications, natural and acquired. Probably the most important natural qualification for success Jh journalism is that of mental alertness the ability to think quickly and accurately. Powers of swift observation and comprehension are more neces- sary than powers of deep or sustained thought. The person whose first and almost intuitive conclusions usually are correct is likely to succeed in newspaper work. The man of slow and plodding mind is not likely to rise high in journalism. To this extent the journalist is born, and not made. Some men know by nature what is interesting. They can pick up news, they can remember, they can put two and two to- gether, they can hear, they can see. These are the indispensable qualities of the journalist. To the quick mind and the trained news instinct must be added the power of mental concentration. This comes with practise. A person of cheery and optimistic temperament has a better chance than one of somber or acrimonious nature. People prefer newspapers that are habitually good-natured rather than those that are querulous. A reader does not wish for a tirade at his breakfast table. The man whose 106 QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM attitude toward life is that of a humorous philosopher will have a better chance of success than the moralist or instinctive reformer. George Ade and " Mr. Dooley " are good illustrations of this fact. Modern journalism has higher rewards for those who can amuse than for those whose main object is to instruct. But the highest rewards of all are reserved for those who can command and superintend the work of news-gathering. This requires the qualities of a good general. Some men are born to command and others are born to be led, but nobody can say which is which until each is tested. The hurry, the emergencies, and the constant predicaments of life in a newspaper office soon develop the latent qualities of the men on the staff. Promotion by natural selection does the rest. " The bases of success in journalism," says Henry Watterson, " are good habits, good sense, and good feeling; a good education, particularly in the English branches, and application both constant and cheerful. All success is, of course, relative. Good and ill for- tune play a part in the life of every man ; but honest, tireless, painstaking activity may conquer ill fortune, as it will certainly advance good fortune. In the de- gree that a man adds to these essentials large talents special training, breadth of mind, and reach of vision his flight will be higher." It is almost impossible to say in a given case whether any man or woman will be successful in newspaper work, both because the work itself brings out unsuspected powers and because there are so many departments as to afford opportunities for almost every kind of talent. There are certain funda- mental qualities, however, that are absolutely neces- sary. Without industry, patience, reliability, and per- sistency there can be no success in journalism. No 107 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM degree of sporadic brilliancy will take the place of these solid traits. Another indispensable faculty is that of being able to see through shams and false- hoods. There are men whom a lie can not deceive ; they are the kind that make excellent reporters. Con- tact with the world teaches one to see through de- ceptions, and the newspaper man's training is of a kind to make him a keen judge of men. The more thoroughly he learns this the better will be his chance of promotion. No work requires a more thorough knowledge of human nature than that of the newspaper man, and there is no school that can teach it more quickly or accurately than the strenuous life of the reporter in a large city. He must deal with men and women of every class and kind, and failure to approach each in the right way may mean failure on an important assignment. His work requires tact as well as knowl- edge. He must learn to play upon men as a skilful violinist plays upon his instrument, and must know just what strings to touch in order to bring out the information he seeks. Long practise makes the skil- ful newspaper man an apt judge of faces, and he usu- ally can tell by looking at a man whether a polite and deferential inquiry, or a blunt question, or a threatening attitude is best under the circumstances. For the reporter knowledge is power, even more em- phatically than for other people, and knowledge of men is the most valuable of all wisdom to him. A man who is naturally sociable and who has a pleasing address possesses a distinct advantage as a reporter. Scarcely anything is more valuable in news- paper work than a wide circle of acquaintance, espe- cially among the men and women who are the moving spirits of the community and are making its history. 108 QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM As a rule, the reporter who can call upon a man or woman as a friend will be more likely to secure the information he seeks than if he calls as a stranger. This is doubly true if he be uniformly honest and honorable in his methods. Here is where the rule, " Never violate a promise," applies most strongly. The reporter who can be trusted to do exactly what he says he will do is the one to whom people will talk most freely. The wider the personal acquaintance of such a reporter, the better his opportunities of suc- cess and promotion. It follows that the newspaper man must learn the names of people, and be able to recall the name in- stantly when he sees the face. The need for this is inexorable. Without it no man can achieve complete success either as a reporter or as a city editor or managing editor. Even to an editorial writer or a copy reader the ability to remember names as well as faces is valuable. The man or woman who intends to succeed in journalism must determine to have a good memory for names, even if it has to be acquired by writing the names in a book and studying them like so much Greek. After all, a poor memory for names is nothing more than a habitual lack of atten- tion. A little concentration of mind upon a name the first time it is heard will help wonderfully in recalling it the next time the face appears. Almost anybody can learn a foreign language and can recall the right words to express a thousand different objects or ideas, even though many of the words are used but rarely. The same persons can learn to remember names and faces if they will give the matter enough attention. In general, a good memory is one of the most valu- able qualifications for newspaper work. So long as a reporter is on miscellaneous assignments he stands 9 109 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM most in need of a memory that will hold a great deal for a short time, and will yield up its contents in logical and orderly form. I happen to know a man who " does politics " on a large city paper, and who can talk with a dozen or a score of aldermen or delegates at a convention and can return to the office and dic- tate brief interviews with each of those men merely from memory. His work, too, is remarkably accu- rate. Naturally, he holds a responsible position and gets a large salary. In the domain of editorial writing there is need of a long as well as a voluminous memory. The worker in this department must be able to recall precedents, to make comparisons with past events. He ought to have the politics and elections of the last quarter of a century at his command ; at least he ought to know just where to find the facts and figures. But above all he should be familiar with the main currents of recent history. The store of knowledge accumulated from year to year by the expert editorial writer is the more valuable because much of it can not be found in books. At the same time he should be conversant with general history, literature, science, and philoso- phy. The encyclopedic mass of knowledge con- tained in the heads of some of the older newspaper writers is amazing. Men of this kind are able to retain their positions long after those with less re- tentive memories have fallen by the wayside. They are good illustrations of Mr. Dana's remark that he never saw a newspaper man who knew too much, except those who know too many things that were not true. Here arises the wider question of whether a news- paper man should have a college education or not. The number of university graduates in American no QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM journalism is now greater than at any time in the past and is increasing yearly. The fact is one for con- gratulation on both sides. It is among the best augu- ries for the future of the American press. At the same time, it will not do to overlook the fact that the majority of newspaper writers, like the majority of their readers, have not a college education. Charles A. Dana was a firm believer in the efficacy of Latin and Greek. He never lost an opportunity to combat Horace Greeley's theory that the only way to learn journalism is to " sleep on newspapers and eat ink." He said that if he were choosing a young man to report a prize-fight, or a religious congress, or a political convention, he would rather have one who had read Sophocles and Tacitus, and who could scan every ode of Horace, than one who had never done these things. His reason for preferring college men was sound. He wanted men who could write pure English, and he believed that those who had studied the roots of the language could do it better than those who had not. In like manner he advised every would- be journalist to go to college, if possible, in order to get a fundamental knowledge of the modern sciences, of history, of political economy, civil government, and all the other branches of knowledge taught in the higher schools. He said the newspaper man must know whether the theology of the parson is sound, whether the physiology of the doctor is genuine, and whether the law of the lawyer is good law or not. Since the newspaper man can not know too much, it behooves him to get a college education if he can, and then to take his post-graduate course in the city room of a metropolitan newspaper. While Mr. Dana's view is essentially sound, it is easy to overestimate the value of a college course as in PRACTICAL JOURNALISM an aid to success in journalism. In editorial writing and other critical branches it is extremely valuable. In gaining the higher executive positions it is deba- table whether four years in college are worth as much as the same four years spent in practical reporting work. The position of managing editor is the highest within the reach of newspaper employees. The men who rise to that position are not usually college men. The collegians drift into the editorial department and reach the head of that, but in the majority of cases it is the reporter who has never gone to college who forges to the top and captures an executive position. The reason is not far to seek. Knowledge of men and of the city is worth more to a city editor or a managing ^editor than knowledge of books. Famil- iarity with city-hall affairs and ward politics and poli- ticians is more valuable to him than familiarity with the philosophies or with the integral calcuhis. A practical knowledge of how to meet the thousand and one emergencies of newspaper life is worth more in an executive position than Latin, or English litera- ture, or American history, valuable as these branches are to every newspaper man. The college man culti- vates literary tastes and gets more or less out of touch with the practical world. The man who goes directly into reporting cultivates a " nose for news " and gets into the heart and spirit of worldly things. He is taking a technical course, while the college man is taking a liberal arts course. In some respects the college graduate will overtake the other man and pass him in a few years, but usually not in the line of promotion that leads up to a managing editorship. If salary and rank are the measure of success, and if existing conditions are a fair criterion, then a college course is not always the best training for a newspaper 112 QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM man. Executive ability is the quality that counts for most in modern journalism as in modern industries. This is cultivated by practise and not by study. All knowledge is likely to be useful to the newspaper man at some point in his career, but no amount of mere information can compensate for a lack of training in the practical art of getting things accomplished. The question whether a young man who intends entering journalism should go to college demands a different answer in different cases. If he has abun- dant means and is of a studious nature, he should go through college by all means, for the broad intellec- tual life of the well-educated man is in itself a suffi- cient reward for the time spent at college. But if he is pinched for funds and is by nature fitted for action rather than for contemplation, it will be wiser for him to go at once into the work of reporting. His intel- lectual horizon will be narrower, but his chances of becoming a managing editor will be increased rather than lessened. If he has prefaced his newspaper work with a few years in business pursuits it will be all the better. Mr. Dana always said his six years' experi- ence as a boy in a dry-goods store in Buffalo was invaluable to him. A knowledge of business methods is a necessity, while a college education may be a luxury. Every newspaper man ought to have at least a high-school education ; if he is an omnivorous and thoughtful reader he can teach himself most of the book knowledge he will need beyond that. The average American child goes to school only three years. It is for the average American man and woman that the newspaper is written, and it often hap- pens that the editor who has never been to college can get closer to the people and give them what they want to read more successfully than the man who has PRACTICAL JOURNALISM been lifted into another plane of thought by a colle- giate course. The intellectual snobbishness that some- times sticks to the university graduate all the rest of his life is a handicap in newspaper work. The proper education for a man intending to enter journalism is the ordinary education of a cultivated man. All the knowledge he can assimilate on every known subject is what he needs. A broad reading of good books in literature, history, politics, arid polit- ical economy will be valuable to him. Whether he does his reading in a college or during his evenings at home after the day's work, there are certain books with which he can not be too familiar. Chief among these is the Bible. Considered merely as a model of simple and elegant English and as an exhaustless store of vital human truth, there is no book that will bet- ter repay careful and constant study than the Bible, Its anecdotes, its imagery, and its language have be- come part of the warp and woof of civilized thought and life. Next to the Bible, a familiarity with Shake- speare will have the most universal and permanent value to the writer. It would be well, too, if every newspaper man would begin his career by reading Milton's majestic speech for the Liberty of Unli- censed Printing, which is the most eloquent plea for a free press ever penned. In politics, the first thing to read and to master, principle by principle, is the Constitution of the United States. Mr. Dana's motto, " Hold fast to the Constitution, whatever happens," may be adopted safely by the humblest as well as the highest worker in American journalism. A study of the Federalist papers, and of all the subsequent stages of our polit- ical history, should follow in time. American politics is a hard and complicated subject, but no man can get 114 QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM very high as an editorial writer without mastering its main points and imbibing the spirit of our institu- tions. A careful reading of the State constitutions, especially that of your own State, is advisable. If the young journalist can find time and opportunity to master the fundamental principles of law as ex- pounded by Blackstone, it will be time well spent. It is needless to specify further regarding the best books to read. If the lines just indicated are fol- lowed up and broadened to suit the tastes and special needs of the reader, they will lead toward journalistic success. Along with this expansion of knowledge, and ranking above it in practical value, must come a patient and thorough drill in the art of expression. There is a certain ability, force, and facility of written utterance that comes only with daily practise. As on the stage, so in journalism, the highest efficiency is attained by combining theoretical study and technical practise at one and the same time. The reporter who spends his spare hours in reading gets this union of the two elements. The wisest step the colleges have taken in the direction of teaching journalism is that of giving students daily drill in writing sketches of incidents that come under their own eyes. To see things as they are and to tell what he sees in simple, lucid, and elegant English this is the first thing the reporter must learn. He should drill himself in wri- ting swift, vivid, yet graceful accounts of everything that comes under his notice, cultivating picturesque- ness of statement, yet never at the cost of naturalness, dignity, clearness, or brevity. One of the best ways of mastering the art of con- ciseness is to read a column story in a newspaper and put the gist of it into a dozen lines, omitting nothing "5 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM essential. This is a kind of work that must be done every day in a newspaper office. A good way to cul- tivate a choice diction is to read a magazine article by a good writer and endeavor to rewrite it in your own words and in as good language as the author's. Benjamin Franklin owed his charming and lucid style largely to the long and patient drill to which he sub- jected himself by reading Addison's Spectator papers and trying to rewrite them from memory. Senator Hoar has said that a still better method of gaining command of one's language is to translate from a for- eign tongue. The advantage in this exercise lies in the fact that the translator is compelled to find the best word himself, whereas in the other case he may unconsciously repeat it from memory. At best, the art of verbal expression is sadly in- adequate. As Barrett Wendell has said, the written or spoken utterance, by irrevocable fate, can be " only a feeble shadow of the reality a symbol to which nothing but deep imaginative sympathy can give any- thing like the significance which the author longed to pack into it." It is important that the " feeble shadow " should be the best obtainable, and nothing can insure this except an unremitting study of the art of fitting words to thoughts. This drill can not begin too early, and no writer ever reaches the point where he can cease to practise it almost daily without losing some of his skill. A knowledge of shorthand is not an essential part of the reporter's equipment. Its value is merely inci- dental. If a young man or woman happens to possess this accomplishment, it will be found to be a valuable convenience in reportorial work of almost any kind, but it scarcely would pay to take a special course in shorthand. Verbatim reports of speeches are used 116 QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM only rarely now, and usually they are furnished in manuscript form by the speaker. When it becomes necessary to take down a speech in shorthand the large city papers employ professional stenographers for the purpose. The work of the reporter is to get tfie gist and spirit of what is said by those whom he interviews, and to put it into more condensed lan- guage than that of the speaker. If he tries to take down every word he may miss the salient points, and make a verbose and wooden report. In this respect a knowledge of shorthand may become an injury rather than a help. Its liability to abuse has caused city editors to look with suspicion rather than with favor upon a reportorial candidate who names shorthand among his leading qualifications. As a personal con- venience, however, when rightly used, the ability to write shorthand is worth all the trouble it takes to acquire it. In the last few years the ability to use the type- writing machine has become an essential qualification for the reporter. Nearly all the large newspapers now furnish a machine to each reporter, and expect him to write all his copy upon it. The knack of operating a typewriter is not difficult to learn, but the ability to compose upon it offhand is not acquired quite so easily. A man of mature years, in attempting to learn the new method, often finds it almost impossible to get his thoughts to flow as readily through the keys as through the pen or pencil. It is all a matter of practise, however, and the knack should be acquired. A typewriter with the standard keyboard should be selected, for time spent in learning some unusual arrangement of the letters will be wasted. The newspaper of the future will be written almost wholly on the typewriter. The change is not due so 117 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM much to the greater rapidity with which copy can be produced as to the important gain in clearness and in the saving of time for the copy reader and com- positor. The introduction of the typewriter has re- duced the number of typographical errors at least one-half. The gain in the printer's time alone is worth the cost of the machines. By all means, let the young journalist master the typewriter at his earliest opportunity. Some of the most successful newspaper men now go a step farther, and do much of their writing by dictation. In some cases they employ stenographers, but more frequently they dictate their matter directly to an expert operator of the typewriter. In this way a reporter can prepare three or four columns of mat- ter in the time ordinarily consumed in writing a col- umn. Like the dictation of business letters, this proc- ess requires practise in order to be successful in it, but it is becoming more and more necessary in jour- nalism. The demand for speed and for a voluminous treatment of important subjects makes the knack of dictation almost imperative. Sometimes one man finds himself in possession of the materials for an arti- cle which must fill five or six columns in the next issue of his paper. If he can talk off his story to a stenographer or to a typewriter expert he can get out of his dilemma easily and creditably, while if he attempts to write it out he will make a partial failure of it. Descriptive work, such as the reporting of a long street procession in detail, can be done best by dictation. If the copy contains crudities or redundant words it will lose these in going through the copy reader's mill. Apparently the power to dictate copy is destined to become more and more necessary as a qualification for the highest reportorial positions. 118 QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOURNALISM This, however, is not a matter that needs to concern the beginner. To sum up the subject, the qualities most needed for success in journalism are an alert mind, an intui- tive judgment of news values, industry, honesty, tact, patience, resourcefulness, and a liberal knowledge of the world and of human nature. The ability to score a " beat " will be appreciated more highly than the ability to read ten languages. A patient plodder who can be depended upon will fare better than a brilliant writer who is unreliable. The man of intemperate habits no longer has a place or a chance in the strenu- ous world of metropolitan journalism. The reporter who imagines it is smarter to " fake " a story than to work hard and get the facts will fall by the wayside. Success follows the man whom a lie can not deceive and who scorns to resort to deception himself. Fer- tility of resource, self-confidence, quickness of percep- tion and of expression, and a power to absorb and retain knowledge of every kind are among the most important qualifications for newspaper work. Per- sonal magnetism and tact count for more than depth of learning. A college education is valuable, but by no means indispensable; often its greatest value lies in the self-confidence it inspires. The ability to get a piece of news in spite of all obstacles is prized more highly in a newspaper office than a mastery of the finest literary style, but the reporter who can combine a breezy and pleasing style with the ability to " hus- tle " is the one who will get the best assignments and the speediest promotion. 119 IX THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT No department of the American newspaper has undergone more surprising expansion in the last twenty-five years than the Sunday supplement. From the ordinary week-day size of eight or twelve pages the Sunday newspaper has grown to six or eight times those dimensions. The news section of this bulky affair is essentially the same in size and contents as the week-day editions of the same paper. All the rest is an overgrown supplement, filled with miscellany and advertisements, and written by a separate staff of reporters and editors. The advertisements, of course, are the real cause for the abnormal size of the Sunday paper. The reading matter must be increased in pro- portion to the number of advertisements, while both the " ads " and the reading matter increase with the circulation. The desire to get advertisements into Sunday papers is explained by the fact that some papers with a daily circulation of less than 100,000 copies have a Sunday edition of more than 250,000. The getting together of this wealth-producing sup- plement or aggregation of supplements, is in the hands of the Sunday editor, who usually works every day in the week except Sunday. He begins on Mon- day morning to edit the matter for certain sections of next Sunday's paper; in fact, some parts of his sup- plement may have to go to press more than a week 120 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT in advance. In some respects his task is like that of a magazine editor, for he must read scores of manu- scripts submitted by outside contributors. In other respects the Sunday editor's work is like that of a managing editor, for he must be on the watch con- stantly for the latest topics that are uppermost in the public mind, and must be fertile in new ideas and schemes for " features." He needs both the news and the literary instincts. He also should have good artistic judgment, for the illustrations are among the most important features of the Sunday supplement. In short, the Sunday editor should be a man of good executive powers and of all-around journalistic abil- ity. The men who do this work on the largest papers get salaries ranking with those of the editorial writers. They are almost always men who have served faith- ful apprenticeships as reporters and copy readers and have shown more than ordinary ability. The matter with which the Sunday supplement is filled is of a nature half-way between that of the daily paper and that of the popular monthly magazine. It is miscellany of a more or less newsy nature, super- ficial but entertaining, and treating current topics more at length than is possible in a week-day edition. Articles of this kind are known technically as " Sun- day specials." The word " special," in this sense, should not be confused with the term " special de- spatch," used to designate telegraphic matter sent by the paper's own correspondents. As a rule, the spe- cial article is paid for by the column, the rates varying from $10 a column on some New York papers to $5 on Chicago papers, and still lower figures in the smaller towns. Many newspaper writers in the largest cities make good incomes solely through special wri- ting. This kind of work, like that of the reporter, 121 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM usually is anonymous, though it often requires more talent and wider knowledge than ordinary reporting. The writing of special articles is something that may be done by outside contributors. The Sunday paper, like the monthly magazine, is open to any bright writer who can produce what the editor hap- pens to want at the particular moment when he de- sires it. It is entirely legitimate for anybody to try to get into the journalistic circle by this avenue, but it is only fair to say that the road is likely to be thorny for inexperienced feet. Every Sunday editor has his staff of experienced helpers, some of whom write on salaries, and others " on space." To these he gives suggestions and assignments covering all the chief topics which he wishes to treat each week. It follows naturally that there is little space left for the outsider. His matter must be of exceptional novelty or timeli- ness in order to find a place in the Sunday editor's columns. If the contributor happens to be an expert or a man of note in his line, his name often will carry his matter into print. The newspapers are increasingly partial to ex cathedra utterances by men who have made reputations in special lines. But there also is a place for the anonymous article written by the ob- scure contributor, provided it be of the right kind. It must not be as heavy as the average magazine arti- cle, nor may it conflict in any way with the politics or policy of the paper. It may be fiction, fact, criticism, or humor, but in any case it must have the light touch-and-go quality that lends ephemeral charm to American newspapers. The typical " special " is a long article making some pretensions to exhaustiveness or to authoritative utterance. It may combine the three styles of matter 122 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT of which a newspaper is composed news, comment, and general reading matter or it may be confined to any two or any one of these elements. It may be simply a mass of new and interesting facts on a timely subject, or it may be an extended editorial article, or it may be an essay on more or less ancient history. The news special always is the most salable. The critical contribution is handicapped by the necessity of making its opinions tally with the policy of the paper. Finally, the special that is chiefly a restate- ment of facts already more or less widely known has little hope of acceptance. Its only chance will depend upon the skill with which the story is retold and the timeliness of such a recapitulation of the subject. Timeliness is the essence of value in all newspaper work, and even the Sunday special affords no excep- tion. A news article finds its cause in the event which it chronicles. The editorial rests its excuse for ex- istence upon the news that has provoked comment. In the same way every special story should have its peg of news to hang upon. Like a fresh topic in con- versation, it should be suggested by something that has just happened or been said, and should not imi- tate the deaf old lady in one of Dickens's novels, who was wont to remark, apropos of nothing, that there were mile-stones on the road to Dover. This rule, of course, does not exclude certain literary products that are their own excuse for being. The quaint, curi- ous, humorous, or tragic always are legal tender in a newspaper office. But description, biography, and history, which fill a large part of the Sunday paper, always require the " peg pf news " to render them timely and acceptable. Upon what subjects shall the would-be contributor write? The best answer to this question is found by 123 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM looking at your favorite paper and noting what the editor thought his readers would be interested in last week. Almost any copy of a large Sunday paper will be found to include articles on politics, sociology, romance and adventure, literature and art, biography, local affairs, women's interests, animal stories, and the like, besides fiction, poetry, and humor. Here are some of the topics treated in one issue of a typical paper : How the city loses a million dollars a year by petty thieves; a Jewish society's scheme of practical philanthropy without almsgiving ; Australia's new plan of government ; how an Irish mother's wit saved her criminal family from punishment; lore of the re- galia used at the coronation of King Edward VII; a man to whom two thousand women have proposed ; gazelle-hunting on a locomotive in Brazil ; an Iowa man who has not been off his farm for eleven years ; favorite novels of popular novelists; romantic career of a wealthy and distinguished man who died a pau- per ; character sketch of the president of a leading rail- way; how a college professor trained microbes 2s pets ; pagan origin of many Christian doctrines ; artis- tic ideals and dress reform. This list is typical of the contents of the most suc- cessful Sunday papers. It covers a wide range of subjects, and has something of interest for almost any kind of reader. It mingles the frivolous and trashy with the dignified and thoughtful, appealing at once to the ignorant and the educated. Such a paper pre- sents opportunities to writers almost as diverse in their tastes and talents as the readers themselves. Mr. Smalley once remarked that he knew only one definition for news : " It is what people will want to read to-morrow morning." The Sunday editor's test of his materials is equally comprehensive. Any topic 124 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT with human interest in it may be acceptable to him. What he wishes is something that you would like to read, and that half the people in your street would like to read. The special article presents one avenue of access to regular work on a newspaper staff. There are two ways in which an outsider may approach the editor with matter of this kind. One is to go to him and give him a brief verbal outline of one or more sub- jects which seem to give promise of good stories, and to ask him whether he could use an article on one of these topics. The other is to go ahead and write out the stories and send them to him for his acceptance or rejection. The finished article will have exactly as good a chance when sent by mail as if you handed it