,libraries47 ,,the ,,writing ,,of ,,news ,a ,,handbook ,,with ,,chapters ,,on ,,newspaper ,,correspondence ,,and ,,copy ,,reading ,,by ,,charles ,g4 ,,ross ,,assistant ,,professor ,,of ,,journalism ,,in ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,missouri ,,new ,,york ,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company ,,copyright1 #aiaa1 ,,by ,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company ,published ,november1 #aiaa ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,u4 ,s4 ,a4 ,,to ,,my ,,mother ,,preface ,in preparing this volume the author has had in mind the needs not only of students in schools of journalism1 but of others who may desire a concise statement of the principles that govern the art of news writing as practiced by the ,american newspaper4 ,it is hoped the book will prove helpful either as a laboratory guide in the school room or as a text book for home use4 ,as the title indicates1 the book deals with one phase of journalism1 the presentation of the news story1 more especially with the writing of the story--the reporter's part in the day's work4 ,no attempt has been made to go into other aspects of journalism--the writing of editorials1 the administrative features of the work1 the delicate adjustment that every newspaper must make between its business and news departments--except in so far as they bear directly upon the subject in hand4 ,the term journalism is broadly used here to mean all branches of newspaper endeavor4 ,in common with other newspaper men1 the author admits an aversion to the word as restricted to the working field of the men who get and write the news4 ,they call themselves not journalists1 but reporters or newspaper men4 ,it is for newspaper men and women in the making that the book is primarily designed4 ,the nature of newspaper work makes it impossible to formulate an all-sufficing series of rules by which the news writer shall invariably be guided4 ,but there are certain well-defined principles1 largely technical1 that set apart the news story as a distinct form of composition1 and these the author has tried to put down simply and concisely--after the fashion of the news story itself4 ,going beyond the common practice1 there is wide divergence among newspapers in the details of 8office style40 ,methods peculiar to the individual paper can readily be acquired by one grounded in the essentials of the craft2 hence only the more significant points of departure from the generally accepted practice have been noted4 ,practically all the examples in the book are from published news stories1 reproduced in most cases exactly as they appeared in print4 ,in some1 for obvious reasons1 fictitious names and addresses have been substituted for the real4 ,with one or two exceptions the examples illustrating right methods of news presentation have been chosen not for special brilliancy1 but as fairly showing the everyday output of the trained news writer4 ,university of ,missouri1 ,columbia1 ,july1 #aiaa4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,newspaper ,,copy ,terminology--,directions for ,preparing ,copy #a ,,ii4 ,,the ,,english ,,of ,,the ,,newspapers ,clearness--,conciseness--,force #g ,,iii4 ,,the ,,writer',s ,,viewpoint ,fairness--,impersonality--,good ,taste--,originality #ag ,,iv4 ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,accuracy ,in ,observation--,in ,names--,in ,street ,addresses--,in ,spelling #cj ,v4 ,,news ,,values ,the ,reporter--,what ,is ,news8--,the ,newspaper's ,problem--,kinds of ,stories #da ,,vi4 ,,writing ,,the ,,lead ,what the ,lead ,is--,what the ,lead ,should ,contain--,observance of ,style--,leads to ,be ,avoided--,sentence ,structure--,leads ,that ,begin ,with ,names--,the ,general ,rule--,study of #ajj ,typical ,stories #eg ,,vii4 ,,the ,,story ,,proper ,compression and ,expansion--,the ,mechanics of the ,story #gi ,,viii4 ,,the ,,feature ,,story ,what the ,feature ,story ,is ,not--,stories for ,entertainment--,the ,human-,interest ,story--,the ,editor's ,problem--,sunday ,magazine ,stories #ih ,,ix4 ,,the ,,interview ,when the ,interview ,is ,incidental--,when the ,interview ,is the ,story #aac ,x4 ,,special ,,types ,,of ,,stories ,stories of ,fires--,deaths--,weddings--,crimes-- ,business--,second-,day ,stories--,rewriting #abi ,,xi4 ,,the ,,correspondent ,writing for the ,wire--,some ,pitfalls to ,be ,avoided--,what ,not to ,send--,what to ,send--,sporting ,news--,how to ,send--,handling the ,big ,story--,sending by ,mail--,general ,instructions--,payment #aej ,,xii4 ,,copy ,,reading ,qualifications for the ,work--,organization of ,copy ,readers--,editing the ,story--,rules ,about ,libel--,the ,guide ,line--,marks ,used in ,editing--,additions and ,insertions--,the ,lighter ,side--,the ,copy ,reader's ,schedule #aga ,,xiii4 ,,writing ,,the ,,head ,first ,requisites of the ,head--,definiteness--,the ,question of ,tense--,the ,mechanics of the ,head--,some ,things to ,avoid--,symmetry and ,sense--,special ,kinds of ,heads--,capitalization #aic ,,xiv4 ,,don',,ts ,,for ,,the ,,news ,,writer #baa ,,xv4 ,,newspaper ,,bromides #bbd ,,index #bca ,,the ,,writing ,,of ,,news 444 ,but however great a gift1 if news instinct as born were turned loose in any newspaper office in ,new ,york without the control of sound judgment bred by considerable experience and training1 the results would be much more pleasing to the lawyers than to the editor4 ,one of the chief difficulties in journalism now is to keep the news from running rampant over the restraints of accuracy and conscience4 ,and if a 8nose for news0 is born in the cradle1 does not the instinct1 like other great qualities1 need development by teaching1 by training1 by practical object-lessons illustrating the good and the bad1 the right and the wrong1 the popular and the unpopular1 the things that succeed and the things that fail1 and above all the things that deserve to succeed1 and the things that do not--not the things only that make circulation for to-day1 but the things that make character and influence and public confidence8--,from an article by ,,joseph ,,pulitzer in the ,north ,american ,review4 ,,the ,,writing ,,of ,,news ,,chapter ,i ,,newspaper ,,copy ,this is the age of the reporter--the age of news1 not views4 ,we are influencing our public through the presentation of facts2 and the gathering1 the assembling and the presentation of these facts is the work of the reporter4 ,there are two ideals of news4 ,the first is to give the news colorless1 the absolute truth4 ,the second is to take the best attitude for the perpetuation of our democracy4 ,the first would be all right if there were such a thing as absolute truth4 ,when jesting ,pilate asked1 8,what is truth80 he expressed the eternal question of modern journals4 ,the best we can do is to follow the second ideal1 which is to point out the truth as seen from the broadest1 the most human and the most interesting point of view4--,from an address by ,,will ,,irwin at the ,university of ,missouri4 ,,terminology ,all manuscript for the press is copy4 ,clean copy is manuscript that requires little or no editing4 ,the various steps in the gathering and writing of news that precede printing are indicated briefly in the following explanation of newspaper terms3 ,story4--,any article prepared for a newspaper4 ,a three-line item and a three-column account of a convention are both1 in the newspaper sense1 stories4 ,the term is applied also to the happening with which the story deals4 ,thus a reporter sent to get the facts about a fire is said to be covering a fire story4 ,a happening of unusual importance makes a big news story4 ,reporters are assigned or detailed by the city editor to cover certain stories1 and the task given each is his assignment4 ,a reporter assigned to visit certain definite places which are covered regularly in the search for news 7as police stations1 hospitals1 courts1 fire headquarters1 city hall1 etc47 is said to have a run or a beat4 ,a reporter scoops competing news gatherers when he gets an exclusive story4 ,the story is called a scoop or a beat4 ,stickful4--,a term frequently used in defining the length of a story4 ,a stickful is about two inches of type--the amount held by a composing stick1 a metal frame used by the printer in setting type by hand4 ,lead4--,loosely used to indicate the introduction1 usually the first paragraph1 of the story4 ,in the ordinary sense the news story has no such thing as an introduction4 ,the lead goes straight to the point without preliminaries4 ,do not confuse this word1 pronounced 8leed10 with the word of the same spelling pronounced 8led40 ,the latter word lead1 as a verb1 is an order to the printer to put thin strips of metal 7leads7 between the lines of the story in type1 thus giving additional white space and making the story stand out more prominently on the printed page4 ,editorials are usually leaded4 ,copy ,reader4--,a sub-editor who puts the copy into shape for the printer and writes the headlines4 ,sometimes called copy editor4 ,do not confuse copy reading with proofreading 7the correction of proof sheets71 which is done in another department4 ,slug4--,a solid line of machine-set type4 ,as used by the copy reader1 the term usually means the identifying name given a story1 as 8wedding10 8fire10 8wreck40 ,a story is slugged when it is so named for convenience in keeping tab on it4 ,head4--,abbreviation for headlines4 ,a copy reader is said to build a head on a certain feature of the story4 ,feature4--,noun3 ,the most interesting part of a story is the feature4 ,verb3 ,a story is featured or played up when it is prominently displayed4 ,adjective3 ,a feature story usually depends for its interest on some other element than that of immediate news value4 ,make up4--,verb3 ,to arrange the type in forms for printing4 ,noun 7make-up73 ,the process of arranging the type or the result as seen in the printed page4 ,a newspaper is said to have an effective make-up when the disposition of the stories on a page and the general typographical appearance of the whole contribute toward making the desired impression on the reader4 ,the make-up editor supervises the work of making up4 ,a page may be made over to insert late news4 ,,directions ,,for ,,preparing ,,copy ,most newspapers insist on typewritten copy2 all prefer it4 ,it can be prepared more quickly than long-hand copy after one has mastered the use of the machine2 it makes for accuracy2 it is easier to edit1 and1 because of its uniform legibility1 it saves time and expense in type-setting4 ,adjust your typewriter to leave two or three spaces between lines1 so that legible interlining in long-hand will be possible4 ,closely written copy is the abomination of the copy reader1 compelling him to cut and paste in order to make corrections4 ,never write on both sides of the paper4 ,never fasten sheets of copy together4 ,write your name in the upper left-hand corner of the first page4 ,number each page4 ,begin the story about the middle of the first page1 the space at the top being left for writing in the headlines4 ,don't crowd the page with writing4 ,leave a margin of an inch to an inch and a half at each side4 ,leave an inch at top and bottom for convenience in pasting sheets together4 ,avoid dividing words4 ,never divide a word from one page to another4 ,in writing a story in short 8takes10 or installments1 make each page end with a sentence4 ,indent for a paragraph about a third the width of the page4 ,in making corrections it is usually safer to cross out and rewrite4 ,be particularly careful about names and figures4 ,letter inserted pages4 ,for example1 between pages #c and #d1 the inserted pages should be designated #c;a1 #c;b1 etc4 ,use an end-mark to show the story has been completed4 ,the figures #cj in a circle may be used4 ,use every effort to make long-hand copy easily legible4 ,overscore n and o and underscore u and a when there is any possibility of confusion4 ,print proper names and unusual words4 ,draw a small circle around periods or use a small cross instead4 ,draw a circle around an abbreviation to show it is to be spelled out4 ,to make sure a letter will be set as a capital draw three lines under it4 ,if there is a chance that a word intentionally misspelled1 as in dialect1 will be changed by the printer or the proofreader1 draw a circle around the word1 run a line to the margin and there write 8,follow copy40 ,unless you are pressed for time1 read over your story carefully before turning it in4 ,accuracy is the first essential of news writing4 ,above all1 watch names4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,english ,,of ,,the ,,newspapers ,of the three generally recognized qualities of good style--clarity1 force and grace--it is the last and the last alone in which critics of newspaper ,english find their material4 ,it would be ludicrously superfluous to illustrate here the prevailing clearness of what one reads in the daily press4 ,to it everything else is sacrificed4 ,he who runs through the pages of his paper at a speed that keeps even pace with that of his car or train1 and yet understands what he reads1 without difficulty and without delay1 would give short hearing to a complaint on this score4 ,the same assertion may safely be made of the second of the trio of good qualities4 ,whenever and wherever force is needed1 the reporter1 no matter what his limitations of time and distracting circumstances1 manages to put it into his writing4 ,the result is plain--and inevitable4 ,beauty1 grace1 suggestion of that final touch which confers upon its object the immortality of perfect art1 are nearly always conspicuously absent4 ,we know at a glance what has happened and we get the force of whatever significance the writer has wished to impress1 but it is all hurled at our heads in the same wholesale fashion1 with the same neglect of 8form10 that the genuine ,american is accustomed to in his quick-lunch resort1 and1 in his heart1 really likes4444 ,without intending to be dogmatic about it1 we are inclined to say that1 if a newspaper's ,english makes a fair approach to the level of an educated1 intelligent man's serious conversation1 it will be doing about all that can justly be expected4 ,whatever it accomplishes more than this is to its credit4--,from an editorial in the ,new ,york ,evening ,post4 8,newspaper ,english0 has often been used as a term of reproach1 as if the newspapers1 by concerted action1 had been guilty of creating an inferior1 trademarked brand of ,english for their own purposes4 ,the term has been hurled indiscriminately at all newspapers1 the good as well as the bad1 and young writers have been warned in a vague1 general way to beware of the reporter's style4 ,as applied to loosely edited newspapers the criticism is just4 ,it is not true1 however1 that 8newspaper ,english0 constitutes a special variety of language1 to be shunned by all who would attain purity in writing4 ,there are good books and bad books1 just as there are good newspapers and bad newspapers1 and it would be as reasonable to condemn all books because they are written in a 8bookish0 style as it is to include all news writing in a sweeping condemnation4 ,no defense is needed of the style of writing in the well-edited modern newspaper4 ,free from pedantry and obsolete expressions1 the ,english of the best newspapers