to the editor in person and took up his time telling what you have written or what you think of your own production. All specials or sketches or fiction tales intended for use in the Sunday paper should be ad- dressed to the Sunday editor, and not, as so many beginners mistakenly imagine, to the literary editor. The literary editor of a newspaper is the book- reviewer, and usually he has nothing to do with manu- scripts of a literary nature intended for publication in the paper. Whether the story be submitted in embryo or in its completed form, it is equally likely to be rejected in the majority of cases. This may be because it is not suitable for the purposes of the editor, or it may be because he already has covered the subject. To avoid doing needless work, therefore, the experi- enced special writer usually submits the subjects to the editor before going to work on the story; but it is better for the beginner to submit the completed manuscript, because he must give proof of his compe- 10 125 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM tence as a writer. He should write his name and ad- dress in an upper corner of the first page, and should enclose stamps for the return of the manuscript in case of its rejection. He should not forget to leave nearly one-half of the first page blank, in order that the editor may have space in which to write the head- lines. The author is not expected to write a display heading, but it is well to indicate in a few words the nature of the subject treated. The manuscript should be sent flat or folded, and should never be rolled. Usually it is not necessary to enclose a letter along with the copy, the address and stamps being suffi- ciently clear in their meaning. It will do no harm, however, to* write a note of a few lines telling the editor that the story is sent for use in his columns at his customary space rates. When dealing with papers in the smaller towns, it is especially advisable to make it clear in this way that pay is expected, as some of them are willing to print articles over the writer's signature when contributed gratis, but are unwilling to pay for matter of this kind. The metropolitan journals, as a rule, go on the principle that anything not worth paying for is not worth printing; hence a letter to the editor seldom is necessary, and when written should be as brief as possible. When such an article is rejected by one paper it should be mailed promptly to another, always with the necessary postage for return, and this process should be continued until the story finds the right place, or until its unfitness is fully demonstrated. With " space " stories of this kind, as with magazine articles, the author must expect many rejections as a matter of course. A story may be refused by half a dozen papers and be welcomed by the seventh. It 126 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT is no unusual thing to mail a magazine article to a dozen different publications before finding the right one. Persistency counts for a great deal, and the spe- cial writer has need of a liberal share of it. He is sure to be subjected to many disappointments. To counterbalance these, he must remember that if his article has any real merit it will find acceptance sooner or later. He should remember, also, that every time an outsider submits an article on space he is compe- ting with a whole newspaper staff and with all the news associations and syndicates besides. The be- ginner also should not forget that each time he offers such an article to the editor he is asking for the full pay of a writer who has spent years in learning the profession. He should be surprised when one of his stories is accepted rather than when it is rejected. Enough has been said to indicate that free-lance work of this kind is likely to be unreliable as a means of keeping the wolf from the door. The chief difficulty is the same as that which confronts the magazine writer: one never can be sure of what is going to meet the tastes and wishes of the editor. There is an inevitable percentage of wasted work. The best that one can do is to study carefully the nature of the articles a periodical has published in the past and write something that will conform as nearly as possible to what seems to be the editor's standard. The outsider can not reasonably hope to make a liv- ing by writing Sunday specials. The real value of the work, in most instances, is that it affords a foot- hold and opens up a way to steady work of some kind at steady wages. An editor places little reliance upon recommenda- tions or talk about what a new writer can do. What he wants is a sample of good work. After a Sunday 127 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM editor or managing editor has seen and accepted a few special stories, he will for the first time think seriously of giving the author of them a regular assignment or a permanent position, if there happens to be a vacancy on his staff. The Sunday special offers a short cut, rough and thorny, into regular journalism. It is not so good a mode of entrance as the way that lies through the country newspaper office and the local room, but it is the best that is open to many persons, and it is perfectly legitimate. One point in its favor is that stories of this kind can be written at home. Almost any city or town will fur- nish at least a few subjects. Good practise may be had by contributing first to the smaller local papers before trying the metropolitan dailies. The life story of a noted man, written when he and his wife are about to celebrate their golden wedding, or just before his death, always is " good stuff." Odd, humorous, or tragic incidents in the history of a town, or school, or church, or club recalled at a moment when for any reason public attention is directed toward that subject will make salable matter if writ- ten in a simple and gossipy style. A neighborhood feud, a ludicrous or tragic quarrel, the pathetic story of some blighted life any odd or entertaining page from the great book of life that lies open for all who have eyes to read will make an acceptable special if properly handled. Half the secret of getting into print lies in being first on hand with a piece of news that the editor wants, and the other half lies in having the ideas in plain English, arranged in the proper journalistic order. The Sunday special is one of the most elaborate and difficult products of journalism. While it is sub- jected to a less exacting literary standard than maga- 128 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT zine work, it has to conform to definite requirements of its own. Like the magazine article, it may contain from 500 to 10,000 words usually about 3,000 and must treat of some topic of the time. But the news- paper article must be more " up to date " in its mat- ter and lighter in its style. It aims at sparkle and transient interest rather than at dignity or extreme accuracy. It resembles an ordinary news story in that the newest and most striking statements should come first. The special writer has a wider scope and more liberty than the ordinary reporter, however. He may indulge in comments, so long as they are not of a kind to provoke discussion or controvert the paper's policy. Bits of dialogue breaking up the monotonous solidity of the column, if cleverly done, will add to the salability of the article. Several sketches or pho- tographs for use as illustrations will help wonderfully in gaining the favor of the editor. Photographs are more acceptable than drawings, as newspapers are now illustrated almost altogether with half-tone cuts. A writer who is an expert with the camera has a dis- tinct advantage, for good pictures often will sell a story that would go begging without them. Illustra- tions are becoming a more and more popular feature of the Sunday paper. Select subjects that you know about, and that everybody else does not know. Choose topics in which you are interested. Avoid religious doctrines entirely. Cultivate a cheery and generous rather than a censorious spirit. Remember that humor and good- natured wit always are the best of material, and, as elsewhere in the world, will win a hearing where staid and sober wisdom is left to wait without the gates. The heavy magazine essay has little chance of accept- ance, however finished or deeply pondered. Remem- 129 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM her that readers like to be interested, surprised even shocked sometimes but they never like to be disgusted. If you must describe something revolting, make it as mild as possible. Never forget that per- sons are more important than things. A new anec- dote about a prominent man or woman is almost always salable. The human interest is universal ; the interest in science or scenery is limited. Travels abroad, unless they be written by a person of wide reputation and swing far from guide-book lines, are not in demand. A story that throws new light on the inside workings of the last political convention will be sought eagerly, whereas new details of the greatest battle of the Revolution will have difficulty in finding a place in a newspaper. This is not because the editor lacks patriotism, but because his readers are more interested in the present than in the past. For a glimpse of the future they are still more eager. Hence there is a never-ceasing rivalry among editors to get any news that may have a bearing on an ap- proaching event of importance. For such matter they are willing to pay liberally. The chief requirement in biographical matter is that the subject of the sketch shall be widely known. The newspaper reader knows a limited number of people by their names, just as he knows a limited number of private acquaintances by their faces. These familiar names are the ones for the new writer to conjure with, for it is the perverse peculiarity oi journalism that it tends to make the famed still more famous, and to leave ordinary people in their obscurity. Goodness or usefulness have little to do with news- paper fame or notoriety. The newspaper seeks the abnormal rather than the normal. The man or woman who says or does things out of the ordinary lines is 130 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT the one most certain to figure in the public prints. It matters little to the editor whether the unusual act be sublime or damnable. In either case he hastens to introduce the person into the charmed circle of newspaper notoriety, and he is extremely loath to confer this distinction upon anybody else. The result is that a candidate for the gallows is more talked about than a hundred people who attend to their own affairs and live normal and exemplary lives. This magnifying of the abnormal and this exploiting of the notoriety hunter are not pleasing traits of the modern journal, but they are in accord with gossip- ing human nature, and must be accepted as one finds them. The point for the would-be writer to remember is that the newspaper public, like the average individ- ual, is more interested in people whom it knows than in strangers. When one writes a private letter to a friend, one retails news or gossip about common acquaintances. So it is when the newspaper man writes to his friends, the subscribers; he must talk chiefly about people who are already known or who have done something sufficiently important or startling to entitle them to be introduced to the reader. At this point it is easy to see that the newspaper writer even the outside contributor must be an inveterate reader of the newspapers in order to be successful. The reporter and editor must be in close and constant touch with the people. They must know every shade and turn of public opinion and must shape or modulate their utterances accordingly. To drift away from the thoughts or sympathies of the community is fatal to any newspaper. On moral issues an ideal paper may venture to be a step in advance of the average reader, but not two steps. The writer on a newspaper never can afford to lose PRACTICAL JOURNALISM sight of the tastes or prejudices of those for wfiom he is writing. It is unjust to condemn this subserviency as moral cowardice or anything else that theorists may choose to call it. To be in sympathy with one's audience is quite necessary, and the more complete this sympathy the more certain is the utterance to be listened to or read. One of the most potent secrets of journalistic success is that of keeping always before your mind's eye the audience you are trying to address. By so doing you unconsciously color your writing in the way that will be most pleasing to your readers. A college boy, in describing a football scrimmage, assumes two entirely different tones when writing of the same thing to his mother and to his chum. In the one case he softens the brutalities of the game, and in the other, perhaps, he accentuates them. He does it almost unconsciously, because he has the per- sonality of the reader in mind in each case. This faculty of looking at things from the reader's point of view is one of the most valuable in journalism. The news sense and the editorial conscience are merely extensions of it. Special stories almost always are printed without a signature, unless the writer's name already be known to the public. This is true whether the writer be an outsider or a member of the staff. Newspapers like to print the names of people whose reputations are already made, but they are slow to help anybody to personal fame as a writer. They print stories on their merits, pay cash for them, and prefer that the credit for a good article should go to the paper rather than to the writer. Newspaper work of almost every kind is anonymous and should not be taken up by writers bent on achieving personal fame. With a few 132 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT exceptions the members of the newspaper fraternity are known all their lives as " the Times reporter," " the Herald editor/' etc., and even if they rise to the managing editorship of their papers their names sel- dom or never are seen in print. These are the facts which an experienced journalist had in mind when he gave this curt advice to young reporters : " Banish from your heads at once all nonsense about becoming celebrated. Be content with distinction in your own office. Be renowned within its walls for industry, accuracy, speed, and good copy. If you must have a wider celebrity than that, you would better seek it in some other field." Similar advice will apply to the writer of specials. Personal reputation must be sought usually through the magazines or the book publishers, and these are still more difficult to ap- proach than the newspaper editor. Occasional correspondence is a kind of special writing open to any person living in a town or city that happens to have points of interest to the outside world. This kind of matter, to be salable, must deal with subjects not covered by the telegraphic news. It is subject to the same rules as the ordinary special, except that it has a date-line at the top and may deal with a variety of topics. It is the nearest approach to the old-time news-letter that has survived the com- ing of the telegraph. A letter of this kind from a for- eign city to a home paper sometimes is acceptable. It is advisable to accompany it with a personal note to the editor asking him to use the matter, or such part of it as suits his purpose, at his usual space rates. Tales of fiction play a considerable part in the American newspaper, especially in the Sunday sup- plement. A few papers print novels in serial form, but the favorite fiction is the short story, ranging in 133 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM length from 2,000 to 10,000 words. As a rule the wri- ting of these stories is not profitable as a regular em- ployment. Many of the tales are trashy and crude, and are bought at cheap rates through syndicates. Still more of them are lifted bodily from English newspapers or magazines that are not copyrighted in the United States. From sources of this kind a paper can secure a short story every day in the year for little or nothing. Sometimes aspiring young authors are willing to donate stories gratis for the sake of having their names appear in print. These facts will explain why fiction submitted on space is rejected in such a large majority of cases by papers which appear to be accepting much poorer work. The fact remains, however, that the Sunday editor does accept and pay for a great many original tales of fiction. In some cases he depends entirely upon outside contributors for these stories, paying a lump sum for each, the price depending somewhat on the length. As a rule, the price approximates the usual column rates, so that the value of a story of 10,000 words in a paper paying $6 a column probably would be $40 or $50, or about one-half what a good magazine would pay for a first-class story of the same length. It scarcely would pay a talented writer to make a life- work of composing polished fiction at these rates, but the Sunday supplement is a legitimate and valu- able field for authors who have not yet gained their spurs; also for stories by prominent writers in cases where the work happens to fall short of the literary standards of the magazines. The writer of fiction will discover early in his career, however, that about three-fourths of the fiction purchased by newspapers is not bought directly from the authors, but is secured through one of the so- 134 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT called literary syndicates. For the benefit of the unin- itiated, it may be explained that a syndicate is a com- bination of newspapers that print the same story or correspondence simultaneously, or it is an agency that undertakes to place the same matter in several or many papers at the same time. Most of these agen- cies are in New York, which is the literary distribu- ting center of the United States. They solicit fiction, poems, jokes, sketches, and other articles of a literary nature from authors all over the country, and then they make out a catalogue of their wares and offer them to the newspapers at bargain-counter rates. As a rule, the syndicates pay liberally for the stories they accept, and they accept almost anything of merit, but by selling the same material to a large number of papers they are able to make low rates, thus spoiling the market for authors who try to deal directly with the editors. The young writer scarcely can do better, however, than to accept the situation as he finds it, and establish relations with one of these agencies after convincing himself that he has found one which is reliable and liberal in its pay to authors. Poetry is in extremely slight demand among American newspapers. Many prosperous papers make it a rule not to buy poems of any kind, though occasionally they make an exception to the rule by way of novelty. The majority of them are willing to print good verse when it is given to them gratis, ap- pending the author's name to it. As a means of securing a local reputation the writing of verse for newspapers has some practical value, but its paying qualities end there, so far as journalism is concerned. When a paper does pay for a poem the price usually is absurdly disproportionate to the time spent in wri- ting it. 135 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM With jokes and humorous jingles the case is much more encouraging. There is a regular and steady market for choice brands of these staples at all sea- sons of the year. Some papers employ humorists as regular members of the staff and buy little outside matter of this kind. Others buy jokes in the open market at regular rates. The New York World and Herald, for instance, usually pay a dollar each for jokes, whether short or long. A joke is measured by its point, not by its size. Puck pays fifty cents for each joke, unless a picture goes with it, in which case it pays two dollars. There are said to be at least forty writers in New York alone who make a regular business of writing jokes and comic verses. At the end of a day's work a writer may have twenty-five jokes on as many different slips of paper. As a gen- eral thing he will put the whole bunch into an en- velope, along with a stamped envelope addressed to himself, and will send the package first to the paper that pays the highest price. That editor picks out the jokes that suit his fancy and mails the rest back to the writer, who sends out the survivors again and again in this way, until his stock is exhausted, or until he has come to the papers that pay as little as fifteen cents a joke. As there are at least twenty-five papers in New York that pay for original fun, the business is said to be quite profitable for accomplished and prolific joke builders. By experience the editor of a paper learns to know almost instinctively what his readers desire, and as failure to meet that demand would mean ruin for his paper, he is ever on the alert for news and literary features that will suit his purposes. That is why he is so patient in plowing through the mass of raw ma- terial which every mail casts upon his desk. That 136 THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT also is why the beginner has a hearing provided he does not condemn himself on his first page. One of the aims of the present volume is to warn beginners against blacksmith work that will cause the editor to cast aside their manuscripts after the first glance. An editor does not read every story that is submitted to him. It would be wasted time for him to do so. It is enough if he reads until he comes to something which shows that the story is useless for his purposes. He is as anxious to find what he needs as the con- tributor is to have his matter accepted. The trouble with novices is not so much lack of ideas as ignorance of the desired kind of ideas. Along with this handicap goes another: they have not given sufficient time or labor to acquiring the technic of the literary art, which is one of the most subtle and difficult of all the arts. This is a truth which the majority of young writers forget. It is conceded by all that a young person who has a talent for painting must study the art. It never is denied that a child with a gift for music must learn the tech- nic of the instrument on which he desires to play. It is acknowledged that an actor must learn something about the business of the stage before he can hope to go before the public. But it is fondly supposed that a person who has in his mind a pretty conceit for a story can sit down and write it to the satisfaction of newspaper and magazine editors without any previous training whatever. It so happens that all the men and women who have risen to distinction in the field of letters have served a long and laborious apprentice- ship before they have reached the ear of the public. The art of writing must be studied diligently, pain- fully, humbly. The use and abuse of words must be considered, not for a day, but for many years. The 137 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM thought and character of the writer himself must be broadened and deepened by experience of life. The formation of sentences must be the thought of one's waking hours. The acquirement of a pleasing style is the work of years. Style is the reflex of the mature mind, the embodiment of thought which no longer stumbles, but walks with sure feet, and makes for itself a broad and beautiful path of words. The beginner should bear in mind the magnitude of the task be- fore him, and cultivate the qualities of patience and humility. 138 IN THE ARTISTS' ROOM THE securing of a position in the art department of a newspaper is no easy task for the beginner. Al- most every artist now holding a lucrative place has vivid memories of a " starving period " through which he had to pass in making the transit from the realm of the student to that of the employee. A few begin as boys arid serve a long apprenticeship, learning the business gradually while acting as assistants in the department, but the majority must learn to draw be- fore they come on the paper. The head of the depart- ment does not wish to waste his time teaching pupils ; he wants men who can do the work at once. He is especially impatient of the young prodigy who comes in, shows some crude sketches, and accompanies his application for work with the proud assertion that he " never took a lesson in his life." The head artist is likely to advise such applicants rather abruptly to go and spend a few years in an art school before they come seeking pay for their services. The oldest artist on the staff feels that he still has many lessons to learn, and he is not likely to look kindly upon the young recruit who thinks he " knows it all " by in- stinct. " Natural-born artists " are as rare as white crows, and there is not one who will not be greatly improved by hard study under competent instructors. It is a current saying among men of this craft that the 139 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM average artist is " one-fifth born and four-fifths made by hard work." Without the original endowment no amount of work will make a good artist, but without wise and careful training even the initial endowment will not carry a man very far. There are scores of artists who have reached the limit of their powers and still are in obscure positions because they made the mistake of starting without a thorough training in the elements of drawing. By all means, get all the schooling you can ; it will be hard enough at best to get a situation, but if you have not learned to see accurately and to draw correctly the quest will be hopeless. On the other hand, the student who can draw well with the pencil can soon be " broken in " to use the various other media and methods necessary in a newspaper office. The gap between the art school and the news- paper art room, however, is so wide that it is usually necessary to find some intervening work that will bridge over the hungry chasm. The experience of no two artists is alike during this period, but for nearly all it is a time of precarious livelihood. The usual course is to seek stray jobs of illustration among the printing houses and elsewhere, perhaps earning five dollars one week, fifty the next, and nothing the next. A veteran head of a newspaper art department, who has employed scores of artists and turned away hun- dreds of incompetent applicants, suggests that the wisest plan for the beginner at this stage is to seek employment with an advertising agency as a solicitor of ads, and to use his sketching abilities as an aid in this work. Many an advertiser can be won over by the sight of a clever drawing embodying some idea he has suggested or some scheme proposed by the solicitor. This kind of work is excellent training for 140 IN THE ARTISTS' ROOM newspaper illustrating, and when a foothold has been obtained in a business house it is comparatively easy to take the remaining step and secure a good berth on the art staff of some enterprising newspaper. Another good plan is to get up special articles to sell to Sunday papers, with good pictures that have a news interest. If you do not feel able to write the story, go into partnership with an experienced news- paper man and let him do the writing while you do the illustrating. Illustrated articles of the right kind are in constant demand for the Sunday paper, and the editor is always glad to buy such stories if they be timely or interesting. The pictures are not so likely to be salable without the reading matter, nor is the story so likely to sell without the pictures. The artist who can both draw and write will not languish for work provided he also has the news instinct. The ability to see the news aspect of things is as important for an artist as for a reporter. You must know what to leave out as well as what to put in. One man may be able to make a beautiful drawing and yet be useless in the newspaper art room, while another may sketch the same thing in a few lines and be just the man for the place. The secret of success is to see the striking or piquant aspect of a thing and be able to draw it simply, swiftly, and in correct pro- portion. Accurate line-drawing is the foundation of the whole art. It is well for the student to keep in mind con- stantly the fact that he means to be a newspaper artist. To this end he should clip out and copy or study the very best newspaper pictures he can find the strong- est and simplest, for simplicity is the main thing and try to realize how they are made. Let him not suppose, however, that because he can make a good ii 141 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM copy of such a cut he is necessarily ready to take a position. It is easy enough to copy a simple picture, but it is quite a different matter to create one out of your own mind or out of a complex original. Keep newspaper illustrations constantly before you, and work like a tiger to become proficient in line-drawing. The man who follows this course can soon adapt himself to any newspaper after he once secures a position. Whether he is to devote himself to line- drawings, wash-drawings, cartoons, color work, or all by turns, must depend upon his own aptitudes and the orders of his chief. When a man has once adapted himself to such a position, he is comparatively secure in his place so long as he does conscientious work. The opportunities for serious errors and discharge are much fewer with the artist than with the reporter or editor. In spite of the change which, in the last few years, has substituted the half-tone reproduction of photo- graphs so largely for line-drawings, there is more and more work every day for the newspaper artist. Good positions are more numerous than competent men. There is not a fairly good artist in the country who is not receiving a liberal salary ; too often a paper has to be content with men of poor training or medi- ocre ability because it can not find enough first-class ones to do its work. Artists of marked talents are much scarcer than first-class reporters or editors. Out of seven hundred students in a given art institute not more than three or four artists will ever be heard of afterward. A majority of these pupils, of course, are women, who are not studying to become professional artists ; but the proportion of successes among the young men alone is small enough. You can count the great newspaper artists of the country on your 142 IN THE ARTISTS' ROOM fingers. It is worth while to work hard to reach the top, for the company is select and the reward lucrative. The beginner, even when he has learned to draw well enough to apply for a position, must expect to start with a salary of $10 or $12 a week. If he learns rapidly and makes himself valuable to the paper, his pay will probably be increased much more rapidly than it would be in a bank or store. The point where he will cease commanding a further raise will depend almost solely upon the extent of his pow- ers. Salaries run up to $75 or $100 a week on the larger papers, and sometimes reach $200 a week in exceptional cases. The average pay of newspaper artists, however, taking them as a class, is something between $35 and $50 a week. The average is con- siderably higher than that of reporters. Besides, there are many opportunities for making money on the out- side, by private commissions of all kinds that naturally fall in the way of the newspaper artist. His advance- ment in the office will depend upon his interest in his work and his loyalty to his paper, as well as upon his ability to draw good pictures. The best of artists, if he be lazy and inert, never suggesting new features or showing creative originality, can not rise very high. To become the head of the department requires ex- ecutive ability as well as great resourcefulness and willingness to assume responsibility. The highest rewards, both in money and in fame, are reserved for the successful cartoonist. The men who can draw good cartoons are very few, and the best ones can command the largest salaries in the business. The great cartoonist is born, not made. The work requires a rare combination of qualities over and above that of being able to draw well. It 143 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM demands creative power, a keen sense of humor, a broad knowledge and outlook, the ability to penetrate to the heart of a question or situation, and the faculty of stating the point pictorially as well as verbally. The picture must be created in the artist's brain with- out models or originals. It must be dramatic in its grouping and humorous or epigrammatic in its effect, and if it miss fire by a hairbreadth it is a failure. Nobody can be taught to be a cartoonist if the faculty be not born in him. It is impossible even for one cartoonist to succeed by copying the style of another. Each has his own style, as marked as his own indi- viduality, and each must work out his own methods. Professional cartoonists often receive suggestions from editors and others, and sometimes they can em- body these in effective pictures, but the most suc- cessful cartoon is the one that is worked out by the cartoonist himself through reading the paper and keeping in touch with its policy and with the trend of events. When some great and absorbing problem of the hour is suddenly crystallized as by inspiration in a single cartoon it is usually done in this way. From what has been said, it will be clear that the beginner is not likely to enter the realm of newspaper art by means of cartoons. Such things have hap- pened, of course, but the instances are so rare that they may safely be ignored. The best way is to work into the business by the more modest channels already suggested, and then if you have any genius as a car- toonist there will be opportunities to display it. The faculty of seeing the " news " aspect of things is ab- solutely essential, and this can scarcely be cultivated outside of a newspaper art room. Eight hours constitute the usual working day of the newspaper artist, but every man is expected to 144 IN THE ARTISTS' ROOM hold himself in readiness to work all day and all night in an emergency, if circumstances demand it. Employees in all departments of a newspaper must work until the day's task is done. The matter of hours depends pretty much upon the head of the establishment and upon the head of the department. As a rule, on the large city papers, some of the artists come on at nine o'clock in the morning and get away about six in the evening, while those of another shift come on at two in the afternoon and work until ten or eleven. The men who attend to the mechanical work of making cuts out of the artists' drawings are a guild of themselves, and it is not necessary that the artist- beginner should know anything about the processes used in making the various kinds of engravings. The etching department employs photographers, etchers, routers, finishers, etc. Each man does a certain kind of work and nothing else. The salaries run from $21 to $25, with $35 as the average pay for the head of the department. The process of etching pictures on zinc by means of photography and acid has revolu- tionized the whole domain of newspaper and maga- zine illustration. It is so much cheaper than the old method of engraving on wood by hand that it has entirely superseded the latter. Until quite recently nearly all newspaper pictures were line-drawings made by hand and etched on zinc. Now the line-drawings have almost disappeared, giving place to half-tone reproductions of photographs or of wash-drawings. The best half-tone illustrations are made from photo- graphs rather than from drawings of any kind done by hand. There is a brisk demand for good photog- raphers with a nose for news and a genius for getting good pictures of the right kind. The camera expert 145 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM must be a man intelligent in other ways " one that you can tell things to." For a photographer of this kind there is a bright outlook in the newspaper field. In spite of the great increase of photographic work in newspaper illustration, there is more work than ever for artists, because the use of pictures of all kinds has increased enormously, and even the proper retouching of photographs for reproduction requires a skilled hand. The preparation of the Sunday paper alone calls for a large corps of artists to make the imposing array of illustrations now considered neces- sary in that edition. The field is broad enough to give scope for all kinds of artistic originality as well as to afford employment to the more modest kinds of artistic ability. The profession is one of the few that are not yet overcrowded. Genuine success can not be obtained in it without decided native ability and thorough training under good instructors, but with this kind of equipment a young man has the means of a good and dependable livelihood at his command. If I had a friend who could draw and write equally well, I should advise him to choose the career of a newspaper artist rather than that of a re- porter or editor, because the competition is less and the pay is likely to be more. 146 XI WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK AMERICAN journalism offers good positions to a limited number of women of special ability in certain lines, but on the whole it is rather grudging of its favors to the gentler sex. A few years ago women had a brief period of flourishing in newspaper work, when it was the fad to have them write of impor- tant events from a feminine point of view. Feminine reporters were sent to describe the Presidential nomi- nating conventions, the Derby races, or the opening exercises of the World's Fair just as these things looked to them. Their articles were expected to be nothing more than bright gossip, full of the funny or pathetic or sentimental things that women see and men do not. So long as this fashion lasted in jour- nalism it afforded good opportunities to a few clever women, for they were paid by the same column rates as masculine special writers. They could do their best work, because they could put their own personal- ity into it. But this was only one of the innumerable and fleeting fads of journalism. When the novelty wore off, the feature was dropped, and most of the feminine reporters went with it. At present there are less than three hundred regu- larly employed newspaper women in the United States. These are women who have learned to know news when they hear it, and who can present it to the public in the most attractive form. They stand on PRACTICAL JOURNALISM exactly the same basis as the men, and the) hold theli positions simply because they can do their work fully as well as men could do it. There is no longer a gentle sex in journalism. There are perhaps five women writers on the average city daily. On the more conservative papers there are only two or three, reserved for such dainty uses as the reporting of women's club meetings and the writing of fashion and complexion advices. On the more sensational papers there are eight or ten women, scouring the town breathlessly to interview bankers and murderers, to report teas or trials, to see the latest strike leader or to ask the newest divorcee questions which she will decline to answer. They have charge of the woman's page, and perhaps of a section of the Sunday supplement. They are society editors, subject to the snubs of the vulgar rich and the importunities of people with a morbid craving to see their names in print. They expect no favors or leniency because they are women, and they work just as hard and do just as good work as men, yet the fact remains that there is no strong demand for more of them. The newspaper is distinctively a mas- culine institution, offering women, with a few excep- tions, only the frills and fringes of journalistic work. The woman who is a specialist on some subject has the best chance, yet even she is at a disadvantage because of the perpetual change of fads in the news- paper office. The specialist on birds or botany may be in eager demand for a season, but the next year the reigning fad may be something else, and then the natural history expert is dropped out. The only real staples of journalism are news, politics, and business. In none of these can women compete on even terms with men. The work of news-gathering, as a rule, 148 WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK is too rude and exacting for them. The Associated Press has no successful women in its army of news- agents. Local reporting work deals too exclusively with men and with the affairs of men to give women a fair chance in it. The opportunities for women to become experts in politics or in technical business lines are extremely meager. Their lack of such knowledge inevitably bars them out of places as copy readers, to say nothing of the executive positions. It is true that Kate Field in New York, and Margaret Sullivan in Chicago, have demonstrated that a woman can write as pungent and forceful editorials as men, but these are the exceptions that prove the rule. Acrobatic journalism, otherwise known as yellow journalism, employs more women and gives them better pay than the conservative newspapers, but it is a hard and unpleasant taskmaster. A young woman may earn from $50 to $100 a week for a while on one of the large sensational journals in New York, but she can do so only by going to all sorts of risky places and by doing things for which she often will feel inclined to despise herself. One who has tried it says : " The woman reporter often takes her life in one hand and her honor in the other when she goes off in pursuit of copy for the yellow journal." Judging from some of their assignments, this is not an over- statement of the case. One woman secures a story by having herself hoisted by a rope from the street to the top of the highest skyscraper building and then describing her sensations in print with illustra- tions. Another earns her money by making a balloon ascension. A third is sent to see a man hanged and describes " A Hanging as it Looks to a Woman." A fourth is commanded to walk up and down a certain street after night and see whether she is molested. 149 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM This glimpse of the work is enough to convince almost anybody that the money is dearly earned. It is said that four years of this kind of newspaper work in New York mean nervous prostration for the average woman. Women on the more conservative papers in New York earn from $20 to $35 a week. Some of them are special writers, producing articles for the Sunday supplement. A few are regular reporters, who " take their chances with the men." They may be sent to interview a wife-beater or to pry into the private affairs of neighbors. A talk with a shoplifter and a snub from a servant are incidents of the day's work. The woman reporter may be sent to an up-town broker to ask whether he runs a bucket-shop for women, or whether it be a fact that his daughter has eloped with a coachman, and to request him kindly to furnish a photograph to go with his denial. If she is sent to write up a coal-miners' strike she must see the kind of things her paper wants to print. If it is a capitalistic paper, she will be expected to see well-fed wives and children in snug cottages, and if there is any misery it must be ascribed to drink. If she belongs to a rampant " people's " paper, she will find a starving family in every block. Unless she produces the right kind of copy it will not be printed. She must not falsify, but she must see only one set of facts. Rarely can she express the whole truth or her own opinion. It is true that clearness of vision and intensity of purpose may be lost after a time in this kind of school, but that is a danger which besets the reporter of either sex. Reportorial work rubs the bloom off a woman much more quickly than school-teaching or employment in a business office. The paper takes all her time, all her strength, and WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK robs her of almost all social life and of many feminine characteristics. Edward W. Bok once wrote to fifty successful newspaper women, and also to fifty leading male editors, asking a candid opinion as to whether they would wish daughters of theirs to enter newspaper work. Forty-two women replied three in the affirm- ative and thirty-nine in the negative. Thirty men an- swered all in the negative. The almost unanimous testimony was that a girl can not live in the free-and- easy atmosphere of the local room or do the work required of a reporter without undergoing a decline in the innate qualities of womanliness or suffering in health. One editor gave these interesting statistics : " I am recalling eighteen really capable girls that I have employed during the last two years. Four got married and were glad to leave the work; six broke down in health and were not allowed to return to the work ; two are now in a sanatorium ; two got to be so ' swagger ' that they could not fitly represent a paper of our standing, and the four others are with us now. There is a story of fourteen out of eighteen all nice, capable girls." One experienced newspaper woman has figured out that she works ten hours a day, six days in the week, and fifty weeks in the year. This makes three thousand hours a year, which at $30 a week is 50 cents an hour. A school-teacher employed from nine to two o'clock, five days in the week, and thirty- six weeks in the year, works^nine hundred hours. If she gets $1,000 she spends her time twice as profitably as the journalist who gets $1,500. Yet these facts will not and should not deter a woman from entering journalism if she prefers it and is better fitted for it than for school-teaching or anything else. Only those " PRACTICAL JOURNALISM who have a " divine call " for any profession, in this practical sense, should take it up. There are women who are fitted by nature for journalism just as there are men of the same kind. Jennie June's (Mrs. Croly's) career of forty-five years in newspaper work is an inspiring example. The ex- periences of Marian Harland and Ella Wheeler Wil- cox are good proof of what a woman can achieve in this line by following the bent of her own genius. Though these women made their reputations by wri- ting of fashions, cooking, and affairs of the heart, they did it so well that they secured opportunities for deal- ing with less distinctively feminine subjects. Even Nellie Ely's more sensational fame, secured by such feats as going to the bottom of New York harbor in a diver's suit and circling the globe alone in sev- enty-odd days, is more to be desired than a reputation for empty social frivolity or for morbid introspection. Of a different and more inspiring nature is the repu- tation won by Elizabeth G. Jordan, editor of Har- per's Bazar, who was for many years on the staff of the New York World; or that of Mrs. Emily Craw- ford, the Paris correspondent of the London Daily News, whose intellectual grasp and brilliancy of de- scriptive power made her for years a worthy rival of the unique De Blowitz. Other names of successful newspaper women might be cited in every city of importance, but enough has been said to show that the profession offers de- sirable positions to women specially fitted for the work. Enough also has been said, however, to show that no woman can succeed in regular newspaper work unless she love the pen better than anything else and be willing to devote all her time, energy, and ability to it. Whether the sacrifice in doing so will WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK not be greater than the gain is a question which every woman of journalistic ambitions must decide for herself. The woman who secures a place on a newspaper staff must accept conditions and men as she finds them. The nearer she can come to being " one of the boys " without laying aside any of her womanliness, the greater will be her chance of success. She will make a fatal mistake if she stands on her dignity and expects the whole force to remember that there is " a lady in the room." Her surroundings will not always be agreeable, yet in all essentials she will be treated with the respect to which her character may entitle her. How shall a woman go about getting a place on a newspaper? The best short answer is this: Write something that the editor wants, and get it into his hands before anybody else has covered the subject. Keep on doing this, making what money you can on " space," until you have convinced the editor of your superior ability to do certain kinds of work. Then when the opening comes you will have a fair chance to fill it. This is the broad but thorny road of the " special article." It is a road that anybody can try without leaving home and without risking any great stake in case of failure. Probably as many women have made places for themselves in metropolitan journalism by this method as by any other. For the woman who is determined to get a place on a city paper there is only one means that surpasses the " special," and that is to secure a place on a local paper in a smaller town and work thence into a larger field. Usually it is comparatively easy, by making one's self useful free of charge, to get a permanent place on a village or town paper, with at least a little 153 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM pay for one's services. A little faithful work in gath- ering personal items, news notes, and anecdotes, and handing them to the editor in good season each week, ultimately will secure one a place as a regular re- porter, and from there one may be able to work into a position as book-reviewer or subeditor in some other line. Then one's income may be eked out by wri- ting specials and mailing them to large city papers, thus attacking the enemy from two directions. All the large metropolitan dailies must have local correspondents in the various towns, and, as explained more fully elsewhere, they almost invariably write to a local paper and ask the editor to recommend some one. This work of news-gathering is not so well adapted to women as to men, because it requires the reporter to rush off to all kinds of places at all hours of the day or night ; but many women are acting as local correspondents quite satisfactorily in places where the news is gathered by the local paper and needs only to be condensed from the proofs. This materially lightens the labor of such a position. When a woman thus becomes local correspondent for a large city daily she has a chance to distinguish herself by good work and in time to secure a position of some kind on the staff of the paper in question. Besides the two main traveled roads that have been mentioned there are almost as many other ave- nues of entrance as there are positions on a news- paper. I know a young woman in Chicago who never had written a line for pay until she found her- self suddenly invited to become a writer of editorials for one of the leading and most punctilious dailies in the city. The editor had been attracted by the pecul- iar felicity of ideas and phrasing shown in a brief communication contributed by her to the People's 154 WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK Column. Another woman worked her way into a position on the same paper by serving several years as the editor's shorthand amanuensis. A few women have secured places as book-reviewers without any previous journalistic training, though usually they are women with a thorough literary education. Not infre- quently there are openings where the regular literary editor needs the help of persons who are willing to review books with no other pay than the books reviewed. Faithful work in such a place may lead in time to a position on the staff. A woman with genuine literary talents really has a better chance as a beginner if she devotes herself to writing verses, stories, and humorous or pathetic sketches for the magazines and Sunday papers than if she attempts to get a place in straight news-gather- ing. Such work requires more talent than reporting, but it is work in which a woman has exactly an even chance with men. The average woman is better fitted for writing fiction than fact. She has a better chance where success depends upon artistic taste and a play of fancy than where it depends on physical exertion and on knowledge that can be gained only by " leg power." As novelists women are now commanding as large a share of success as men. Feminine writers also are specially fitted to weave entertaining tales for children. The juvenile departments maintained in some papers are ideal fields for the cultivation of fem- inine talents. Miss Ida M. Tarbell, associate editor of McClure's Magazine, denies that reporting has any great value in fitting a woman for editorial work. She believes that the sensational writing usually required of news- paper women nowadays damages their literary style, while contact with the seamy side of life destroys 155 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM their faith in humanity and robs them of tender- ness and depth of feeling. " The very best prepara- tion," she says, " has always seemed to me to be free- lance work for magazines and weekly periodicals. The independent writer who studies the needs of many editors and markets her literary offerings in various publications is the one who develops the edi- torial instinct in herself." The point I wish to make is that the borderland of literature is less hostile to women than the fron- tiers of journalism. There is no macadamized road to success in either region, but the literary way is beset with fewer rocks and precipices for the feminine traveler. Moreover, success as a writer of stories, sketches, or poems means comparatively easy access to journalism afterward if desired. Mary Mapes Dodge, Marian Harland, Elia W. Peattie, Mrs. Rayne, and a score of others might be named as examples of success along this road. Probably more women have entered journalism through literature than have en- tered literature through journalism. They have to work for years to make names for themselves, even after their matter begins to be accepted, but they are not subjected to the unsexing process through which the woman reporter must go, and if they succeed they have the credit for it over their own names, while the newspaper reporter of either sex remains anony- mous to the last. The method of approach indicated in the foregoing paragraphs is the one that I should recommend to all feminine writers. It is the one most likely to open up a way to the particular field for which the candi- date may be best suited, while if she finds that she has misjudged her powers she will have suffered no harm. 156 WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK Should a woman give up her position as a school- teacher, for instance, in order to carry out her desire to be a writer? Certainly not until she has secured good evidence that she can support herself with the pen. Why any woman who can get $800 a year for teaching should wish to take up the harder work of newspaper reporting is difficult to understand. It is easier to see why a woman with literary talents should wish to write for magazines or other periodicals over her own name. In any case the right thing for her to do is to try her powers without letting go her hold on her existing source of income. Most writers discover to their sorrow, especially during their first years, that literature is an excellent cane but a poor crutch that it will serve for earning pin-money but can not be depended upon for a liveli- hood. For men and women without money one of the hardest problems is how to get through these lean years of apprenticeship. A school-teacher has a chance such as few others have. She can try her powers by writing during her leisure time without giving up a sure income for a very uncertain one. After she has found an editor or publisher who will take all the articles she can write, it will be time enough to think about resigning the teacher's desk for the writer's. James Lane Allen, the Kentucky novelist, is an example of the right kind for teachers. He worked patiently for years, writing stories during his vacations and leisure moments, before he reached a place where he could safely give up his college pro- fessorship. Strange as it may seem, many other professions are better stepping-stones to literary success than is journalism. Newspaper writing must be done so rap- idly, and must be so severely free of literary adorn- 12 157 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM ment, that the training which fits one for success in journalism largely unfits one for literature. More than this, the hours of work for the reporter are so long and the work is so exacting that his mind is unfitted for further work with the pen after his regu- lar day's work is done. A bank clerk like Lamb may turn to literary composition as a diversion where a newspaper man would find it drudgery. This fact makes it somewhat hard to get into literature after once getting into journalism. The two kinds of work are jealous of each other, and the reporter who dallies with ambitions as a fiction writer has as many tribu- lations as if he were engaged to two girls at the same time. Young women with literary aspirations are on the wrdng track when they seek places as re- porters. Many women have an exalted idea of the good they might do as reformers if they were on a news- paper staff. The idea is natural, but none the less erroneous. A position as an employee on a large metropolitan newspaper is one of the last places in the world where a man or woman is likely to be able to do any aggressive work on behalf of any special creed or reform. The success, if not the existence, of such a paper depends upon its power to please as many people as possible and to displease as few as possible. To champion any unpopular reform would be suicide. When a woman holds a place on such a paper it is because she conforms with its established policy and does not attempt to sermonize or set forth her own ideas on mooted topics except where they happen to coincide with those of the editor. The object of the modern newspaper is to attract the worldly penny. It does not concern itself much with mending people's morals. The wise newspaper publisher is not likely to 158 WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK lend his columns for such a purpose. The woman who wishes to reform the world with her pen must pay her own printing bills. A New York newspaper woman who has summed up the main points in the career of the feminine jour- nalist, puts the facts in such spirited style that her advice deserves to be repeated in her own words : We will suppose that you possess the necessary quali- fications. The next thing is to get an opportunity to do some work, and the getting of this opportunity probably will prove the bitterest and hardest task in all your jour- nalistic career. It is not an easy matter to obtain admission to an editor's office. In most cases you will be asked to set forth your designs and desires in writing before you are allowed to set foot in the elevator. And these desires will be enough to exclude you. Editors are busy folks and have no time to waste on unknown applicants like you. Perhaps, however, you have a letter of introduction to some one in authority. This is valuable in that it gives you a hearing. It usually has no further merit whatever, as you may find out to your disappointment some day. Let us suppose that you gain admission by some wile or other (nearly all wiles are justifiable in newspaper work, as you will soon learn). You will be asked what you have already done, and you will feel very small, indeed, when you answer that you have never done any- thing. Next you will be asked if you have any^ stories to submit or any ideas to suggest. You will learn with no small degree of astonishment that ideas which seemed very large and imposing at home diminish alarmingly when spoken of in the presence of the editor. All this and much more you will learn, and you will go home rather low in your mind. It may happen that the articles which you have submitted for consideration are returned to you. It is apt to happen. But again it may happen that something is accepted, and that in time you become a 159 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM space writer on the paper. Space writing is not very remunerative for women, but beginners must not expect to be salaried right away. And now, having fairly gotten into the business, you will have many things to learn, and your only teacher will be yourself, for most newspaper people are never taught anything. They " catch on " to things somehow, or get them knocked into their heads by bitter experience. Every paper has a certain style of writing, which you will be expected to follow. Every paper has a certain policy, political and otherwise, to which you will have to conform. To be sure, you may not always agree with them, but your personal opinions matter little. Punctuality and reliability are qualities which you will do well to cultivate. They will recommend you to your editor quite ^s effectually in the long run as mere bril- liancy. There is one woman in New York who has been in newspaper work over fifteen years. It is her proudest boast that she never failed an editor or kept one waiting in all that time. You must have determination. It is not enough to attempt a thing. You must learn to stick to it until it is accomplished ; if not in the way you originally intended, then in some other way. You must be resourceful, inge- nious, a whole committee of ways and means in yourself. You must be patient. It is not a pleasant thing to wait an hour or two for an interview with a popular danseuse, or for the last sweet thing from the London variety, halls, but you may have to, not once, but often. Interviewing is one of the hardest branches of the busi- ness. You are absolutely dependent upon the caprice of some other person, and even after that person has con- sented to receive you, you can not be certain of obtaining what you want. All these people can be managed if only you know how to go about it. And you will do well to learn, or your editor will be wary about assigning you that work or any other. You must be tireless. No matter if you have worked all day; you must be willing to work all night, too, if 160 WOMEN IN NEWSPAPER WORK your services are needed. Editors are very shy of report- ers who beg off on account of being tired. And you must be unselfish. Good newspaper assign- ments usually come when they are not wanted. It is always the night that you have elected to go to the thea- ter that a blue-coated boy runs up your front steps with a message summoning you to the office immediately. And the afternoon that you have expected to pass on the cool veranda of some woman friend's country house may find you sitting in the squalid, stifling kitchen of a tene- ment house, listening to some other woman's story. And there are other hard things which it may be your lot to bear. I know a woman who sat by the bedside of her dying sister one night the little sister who was all she had left of kin on earth and choked back the tears she dared not shed because there was other work for her eyes that night ; who closed that sister's eyes and prepared her little white form for the coffin, and then, just as the gray dawn was creeping up over the city roofs, sat down to finish an article which must be in type that day. Newspaper work is no play. It has its compensations, but only those who deserve receive them. And if one is lot afraid of the trials of the work, is patient and faith- ful and tireless and everything else commendable, and yet las not a subtle quality about her writing a suggestive- icss, a dash, a certain something that makes it go she never be a success as a newspaper woman, and she lad much better try almost anything else. Before a woman can do much in journalism or in inything else she must rid herself of what William T. Stead calls the dishonoring conception of her work as woman's work. She must not think that because she is a woman chivalry demands that her work be judged more leniently than if she were only a man. An editor wants matter that will make people read his paper, and he cares nothing about the sex of the per- sons who can furnish what he seeks. If a woman 161 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM cherishes the notion that she ought not to be asked to do this or that disagreeable bit of work, she never can find permanent employment on even terms with men. Women who cling to the comfortable notion that they ought not to be scolded when they do wrong, or that a lady ought not to go about the streets alone after nine o'clock at night, belong at home in their parlors rather than in the local room of a metropolitan daily. Ideals of feminine propriety have changed a good deal in the last century, as have also the guarantees of personal safety in cities at all times of the night or day. Probably it is true, as Mr. Stead says, that a girl who has proper self-respect can go about her business in English-speaking countries at all hours without serious risk either to safety or to reputation. But the fact remains that the feminine reporter who attempts to do general assignments must suffer an- noyances that never trouble the masculine reporter. The sum of the matter is, that a woman usually must possess the journalistic talent to a more marked degree than a man in order to secure a position on a newspaper, because there are special disabilities and prejudices that stand in her way. Yet in the few departments that appeal directly to feminine readers, such as the fashions and household matters, the soci- ety column, the page for children, and perhaps the book reviews, the opportunities for women are multi- plying from year to year. In the domain of light literature lies the best opportunity of all for women with the right kind of ability. The massive Sunday supplement is a distinct gain for feminine writers, especially when they are experts with the camera as well as with the pen. The great trouble with young women, as with 162 WOMkN IN NEWSPAPER WORK yoimg men, is that they forget that journalism is a profession requiring years of training, trial, and fail- ure before it is learned. They expect to have their first manuscript accepted, though they never would expect a merchant to accept and put on sale the first gown or shirt-waist they ever made, or the first hat they trimmed. Patient and long-continued practise in private or upon a small paper is the only reliable passport to success in the larger field of metropolitan journalism. XII A CHAPTER ON ERRORS NEARLY all the errors that the newspaper man is liable to make may be classified under the following comprehensive heads : Incorrect spelling, punctua- tion, or grammar; illegible or carelessly prepared copy; mixed metaphors and loose arrangement of phrases ; wrong or redundant words ; misstatement of fact, and wrong treatment of subject. It requires a liberal education and years of practise to avoid the myriad possibilities of error thus indicated, and even the most careful purist will sometimes be caught napping. Almost every writer has a choice selection of pet mistakes that he perpetrates habitually and un- consciously. This is one reason why the matter in a newspaper office is almost always improved in accu- racy and elegance by passing through a copy reader's hands, even though the desk man be no better edu- cated than the author of the manuscript. English spelling is arbitrary and complicated, but the writer who has failed to learn to spell with rea- sonable correctness starts in with a tremendous handi- cap. Certain public schools in which spelling is now slurred over in pursuance of the so-called " word method " of reading are doing an irreparable wrong to their pupils. An ill-spelled manuscript, when sub- mitted to an editor for publication, is almost certain to be rejected without being read through. It is true 164 A CHAPTER ON ERRORS that the printer could usually spell all the words cor- rectly when putting the matter into type, but the trouble lies deeper. An editor almost inevitably judges a new writer's whole mental equipment partly by his spelling. " Show me a careless speller," he says, " and I will show you a careless and inaccurate thinker. The man or woman who never notices how a new word is spelled is not a sufficiently close observer to make a reliable reporter." To some extent the same thing is true of a badly