fulfills its purpose of telling the news of the day in language that all can understand4 ,newspaper ,english has not been created by the newspapers alone4 ,it is the language of the people1 clarified and simplified in the writing1 as opposed to the language of an earlier day which obscured the writer's thought in a maze of high-sounding words4 ,newspaper ,english1 at its best1 is nothing more nor less than good ,english employed in the setting forth of news4 ,at its worst it embodies the common faults of writing4 ,the reporter writes his story for readers of all degrees of intelligence--for the man whose only reading is newspapers and for the man of cultivated taste4 ,simplicity is the keynote4 ,this does not mean crudity or slovenliness1 for while the good news story is written with the limitations of the least intelligent reader in mind1 it should not offend the educated reader4 ,in this respect the ,bible1 the simplest of all books1 is an excellent model for the news writer4 ,in keeping with its essential simplicity of style1 the good news story is clear1 concise and forceful4 ,,clearness ,simplicity of structure and diction implies clearness4 ,the story that would appeal to the masses defeats its purpose if not readily intelligible4 ,the average newspaper reader has neither time nor inclination to puzzle over an involved sentence or to consult a glossary for the definition of a technical phrase4 ,scientific terms1 if not in general use1 should be translated into everyday ,english4 ,this is true also of legal phraseology and other words and expressions of purely technical meaning4 ,let your story explain itself4 ,if ,mrs4 ,jones got a divorce1 say so2 don't confuse the reader with the verbiage of the courts4 ,get as close to the speech of the people as good taste and correctness will allow4 ,vulgar and silly slang is not tolerated by the good newspaper1 but an expressive colloquialism may be used to avoid pedantry4 ,in striving for simplicity and clarity beware of dullness4 8,fine writing0--the kind that speaks of a barber shop as a 8tonsorial parlor0--has no place in the modern newspaper office1 but there is a demand for the writer who can infuse freshness and vigor into his story4 ,the style of your story should be simple1 its meaning clear and its diction pure4 ,try also to give it that element of originality and charm that distinguishes the best writing from merely good writing4 ,newspaper ,english1 as used by skillful writers1 displays often1 in its well-turned phrases1 its quick description and its 8featuring0 of the leading facts1 the touch of the true artist4 ,for all this the story is none the less1 in the manner of its telling1 simple and clear4 ,,conciseness 8,boil it down0 is an injunction frequently heard in the newspaper office4 ,the requirements both of the public and of the newspaper demand that the story be concisely told4 ,the hurried reader has no time for the story clogged with unnecessary words and trivial detail2 the newspaper has no space for it4 ,daily there comes to the newspaper a stream of copy from various sources4 ,the local room contributes its share1 while the telegraph editor receives scores of dispatches from special correspondents1 besides the regular service of one of the great news gathering organizations4 ,it would be neither possible nor desirable to print all of the immense amount of news matter received4 ,the paper as the reader sees it is the result of a process of careful selection4 ,many stories have been omitted1 some of them having been 8killed0 after progressing as far as the type forms1 and others have been 8boiled down0 to a few sentences4 ,the news writer1 then1 should study to be terse4 ,verbosity merely makes work for the copy reader's pencil4 ,try to say in one word what the writer who strains after effect might put into half a dozen4 ,don't say 8devouring element0 when you mean 8fire40 8,fire0 is a good ,anglo-,saxon word that everybody understands and uses--and it is twelve letters shorter4 8,a house is building0 is simpler1 shorter and more effective than 8,a house is in process of construction40 8,the society met last night and elected officers for the year0 is the simple1 natural equivalent of 8,at a meeting held last night the society perfected its organization for the year by the election of officers40 ,wordiness1 like bad spelling1 is a sign of mental laziness1 and the newspaper office has no room for the lazy4 ,,force ,force grows out of simplicity1 clearness1 terseness of style4 ,the story told in plain1 curt phrase is more effective than the story which shows a conscious striving after effect4 ,diction is important4 ,a strong word lends strength to an entire sentence1 while a weak word may spoil the vividness of an impression4 ,as a rule the words that are deeply rooted in everyday speech are stronger than their synonyms of foreign origin4 ,words derived from the ,anglo-,saxon are the bone and sinew of the language4 ,the writer who neglects them for the longer and often more euphonious words from the ,latin may add elegance to his style1 but he takes away from its power to impress4 