punctuated manuscript. The popular impression that a manuscript is good enough if it be punctuated with periods and dashes is especially exasperating to the editor, for it falls to his lot to go painfully through all " copy " and see that every comma, semicolon, colon, period, dash, apostrophe, and quotation mark is clearly marked in its proper place. He may be willing to incur this extra labor upon the manuscripts of widely known or talented writers, but in choosing from a pile of " unknowns " he is pretty sure to give first preference to an article that is properly punc- tuated. In the eyes of the printer, bad punctuation is even worse than bad spelling, because he usually can guess what is meant by a misspelled word ; but how can he tell what thought the writer had in mind when the proper dividing marks are missing? Take, for in- stance, that trite subject for an after-dinner speech: ' Woman without her man would be a savage." Those words may be profoundly true whether there be a dash after the first word or not, but the punctua- tion certainly has a vital bearing upon the thought expressed. For any one who expects to do success- ful newspaper work there is no alternative; he must learn to spell and punctuate accurately. PRACTICAL JOURNALISM In the first ages of printing there were only three marks of punctuation: the comma, frequently made as an upright stroke ; the colon, and the period. Later the semicolon, exclamation, and interrogation marks were added. Quotation marks, the bane of the com- positor and the most frequent cause of typographical errors, are a recent invention. Dashes, parentheses, and brackets existed before type, but came into print- ing long after it was an established art. Custom has determined the chief use of each mark. The comma indicates the smallest subdivisions of a sentence ; it also marks the point where an explanatory clause is begun or ended. The semicolon marks the separation of two incomplete or interdependent sen- tences. The colon stands where the preceding sen- tence or part of a sentence ends with expectancy that is to be satisfied with what immediately follows. The period or full-point indicates that the sentence is end- ed. The parentheses indicate that one clause or sen- tence (usually explanatory) is within another sentence. Brackets [thus] show that what is enclosed is inter- polated, usually by some person other than the writer of the original discourse, and the dash indicates that one idea is suddenly broken into by another idea. The exclamation and interrogation marks explain themselves. There is a considerable variation of usage, and books usually are punctuated more closely than news- papers. The tendency is to use fewer commas than formerly, but even the practised hand is liable to be puzzled sometimes as to the proper placing of those that are used. The perplexing problem of where to use the comma will be more than half solved when once the writer grasps the fact that commas usually go in pairs, though the intervention of the period often 166 A CHAPTER ON ERRORS obscures the fact, and that parentheses could be sub- stituted for them, as was done in the preceding para- graph. In the sixteenth century the parenthesis was often used in place of the comma ; custom has merely shortened the mark and broadened its scope of use- fulness. A pair of dashes is often substituted now for the original parentheses. The purely parenthet- ical expression, however, in this or any other form, should be used sparingly, if at all, in journalistic wri- ting. Editors and newspaper readers have an aver- sion to long parentheses. They would rather have two distinct sentences. It would be well for the be- ginner to humor them. For the employment of the much-abused quota- tion marks the author some years ago formulated the following rule, which is as simple as he knows how to make it, though he confesses that a mere reading of it has not always sufficed to produce perfection in practise : " Use the ordinary double marks to enclose the alternating speeches in a dialogue ; also all utterances repeated in the exact language of the original speak- er. Where a quotation occurs within a quotation, use the ' single ' marks to designate it. If you should ever have still a third quotation ' inside of these " single " marks,' use double ones again. Where the same speaker continues through more than one paragraph, omit the quotation marks at the end of all paragraphs except the last, but repeat them at the beginning of every paragraph. Be sure not to forget to mark the close of the quotation; this fre- quent lapse of the literary slattern is extremely annoy- ing to the printer and proof-reader." It is scarcely necessary to touch upon the impor- tance of a thorough knowledge of the rules of gram- PRACTICAL JOURNALISM mar. To undertake the profession of writing without knowing grammar is like trying to practise a trade without knowing the tools that belong to it. Even the best-educated writer is liable sometimes to be puzzled or to make an occasional error through carelessness. But there are certain flagrant and oft-repeated errors made most frequently by the incompetent who prides himself upon his ability to " throw off " his copy at a high rate of speed which will bar the way to success. One of the errors that render life a burden to the copy reader is the reporter's and country correspond- ent's careless use of pronouns referring to collective nouns. Words like mob, army, orchestra, society, family, can be used with either a singular or a plural verb, and mjist have singular or plural pronouns re- ferring to them accordingly. It is exasperating to the copy reader when a reporter writes : " The society has decided to hold a special meeting, and they will assemble," and so on through a long sentence or paragraph. And if the error should happen to slip through the copy reader's hands it will make trouble for the proof-reader and printer as well. Use the pronoun in the singular if the idea of unity is to be conveyed, and in the plural if the idea of plurality is to be conveyed. Thus, " The mob comes on in one compact body and hurls itself against the gates " ; or, " The mob now scatter in every direction and yell as they move off." Don't mix the two styles in the same sentence not even in the same paragraph. Careless use of personal pronouns is equally inex- cusable. Never use a pronoun without considering to what noun it will relate when the whole sentence is read. It is always better to repeat a name than to use a pronoun that will leave any doubt about its antecedent. 168 A CHAPTER ON ERRORS If you have not mastered the mystery of " shall " and " will " it is time you did so. Remember that " I shall, you will, he will," are the forms of simple futurity and merely foretell what is expected to take place. " I will, you shall, he shall," express deter- mination on the part of the speaker; they indicate that he means to see this thing done or know the reason why. Also avoid the split infinitive. Don't say, " to earnestly try," or " to strenuously resist," and so forth, when you mean " to try earnestly," or " strenuously to resist." The adverb should stand as near as possible to the term which it limits, but this does not mean that you should split the part of speech and insert the modifying word between the mangled fragments. The average man on the street and some Presidents of the United States use the split infinitive, but no accepted master of elegant English ever does it. These and a hundred similar points can be learned by studying the style of writers like George William Curtis, William Dean Howells, and Andrew Lang. Their style is literary and not journalistic, because they have written books and not newspapers, but their English is pure and their grammar accurate. There is no reason why newspaper English should not be as pure and accurate as that used in books. Errors of arrangement, mixed metaphors, and all the kindred tortures inflicted upon a long-suffering language are usually the result of carelessness rather than of ignorance. There is no excuse for the man who writes, " Fourteen persons have been injured fatally, by the official report of the World's Fair au- thorities," or " He blew out his brains after bidding his wife good-by with a gun." Metaphors are among the most useful servants of the writer so long as he treats them with Christian consideration. He ceases 169 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM to do this when he mixes them. Take your metaphors straight, or abstain from their use entirely. Don't refer to your rival's scurrilous attack as a mere flea- bite in the ocean. Never confess that you have seen the footprints of an Almighty hand beaming athwart the diapason of eternity. Forbear to electrify your audience, as a Berlin revolutionist did, by declaring that the chariot of anarchy is rolling onward and gnashing its teeth as it rolls. If you will insist on writing, as a Boston editor did, about being blinded by the noise of brass bands, you must not expect that the fragrance of your memory will go thundering down the dim vistas of the years, for it won't. A needlessly long word is almost as bad as an absolutely wrong word. Redundant words are ob- stacles between the reader and the idea to be con- veyed. Any word that can be dropped out without altering or obscuring the sense is an error. Next to the ability to see, and to tell what you have seen, the power to condense is the most valuable qualifica- tion for journalism. The best writer is he who can convey the largest number of ideas in the smallest number of syllables. Misstatement of fact, of course, is worse than any of these verbal errors. This is the bane of the news- paper. The constant recurrence of errors of fact shakes the confidence of the reader in everything printed in the paper, injuring it in exact proportion to the persistence with which they occur. The primary object of the public in reading a newspaper is to learn the facts about the happenings of the day. Habitual misrepresentation and inaccuracy will kill any paper. Yet even the best newspapers contain some errors of fact. Misstatements in some cases are made deliber- ately for sensational purposes, being interpolated into 170 A CHAPTER ON ERRORS the reporter's manuscript after it is in the copy read- er's hands. In other cases they are wilful " fakes " concocted by the reporter and published by the editor in good faith a thing not likely to be done a second time by the same reporter if he is detected. But the vast majority of the errors of fact that creep into the daily press are entirely unintentional. Nine-tenths of them are the fault of the persons giving the infor- mation. The best way to avoid errors of this kind is to get your story from two or three different sources and draw a mean from their extremes. Wrong treatment of subjects is primarily a matter that concerns managing editors and owners of news- papers. Every paper has its own policy and style of serving the news, and the reporter must learn to cast his stories into the particular mold adopted by the journal on which he works. The only way in which to learn this is to read the paper carefully every day, including the editorial page. The right use of words should be a matter of life- long study. No man can ever learn all there is to know about all the words of the magnificent instrument of expression called the English language, but any student can in time acquire a pure and beautiful diction. The best guide to such a style is a sensitive literary conscience, acquired by reading only the best writers and absorbing their vocabulary. This should be sup- plemented with a habitual study of the root meanings of words. Anybody who has studied enough French to know that " nee " means " born " is not likely to speak of " Mrs. Smith, nee Sarah Jones." However precocious Mrs. Smith may have been, she was born a Jones and not Sarah Jones. Anybody who has made an intelligent study of grammar should not write " try and do " when he means " try to do." An 171 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM attempt to parse the words will cure the habit. " But what" in place of " but," or "he don't" for "he doesn't," or " suicided " for " committed suicide," are solecisms which no self-respecting writer of average intelligence is likely to commit. Yet even the best writers have pet failings of their own. Thus, Mr. Kipling and other noted authors constantly use " as though " when they mean " as if." The full meaning of the phrase is, " as it would be if." To say, " he talks as though he were angry," is the same as saying " he talks as he would talk though he were angry," which is manifestly not what the writer means to say. Another favorite error of the learned is the omission of the word " other " in sen- tences like 'this : " No writer ever ' made ' a man as Ruskin did Turner." This sentence is taken from a recent critical volume by William C. Brownell, one of the best of American critics, and he makes the same mistake repeatedly. Typographical errors, like the poor, are always with us. They are a matter which the proof-reader and the compositor must settle with their own con- sciences and employers. The best the writer can do toward keeping these annoying blunders out of his matter is to write legibly. The typewriter has re- duced certain classes of errors at least seventy-five per cent. The errors that most do flourish in the reporter's room of the modern newspaper consist in the slight misuse of words not marked enough to attain the charm of Mrs. Partington's literary style, yet not cor- rect enough to be good English. Many of these cor- ruptions grow out of the habitual use of slang in private conversation, which dulls the ear and drugs the literary conscience. I have little sympathy with 172 A CHAPTER ON ERRORS the purists who would reduce English to a dead lan- guage by forbidding all change or growth. Even slang has its uses and has contributed valuable words and terse expressions now incorporated in the lan- guage to its lasting benefit. But the fact remains that a habitual carelessness in the choice of words ruins the writer's style and ultimately extinguishes his hope of advancement. No man has used purer English in newspaper work than William Cullen Bryant did in his day. When he was editor of the New York Eve- ning Post he absolutely forbade the use of a long list of words which he disliked I had almost said " ta- booed," but that was one of his interdicted words. A few of the items on his famous Index Expurgato- rius now seem needlessly finical, and some have be- come accepted parts of the language. For instance, he forbade the use of the words collided, donate, and talented ; also " is being done," and all passives of this form. In spite of the strenuous efforts of men like Mr. Bryant and Richard Grant White to discourage this convenient passive form, it is now in general use, and the language is the better for it. But in the great majority of cases Mr. Bryant's catalogue of interdicted terms is still as useful as it was in his day. Here is the list, shorn of a few whimsicalities like those just quoted : DO NOT USE Above or over for "more Beat for "defeat." than." Casket for " coffin." Artiste for " artist." Claimed for " asserted." Authoress. Commence for "begin." Bagging for "capturing." Cortege for "procession." Balance for " remainder." Cotemporary for " contem- Banquet for " dinner " or porary." " supper." Couple for " two." 13 173 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM " negro." yesterday for before yester- Darky for Day before "the day day." Decease as a verb. Democracy applied to a po- litical party. Develop for " exposed." Devouring element for " fire." Endorse for " approve." En route. " Esq." Gents for " gentlemen." Graduate for " is gradu- ated." " Hon." House for " House of Rep- resentatives." Inaugurate for " begin." In our midst. Jeopardize for " jeopard." Juvenile for "boy." Lady for " wife." Lengthy for "long." Leniency for "lenity." Loafer. Loan or loaned for " lend " or " lent." Majority, relating to places or circumstances, for " most." Mrs. President, Mrs. Gov- ernor, Mrs. General, and all similar titles. Mutual for " common." Official for " officer." On yesterday. Ovation. good," Pants for " pantaloons." Partially for "partly." Parties for " persons." Past two weeks for " last two weeks," and all simi- lar expressions relating to a definite time. Poetess. Portion for "part." Posted for "informed." Progress (verb) for " ad- vance." Quite, prefixed to "large," etc. Realized for "obtained." Reliable for " trustworthy." Repudiate for "reject" or " disown." Retire as an active verb. Rev. for " the Rev." Role for " part." Sensation for " noteworthy event." Standpoint for " point view." State for " say." Talent for " talents " " ability." Tapis. The deceased. Transpire for Vicinity for hood." Wall Street slang generally bulls, bears, long, short, corner, tight, moribund, comatose, etc. Wharves for "wharfs." Would seem for 174 of or " occur." " neighbor- " seems." A CHAPTER ON ERRORS Mr. Bryant's noted list of forbidden expressions has had a wide-spread influence in shaping the style of the leading newspapers of America. Nearly all of these now have still more extensive sheets of printed instructions which are placed in the hands of every, reporter and copy reader. Some of these " style papers " set forth the pet aversions of hypercritical purists, but in general they are exercising a salutary influence upon American newspaper English. For example, here are some of the sensible additions that the New York Press has made to the pioneer " in- dex " already cited : DON'T MISUSE Ability for " capacity." Allude for " refer." Amateur for " novice." Anticipate for " expect." Apt for " likely." Audience for " spectators." Balance for " remainder " or " rest." Bountiful for "plentiful." But for " only." When in doubt, use " only." Caption for " heading." Captivate for " charm." Conclude for "close." To conclude is a mental process. Consummate, referring to marriage. Look for the word in the diction- ary. Convened. The delegates, not the convention, con- vened. Crime, a statutory wrong; sin, a violation of creed; vice, a moral wrong. Depot for " passenger sta- tion," or station for " freight depot." Dock for " pier " or " wharf." Don't for " doesn't." During for "in." "Dur- ing the night " means throughout the night. Every for " all." Event for " incident," " af- fair," " occurrence," or " happening." Exemplary for " excellent." Exposition for " exhibit." Groom for " bridegroom." Inaugurate for " begin." Initial for " first." Jewelry for " jewels." Learn for "teach." 175 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Leave for "let." Leave, as a verb, unless refer- ring to things that leave, must have an object. Loan, as a verb, for " lend." Lurid for "brilliant." Lu- rid means pale, gloomy, or ghastly. Marry. Don't " marry " a man; the woman is mar- ried to the man, and the clergyman or magistrate marries both. Murderous for " deadly " or "dangerous." Notable for "noteworthy." Observe (to heed) for " say." Patrons for " customers." People for "persons." Render. You sing a song, but render lard or a judg- ment. Retire for "go to bed." Remains for " corpse " or " body." Spell for "period." Stopped for " stayed." One stays in a hotel. Tender for " give." Ten- der a payment; give a reception. Transpire for " occur." Unwell for " ill." Ventilate for "expose" or " explain." DON'T USE Accord for "give." Aggravate for " irritate." Approve of for " approve." Cablegram for " cable mes- sage " or " despatch." Canine for " dog." Claim as an intransitive verb. You can claim your hat, but you can not claim that your hat was stolen. Derail. Divine as a noun. Locate, unless you locate a railroad, a canal, a claim, or the like. Magnate. Matter, oftener than once a week. Mrs. General, or Mrs. Doc- tor, unless the woman is a general or a doctor. Obsequies. Slang, stock expressions, or cheap phrases. This covers a multitude of sins. The deceased, the unfortu- nate, the accused, and the like. Very, oftener than once a week. Via, per diem, and the like; say, "by way of," "a day," and " a week." Vicinity without " its." "Its vicinity." I 7 6 A CHAPTER ON ERRORS DON'T Don't begin a story with " Yesterday," " Last night," and the like. Don't begin a story with "The," "A," or "An," oftener than once a week. Don't "put in an appearance" or "make an appear- ance"; just appear. Don't say " a dinner occurred " and " an explosion took place." Things occur by chance or accident; they take place by arrangement. Don't separate the parts of infinitives, or needlessly separate the parts of verbs ; say " to begin again," not " to again begin " ; say " probably will be," not " will prob- ably be." Don't say "he was given a dinner," when the dinner was given for him or in his honor. Don't use " Mr." before a full name, but do say " Mr. and Mrs. John Smith," " Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith." Don't make titles. Use " Smith, a car conductor," not " Car Conductor Smith." Don't give " ovations " to anybody. Don't stab anybody " in the fracas." Don't " administer " blows or punishment. Don't use " he graduated." Say " he was graduated." If you are a copy reader and have a particularly illegi- ble piece of copy, don't pass it over and send it down stairs in the hope that perhaps the " intelligent compos- itor " may be able to read it. One more list of instructions of this kind will be enough at this juncture, not because it will complete the catalogue of possible errors, but because it is well not to take this kind of medicine in too large doses. When a writer is beset with too many limitations and is compelled to watch his words too closely he loses the freedom of thought needed for spirited writing. The correct forms should be studied at leisure and 177 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM should gradually become a part of one's natural vocabulary. The best way is to read these lists over frequently and thoughtfully, impressing a few new points on the mind each time. There are extremely few writers, even among the most polished, who will not find some of these " don'ts " beneficial. The Chi- cago Tribune places in the hands of its reporters a sheet of instructions containing, among other things, the following pointed paragraphs : In giving dates abbreviate name of month when fol- lowed by the day of the month. Do not say " the 25th of December," but Dec. 25. In referring to a minister use " the Rev. Mr. So-and- So," not " Rev. So-and-So." In giving ages of persons or dimensions of buildings, etc., use figures; in giving sums of money use figures for all amounts over nine cents; in other cases spell out all under 100. Do not write a number in figures and then " ring " it unless you are sure you are right. It is easier for the copy reader to " ring " a number to " spell out " than it is to cross out a ring. The same rule applies to abbreviations. Do not begin an item with " Yesterday." The event is more important than the date. Except occasionally in reports of society events John Jones is plain John Jones, not " Mr." John Jones. The same rule applies to the Smiths and others. The use of the word " about " should be avoided when possible. If you write " There were 2,000 people in the hall," the round numbers are a sufficient indication that there was not an actual count of those present. In referring to locations it is sufficient to say " State and Madison Streets," not " at the corner of State and Madison Streets." " Corner " is allowable if you are giving the location exactly, as " northwest corner of State and Madison Streets." " Lady " is a much misused word. " Woman " is pref- A CHAPTER ON ERRORS erable in all cases except where it appears in the name of an organization, as in " Board of Lady Managers." The mistress of a defaulter was recently referred to as a " beautiful lady." Never begin a paragraph at the bottom of a page. It necessitates the rewriting of a part of the paragraph by a copy reader. Never divide a word on the last line of a page, and never divide a name on the last line of a page. The full name should be on one page. Never use the word "deceased." And in obituary notices do not refer to "the dead man." The latter is allowable in police news, however. If a man be "well known" it is not necessary to say so. If a quotation is to have paragraphs in it, paragraph the beginning of it. It should be " run in " after a colon only when all that is included between the quotation marks is to be one paragraph, and not always then. It is the unexpected that " occurs." Weddings do not belong to this class. These words are not to be used: "Deceased," "ova- tion," " past " where " last " can be used, and " balance " where it means " remainder." In giving the text of a sermon observe the following style : " John iv, 6. Luke vii, 7." Don't use " Sabbath " where " Sunday " will do. Don't use " gentleman " when you can avoid doing so. Every inanimate object, as a boat, an engine, etc., is " it," and not " she." A ship loses " its," not " her " mast. The same rule applies to the use of pronouns in referring to cities, states, countries, etc. Time is of the greatest importance. Get your copy into the office at the earliest possible moment. Nothing counts against a man more than dilatoriness. In preparing lists of names in society reports, group as follows: "Mr. and Mrs. John Bink," "Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bultitude," and so on. Then in a separate para- graph write: "Mrs. Susan Noodles, Mrs. William Skil- lings," etc. Then in another paragraph, "Misses Ellen 179 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Flannigan, Maggie McGinty," etc. Then give the names of the gentlemen present, thus: "Patrick O'Brien, Hans Deutscher, John Johnson," etc. In accidents where a list of the killed or injured, or both, is given, run each name with the injury, etc., in a separate paragraph, after a short introduction to the list, and always give the surname first, in alphabetical order. Separate the list of the fatalities from that of the injured. Example : The names of those killed are given below: FRIES, JACOB, engineer, Ottawa, 111. MURRAY, JOHN L., fireman, Peru, 111. The names of the injured follow : DEN HART, JACOB, St. Louis, right leg crushed. FITZPATRICK, BARNEY, Moline, 111., spine bruised; internal injuries. HERMAN, JACOB, Chicago, severely bruised and right arm broken. JOHNSON, WILLIAM, Macomb, 111., fractured skull and internal injuries; will die. Don't try to write a column on one page of copy paper. Leave an inch at the top and bottom of each page and a margin on the left-hand side of three-quar- ters of an inch. Leave at least one-eighth of an inch be- tween the lines. Don't be careless about proper names. Be sure you have them right and then go ahead plainly. If the name is at all unusual, go back to your school-boy days and " print " it. Don't neglect, when time permits, to read your copy before handing it in. And don't forget to look at it in print. Don't forget to folio your pages. Don't mix your tenses. In quoting a speaker use present tense with quotation marks ; in giving a " third person" report use the past tense without quotation marks. Don't say "the above"; if necessary, use "the fore- going." J8o A CHAPTER ON ERRORS Don't use "party" for man, woman or person. In court matter "party" is allowable. Don't forget that one " stick " is 160 words, and that one column is 1,440 words, unless otherwise specified. Don't confound " amateur " with " novice." An ama- teur may be the equal of the professional in experience and skill; a novice is a beginner. Don't use "audience" for anything but an assembly of hearers. Spectators are present at a pantomime or a prize fight. Don't try to divide an apple " between " more than two friends ; you may divide it " among " as many as you choose. Don't say " the marriage was consummated " if you mean that " the ceremony was performed." Don't say " don't " when you mean " doesn't." Don't announce that Mrs. Smith will give a luncheon " during " the week, unless she intends to feed guests for the next seven days. Don't say " gents' " furnishing store. " Gents " wear w pants " and eat " lunches " and " open " wine. Don't say " Miss Huntington was given a dinner," or that a dinner was given " in honor of Miss Huntington." Say, " A dinner was given to (or for) Miss Huntington." Don't say " per day " or " per year," but " a day " or " per diem," and " a year " or " per annum." Don't say " section " for " region." A section is a defi- nite division of space. Don't fail to discriminate between " state " and " say." To state means to make known specifically or to explain particularly. Don't use " suicide " as a verb. A man no more " sui- cides " than he " arsons " or " mayhems." Don't " try and " write correctly, but " try to " write correctly. Don't say "tilt.," " inst.," or "prox.," when you can avoid it. Say last month, this month, and next month. Don't forget that " death is the wages of sin," and that PRACTICAL JOURNALISM "the wages of sin are death." Verbs agree in number with their subjects and not with their predicates. Don't use long and involved sentences. Three short ones are better than one long one. Don't use " some " for " several " e. g., " some years ago." Don't say "since" when you mean "ago" e. g., "some time since" (ago). Don't say "propose" for "purpose"; the one means to make an offer, the other to intend. Don't say " the funeral of the late Mr. Frankenstein " ; it is to be presumed that the man is dead. Don't spell forward, backward, homeward, afterward, downward, toward, earthward, and heavenward, with a final " s." Don't say "the three first," or "the three second"; instead, say * the first three," or " the second three." Don't forget that "eitheror" and " neither nor " take the singular verb. Don't say " differ with " a man, unless you wish to say that one man differs with another from a third man. Don't say, " she looks prettily," unless you mean to describe her manner of gazing. Verbs of doing take the adverb; verbs of seeming and being, the adjective e. g., " she walks slowly," " her face feels rough." Don't forget the importance of writing legibly. By writing illegibly you cause annoyance to every one from editor to proof-reader, and do yourself an injury. Don't use " as though " for " as if." You can say, " he walks as (he would walk) if he were lame," but not " he walks as (he would walk) though he were lame." Don't use " very " when the sentence means the same without it, as it does in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. The new reporter should read every line of his own matter after it appears in print, noting carefully each change that has been made from the copy as he wrote it. He will see then where he failed to be clear, 182 A CHAPTER ON ERRORS where he was wordy, and where he violated a rule of the paper's style or used a wrong word. Especially should he notice where his story has been condensed. After a while he will learn just what his editor does not want, and that is a great step in advance. Some reporters never learn what to leave out. A careful study of the best newspapers will aid in learning how facts can be plainly yet readably expressed. The best writers are careful not to use too many adjectives, and they usually make their sentences short, crisp, and to the point. Most of the faults of verbosity will be avoided instinctively after the beginner once real- izes that facts, not words, are wanted that people read a newspaper not so much for the sake of passing time as for the purpose of finding out what is going on in the world. 183 XIII WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS WITHIN the last quarter of a century the writing of advertisements, or " ad writing," as it is called, has become a distinct vocation, and it is now one of the most lucrative of professions for the skilled expert. A master of the art of writing ads can often command an income larger than that of a cabinet minister at Washington. The specialists who do this kind of work are business men rather than newspaper men, and their work does not strictly come within the scope of the present treatise; but in most cases they are graduates from the newspaper office, and it is well for every reporter to know the possibilities in this direction. The subject of ad writing methods is pre- sented here, however, mainly with a hope that it may prove helpful to country editors, advertising solicitors, and others who are called upon frequently to write advertisements. The modern department store advertisement had its beginning twenty-odd years ago, when John Wana- maker started a column of chatty discussions of the bargains he had to offer, printing it in each of the daily papers of his city. He employed one of the brightest editors of a leading journal to get up these ads in a newsy and attractive style. The matter was invariably printed in large clear type, beginning with the weather prediction for the day, and calling atten- 184 WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS tion to bargains suited to the weather. The articles were so simple, breezy, and attractive that many peo- ple read them merely because they were interesting, and the Wanamaker enterprise began to grow under the new stimulus. It was not long before this pioneer ad writer was receiving $10,000 a year. The original column was expanded to two, one of which was de- voted to a schedule of prices. Other merchants fol- lowed suit, gradually enlarging their space until full- page advertisements have now become every-day matters with all the leading merchants in the larger cities. The men who write these ads receive better salaries than the average reporter or copy reader, and some of them attain to positions that might well be the envy of almost any managing editor. The chief ad writer in every large store has, a regularly organized bureau to assist him. The heads of the different departments furnish him with a list of bargains, which he classifies and " features," intro- ducing the whole with the reading matter at the top, which is an evolution from the original one-column Wanamaker ad. The work requires a good knowl- edge of business and a technical knowledge of the particular lines of merchandise handled. It also re- quires a practical familiarity with printing methods and with the leading faces of display type. The wri- ting of " reading notices/' or ads that are set in the form of ordinary reading matter, is a simpler and yet fairly profitable occupation. Among the chief secrets of success in ad writing are the knack of condensation and the faculty of attracting attention. Advertising space is costly, and it is necessary to say as much in as few words as pos- sible. Good newspaper men know how to do this, and for that reason they have the best chance to be- 185 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM come successful ad writers. The attracting of the reader's attention should be accomplished by legiti- mate and not by violent means. It does not pay to hit a man over the head with a club to attract his attention to a bargain in hats. The use of larger type than is necessary to make the ad noticeable and attract- ive is worse than useless. An advertisement should be interesting and convincing rather than startling. Something should be told about the article advertised. It is not enough to say that you sell belts. Tell what kind you sell, and give their points of superiority. Make the talk plain and interesting, and it will be read. Make it interesting and convincing, and it will sell goods. Concise, attractive, simple, interesting, and convincing these words indicate the qualities that command success in an advertisement. The man or woman who has learned to write that kind of ads can make a good living in any business community. The country newspaper publisher who masters this art doubles his chances of success. An advertisement is simply business news. Its object is not to divert, or to amuse, or to startle, but to inform. It is to tell the customer something he will be interested in knowing in regard to certain goods which the merchant has for sale. The first American advertisements could not be distinguished from ordinary reading matter. They were printed in the same type as the news, and were treated the same as any other matter of interest to the public. The best advertising to-day embodies the same idea, though it may be set in display type to attract the eye. The big type is useless if it tells the reader noth- ing new or interesting. The moss-grown standing ads in the columns of many country papers are sad exam- ples of this fact. They are survivals of the medieval 186 WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS period of American journalism, when merchants gave ads grudgingly to the local paper as a dole of charity, expecting little or no return for the outlay. It requires a good knowledge of human nature to be a successful ad writer. The human animal is so constituted tjiat he feels a keener interest in some- thing that promises benefit to himself than in some- thing that will benefit another person. Mark how this applies to advertising. The inexperienced mer- chant, eager to sell, calls aloud to the public to " buy, buy, buy." The main thought of all his ads is his own desire for profit. Now, the people are only mildly interested in the merchant's success or failure, while they are deeply interested in having their own wants supplied at reasonable prices. Hence the skilled ad writer wastes no space in urging people to buy. He uses it all in appealing artfully yet frankly to their self-interest by telling them about sundry ways in which they can benefit themselves and get good values for their money. The successful writer of advertising copy always puts himself in the place of the purchaser. He takes into account the points that would appeal to the ordinary man or woman if asked to buy the article in question. You may safely presume that the vast majority of buyers are not a whit different from your- self when it comes to making purchases. The ads, to have the pulling power that brings profit, must be written from the view-point of the business they are meant to advertise, but must appeal directly to the self-interest of the people who are available as possi- ble customers. It is scarcely necessary to add that definite knowledge of the class of people addressed is only less important than accurate knowledge of the goods to be advertised. Nor should it be necessary PRACTICAL JOURNALISM to remind any intelligent person that deception never pays in advertising. Every advertisement should represent the best values the firm has to offer, and should set forth the goods in their most attractive form. A great deal of advertising fails because it is not prepared with a pur- pose. The person who wrote it had no definite ob- ject in view. The aim should be to bring together certain goods and a certain class of buyers, and both the merchandise and the people should be clearly in the ad writer's mind. Each announcement should be a separate argument or item of information calculated to convince these people that they can benefit them- selves by purchasing. The merchant who advertises merely to fill space is like the man who talks merely to kill time. His words bore people and accomplish nothing. The public has a short memory and will promptly forget what was said the day before yesterday. Hence the advertiser must say it again and keep on saying. He must be " never weary in well-doing." As Charles Austin Bates says, a business will not prosper with- out advertising any more than the old-fashioned mill- wheel will run without water. " Keep it before the people " is a golden motto for the man who has some- thing to sell. The mistake should not be made, how- ever, of keeping the same advertisement before the public too long. When an ad becomes familiar it ceases to attract the eye and should be put into a new form. The ad writer, like the reporter, is an " imperson- ality." He can not intrude his own individuality be- tween seller and buyer without injuring his work. His task is to make two purchasers grow where only one grew before, and for this reason his main thought 1 88 WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS should be of the buyer and not of the seller. He should approach his subject with " a real inspiration of ignorance " the attitude of the reader of the ad. He should ask himself, " What would I like to know about this article if my attention had been attracted to it for the first time by this advertisement ? " The more nearly his ad comes to being an answer to this question the more likely it will be to serve its pur- pose well. The practical test of its value is the num- ber of people it brings to the store or the orders it brings by mail. To attain the highest success as an expert ad writer one must have certain natural qualifications, foremost among which are originality and ingenuity. But the ordinary qualifications for newspaper writing are often sufficient to procure incomes in this line far in excess of what the same person could earn as a reporter. It is worth while for every newspaper man to give some thought to this new branch of work, for it often affords a safe haven when the inevitable storms in newspaperdom have driven him from his moorings. It is a harbor into which women with a ready pen also may sometimes steer with happy results, provided they happen to have a good knowledge of business. The wealth of the nation is in business circles, and the commercial houses that are looking for ad writers with good ideas are more numerous than the news- papers that are seeking reporters, while the number of applicants is as yet comparatively few. A young woman who has become a successful bread-winner as an ad writer states her experience in these words : " Although I made endless mistakes and met many serious rebuffs, I soon realized the truth of my friend's assertion that money could be made in the business 14 189 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM world. Whereas every editor of whom I had any experience had been personally sympathetic and yet sorry to see me and glad to get rid of me, every business man I have ever approached has looked upon me as a possibly profitable vehicle, has never dreamed of offering me sympathy, and has been able and willing to pay liberally for any work I undertook and thoroughly accomplished." Fifty years ago newspaper advertising was regard- ed as a luxury or a charity. To-day it is a recognized necessity of trade, while the writing of ads is a busi- ness in itself, having its experts and specialists. It is a new profession, undergoing improvement con- stantly in matter and manner, and one which is sure to fill a far more important place in the coming years than it has in the past. It is at once an art and a science founded on psychological principles. The man who knows his fellow men best is most likely to succeed in it. From every point of view it is a profes- sion deserving the serious consideration of persons who are handy with the pen. 190 XIV FILLING THE "AD" COLUMNS [This chapter was written by Mr. R. Roy S human, who speaks from years of experience both as a newspaper man and as an advertising expert.] IN the end the advertising columns are what de- cide the fate of a newspaper. Advertisements now produce considerably more than one-half the income of American newspaper publishers. Subscriptions will pay for postage and ink, and perhaps for the white paper, but the ads must furnish the money to pay the salaries and keep the plant running. A good advertising patronage, of course, can be held only by means of a good circulation, and this comes only by making a paper that people wish to read. But when ads are properly written and displayed they of them- selves help to increase the circulation and raise the prestige of the paper. A large proportion of the public has learned to take an interest in the advertising columns, and reads them, if they be worth reading, whether in need of the wares described or not. It is important, therefore, to get a right start in this matter, especially as the advertisers in a town are likely to be more or less blind players of the game of " follow the leader." In other words, " To him who hath ads, ads shall be given : and from him who hath not, even those ads which he hath shall be taken away." With the loss 191 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM of advertising there comes a corresponding loss of prestige and interest in the eyes of the readers. Perhaps the best methods of securing advertising patronage can be stated most clearly by taking the case of a man who is about to establish a new daily in a community which he believes is able to support such an enterprise. The advertising situation should be canvassed with the utmost care. There must be a sufficient population, with enough wealth to buy not only your paper but also the goods of your adver- tisers. There also must be a sufficient number of merchants, with enough capital to purchase, advertise, and sell the goods which your subscribers will wish to buy. Before printing the first issue of your paper you should make arrangements with the leading merchant in each line to push his goods in your columns. It is not necessary to bother with the smaller dealers at first. Get the leaders. The others will follow. One good way to get the support of the men who set the business pace in your town is to incorporate the news- paper and sell or give to each leading merchant a sufficient amount of stock to make him financially interested, while, of course, retaining the controlling interest yourself. If you are not an " ad writer " yourself, employ a bright young man or woman who shows taste and talent in that line, and make advertising easy for those of your patrons who wish to be relieved of the drudgery of preparing the copy. Use every endeavor to induce your patrons to change their ads in every issue and to advertise up-to-date merchandise. Your advertising solicitors should be given to understand that their first duty is to make trade and money for the advertiser. They are not simply to go on a beg- 192 FILLING THE "AD" COLUMNS ging expedition from store to store, importuning mer- chants to advertise and support a worthy local enter- prise. Their business is to suggest schemes to the merchant by which he can draw a crowd to get him to advertise the right thing at the right time to help him make business for himself through the medium of the newspaper. A well-matured plan, if properly presented, usually will appeal to the merchant's love of publicity and desire for profit. If the scheme has any merit it will justify itself and make the mer- chant a permanent patron of the paper's advertising columns. An expensive but profitable idea is to have an artist at the service of the advertising department, who can sketch in pencil or ink a suitable illustration for every " feature " advertisement. With a draft of a good ad illustrated in this way it is comparatively easy to interest a merchant in it and get him to try its effect in the paper. The pictures attract readers and buyers just as they caught the advertising patron- age of the merchant. Keep ahead of the seasons. Suppose it to be October and north of Mason and Dixon's line. Pre- pare for Dash & Snow, makers of sleighs, a medley of popular sleighing songs, with their name and claim cleverly worked into the verses. Have an artist sketch suitable illustrations humorous if possible and on the first cold day go to Messrs. D. & S. with the whole scheme well in hand. If they have any enter- prise and business judgment they will contract for at least ten " hundred-line " ads of the series, one to be run each day that snow falls. If they have not the wisdom to avail themselves of your brains, go the rounds and get some competing firm to adopt the plan. When the advertisements are published and 193 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM attract wide-spread attention, you have converted not only the man who adopted them but also those who were too short-sighted to do so. Cold weather comes on. What do people buy in cold weather? Coal, blankets, furs, woolens, mittens, lined boots and shoes, weather strips, snow shovels, children's sleds, skates, overcoats, mufflers, and a hun- dred other things. Go to the right men or firms with a well-matured plan for creating a run on each of these seasonable articles. Keep up this policy throughout the year, and you will have most of the men and women in your town buying your paper when they wish to look for bargains. Part of the secret of success lies in impressing your advertisers with the necessity of offering only fresh and seasonable merchandise, and of offering it, whenever possible, at a slight reduction in price. The large department stores of New York and Chicago rarely advertise anything at its regular market price. They advertise real " bargains " to attract crowds, leaving the salesmanship of their clerks to take care of standard goods at standard prices. I know a small grocer who soon became a large one by advertising a daily bargain bulletin in only one newspaper. The things he advertised were actual bargains standard goods of known quality and merit at less than usual prices. One day his " leader " would be soaps and canned goods ; the next, vegetables and fruits ; and the next, small miscellaneous articles. Probably he made little or no money on the advertised goods, but he got the trade of nearly one-half the families in his town in spite of the competition of a dozen other grocers who were content to jog along in the old way. His advertising bill amounted to $20 a day, six days in the week, and his advertisement always 194 FILLING THE "AD" COLUMNS occupied 100 lines, double column, at the top of the third page. Probably several hundred women took that paper daily because of that one advertisement, and hundreds of others made it a point to read the " ad " or perhaps to cut it out before their husbands carried the paper down town. The newspaper that makes its advertisements bring results can get double the rates secured by papers that are content to print homely and useless " business cards " in their columns. Rates really are a secondary consideration. If you bring a larger per- centage of profit to the advertiser than he can secure through other methods he will pay your rate, no matter what it is. The metropolitan dailies are satis- fied with one-fourth or one-third of a cent per agate line for every thousand of circulation when they are dealing with the large stores that take from 50,000 to 250,000 lines a year. They get about double these rates from the casual advertiser. But the small daily with a circulation of 5,000 or 10,000 must charge a higher rate in order to live; and it is entitled to a higher rate, for a larger percentage of its readers are possible customers of each of its advertisers. It is important that your rates should be well under- stood, and that each advertiser should feel sure of get- ting the same rate on the same amount of matter that any of his rivals can get. No advertiser should feel compelled to " go in " when he prefers to stay out. Make a contract for a certain minimum number of lines per annum and let him take the space when he wishes it. Encourage your dry-goods advertisers to "fea- ture " certain days in the week. " Bargain Monday " in Chicago, the day when as many purchases are made as on any other two, was instituted by the news- 195 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM papers. " Basement bargains " on Fridays are the result of a deliberate attempt on the part of the papers to fill up a distressing blank on that day. Saturday takes care of itself with all merchants who have any- thing to sell for men and children ; also with all who cater to a rural population. Encourage quarterly, semiannual, and annual " sales " in given lines for such merchants as can make use of them. There is no particular reason why January should be the " linen and white goods " month with all the large dry- goods stores, except that it is naturally a slow month and something had to be done to quicken it. " In- ventory sales," " clearing sales," " remnant sales/' " odds-and-ends sales," and the like are also a fruit- ful source of income to both newspapers and mer- chants. They can be used to advantage in almost every line of merchandise, but in nine cases out of ten the resourceful advertising manager or solicitor is the one who must start the ball rolling. Encourage each of your larger patrons to keep a scrap-book of his advertisements, entering opposite each " ad " the sales on that day and a record of the temperature and condition of the weather. On your own behalf make a careful study of the adver- tising done in the past in your own and rival papers, and have a new idea ready for each coming mercan- tile " event." In most of the larger and better dailies no adver- tising matter is permitted on the front page ; nor need it be. It disfigures the paper and to some extent in- jures its prestige. Admit one patron's " ads " on the front page, and immediately others will insist on " first page or nothing." After the front page the next pre- ferred position is on the back page, because the reader naturally turns the paper over before opening it. In 196 FILLING THE "AD" COLUMNS P order to keep peace among the large advertisers the Chicago dailies have adopted the plan of giving each one exactly as many back pages in a month as any other, keeping a careful record and giving each of the solicitors a copy of it. It is important that your paper should have a full equipment of all the best faces of job type. It always pleases an advertiser to give him a distinct type for display. It will cost no more to have a different type for each of your six leading patrons than to give each a hodge-podge of six faces in the same advertisement ; and the effect will be at once dignified and striking. This opens up the important subject of advertising display. The advertiser who runs a circus-bill type clear across the top of a shallow advertisement, full- page width, spoils your paper and hurts himself at the same time. It would be well to adopt a schedule for- bidding the advertiser to break a column-rule for an advertisement less than 50 lines, or say four inches deep ; two column-rules for less than 100 lines, three for less than 150 lines, and so on, giving the full six or seven column width only on condition that the ad shall be half a page in depth. This will bar out the man who desires to run a single display line across the top and bottom of your page. There are two ways a wrong and a right way of displaying any advertisement. It is easy to imagine one and the same announcement printed in two utterly different styles. The first the " horrible example/' or how not to do it is displayed in the way the advertiser probably would have done it before he learned his business. It is set in a dozen discordant type-faces, is full of exclamation points and yelling capitals, and is the general embodiment of a war- whpop in print. The second is dignified, tasteful, 197 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM attractive, convincing the printed embodiment of the way the merchant would tell the story to an intel- ligent customer. Such a display invites reading, while the other repels. Successful advertising is nothing more than plain, easy, attractive reading matter simple and tempting to the eye as a child's primer. This brings us to the delicate subject of the adver- tiser who is inclined to shout and exaggerate and prevaricate in print. Personally he may be a model of courteous propriety and truthfulness, yet when he takes up a blue pencil and a piece of wrapping paper to prepare an advertisement he becomes hysterical, illogical, abusive, bombastic, and unreliable in his statements. If he could remember that the purpose of an advertisement is merely to tell five thousand people quickly what he would tell any one of them personally, he would seek to talk as courteously and accurately in print as he does in his personal conver- sations with customers. This type of merchant is a hard one for the newspaper publisher to deal with, but he can be managed in a quiet way, especially if you can get him to permit you to write his adver- tisements. The heart-to-heart style of advertising is what built up Mr. Wanamaker's two great stores. His ads invite confidence in his merchandise by talking rea- sonably and frankly. He is too deeply interested in telling the public about his goods to waste words in protestations of his own honesty, his own greatness, or the shortcomings of his competitors. An adver- tisement is a printed and signed promise to do as that advertisement says the merchant will do. A lie in display type is as much a lie as one told over the counter or in a business letter. The merchant may assert that it is none of the publisher's business 198 FILLING THE "AD" COLUMNS whether his advertisements be truthful or not. In this he is wrong, for a disappointed or defrauded pur- chaser associates the advertisement with the paper in which he read it. The tin-horn, swashbuckler advertisement may sell goods sometimes, but in the long run it cheapens the establishment that persists in its use, and drives away the better element of trade. A newspaper publisher helps both himself and his advertisers when he uses all his diplomacy to dissuade them from committing this too frequent blunder. Another mistake into which inexperienced adver- tisers fall is that of smart word- juggling. This kind of advertising will not sell goods. It fails inevitably, because it lacks sincerity, which is the soul of sales- manship. The "Don't Read This" man, the man who prefaces a jewelry ad with a picture of a pig, the shoe dealer who inscribes " MURDER " in large capitals over his advertisement, the man who uses high-sounding and flamboyant language these and all their ilk are wasting space and preparing the way for the assertion that " advertising does not pay." Convert them if you can. If not, avoid them, for their failure to get results in your paper will be pro- claimed from the housetops. Give every preference to local advertisers. Don't be persuaded by a " check in advance " to sell your best space to agency advertisers at a fraction of its value. If the agencies want a preferred position they should pay more for it than you charge your local dealers, for it is the latter who support you, and they deserve the best you have. The success of a local ad- vertisement means a better contract next season, while the baking powder or patent medicine man, whose matter comes through the agencies, never heard of 199 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM you and never will. If you can get a small number of clean medical ads at double your regular rate you are much better off than if you sold twice the space at regular rates and immeasurably better off than if you sold four times the space at the customary agency " half-rates." Every patent medicine advertisement hurts the paper in the eyes of at least a few readers, and if the publisher's finances will not permit him to rule them out altogether, the next best thing is to demand fancy prices and exercise a strict censorship over the copy and the cuts that come with it. Many large newspapers owe a considerable per- centage of their circulation to their " classified ads." These columns are "news" to many of the readers, and by such >the classified page is read before anything else. It should be unnecessary to urge every pub- lisher to push this branch of advertising with the utmost vigor. Have signs in every drug store and news-stand where there is a telephone, announcing that classified advertisements will be telephoned to your paper up to the hour of going to press ; and give the druggist and news-dealer a commission on the business done. Have as many good solicitors out as necessary, and make your rates low enough to invite this form of advertising. One cent a word, with a minimum of ten cents for an ad, is enough for " Situ- ation Wanted " and " Help Wanted " matter. Some papers run these free, but it is doubtful whether they gain anything by it. " For Rent," " For Sale," " Lost and Found," " For Exchange," " Personal," and simi- lar classifications should be about 50 per cent higher. A good plan is to sell coupon books giving real estate dealers, small tradesmen, and other regular users of classified space about $6 worth of advertising space for $5 paid in advance, with even greater reductions 200 FILLING THE "AD" COLUMNS for larger amounts. The possession of such a book is likely to make the advertiser lavish in his use of space. The publisher always should reserve the right to assign each ad to its legitimate position regardless of the classification indicated by the advertiser. He should likewise retain the right to throw out any advertisement for moral or other reasons. He will do well to be on the lookout for agency matter offering " big wages for working at home " and similar schemes. Every reader who is defrauded through such advertisements has a moral, if not a legal, claim for damages against the newspaper that printed it. In the long run the less foreign advertising you print the better, because the money sent out of your terri- tory as the result of such advertising means less trade for the local merchants. Insist on having none but clear and high-class illustrations in your advertising columns. A smashed or unsightly electrotype in an advertisement will be just as great a blemish on the page as if it appeared in the news columns. Some papers charge penalties for cuts in advertising matter, and some bar them out altogether; but neither policy is advisable, be- cause it is certain that cuts help to sell goods. For this reason they should be welcomed, but the pub- lisher should insist that they be chaste in design and creditable in appearance. If you can accomplish this in no other way, enter into an agreement with the advertiser to illustrate his ads yourself at a slight margin above actual cost. There are now half a dozen good periodicals (to say nothing of the poor ones) devoted solely to the science of advertising. It will pay every newspaper publisher, whatever the size or standing of his paper, to sub- scribe for some of the good ones and read them care- 20 1 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM fully. Every country editor and city solicitor ought to know the elements of successful advertising and be able to put them into practise at a moment's notice. A total of about $100,000,000 is now spent annually for 'newspaper and magazine advertising in the United States. The publisher who gets the largest share of his town's contribution to this enormous fund is the one who does the most to convince his advertisers that he is a sincere and practical fellow-promoter of their business interests. 202 XV EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER THERE are now nearly 15,000 weekly country newspapers in the United States and Canada, com- prising not far from three-fourths of all the periodicals in the land. In the aggregate these rural papers exert great power, for the country voters still out- number those in cities. The average of editorial abil- ity on the country press, however, is probably lower to-day than it was a generation ago, while the number of papers is enormously greater. Both of these facts are closely connected with the advent of the ready print or " patent inside." This has made it possible to issue a complete newspaper of imposing size for about one-half what it would have cost if the country editor had produced it all in his own office. It also has made it possible for almost anybody to run such a newspaper, since no wide knowledge of men or of national events is now necessary. The result has been a tremendous influx of untrained editors, though every village is now able to afford its own paper. New forces are to-day at work transforming the rural districts. Chief among these forces are the electric car lines, the telephone, and the free rural mail delivery service. Coupled with the typesetting machine and other modern printing machinery, these agencies are rapidly revolutionizing the country news- paper, for they are enabling the large city dailies to 203 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM cover a much larger territory than ever before. The " patent inside " seems destined to disappear, except in remote pioneer communities. The country editors who can adapt themselves most effectively to the new- conditions will be the ones to survive and prosper. As the metropolitan dailies reach out farther and farther into the country districts they will undermine the poorly conducted local paper, just as the city mail-order houses are taking away trade from the country merchant who does not run his store on mod- ern methods. The country weekly already has passed the zenith of its career and is destined to decrease both in numbers and influence as the local and metro- politan dailies take its place. Until fifteen or twenty years ago nearly every large city daily condensed its best news into a weekly, which was often the best paying feature of the establishment. That kind of weekly has vanished almost absolutely. The Sunday paper and the magazine have taken its place. These are also invading the domain of the country weekly, and will do so increasingly with the spread of rural free delivery of mail and the bettering of transporta- tion facilities throughout the country. The stern evo- lutionary process that results in the survival of the fittest is likely to work some important changes in rural journalism in the next decade or two. In the printing of local and neighborhood news, however, the big city journals are not rivals of the village papers, and probably never will be. This part of the field the invaders can not usurp. In the news and announcements of its own bailiwick the coun- try paper will continue to find a valid cause for its existence and prosperity. The coming years will see many local weeklies replaced by local dailies, even in communities that would formerly have been 204 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER considered too small to support a daily. The wealth of the people, and especially of the farmers, is in- creasing so rapidly that hundreds who formerly could scarcely afford to subscribe for a local weekly are now having both a big city daily and a local daily delivered regularly at their gates. The country editor has every reason to feel encouraged over the outlook, though he must accustom himself to face the fact that his mission as a purveyor of foreign and general domestic news may soon be ended. Whether the change will be early or late in com- ing depends solely upon the nearness of a large city and the perfection of rapid mail transit over the intervening space. Already many editors have found it more profitable to give up the foreign news entirely and make purely local or county papers rather than to give their sheets the machine-made appearance that goes with the ready prints. By purchasing white paper in large lots they can save enough to employ an extra compositor, thus insuring several extra col- umns of local matter, with a corresponding increase in readers, advertisers, and profits. My own experience in this field was on an eight- page weekly which I helped to found in a large Chi- cago suburb, and which was and is as successful as the circumstances will allow. We made no use of ready prints, of course, in such a town, though we dis- covered that a few columns of miscellany in the form of plates were extremely convenient sometimes when there was a shortage of local news. Otherwise we filled the eight pages with purely local matter and set it all up in our own office. The years I spent as editor of that weekly were the most strenuous of my life, and I learned some things. Among these was the fact that even a wide-awake local newspaper can 15 205 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM never attain any great authority or prosperity within a dozen miles of a large city. The farther a country paper is removed from a metropolis the better its chance of success. While we are on the subject of location it may be remarked that a small town in the heart of a prosper- ous farming region is a better place for a newspaper than a factory or mining town of the same size. Busi- ness is more stable in an agricultural community, and less liable to be affected by labor troubles or polit- ical changes. The character of the population also is important. Ten thousand native Americans will do more to support a newspaper in the English language than fifty thqusand foreign-born settlers. There are towns of only a thousand inhabitants in which a country weekly can become a paying property. In towns of from two to three thousand the chances of success are reasonably sure, and in towns of from three to five thousand, with a proportionate country population, the conditions are likely to be all that the publisher of a country weekly should desire. If the town be a county seat in which no daily or triweekly has been started, and if it be not too near a large city, it should afford a good opportunity for an editor not only to make a comfortable living, but to become a political power in his community. If he have political aspirations, his chances to enter the Legislature or go to Congress are infinitely greater in such a place than they would be if he were a subeditor on a metropoli- tan daily. There are many towns of from five thousand to fifteen thousand inhabitants that still offer an open field for original journalism on the lines of the modern daily, because the country editors now in possession do not know how to make the most of their opportuni- 206 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER ties. My advice to the hard-worked and anonymous editorial slave in the large city is to save his money and buy a country paper in such a town. His work will be no harder, and if he makes a success he has a valuable property and a position that he can keep long after the time when he would probably be dropped from the staff of a large city daily. In cities of from twenty to fifty thousand inhabit- ants the successful journalist must of necessity be an all-around newspaper man, able to write advertise- ments or to turn out a column of editorial matter at short notice. He must be able to preside at a polit- ical gathering and make a good speech when occa- sion demands. He must know and respect his com- munity and make himself a force for the public good. At the same time he must have business ability and be able to hold his own against the persistent de- mands of the newspaper advertising agencies. These things require versatility of talent, incomparable tact, and an unfailing faculty for gaging all sorts and con- ditions of men. The school of country journalism trains up men of this kind, while the big city daily too often makes only one-sided specialists out of its devotees. It can not be too strongly impressed upon the country editor that his paper exists to print the local news. A farmer may not care to know that the triple alliance has been dissolved, but he is sure to wish to know whether or not the washout in the road on the other side of the township is going to be repaired in a few days. This demand for home news is con- stant, and the supply is constant. The people of Nebraska are more interested in learning that the Governor of Nebraska has smashed his thumb with a hammer while laying a carpet than in hearing about 207 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM a revolution in South America. Interest in events decreases in proportion to their distance from home, just as the size of objects grows less to the eye. It is also wise to cultivate local pride. The town may not be the garden of Eden, but it will do the people no harm to think it is, and there are excellent rea- sons why the local paper should support such an opinion. As the paper is bought for its home news, the first thing for the editor to do is to organize a sys- tem for getting every item of local news worth print- ing. Let us suppose he is starting a new weekly. The limits of his territory, generally speaking, will be the boundaries of his county. He must cover that terri- tory as completely as the city editor of a metropoli- tan daily covers a radius of a hundred miles. This he can not do without a system as complete in its way as that of a large daily. Nothing must be left to chance. Whether the village or the world be the pa- per's field, there are news centers that must be tapped regularly. These centers can be discovered and classi- fied so completely that they can be made to render account of every event of importance in the county. But it requires a large staff of correspondents to do this. There are various ways of securing these, but one of the best is that outlined by Mr. A. J. Munson in his admirable little book, Making a Country News- paper. It includes the securing of a general cor- respondent in each township, school district, or large neighborhood, whose duty it shall be to send a regu- lar weekly budget of neighborhood news; also the securing of a large corps of special correspondents, such as justices of the peace, undertakers, preachers, and the like, who will agree to send the news in their special lines. With proper care an excellent and com- 208 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER plete weekly news service covering the whole county can thus be organized and kept in operation through- out the year at remarkably small expense. The general correspondents should be permanent residents, who will consider themselves responsible for what they write. The only way to be sure of getting the best men or women is to make a personal can- vass of each community for the purpose. Every cor- respondent should be instructed carefully in the kind of news to send and the kind not to send. Events of importance must be reported promptly, and each cor- respondent should send in a budget of neighborhood news each week. It will pay the editor to write and print a circular or little pamphlet of instructions to reporters, outlining the best ways of doing their work. Here are the main features of a pamphlet of this kind used by an enterprising country paper in Pennsyl- vania : The one great object of a newspaper is to give the news, of course. Give all the news you can find. Do not express any opinions about certain events in your local- ity. Let the public form its own opinions. Do not depend upon hearsay for your important news, but investigate it yourself if possible. Send no items which would, if printed, make an enemy. Rather say a good word than a bad one, even though it may stretch your conscience to do so. Do not send news out of another correspondent's territory. Every honest man in the world likes to see his name in print. Let the people know that you are a newspaper correspondent, and they will oftentimes give you an arti- cle of news when you least expect it. A list of the paper's subscribers is sent with this pamphlet. Keep track of their doings and the doings of their friends. It will please them and make them stanch friends of yours and of the paper. 209 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Try to write a letter every week, even if you have only a few items of news. If you have any news about your- self, don't be afraid to send it. Get the people interested in the paper by giving them every bit of news that you can find. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? If the correspondent will bear in mind these six words when- ever he writes an article, he will be sure to make it inter- esting. Remember that the people want to know every- thing about events of general interest, and the more de- tails you give the better they will be pleased. In the case of an accident the public wants to know who were in it, where it was, and how it happened. In cases of death, give the name in full, and the age; if a child, the parents' names, and if a wife, the husband's full name; the cause of death, when it was, when or where the funeral was or will be held, where the place of burial is, and who the officiating clergyman was. An account of a funeral will interest everybody, and there- fore ought to be very minute and authentic. Tell some- thing about the personality of the deceased, and his or her standing in the community. Don't forget to give the names of children of the deceased; likewise the names of brothers and sisters. Be sure to spell them correctly; if an unusual name appears, print it in big Roman letters, so that the printer can not mistake it. We desire to record every birth that takes place in our territory, and our correspondents will kindly inform us of all " new arrivals." State names of parents, place of residence, date of birth, and sex of child. Marriages should be reported in this style: Names of contracting parties, son and daughter of whom, where reside, when married, where married, and by whom. If a reception is tendered, give names of people present. Don't forget the ladies. Report everything they do that is of public interest. If they entertain visitors, give the full names of the visitors and their place of residence. This paper is dated Saturday, but it is printed on Fri- 210 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER day afternoon. Send your regular correspondence at any time during the early part of the week, not later than Wednesday night. Other special news should be sent so that it reaches us Friday morning. The newsiest news you can give is that which describes events occurring so short a time before Saturday as to surprise the readers when they see it, because, first, they haven't heard of it ; second, they didn't think we had; and third, they wonder how the whole account could be so quickly printed. Don't be afraid to send an extra letter when you have an important item of news. Paper and postage are cheap ; if your sup- ply is exhausted, send to us for more. Besides furnishing us with the news of your territory, you may send descriptions of other local matters of inter- est. Say a good word for your town, your local industries, your churches, and your local societies or organizations. People like to read the news first, and then they like to read about matters in which they are interested, but which are not strictly news. Relics, heirlooms, old coins, natural curiosities, etc., can be described and will be of interest to everybody, even if the person who possesses them is unknown to the reader. In short, send whatever you would be interested in reading if written by somebody else. Avoid too frequent mention of certain persons, even though they stand high in the community. The people whose names never appear in your column are sure to notice your apparent partiality. Give authentic reports of public meetings. Omit all comments or adjectives denoting your own opinion of what the speaker said. It is better to quote what was said and leave the reader to form his own opinion. Write nothing relating to church wrangles, personal matters, and private family affairs, and let violently alone anything having the appearance of a scandal. Don't try to "get even" with anybody through the columns of a newspaper. It may injure you, and it is sure to injure the paper. Speak a good word for the paper whenever and wher- 211 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM ever possible, and get people interested in it. You are our agent and representative in your territory. You are authorized to take subscriptions, advertisements, ani orders for job-printing, and we will allow you a largt discount on all orders taken. Send us the names of any people in your territory who might become subscribers, and we will send them the paper free for four weeks, after which you can call upon them for their subscription. Collect the full subscription price and retain one-third of it as your commission, sending two-thirds promptly to us. This applies only to new subscribers. Some of our cor- respondents have made neat sums from their commissions, and without a great deal of work or time you can do the same. This work of neighborhood news-gathering con- stitutes the first round on the journalistic ladder, and there are always bright young men and women who are glad to undertake it without any pay beyond a regular copy of the paper, the necessary postage and stationery, and a commission on new subscriptions secured. The editor should keep a record of the post- age stamps and stationery sent to each correspondent. An occasional letter cheering the scribe in his work will be worth while. When any important event is expected to take place in the territory of one of these general correspondents, the editor should let him know in good time whether he is to cover it or not, and what are the points to which he should give special attention if he writes the story. In addition to the general correspondents there should also be a complete corps of special correspond- ents, who will constitute an even more important part of the news-gathering machine. All the undertakers in the county should be enlisted to report the deaths. Every justice of the peace should be a special cor- respondent to report the cases in his court. To get 212 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER the church news every preacher must be enlisted. Important school news is most likely to come through the county superintendent. The doctors are the best men to report accidents, births, cases of contagious disease, and the like. Country officials, railway agents, the secretaries of fraternity lodges, and others in a position to get news should all be made special correspondents if possible. In most cases these men will be willing to serve for a free copy of the paper and the free advertising which their news will often give them. If this is not sufficient in some cases a bargain can be made by running a professional card in the advertising columns for each man. The editor can well afford to do this if the men can be kept friendly and interested enough to report all the news in their several lines. There will still remain certain important things which the editor must attend to in person. Sessions of the Circuit Court, large fires, sensational crimes, political conventions, and the like, can not be entrust- ed to outside talent. For his own convenience and security every editor should keep an assignment book, like that kept by every large daily, in which are re- corded the dates of all known future events of impor- tance. This should be carefully kept and closely watched. Some of the events can be assigned to the local correspondents, but the more important ones can not. The editor or a trustworthy assistant should get the court-house news and see the county clerk each week. Access to the court files can usually be had if the privilege be not abused. With such an extensive news service it is clear that the blue pencil will have an important function to fill in the country editor's office. The news will arrive in all sorts of shapes, and some of it will be 213 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM duplicated. There will be much drudgery in wading through the whole mass, in cutting out all trivialities and duplicate items, in recasting badly written stuff, in condensing some items and expanding others, and in watching that nothing ill-natured or libelous gets into the paper. But this labor is the price the editor pays for having so cheap and complete a news service. The time used in putting this matter into shape is well and profitably spent. The blue pencil should be handled with the firm intention of letting nothing go into print for which the editor is not ready to become personally responsible. There will be men who will want to use the paper for their own purposes in ways that will make enemies. If the editor has not back- bone enough to say " no " in such cases, he should get out of the newspaper business. It is a good plan to keep a book in which to jot down ideas for special stories and sketches, which can be worked out on the quieter days. Many such ideas can be got from exchanges. Then there are the usual local specials to be had by interviewing old settlers, or by securing personal reminiscences from residents who have good stories to tell. Every old churchyard has its stories, and there is always some- body who can recall them. Historical sketches of the local schools, churches, and societies may often make good reading and add to the interest of the paper. The art of digging out good special articles is as valuable to the country editor as to the space writer on the city daily. Sometimes these local articles can also be recast and sold to city papers, by which means the country editor may in time form valuable connections and become the local correspondent for several metropolitan dailies. It is also worth while for the village correspondent of the country weekly 214 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER to try his hand at writing special articles of this kind for his paper. It is good training and may lead to something profitable, for the country editor is often in a position to recommend a member of his staff to a city paper when it is in search of a local representative. Methods of securing subscribers are only less im- portant than those of securing a good news service. The most effective method is to canvass the whole field. It will pay to give agents a liberal percentage for all new subscribers and to divide up the territory so that every house will be visited. A list of all the voters, with their addresses, can usually be secured by using a little tact with the proper election officials. A sample copy of the paper can thus be mailed to each address, and the canvassing agent can likewise use the list in his work. If the paper be such that every man will be interested in it and will wish to have it, a thorough canvass on these lines will give the best results obtainable. The scheme of offering premiums or giving combination rates with magazines or other papers is comparatively worthless. To be even moderately profitable a country weekly should have a circulation of at least 1,200. Unless a community gives reasonable promise of this num- ber of subscribers, or more, it is not wise to try to publish a paper there. A country publisher can scarcely be said to be in comfortable circumstances until his paper has a circulation of 2,000 or more. The best way to get the maximum circulation that the population will yield is to make as good a paper as if you had such a circulation, and to keep the whole community aware of the fact through sample copies and good solicitors. The time is past when it paid to install any ma- chine but a cylinder-press, even in the remotest country 215 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM town. Good second-hand cylinder-presses do not cost a great deal. If the new editor can not afford to start with one of these he would better not begin at all. If a paper has the best news service in the county it will have little difficulty in getting a maximum cir- culation, and, if it has the circulation, it has every right to expect the necessary advertising patronage. Many country editors fail to realize how largely their advertising depends upon their news columns. Still more of them fail to get the maximum of advertising from their local merchants because they do not know how to refute the mistaken notion, thrown at them daily, that advertising doesn't pay. Usually the mer- chants who make this trite statement are correct so far as their own experience goes. The kind of ads they write do not pay. Their advertisements usually contain nothing more definite than might be learned by reading the street signs over their store doors. They must be taught how to advertise, and who is going to teach them if the local editor and publisher be as ignorant as themselves on that point? The chapters on advertising, found elsewhere in this vol- ume, deal with this important subject in detail. It is not in the province of this book to go very deeply into the matter of typographical make-up, but it may be noted in passing that one of the worst handi- caps of the average country newspaper is its slovenly appearance. This is largely caused by the use of too many kinds of display type, by inartistic headings, and by poor ink. The amount of ink required for a country newspaper edition is not large, and it pays to use a good grade. Leaded brevier type is also better than solid type of a larger size, because it makes clearer and more attractive work. The head- 216 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER lines should be in harmony with the rest of the dress, and should be constructed to tell the news. Head- line writing is treated more at length in the chapter on Editors and their Methods. The usual defect in the advertising columns is that the country printer uses too many different kinds of type in the same ad. He mixes black Gothics, old English, Jensen, De Vinne, and even script letters along with the usual Roman body type and Italics in a way that is bar- barous. The result is repellent to an artistic eye, though nine out of ten persons might not be able to tell why. Much more effective results may be had with simply two or three harmonious styles of letter. If your fonts are not large enough, it will pay to in- crease them in the serviceable lines. In every growing town there comes a time when the editor of one of the local weeklies begins to think of publishing a daily. No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to when a community may safely be asked to support a daily paper of its own, but no editor will make a mistake if he acts upon the advice to postpone the daily just as long as he can without yielding the field to somebody else. If the town has not considerably more than 4,000 inhabitants it may even be better to let the other man make the experi- ment. Many a town of 5,000 has its graveyard sacred to the memory of a local daily born out of due sea- son. There are in the United States 2,226 daily news- papers, of which more than 2,000 are published in towns of less than 100,000 inhabitants. These papers are the secondary schools from which come some of the most capable workers on the great dailies, but the first years of a new daily are likely to be strenuous. The country editor who feels called to turn his weekly into a daily may rest assured that the task will involve 217 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM more hard work and sleepless nights than he imagines before trying it. Yet somewhere between the 4,000 and the 10,000 population mark each town is quite certain to have its first daily, and if it be a growing town the property may in time become extremely valuable. It is safe to count on sinking some money during the first year or two, and unless thi publisher be prepared for this he should not risk the experiment. The best patron- age that a daily can hope for is one subscription for every ten of the population in its legitimate territory. It is impossible for the editor of the weekly to know beforehand whether his community will support a local daily or not. The only way is to start one when the time seems fully ripe for it, keeping the weekly going to fall back upon if a thorough trial of a few months should prove that the daily can not live. The change from a weekly to a daily is one of the most critical points in the process of journalistic evo- lution. One man and an assistant may run a fairly good weekly, but the daily requires a force organized on the same lines as that of the metropolitan journal. Four distinct departments must be created news, business, mechanical, and circulation. The paper must be delivered by carrier. The news-gathering system outlined for the weekly will make a good basis for that of the daily, but it must be extended, and some of the correspondents can no longer be expected to work merely for glory and a copy of the paper. At least one reporter will be needed to collect the town news every day. The salaries paid to reporters in country towns and in the smaller cities range from $5 to $20 a week, and those of assistant editors from $20 to $30. When the daily is started the business and press departments will also have to be strength- 218 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER ened. To organize all these departments the pub- lisher should have had some personal experience in the office of a daily. Should he attempt it without this experience he must purchase his knowledge with costly errors as he goes along. From the foregoing outline of the work of a coun- try editor it may readily be seen that his place is no sinecure. To do good work and win lasting success he must have a good general education. He should know how to write clear and correct English. A newspaper that abounds in slang and violates the sim- plest rules of grammar in every paragraph can never obtain the respect of the educated people in the com- munity, and these are the ones whose opinion is usu- ally of most importance. The editor must also be a man of judgment, able to separate the trivial from the essential. The country paper must print more insignificant items than city papers can admit into their columns, but the line should be no less clearly drawn in its proper place. Smith may be pleased to read that he owns a new calf, or Jones that he has whitewashed his chicken coop, but it is not just to the rest of the subscribers to give them such worthless news for their money. A good rule is to bar out every item that will not be of real interest to at least a dozen people. A country editor ought to be sociable, tactful, and alert. He ought to have a keen insight into human nature. Without these qualities, as well as a fair education, there is little hope of anything beyond a bare livelihood for him. If he do not understand human character he will be betrayed into printing things that will estrange his friends and drive away business. If he be not sociable by nature, enjoying intercourse with people and making himself welcome 219 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM wherever he goes, he can not get at the inner busi- ness or political life of his community. It is scarcely necessary to say that truthfulness and honesty are absolutely essential to real success in this as in other lines of endeavor. By being careful never to betray a confidence an editor may gain much valuable infor- mation which he may not be able to print, but which will help him in gaining a position of influence. This is especially true in matters of local politics. At the same time his duty is to give as much news to his subscribers as possible, and he will often be forced to decide between their interests and those of some person who wants to have a news story suppressed. Each case of this kind must be decided on its own merits with' the fact always in sight that a news- paper succeeds in proportion to the amount of news it can honorably get and print. It is well also to remember that, while it is a crime to make a needless enemy, no wide-awake newspaper was ever published for a year without making a few enemies. Politics always is a subject of importance to news- paper men, but the mistake made by many country editors is in being too violently partizan. They need- lessly make enemies of the whole portion of the com- munity belonging to the opposite party, and thereby limit their circulation, their profits, and their influence. In the vast majority of cases it is better for the coun- try editor to remain independent. He can do him- self a world of harm by trying to ape the " stalwart " partizan methods of the big dailies, or by making his paper a party mouthpiece in the hope of securing election printing or advertising, or other political favors. The advertising will usually come of its own accord if the editor sees to it that his paper is the most widely read in the county, and the way to make 220 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER it so is to avoid making needless enemies and to get all the news. There are numerous cases, of course, where it is necessary to run a party paper, but it is never wise to do it in such a way that nobody in the opposite party can read it without anger. If the editor gains some political influence, he will do well to remember that he is not the whole of his party in his county. When the head of a country newspaper sets out to make himself a local dictator he is riding for a fall. Local feuds or quarrels of any kind are a good thing to let alone. When they result in overt acts, such as the injury or killing of one of the participants, the local journalist can not avoid making mention of the matter; but if he be wise he will refrain from taking sides or commenting on the subject. He will inevitably make more enemies than friends if he attempts to justify either combatant. All religious controversies should be avoided for the same reason. These are some of the things that inexperienced editors have to learn by ruinous experience. As for the minor errors of spelling, grammar, and punctua- tion, they may be committed without such disastrous results, but in the long run they cause loss of influence and money. It would be a good plan for every coun- try editor occasionally to get some competent critic to read his paper through and mark all the faults in it. It will help him to weed out many errors which he is repeating in every issue because he is unconscious of them. Without the " nose for news," of course, there is no success for any man in the newspaper business. But this is something that develops with use, and the country editor can acquire as keen a scent as the city reporter. Genius in this line consists largely in 16 221 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM the ability to guess shrewdly what is likely to occur when certain conditions exist, and to be on hand to get the news when the expected happens. The coun- try editor who has this and the other qualities just named has every chance of gaining an enviable posi- tion in his community. He has more individual lib- erty and more personal fame than the subeditor on a large city paper, and he has the whole range of pro- motion before him if he should wish to seek a wider field. Whether or not the country editor or reporter ought to seek a position on a metropolitan daily is a question which Henry Watterson answers in this wise "fashion : " A newspaper worker in the town or small city is more likely to pursue the even tenor of his way than is the young man on the staff of a great city paper. Position is surer, competition is less fierce, and life generally is less strenuous in the smaller com- munities. While no man may be sure of what he may or may not be able to accomplish under the de- veloping influences of urgent and exacting circum- stances, it is safer and better for one who does not feel that he possesses unusual ability to remain in the quiet town, as a newspaper worker, than to embark on the tempestuous sea of journalism in a great city. This is particularly true if he be a man with a family and find his pleasure in a tranquil domestic life. But if he is of a restless spirit, always craving for new fields to conquer, he may as well attempt metropoli- tan journalism, for he will never be content until he does. The chances are, of course, that he will never rise above the crowd, and in this case his life will be much harder and less satisfactory than if he had re- mained in the quiet town. On the other hand, he 222 EDITING A COUNTRY PAPER may possess the marked journalistic ability which will be recognized nowhere so quickly as in the great center, and he may attain a position that will give him a broader, more active, and more influential life than could ever have been his in the home town. But this question may be solved, like that other as to whether a young man shall enter journalism, solely on the circumstances of the individual case. " A man of brilliant talents and sterling character can not, after all, conceal himself from view. Whether in the city or in the country, he will become conspicu- ous, and in the degree that he is an independent man, his own master, he will be both loved and hated." 223 XVI THE LAW OF LIBEL NEWSPAPER writers and publishers usually go into the business of handling the edged tools of speech without knowing what is libel and what is legitimate criticism. It is not strange, therefore, that they some- times have to learn the law of libel at the hands of an unfriendly jury. It is true that the subject is com- plicated and that the statutes and decisions in many regards are in conflict with each other, so that one is inclined, at first sight, to sum up the subject in Lord Kenyon's alarmingly indefinite dictum, " A man may publish whatever a jury of his countrymen think is not blamable." There are many features of the law of libel, however, that are much more explicit than this ; nor is it necessary to take a course in a law college to be able to avoid libelous language. So far as the general principles and the chief pitfalls can be set forth in a brief chapter, I shall attempt to do it here, using as few technical terms as may be compatible with accuracy. Libel is defined by the law books as malicious defamation, but in most cases it will do no good to show that the libelous words were printed without actual ill-will. If they are defamatory and false, the law takes it for granted that they are malicious, no matter how innocent the editor or publisher may be of any actual malice. The proprietor of the paper may 224 THE LAW OF LIBEL show that he was absent in another town and never saw the offending statement until after it was pub- lished, or that it was published contrary to his ex- plicit orders; yet he is liable in a civil action none the less. The same is true of the editor or reporter who writes a defamatory statement in ignorance of its libel- ous nature. The excuse, " Didn't know it was load- ed," is usually received as a complete defense where one man shoots another, but the excuse, " Didn't know it was libelous," or " Didn't know it was going to be published," is not accepted as a defense where one man libels another. There is an inconsistency here, but the law stands as stated, and it is well for owners and editors of newspapers to be aware of it. Malice, however, must be more clearly shown in criminal than in civil cases, and the disproof of actual malice will tend in mitigation of punishment. For this reason the prompt publication of a retraction or apology has its value, even though not accepted by the injured person. Refusal to retract can be used to show actual malice and to secure extra or " puni- tive " damages. No punitive damages can be secured where there has been a prompt and reasonable apology. Libel is merely slander in a written or printed form, but the law is more severe against the written than against the spoken defamation. You may call a man a rascal, a scoundrel, or a liar to his face with- out being amenable to any law save that which he may enforce with his fists, but the same words in print render you liable to prosecution for criminal libel or to a civil suit for damages. The gist of crim- inal libel is a breach of the peace, and the punishment is imprisonment. The gist of civil libel is an injury 225 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM to some person's good name, and the punishment is the payment of a fine to the plaintiff. Separate actions can be brought against a man for both kinds of libel as the result of a single defamatory statement. The things that it is not advisable to print seem alarmingly many when one reads a law book on newspaper libel, but the American press really has all the liberty of criticism that it ought to have. This will become more clear under the discussion of what the law calls privileged publications. In the mean- while it will be useful to consider some of the chief publications that are libelous. Published words charging a person with any crime, large or small, are actionable. Whenever the charge or insinuation, if true, will subject the accused to an indictment and an infamous punishment, the words are in themselves a valid ground for a libel suit. The charge is actionable even if the crime be not named. It is libelous to say : " If he had had his deserts he would have been hanged before now/' or " He is a murderer," or " He is a thief," even though the person murdered or robbed be not named. This does not apply, of course, to cases where persons have been found guilty of crimes by due process of law. We are speaking of persons who have not been pro- nounced guilty by a judge or a jury. But how if the charge be true, and the man be really a murderer or a thief? Then the full proofs to secure conviction in court must be at hand, in which case they will serve as an adequate defense in libel proceedings; but the proper place to present such charges and proofs against a private citizen is not in a newspaper but before a grand jury or to an officer of the law. It is advisable to leave a few things for the courts and police to do, and the bringing of crim- THE LAW OF LIBEL inal indictments is one of these. The matter becomes legitimate newspaper material after the arrest, when it is allowable to print the charge on which the person has been arrested, even though it should turn out that he is innocent. Care must be taken, however, not to assume the guilt of an arrested person before it has been established by a trial. To do so, in the head- lines or elsewhere, is distinctly libelous. To charge a person with bribery is actionable. It is not necessary that the word bribery or bribed be used. Any words or even cartoons which carry to the minds of ordinary readers the idea of bribery are valid cause for libel proceedings. The same is true of charges of embezzlement, extortion, forgery, get- ting money under false pretenses, murder, perjury, rape, incest, or any other crime. It is libelous to print anything that will bring social degradation upon a person unjustly. Written words imputing want of chastity to either a man or a woman are always action- able, and usually may be depended upon to make ex- pensive trouble for the paper that prints them. Proof of the truth of an accusation is almost always a full and complete defense, and is the one now most frequently used in libel suits. The old common law maxim, " The greater the truth the greater the libel/' has been discarded in every State in the Union. In Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Texas the truth may be proved in complete defense in criminal proceedings as well as in civil actions for libel, even though the truth has been told maliciously. In Massachusetts the truth is declared a sufficient justification unless malicious intention is proved. In all the remaining States the general rule prevails that a criminal libel 227 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM is justified by proof of its truth, provided the publica- tion was made with good motives and for justifiable ends. In this case the defendant must not only sus- tain the burden of proving the truth, but must also show affirmatively that his motive in making the pub- lication was good and the end justifiable. In civil actions the truth is always a complete de- fense, even if the motive is shown to be malicious. The rule is that a man is not entitled to damages for injury to a reputation to which his true character did not entitle him. The burden of proving that the words are true, however, rests upon the man who published them, for if they are defamatory they are deemed in law to be false until the contrary is shown. The proofs must be as broad as the charge, and strong enough to convince a jury. With experience an editor usually grows less and less inclined to print stuff containing a possible libel suit, for evidence is always hard to get and juries are uncertain things. Where two editors engage in a controversy and hurl abusive epithets at each other, they are both in the wrong, and neither is likely to secure damages from the other if the matter be taken into court. " A plague on both your houses " is usually the verdict. Language may be libelous which is not defamatory of a person, but which impairs the value of a property. Thus it is libelous falsely to underrate the circulation of a particular newspaper, though no rival can call you to account in the courts if you assert falsely that your own paper's circulation is the largest in the United States. Words that especially affect a man in his office or profession may be actionable, though the same words would not be actionable if applied to another nian. Thus it is libelous to say of a physician that THE LAW OF LIBEL he would not know the difference between a case of scarlet fever and a case of surgical instruments, while the same words might be used with impunity against a shoemaker. It is always actionable to call a lawyer a shyster or a physician a quack. A country attorney secured damages of a paper that said he had failed to prosecute a person accused of crime " purely out of political fear." There is no danger in calling a lawyer a crank. It is wiser, however, to leave all opprobrious epithets out of a newspaper. It should be noted that the word " actionable," as used in this chapter, means merely that a legal action can be maintained, if proved. Whether the court will ultimately decide for the plaintiff or for the defendant will depend upon many things, of which some can be foreseen and some can not. Published words, even though they do not impute the commission of a crime, are actionable without proof of special damage if they tend to disgrace, de- grade, or injure the character of a person or bring him into contempt, hatred, or ridicule. A South Car- olina court has held that it is libelous even to exag- gerate a woman's age in print. It is actionable to say in print that a certain person is incompetent, ignorant, or untrustworthy, but the plaintiff can not secure damages if he be a public official or a candi- date for elective office. Any words giving the impres- sion that a merchant or business man is insolvent or in financial embarrassment are actionable. So are words imputing dishonesty or fraud, or tending in any way to prejudice a man in his office, profession, or business. Special caution should be used in ma- king charges against private individuals. Charges against public officials are protected up to a certain point by the law of privilege. 329 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM A publication is not libelous unless it is possible to identify the person defamed. Thus it is not libel- ous to say that every lawyer is a scoundrel and every doctor a charlatan; but if a particular attorney or physician can show that the charge was meant to apply to him personally, and that readers so under- stood it, he has a legal right to damages. It is not necessary that the offense be definitely stated. It is quite immaterial what meaning the writer meant his words to convey. Whether the utterance is libelous or not depends entirely upon how the ordinary reader understands it. It is no defense that the publication was made in jest, or that the defendant was intoxicated. Insanity, however, is a complete de- fense. The writer or publisher will not be allowed to plead that he did not know the words were libelous. If witnesses can be brought forward to testify that to their minds the words were such as to induce an ill opinion of the plaintiff or make him seem con- temptible or ridiculous, then the plaintiff has a case and can secure a verdict, provided he can convince a jury of the falsity of the charges. If the editor can show that the publication was made without any wrongful intent it may mitigate the amount of dam- ages, though it can not prevent the plaintiff from recovering the full amount of any actual financial loss he can prove he has sustained. When the alleged libel comes under the law of privileged publications, the question of intent or mal- ice becomes important, for a privileged publication is not actionable even if false unless it appears that the writer or publisher was actuated by express ill will. This is a large concession, and it is important that every newspaper man should know the scope and limits of the power it confers. In the first place it 230 THE LAW OF LIBEL should be understood that an editor or reporter has no more freedom of criticism than any other citizen. Every one has a right to comment on matters of pub- lic concern, provided he does it with fairness and an honest purpose. The law of privileged publications is a widening of the scope of criticism on public mat- ters for the public good. This is what gives news- papers the right to criticize public officers fearlessly (and sometimes scandalously), to publish the news of the courts, and to pass judgment upon books, plays, and works of art. The liberty thus allowed, however, is limited to criticism and does not include the statement of facts otherwise actionable. An editor who charges an alderman with accepting bribes is making an action- able statement, and may be compelled to pay damages if he fail to prove his charges. It is actionable to ask a corrupt official or political boss " where he got it," but the guilty ones usually take good care not to carry the subject into court. In comments upon pub- lic matters and men it is only where the publisher goes beyond the limits of fair criticism that his lan- guage passes into the region of libel at all, and the question whether these limits have been transcended is one for the jury. Charges imputing a criminal offense or a moral delinquency to a public officer, if false, can not be privileged, though the editor has made them in good faith. How far may the editor lawfully go in criticizing a candidate for public office? Whenever a man con- sents to run for an elective position, every elector has the right to discuss such man's fitness and communi- cate to others any facts or opinions he may possess regarding the candidate's character and conduct, pro- viding he states as fact only the truth and as opinion 231 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM only honest belief. This defines the scope of the ed- itor's rights and duties in the matter. If he publish falsehoods against the candidate, imputing to him a criminal offense, he will not be shielded by the law of privilege. If he wish to establish the fact that the man has a bad record and has been guilty of criminality of any kind in the past, he may do so with impunity if he has absolute proof to substan- tiate his charges; otherwise he does it at his peril. Where the law of privilege applies, it protects the publication of opinion, even when false, but not a false statement of fact. Even in privileged matter damages can be secured if it can be proved that the communication was made with malice and not in good faith and for the public good. The idea prevails among many newspaper writers that the libelous nature of a publication can be miti- gated by interpolating such words as " alleged," or " it is said," or " according to report," or some other circumlocution throwing the responsibility upon somebody else. This idea is wholly erroneous. If a statement be libelous without the use of the word " alleged " it is equally libelous with it. Nor is the crediting of an actionable statement to another paper or to some speaker any protection for the man who publishes it. A publisher can be sued for an article credited to an exchange just as easily as for one written in his own office. It makes no difference whether the original publisher be sued or not ; that is a matter for the plaintiff to determine as he pleases. The reckless repetition of a mere rumor, even against a candidate for office, without any attempt at investi- gation of its truth or probability, will not be protected by the rule of privileged publications. Every paper is responsible for what it prints, no matter what the 232 THE LAW OF LIBEL source may be. Plastering " alleged " all over a story merely proclaims that the paper is purveying irre- sponsible gossip of a defamatory nature; it does not protect anybody from the consequences thereof. " A man/' says one good authority, " can not law- fully publish a story of another which is calculated to make him contemptible or ridiculous in the eyes of his associates or acquaintances, though he accompanies the publication with a statement of his disbelief in the story." There are three chief classes of privileged mat- ter, namely: comment on public men and measures, reports of judicial and legislative proceedings, and criticisms of literary and art productions. The special protection granted to the press in such cases consists in the fact that the usual assumption of the law that every defamatory publication is prompted by malice does not apply. So long as the report is made fairly and in good faith no harm can come to the paper through the courts. This valuable right of free news and free criticism is the foundation of the real power of the American newspaper press. Unfortunately the right is sometimes abused, but the press is improving in this respect. The law aims to encourage full reports of judicial proceedings, but it is not allowable to print a report if the court prohibits it. Nor will the privilege pro- tect blasphemous or indecent matter contained in a true report, as, for instance, in that of a divorce case. The report must be fair and accurate, and it must be in the nature of news, not comment. All comment on court matters should be reserved for the editorial columns. Then if it arouses any objection it will make less trouble than if it appeared in the news col- umns or in the head-lines. 233 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM It is actionable for a reporter, in writing his story, to intimate that the testimony of a witness is false, or a ruling of the judge unfair, or to pass judgment in any way upon the proceedings or the probable out- come of the trial. It is allowable to condense the report, but the condensation must be fairly done. The paper forfeits the protection of the law of privilege if it picks out the defamatory matter in the testimon> and publishes that alone. If the report involves testi- mony that defames persons not parties to the proceed- ings, it is still privileged if the report be accurate and impartial. But defamatory remarks by an attorney uttered in court without evidence or explanation, should be reported with caution, for the aegis of the privilege does v not cover them. A Pennsylvania paper reported the speech of a lawyer who said a certain man was a swindler and could not be believed upon oath. The paper was found guilty of libel, and the judge said : " The speech of counsel in judicial pro- ceedings does not afford matter for a privileged publi- cation, and if it contain scandalous and defamatory matter a prosecution for libel will be maintained." If a report be written by a regular reporter the presumption will be that it was published without malice. If it be prepared by a lawyer interested in the case the jury will take it for granted that the report is biased and unfair. The danger in employing an interested lawyer to report a case is apparent. When a libel affects any of the parties in a judicial trial it becomes contempt of court. Any comment of the press that seems to the court to seek to influence the outcome of the trial may be punished as con- tempt. It is allowable to print temperate editorial comment on a case, even while pending, but experi- enced editors have learned to be very cautious and 234 THE LAW OF LIBEL non-committal on such subjects. A judge can con- strue as contempt any article which he may regard as tending to prejudice the jury or the public, and he can place the offending editor or reporter on trial. If it be found that the writer has criticized the court or any of its officers unjustly or intemperately, or has published a false or unfair account of the case during its pendency, the offender may be imprisoned or fined for contempt of court. The cases where newspaper men most frequently get into trouble of this kind are those in which they have cast reflections on the con- duct of witnesses, parties, counsel, judges, or juries during the pendency of a case. To prophesy what the court is going to do in a certain case may be punished as contempt, especially if the comment be derogatory. The proceedings of every court, whether of a jus- tice of the peace or of a court of record, may be reported under the same privilege, provided the court be held with open doors and the proceeding be not ex parte. The proceedings of a town council may be reported the same as those of a court, even though they include defamatory matter, provided the report be substantially true. The same applies to State legis- latures, to the houses of Congress, and to other public deliberative bodies. But whether this exemption from liability applies to political and other public meetings is still unsettled. The proceedings of a grand jury are not legiti- mate news matter and will not be privileged if pub- lished. Such deliberations become proper news matter only when the indictment has been returned into court. The report of the execution of a criminal does not come within the privilege. A murderer made a speech from the scaffold in which he falsely charged his counsel with having mismanaged the case. 235 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM His speech was reported in a New York paper and the lawyer recovered damages. It is now fairly well settled that the privilege extends to arrests, so long as the reports do not assume the guilt of the accused and are not defamatory in other respects. In a Maine case it was held that to say a man has been arrested for drunkenness does not amount to saying he was drunk. Thus if the writer can prove that the man was arrested, even if the arrest was unwarranted, his defense will be good. But if the writer goes beyond the mere fact of arrest and assumes that the person is guilty of the offense, the publication will not be privileged. Within the same limitations it is allowable to state that a warrant has been sworn out for the arrest of a person suspected of crime. There is especial danger in the head-lines in cases of this kind. The desire of the head-line writer to cram the gist of the story into a limited number of words often leads him to make bald assertions which sacrifice the privileged character of the publication. Many an article which otherwise would be harmless is rendered libelous by the heading over it. For ex- ample, a New York paper published a report stating that one Edsall had been dismissed from the police force on a charge of blackmail. This report itself would have been privileged, but it was headed " Blackmailing by a Policeman," and the court held that this title destroyed the claim of privilege. All public or semipublic business projects that depend upon popular favor or confidence are legiti- mate objects of newspaper criticism and are covered by the privilege. Thus the management of railway and insurance companies, banks, boards of trade, charitable organizations, and public fairs may be crit- icized so long as the writer acts in good faith and does 236 THE LAW OF LIBEL not seek to make the law of privilege a cloak for defamation of character. Public criticism is chal- lenged whenever an individual or a company invites public attention in any way, as when a man delivers lectures, or sells patent medicines, or advertises any business enterprise. The newspaper is a guardian of the public welfare under our system. Hence it has the right to criticize everything of a public nature. The true test of a question of privilege is stated thus by a leading authority : " Would the publication, if true, tend to promote the public good? Then if false, but published without malice, it should be pro- tected by the law of privilege." Criticism of literature, the drama, music, or art is fully protected by the law of privilege. The book reviewer may slash to his heart's content without fear of a libel suit, so long as he makes no misstatements of material facts and does not attack the personal character of the author. It is well settled by innumer- able precedents that an author, artist, musician, or book publisher can not recover damages for the stric- tures of a critic upon his work, no matter how much pecuniary loss he may suffer in consequence. This continues to be true even where the critic is unjust. But the reviewer is not privileged to attack the per- sonal reputation of the author. It is libelous to say that an author lies, or to impugn his motives in wri- ting his book. James Fenimore Cooper, the novel- ist, established the rights of authors in this respect through a remarkable series of libel suits which he argued in court himself, winning a substantial verdict in nearly every case. A New York editor, in review- ing one of Cooper's novels, said : " We were certainly not prepared to find that the infatuation of vanity or the madness of passion could lead him to pervert such 17 237 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM an opportunity to the low and paltry purpose of bol- stering up the character of a political partizan and official sycophant." The editor had to pay $300 for the article. The same limits apply to criticism of art, music, and the drama. It should be noted, however, that private theatricals or private art exhibits are not sub- jects of privileged comment, because they do not con- cern the general public. Another important excep- tion exists in regard to comments upon candidates for an appointive office. When an officer is to be elected by public suffrage, his qualifications may be discussed in the press; but when an appointment Is to be made by a board of a limited number, such as a city council,* charges of the candidate's unfitness should be made to the appointive power and not to the public at large. Criticisms of candidates to be ap- pointed by a mayor, governor, or president fall in the same category. There is no good reason why such publications should not be privileged the same as the others, but the law at present affords no protection for them, and it is well to realize the fact. Seditious libel tending to subvert the public peace may result in the suppression of a paper, but such cases are rare and usually belong to war times. There are three effective pleas of defense in libel proceedings, namely, that the thing complained of is not defamatory, that it is true, or that it is privi- leged. Writers would do well to avoid publishing any statement that can not with certainty be defended on one of these lines. Technically every man connected in any way with the publication of a libel is responsible for it, including the reporter, copy reader, managing editor, publisher, compositor, pressman, distributor, news dealer, and 238 THE LAW OF LIBEL newsboy on the street. It is libelous even to read the offensive article aloud to others. But as a matter of practise the less responsible parties, such as the pressman and carriers, are not held accountable unless it can be shown that they assisted knowingly in pub- lishing the libel. The action may be brought against one, two, or all of the responsible parties, but as a matter of fact the publisher is nearly always singled out to bear the consequences alone. This is especially true in civil suits, since he is the one most likely to have money, and since he is always legally responsible in such suits. He is responsible even though the mat- ter was inserted in defiance of his express orders. From the publisher's point of view this seems not quite just, especially as he can not recover anything from the employee who made the trouble ; but he at least has the recourse of discharging the offending editor or reporter. The responsibility of the proprietor grows out of the legal doctrine that a principal must answer for the acts of his agent within the general scope of the authority he has conferred upon the agent. Thus in a Michigan case the court ruled that where a propri- etor of a paper has retained employees who ought not to have been kept he is liable in punitive damages if through recklessness or malice of such employee a libel has been published. In every case a party who has been actuated by malice is himself subject to punitive damages, but the publisher usually is the one who suffers. The proprietor of a newspaper, in the words of Townshend, " may be compared to one who keeps a dangerous animal, and who is bound so to keep it that it does no harm. If harm ensues, he must answer for it." A person who has been libeled may sue any or 239 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM all of those responsible for the publication, but in no case can he secure a larger total of damages than he could secure from one defendant alone. The law requires that he state definitely the amount of dam- ages sought, and he usually takes good care to see that the sum named is not too small. When partners publish a paper, a libelous publication by one of the partners makes each equally liable for a part or the whole of the damages. A corporation can sue or be sued for libel exactly as an individual. When several persons are sued jointly, the paying of the fine by one of the defendants wipes out the score against the others. A defendant against whom damages have been recovered can not compel another person who might have been sued jointly with him, but who was not sued, to pay any share of the damages. It is a legal maxim that " there is no contribution among wrong-doers." Thus if a publisher be compelled to pay damages for the negligent or malicious act of an editor he can not compel the editor to reimburse him for the loss. Likewise, if a reporter suffer fine or imprisonment for something he has written under the orders of a superior, he is without redress. He is not even allowed to plead in court that he acted under another's orders. The proprietor is responsible for his advertising columns the same as for the news or editorial col- umns. The " classified ads " especially require watch- ing. The New York Herald once had a verdict of $10,000 damages awarded against it for publishing an advertisement worded thus : " The blackmailing crowd in West Twenty-fifth Street had better beware, cau- tious 51-53." The woman who kept a boarding- house at that address proved that her business was injured. 240 THE LAW OF LIBEL If you are a newspaper proprietor and a man comes to you with a communication or an advertise- ment which you think may be libelous, offering to give you a written contract to reimburse you for any loss you may sustain through a libel suit, such con- tract will be void. You will suffer, and the other man can not be compelled to pay a cent. In the same way a reporter, if fined for a libel which his em- ployer ordered him to write, can not recover indem- nity from the employer, even though the latter has agreed in writing to pay such indemnity. The maximum penalty in case of criminal libel is six months or a year of imprisonment, varying in the different States. There is no limit to the amount of damages that can be asked for in a civil action, but the verdict is usually very much smaller than the sum demanded. Civil suits are more numerous than crim- inal prosecutions, the number being swelled by what may be called speculative libel suits, in which foolish or unprincipled persons try to make money out of the alleged damage to their characters. Many libel suits are practically blackmailing schemes. Fortunately suits of this kind are rarely profitable, except to the rascally lawyers who encourage them. Many a plain- tiff, even though nominally successful, has bitterly re- gretted that he ever issued his writ. It would be well if the public could be made to realize that an action for libel is a dangerous experiment. In a large majority of cases the plaintiff in a civil suit, after advertising to all the world that he is willing to sell his reputation for money, discovers that his reputa- tion won't bring enough after all to pay his counsel fees. When it is really necessary to have redress for a libel it is usually much wiser to seek vindication through criminal proceedings than to sue for damages 241 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM in a civil action. But the lawyer with an eye to a bill of costs will give different advice. The worst injustice to newspapers in this connec- tion is not in the verdicts of juries but in the fact that any irresponsible person can put the paper to the expense of a libel suit. The average cost of defending a suit is $500. The Philadelphia Times once stated that it had paid more than $20,000 for the defense of libel suits in the first thirteen years of its career, though the verdict was for the paper in every case. The California statute guards against this mulcting of newspapers on frivolous charges by requiring a plaintiff to furnish a bond for $500 insuring the pay- ment of costs and charges if he fail to prove his case. In the majority of States the action must be brought within one year after the publication of the libelous matter. In nineteen States and Territories the limit is two years. In two States it is three years. Every newspaper man should read the libel laws of his own commonwealth. Unless otherwise provided in the statutes, an action for libel abates upon the death of either party. Under American and English law a deceased person can not be libeled, but it is different under French law. It has been held in Que- bec that an action may be maintained for defamation of a deceased ancestor. The person who gives libelous matter to a re- porter may be held legally responsible for it, even though the reporter does not use exactly the original language. The publisher may be required to reveal the name of the author of a libel. To prove the responsibility of a writer of libelous matter it is neces- sary to produce the original manuscript or account for its absence. If the manuscript happens to have been destroyed, however, or if it is in the defendant's 242 THE LAW OF LIBEL hands and he refuses to give it up, a copy of the newspaper containing the libel may be introduced in evidence. To prove that the defendant is the author of the libel it is sufficient to show that he threatened to write such an article. If the plaintiff authorized the publication complained of he can not recover. Every published copy of a paper containing a libel constitutes a separate offense. The jury must assess the damage once for all, but if the publisher con- tinues to sell papers after he is sued he can be held for further damages. An apology printed after the suit is filed does not count, while a repetition of libel- ous words, of course, gives ground for a fresh action. No amount of editorial care can insure absolute immunity against libel suits on an enterprising paper, but a reasonable degree of intelligent watchfulness can obviate any suits that will be decided adversely to the paper. Especially can criminal libels and the payment of " vindictive " or " punitive " damages be avoided by never giving utterance to malice and by promptly discharging any reporter or editor who shows a tendency to exploit his private enmities through the columns of the paper. Freedom of the press does not mean freedom to print whatever occurs to the imaginative, vindictive, vituperative, or mali- cious mind. Freedom is not license. The ambition to make a newspaper sprightly should be curbed by the bit of truth, freed from " malice, envy, hate, and all uncharitableness." 243 XVII THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT matters are of less importance to news- paper men than to book publishers, but questions arise at times in every editorial office demanding accu- rate knowledge of the law on this subject. What proportion of a copyrighted book or poem may one quote with safety in a newspaper? Where is the line between legitimate quotation and piracy? Under what circumstances may an American editor reprint an article or a tale from an English periodical or book under the new international copyright law? These and a score of other questions must be an- swered, and answered correctly, by the successful newspaper writer and publisher. In the first place it should be understood that the common law gives every man a property right in his intellectual production before it has been published and before it has been copyrighted under the statute. Thus when a writer sends the manuscript of a new story to an editor for inspection, with the understand- ing that it is to be paid for if used, the editor can be punished in the courts if he prints it under the name of some other author or attempts in other ways to appropriate the writer's work without compensa- tion. Such theft of an unpublished writing can be punished the same as theft of other property. In the same way a newspaper or a news association has a 244 THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT common law right in the news it gathers until the matter has been published. This invisible kind of copyright protects the unpublished works of every author precisely as his household furniture is pro- tected from appropriation by another. This common law protection ends, however, the moment a writing is published. From that point it becomes necessary to secure the protection of the copyright statute; otherwise the author's ownership in his product ceases and the matter becomes the property of the public. It is well to note what con- stitutes publication. To give away a manuscript copy of a book is not to publish it, nor does the reading of a lecture or the playing of a drama constitute pub- lication. But a thing is published, of course, when printed copies, however few, are sold unconditionally to the public. From that time forth it becomes pub- lic property and can be reprinted and sold by any- body who chooses to do so, while neither the author nor anybody else can copyright it. When an author prints a book in serial form with- out attending to the formalities required by the copy- right law he forfeits his ownership of the book. If he prints a part of his book serially without the copy- right mark on it, while the rest is properly labeled, it becomes permissible for anybody to reprint the por- tion not covered, but no more. It is quite well set- tled that a title can not be copyrighted in this coun- try ; the courts can not be depended upon to consider it piracy if the title of a book be the only portion taken. A newspaper or magazine may be copyrighted the same as a book, but the process must be repeated with each issue. A production that has no value ex- cept as a mere advertising medium can not be copy- righted; but if it can be shown that it also has some 245 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM literary or artistic value it is a legitimate subject of copyright protection. A translation can be copyrighted, though the original was not; but this does not prevent the ma- king of other translations from the same original, so long as the copyrighted translation is not pirated. When an author publishes his work in a foreign coun- try without having copyrighted it in the United States it becomes the common property of Americans. Thus every British magazine that does not bear the notice of an American copyright is open to appropriation by publishers in this country. They are free to use the whole or any part of its contents, and British publishers have the same privilege with American publications that do not bear the notice " Entered at Stationers' Hall, London." Under the excel- lent international copyright law now in existence between these two countries, a British book, to se- cure copyright in this country, must be printed from type set by American labor or from plates made from such type. It is desirable to have the dates of publication on both sides of the water coincide as nearly as possible. Under the present law, in order to secure a copy- right on any publication, it is necessary only to de- posit in the United States mails a printed copy of the title of the book or article, with the name of the claimant of copyright, addressed to " The Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C," with fifty cents as the fee for recording it. Another fifty cents should be added if you wish to receive a certificate of copyright, though this is not necessary so far as the validity of the copyright is concerned. The printed title required by the law may be a copy of the title page of such publications as have title pages. In other cases the 246 THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT title must be printed expressly for copyright entry, with name of claimant of copyright. The print of a typewriter will be accepted. A separate title is re- quired for each entry, and each title must be printed on paper as large as commercial note. Thus, in copy- righting a number of stories in the same issue of a newspaper, a separate sheet is required for each title. The title of a periodical must include the date and number; and each number of the periodical requires a separate entry and fee. The moment the letter w r ith these enclosures is started on its way to Washington it becomes lawful to publish the work in question with the notice of copyright upon it. This notice must be worded in one of two ways. Either it must read, " Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 19 , by , in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washing- ton," or, " Copyright, 19 , by ." There is no copyright if the year or the name be omitted. Thus a book or picture marked " Copyrighted," or " Copy- right by John Jones," or " Copyright, 1903," is not protected by the law. The notice " All rights re- served " is worthless if it stands alone, and is super- fluous if it accompanies a copyright notice. The copyright of a story protects the dramatic rights and the right of translation without any special notice of the fact. The law imposes a penalty of $100 for using the copyright notice on matter that has not been copyrighted. To complete the copyright it is in all cases further necessary to deliver or mail to the Librarian of Con- gress two copies of the book or other publication. These copies must be printed from type set within the boundaries of the United States or from plates made therefrom. When these simple conditions are 247 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM complied with, the copyright is complete and an in- fringement of it will be actionable. In this country it is possible to copyright a book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engra- ving, photograph, cut, print, or chromo ; also a paint- ing, drawing, piece of statuary, or a model or design for a work of fine art. In the case of paintings, draw- ings, etc., a description must be sent to the Librarian of Congress in the first communication, and two pho- tographs of the copyrighted product must be sent to complete the legal protection. The copyright warn- ing must be printed on the title-page of a book or on the page immediately following. It must be on " some visible portion " of other copyrighted articles. By the terms of the present law the deposit of the two copies has to be made " not later than the day of publication." If some of the copies are sold to the public on a prior day it invalidates the copyright. Each number of a newspaper or other periodical is considered a separate publication, so that the fore- going process must be gone through every day if a daily paper is to be kept copyrighted. The same is true of the copyrighting of a certain column of news every day, such as the London cable despatches. To copyright a serial story, however, it is necessary to do it only with the first issue. The copyright holds good for twenty-eight years from the time of recording the title. Within six months before the end of that period, the author, or his widow or child if he be dead, has a right to a renewal for the further term of fourteen years. If he or his heirs neglect to procure the renewal the pub- lication becomes public property. A total of forty- two years is the extreme period for which a copyright can be held in the United States. 248 THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT Infringement consists in copying the whole or an essential part of the copyrighted work. There can be no infringement without copying. If a person, while unacquainted with a copyrighted work, by his own independent labor produces something similar, there is no infringement. Illegal copying is not necessarily limited to literal reproduction. In the words of the American and English Encyclopedia of Law, it also includes " the various modes by which matter may be adapted, imitated, or transferred with more or less colorable alteration to disguise the piracy." A copy- right does not cover theories, speculations, or opin- ions, however, no matter how original these may be. Within certain limits it is also permissible for any writer to use the contents of copyrighted books. To define the exact limit where permissible borrowing becomes piracy, however, is extremely difficult. The question is not determined by the amount of matter taken, though this is important. One hears it stated sometimes in a careless way that it is always safe to take one-third of a magazine article or less. If this be true it is a matter of custom and courtesy, not of copyright law. Under the law an author can bring action for the copying of three lines of a book, and he may recover damages for piracy if he can prove that the three lines are an essential part of his work, and that the copy of them has diminished his profits by superseding the original work. " The question of piracy in all cases is whether a material and substantial part of the prior work has been taken." This is reasonably definite. An editor usually can judge quite accurately whether, in copying a part of a copyrighted production, he is taking so much as to diminish sensibly the value of the original by cre- ating a substitute for it and thereby reducing the sale 249 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM of it. So long as this is not done there is no in- fringement. It is quite evident that the reprinting of the whole of a copyrighted poem or a copyrighted photograph might easily be shown to be injurious piracy, while the copying of extracts from a book or a single pic- ture from an illustrated volume might not be ad- judged to be piracy. It all depends upon the copy- right holder's ability to prove that he has suffered financial injury that his work has been appropriated by another to an injurious extent. This sufficiently accounts for the book-reviewer's right to quote liberally from a book in criticizing it. The courts allow a good deal of license in such use of copyright matter, since the making of extracts for purposes of comment is often distinctly beneficial to the sale of the book from which they are taken. Pub- lishers are almost always glad to have a newspaper reproduce one or two illustrations from a book, pro- vided due credit be given. In such cases it is usually best to reproduce the original copyright notice with the borrowed cut. In the same way it is permissible for one author to quote from another for the purpose of illustrating or enforcing the propositions of his text. But much less latitude is allowed in such cases than in reviewing the book. In either case the line is drawn where the copied passages become a more or less complete substitute for the original. The gist of piracy lies in the affirmative answer to the question, Are the extracts likely to injure the sale of the original work? So long as they do not in any degree super- sede the original they may be published in a news- paper, magazine, pamphlet, or book. The moment they tend to form a substitute for the original they 250 THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT become piracy, no matter in what form they are printed. The law aims to encourage learning by allowing a fair use to be made of a copyrighted work, but at the same time to prevent a subsequent author from saving himself labor by appropriating without consideration the fruits of another's toil. The original sources of a copyrighted work are always open to all, and it is allowable to use the copyrighted work as a guide to find the original material. Ignorance is no defense of piracy. If a man re- prints a pirated copy of a copyrighted production he may be called to account the same as if he had been the original offender, though he may not have known that the matter was pirated. Both printer and pub- lisher are equally liable to the owner of the copy- right in a case of infringement. There are three reme- dies for piracy : an action of debt for penalties and forfeitures prescribed by statute ; a suit in equity for an injunction ; an action at common law for damages. The injunction is resorted to only in flagrant and urgent cases. There is a rule limiting the amount of the plaintiff's damages to the profits which the de- fendant realized by his piracy. By keeping in mind the fact that the law inter- venes only when the copy is such as to damage the sale of the original by superseding it, any question of copyright likely to arise in a newspaper office is usually not hard to settle. So far as the matter of piracy is concerned, it makes no difference whether the name of the author or his book be mentioned in connection with the quotations or not. That is a ques- tion of ethics of plagiarism not of law. Any dam- age caused by adverse comments will have no bearing on a copyright case. If it is desired to make any 251 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM unusual extracts from a book, such as the quotation of a whole chapter or the reproduction of valuable illustrations, it is always both courteous and wise to write and ask permission from the owner of the copy- right. With the use of a little consideration and a spirit of fairness there need be no trouble with the copyright question. 252 XVIII EPILOGUE FROM the facts set forth in the foregoing chapters the beginner should be able to know whether or not he desires to enlist in the journalistic army. I have not belittled the difficulties of the service ; indeed, in the desire to be unbiased I fear I may not have done full justice to the rewards and inspirations of newspaper work. American journalism is an inviting field for the brightest minds of the rising generation. It is in the prime of a vigorous and noble youth, and I believe that the coming decades will witness a steady increase in its power and active influence for human betterment. The growth of the last quarter of a century has placed the American newspaper press in advance of that of every other nation as an expression of contem- porary life. As a whole, it is closer to the people, dis- plays more vigorous enterprise, has a finer mechanical equipment, and has more capital and a larger income at its command than the press of any other country. It has the vivacity of the French journals, without their proneness to financial corruption. It has as full com- mand of official news as the German papers, without being the tool of governmental manipulators. To a large degree it has the dignity and solid worth of the British journals, without their ponderosity ; while in its various forms it represents the people of all classes more completely and sympathetically. Its faults are 18 253 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM those of lusty and honest youth. Its future is unques- tionably one of unsurpassed power and prosperity. In its present phase the American newspaper is a mirror of the happenings and popular sentiment of its epoch, showing " the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." Its effort to represent every interest and hold the friendship of all classes has made it more than ever a bond of national unity, a solvent of class antipathies, an umpire between laborer and employer, a common forum where highest meets low- est and the problems of the nation and the age are solved. The democratic spirit has no stronger ally in the world than the newspaper press of the United States. Under its surface faults it carries a sound and unwavering loyalty to the great principles of honesty and justice on which national greatness must ever rest. Journalism has never before offered so inspiring and honorable a career to the right kind of young men and women as it does in these morning hours of the twentieth century. Though the writing is for the most part anonymous, the personality of the reporter must needs help to shape and illumine every article, giving tone and character to the whole. A perfect press is not possible until we have a perfect nation, but both will advance in proportion as the press secures a high type of manhood in its publishers, editors, and re- porters. The profession is calling for and deserves to secure in increasing degree the service of cultivated men who, besides possessing the graphic faculties, are animated by enthusiasm for their chosen work, full of human sympathy, love of fair play, public spirit, and loyalty to the highest ideals of American liberty. There is no nobler ambition to fire the heart of generous youth 254 EPILOGUE than that of helping to carry American journalism as far forward in the next generation as it has been car- ried in the last. WORKS CONSULTED Journalism in the United States from 1690 to 1872, by Frederick Hudson. Harper & Bros., 1873. The Success Library, vol. ix, edited by Orison Swett Harden. The Success Company, New York. The Art of Newspaper Making, by Charles A. Dana. D. Appleton and Company. Reporting for the Newspapers, by Charles Hemstreet. A. Wessels & Co., New York. Establishing a Newspaper, by O. F. Byxbee. Inland Printer Company, Chicago. Writing for the Press, by Robert Luce. Writer Pub- lishing Company, Boston. Making a Country Newspaper, by A. J. Munson. Do- minion Company, Chicago. The London Daily Press, by H. W. Massingham. Fleming H. Revell Company, Chicago. Life of Horace Greeley, by William A. Linn. D. Apple- ton and Company, New York. Twelfth Census Report on Printing and Publishing in the United States, by William S. Rbssiter. Census Office, Washington. The American and English Encyclopedia of Law. Newspaper Libel, by Samuel Merrill. A Treatise upon the Law of Copyright, by E. J. Mac- Gillivray. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. All available magazine articles on journalism printed in the last decade. 255 INDEX Abbreviations, how to mark, 67. Ade, George, 107. Advertisements, writing, 184-190; secrets of success in, 185, 194 ; object to be aimed at, 188 ; a desirable profession, 190; how to secure ads, 191-202; rates, 195 ; the " feature " plan, 195 ; best type to use in, 197 ; exag- geration in, 198, 199 ; classified ads, 200 ; illustrations in ads, 20 1 ; total spent in advertising, 202 ; country editor should be ad writer, 207, 216 ; danger of libel in ads, 240. " Ad " writer, qualities required in, 185; aim of, 187; imperson- ality of, 188 ; pay of, 185, 189 ; place for, on smaller dailies, 192. Allen, James Lane, 157. Apology, value of, in case of libel, 225, 243. Arrests, reporting, 227, 236. Art, criticism of, legal limits, 237. Artist, work of, 139-146 ; getting a start, 140, 143 ; salary, 143 ; becoming a cartoonist, 143 ; prevalence of half-tones, 145; good demand for skilled artists, 146. Assignment book, how kept, 22, 55 ; on country papers, 214. Associated Press, origin of, 73 ; evolution of, 74 ; extent of, 75 ; method of operation, 75 ; ex- tent of business, 76 ; affiliations with foreign associations, 77 ; freedom from bias, 77 ; who its agents are, 78 ; pay, 83 ; in- structions to agents, 84. B Bennett, James Gordon, 7, 8, 10. Berkeley, Sir William, 4. Blowitz, de, 102, 152. Bly, Nellie, 152. Bok, Edward W., on women in journalism, 151. Book reviewer, function of, 96 ; what a review should contain, 96 ; best methods, 97 ; how posi- tion may be obtained, 97 ; ex- tent of quotation allowable, 250 ; legal restrictions, 237. Books, best for preparation, 114. Boston, first paper in, 4. 257 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Bribe, how to treat offer of, 37. Bribery, charge of, libelous, 227. Brown, Carl, typical reporter, 32 et seq. ; his first work on a Kan- sas paper, 32 ; learning to judge news, 33 ; writing space stories, 34 ; doing the railroads, 34 ; on the court beat, 36 ; tempted by a bribe ; doing politics, 39 ; working as correspondent, 39 ; on a Wichita paper, 40 ; run- ning a news bureau, 40 ; on a Chicago paper, 41, 45 ; lesson in interviewing, 47 ; on a New York paper, 50 ; dictating a rushed story ; successful work on a big assignment, 51. Brownell, William C., 172. Bryant, William Cullen, on wrong use of words, 173. Bulletin, use of, 83. Business departments, 23. Cable, extensive use of, 14. California, statute on libels, 242. Campbell, John, 4. Capital letters, how to mark, 69. Carlyle, remark of, 3. Cartoons, making, 143. Chicago, cable toll to, 14. Chicago, salaries in, 27 ; reporting in, 41 ; correspondence from, 102 ; advertising methods in, 194, 195, 197 ; editing a paper in suburbs of, 205. Circulation, recent increase in, 5, 9 ; total in United States, 5, 24 ; early scope of, 10 ; limits of, on country paper, 215. City editor, functions of, 1 8 ; pow- ers of, 46. Cockerill, John A., anecdote of, 27. Column, words in a, 47. Commercial reporting, 100. Compositors, 19. Conciseness, how to learn, 115. Condensation, value of, 170. Congress, Librarian of, 246. Contempt of court, 234. Convention, reporting a, 15. Cooper, James Fenimore, in libel suits, 237. Copy, how to prepare, 63 ; to be written on one side of paper, 63 ; best size of sheet, 64 ; pen ver- sus pencil, 64 ; penalties of blind writing, 64 ; margins, 65 ; folio numbers, 65 ; dash, 65 ; sheets, how to fold, 65 ; correc- tions allowable, 66 ; illustra- tions, in copy, 67 ; abbrevia- tions, how to mark, 67 ; period, 67 ; paragraphing, 67 ; caps, small caps, and italics, how to mark, 69 ; quotation marks, 70; style, variations in, 7 5 use f " I " and " we," 71 ; decalogue of rules, 72. Copy reader, functions of, 18, 89 ; salary, 27 ; service to the pub- lic, 92 ; rank and chances of promotion, 93. Copyright, law of, 244-252 ; com- mon law property right, 244 ; statute right, 245 ; international 258 INDEX copyright, 246 ; requirements of law, 246 ; copyrighting a newspaper story, 248 ; duration of copyright, 248; infringement, 249 ; quotation allowable, 250 ; remedies for piracy, 251. Correspondence schools, 42. Correspondent, position best to begin on, 31 ; how obtained, 39, 78 ; example of successful work, 40 ; position in Washington, 42 ; country correspondence, 43 ; value of right methods, 63 ; need of a query, 79 ; what not to send, 80 ; what to send, 81 ; usual pay, 84 ; how to send query or bulletin, 84, 85 ; how to begin a story, 85 ; work in Washington and other centers, 102 ; women as correspondents, 154; work on country papers, 208, 212 ; instructions to coun- try correspondents, 209. Cost of running a large daily, 24. Country paper, editing a, 203- 223 ; number of weeklies in United States, 203 ; changes in, 204 ; best location for, 206 ; editor should be an all-around man, 207 ; importance of local news, 207 ; methods of news- gathering, 208, 209 ; editing correspondents' work, 213 ; as- signment book, 214 ; subscri- bers and circulation, 215 ; start- ing a daily, 217 ; avoiding vio- lent partizanship and feuds, 221. Court news, incident in report- ing, 36. Crawford, Mrs. Emily, 152. Criticism, legal limits of, 237. Curtis, George William, 169; William E M 102. Cuts, how to mark in copy, 67. Daily papers, number in United States, 27 ; starting a daily, 217. Damages in libel suits, 240 ; pu- nitive, 225, 243. Dana, Charles A., on editorial writer, 95 ; on exchange ed- itor, 98 ; on reporter's qualifi- cations, no, in, 113, 114. Dash, at end of story, 65. Decalogue, the reporter's, 72. Declaration of Independence, 6. Department editors, 89-104. Desk work, first step in, 90; lines of promotion, 93. Dickens, Charles, 15. Dictation, useful in emergencies, 50, 118. Dodge, Mary Mapes, 156. Dooley, Mr., 107. Drama, criticism of, legal limits, 237. Dramatic editor, function of, 96 ; how position may be obtained, E Editor, country, qualifications of, 207, 219, 221 ; opportunities of, 206, 222 ; going to a large city, 222. Editor-in-chief, function of, 17; as editorial writer, 93. 259 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Editorial article, typical forms of, 94,95; use of "we," 71. Editorial writer, salary of, 27 ; rank and pay of, 93 ; how his work is done, 93 ; require- ments of his position, 94; should be a specialist, 95 ; needs long memory, no. Editors, methods of, 89-104 ; or- ganization of staff, 17, 1 8. Education, collegiate, no; Da- na's views on, in ; Greeley's idea, in; does not always lead to highest positions, 112 ; high- school course desirable, 113 ; points on private reading, 1 14. Employees, number and pay of, 24. Employment, how to obtain, 78. Epilogue, 253. Errors, chapter on, 164-183 ; spelling, 164 ; punctuation, 165 ; pronouns, 168 ; shall and will, 169 ; metaphors, 169 ; redun- dant words, 170 ; errors of fact, 170 ; wrong use of words, 171 ; Mr. Bryant's Index Expurga- torius, 173 ; "don'ts" of New York Press, 175 ; Chicago Tribune's instructions to re- porters, 178 ; errors in country papers, 221. Etching department, 145. Evening paper, work on, com- pared with morning paper, 56, 61. Exchange editor, 98. Experience the best teacher, 42. Fiction in newspapers, 133 ; prices paid for, 134 ; influence of syn- dicates on, 135. Field, Kate, 149. Financial reporting, beginning of, 8 ; present status of, 95, 100. Fire, reporting a, 56. Franklin, Benjamin, how he drilled himself, 116. Frederick the Great, 16. Gilder, Jeannette L., 97. Greeley, Horace, methods of, 8, 9 ; views on college education, in. Green, Bartholomew, 4. Gutenberg, 9. H Harland, Marian, 152, 156. Harris, Benjamin, first American editor, 4. Haseltine, Mayo W., 97. Head-lines, the writing of, 91 ; when first used, 92 ; value of correct methods, 92. Herald, New York, founding of, 7 ; pioneer in interviewing, 47 ; victim of -libel suit, 240. Hoe, Richard M., n. Howells, William Dean, 169. Humor, always salable, 136. Illustrations, first use of, 8 ; the making of, 139-146. 260 INDEX Imagination, journalistic, use of, 104. Infringement of copyright, 249 ; remedies, 251. Insecurity of employment, 25. Insurance editor, 100. Interviewing, anecdote of, 47 ; origin of, 47 ; rules for success in, 48 ; how to write an inter- view, 50. Invention, progress of, 8 ; revolu- tions caused by, 10. Italics, how to mark, 69. j Jefferson, Thomas, on value of press, i. Jokes, steady market for, 136 ; prices paid, 136. Jordan, Elizabeth G., 152. Journalism, yellow, 8, 17 ; birth of modern, 2 ; beginnings of, 3 ; young man's profession, 25; glamour of, 28 ; as avenue to literature, 155 ; an honorable career, 254. June, Jennie, 152. Kipling, Rudyard, 172. Lang, Andrew, 169. Letters to editor, to be brief, 66. Libel, law of, 224-243 ; definition of, 224, 230 ; instances of, 226, 229 ; valid defense of, 227, 238; privileged publications, 230, 233, 238 ; use of " alleged " and similar terms, 232 ; court news, 233, 2 35 ; contempt of court, 234 ; arrests as news, 227, 236 ; limits of criticism, 237 ; seditious libel, 238 ; persons responsible, 238, 241, 242 ; Townshend's dictum, 239; damages, 240; danger of libel in ads, 240 ; maximum penalty, 241 ; crim- inal versus civil action, 225, 241 ; cost of defending suit, 242 ; statute of limitation, 242 ; punitive damages, 225, 243 ; avoidance of libelous matter, 243. Lightning press, 8, u. Linotype machine, 12, 13. London, cable toll to, 14. M Managing editor, functions of, 17 ; not usually a college man, 112. Manuscripts, rules for preparing, 63. Margins, need of liberal, 65. Mechanical departments, 23. Memory, need of good, 109. Mergenthaler, Ottmar, 12. Metaphors, mixed, 169. Morgue, uses of, 103. Morning paper, work on, com- pared with evening paper, 56, 61. Morse's telegraph, n. Munson, A. J., on country pa- pers, 208. Musical critic, 97 ; legal limits of criticism, 237. 26l PRACTICAL JOURNALISM N Names, avoiding errors in, 64; how to write list of, 179, 180. New Orleans, pony express from, 7. News, how gathered, 73-88 ; what is not news, 80 ; news that is wanted, 81. News editor, 18. News-gathering, early slackness in, 7 ; reduced to a system, 54 ; neighborhood news good to begin on, 31. News Letter, Boston, 4. Newspapers, nature of early is- sues, 6 ; increase in number of, 4 ; country papers, 203 ; a mir- ror of nation's life, 254. News story, how to write a, 59 ; questions to be covered, 60 ; essentials to look out for, 61 ; example of, 61 ; reasons for method used, 61, 62; same ap- plied to telegraphic news, 85. New York, first paper in, 4 ; sala- ries in, 26 ; reporting in, 42 ; correspondence from, 102. Night city editor, functions of, 20. Night editor, functions of, 20 ; his difficulties, 22. Pages, how to number, 65. Paper, reduced cost of, 13. Paragraphing, 67. Parentheses, use of, 71. Peattie, Elia W., 156. Period, how to make, 67. Perfecting press, 12. Philadelphia, first paper in, 4. Photographs, as aid in selling special story, 129 ; demand for, 146. Poetry, in small demand, 135. Political reporting, 39. Politics, country editor's chances in, 206 ; dangers of violent partizanship, 220. Population, in proportion to news- papers, 5. Positions, rank and pay of, 16-24 ; how secured, 30 ; local paper the best to begin on, 31 ; how women may find foothold, 153. Press, American, compared with foreign, 1 ,253 ; causes of great- ness, I ; Tocqueville's view of, 3 ; evolution of, 1-15 ; Wash- ington hand-press, 10 ; cylinder press, 10 ; Hoe presses, n, 12 ; multiple press, II, 12 ; web press, 12. Press, New York, on errors to avoid, 175. Printing presses, first introduc- tion of, 3 ; primitive models, 6, 10. Progress, mechanical, 9. Promotion, natural course of, 43. Promptness, value of, 85. Pronouns, careless use of, 168. Publications, privileged, 230. Public men, criticism of, 231 238. Publick Occurrences, when is- sued, 4. Publisher, responsibilities of, 16, 17, 23. 262 INDEX Punctuation, need of correct, 165 ; uses of various marks, 166. Qualifications for journalism, 105- 119; alertness, 106 ; executive ability, 107 ; knowledge of hu- man nature, 108 ; need of good memory, 109 ; college educa- tion, no; private reading, 114; methods of self-drill, 115; short- hand, 116; typewriting, 117; summary of desirable qualities, 119. Query, use of, 79 ; example of, 85. Quotation marks, special use of, 70 ; how to use, 167. Railroads, influence on press, 5 ; railroad reporter's work, 34 ; railroad editor, 100, 101. Rayne, Mrs. M. L., 156. Real-estate editor, 100, 101. Reporter, work of, 19, 22 ; pay of, 27, 219 ; education of, 30- 44 ; at work, 45-58 ; beginning as a, 45 ; learning art of inter- viewing, 47 ; doing a big as- signment, 51 ; doing ordinary assignments, 54 ; working un- der pressure, 45, 56 ; covering a fire, 56 ; effect of the training, 56, 57 ; best style to cultivate, 58 ; how to begin a news story, 59 ; value of right methods, 63 ; reporter? anonymity of, 132 ; as an ad writer, 189 ; re- sponsibility of, for libel, 240. Reporting, directions for, 209; salaries for, in country towns, 218. Retraction, value of, in case of libel, 225, 243. Run-in mark, 68. Salaries, comparative view of, 25 > rate of increase, 25 ; average in various cities, 26, 27 ; gradually rising, 29 ; on country papers, 219. Shorthand, not essential, 116. Slavery question, influence of, 8. Smalley, Geo. W., 102, 124. Smith, Gerrit, 47. Space stories, how to write, 34, 39, 43 ; how paid for, 44. Specialism, desirability of, 25. Special stories, learning to write, 43 ; nature of, 121 ; rates paid for, 121 ; legitimate opening for beginners, 122, 125 ; different kinds, 122 ; timeliness the es- sence of value, 123 ; methods of securing assignments, 125 ; sending stories by mail, 126 ; difficulties to be met, 127 ; good subjects, 128 ; usual length, 129 ; value of photo- graphs, 129 ; widely known names desired, 130; writer usually anonymous, 132 ; occa- sional correspondence, 133 ; special articles by women, 153 subjects suggested, 211, 214. Spelling, need of correct, 164. Sporting editor, 99. 263 PRACTICAL JOURNALISM Stead, William T., on women as reporters, 161. Stereotyping process, n. Stet, meaning and use of, 69. Stickful, size of, 47. Story, telegraphic, how to begin, 85, 86 ; how to end, 86 ; how paid for, 87 ; advice on wri- ting, 87. Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 21. Style, best for news purposes, 58, 59 ; printer's style, 70 ; acquire- ment of good style, 116, 137. Subscriptions, increase in, 5, 9 ; how to secure, on country pa- pers, 215. Sullivan, Margaret, 149. Sumter as landmark of journal- ism, 2, 3. Sunday editor, work of, 120 ; mat- ter sought by, 124, 128, 129 ; sending manuscripts to, 126 ; his use of fiction, 133 ; of jokes and poetry, 135. Sunday supplement, 120-138 ; cause for its size, 120 ; nature of contents, 121, 124 ; influence on country weekly, 204. Suppression of news, 35, 36. Syndicates, newspaper, defined, 135 ; influence of, 135. Tarbell, Ida M., quoted, 155. Telegraph, first use of, 8, n ; ex- tent of present use, 14 ; use in reporting a convention, 15 ; tele- graph editor, 18. Telegraphic correspondent, how to act as, 79 ; what not to send, 80; what to send, 81 ; usual pay, 84, 87 ; how to send query, 85 ; how to begin a story, 85. Times, Philadelphia, on libels, 242. Tips, how secured, 54. Tocqueville on American press, 3. Townshend, dictum on libel, 239- Trade papers, 100. Translations, copyright of, 246. Travels, not in demand, 130. Tribune, Chicago, instructions to reporters, 178 ; New York, 9, 14. Twain, Mark, on book review- ing, 0,6. Type, advertising faces, 197, 217; best body faces, 216. Typesetting machine, 12. Typewriter, use of, 64, 65, 117. Vituperation in journalism, 7, 8, 220. W Wanamaker, John, as an adver- tiser, 184, 198. War, Revolutionary, 6 ; Mexican, 7 ; civil, 2, 9 ; Franco-Prus- sian, 14. Washington, correspondence from, 102. Washington hand-press, 10. Watterson, Henry, on bases of success, 107 ; on metropolitan journalism, 222. Web press, 12. 264 INDEX Weekly, country, 203-223. Wendell, Barrett, quoted, 116. White, Richard Grant, 173. Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 152. Women in journalism, 147-163 ; as book reviewers, 97 ; on sen- sational journals, 149 ; on con- servative papers, 150 ; exam- ples of, 152 ; how to secure places, 153 ; becoming a cor- respondent, 154 ; best open- ings on Sunday paper, 155 ; working up as contributor, 157 ; little chance for reformers, 158 ; testimony of New York news- paper woman, 159 ; Mr. Stead's views, 161 ; years of training necessary, 163 ; women as ad writers, 189. Wood pulp, use of, 13. Words, use of, 71 ; liable to mis- use, 173, 175, 178. THE END 265 WU. mc REAS V E s A c TE '^ THE PENALT? DAY AND TO $.00 OM T ^ NTHE F URTH OVERDUE. N THE SEVENTH DAY YB 021 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY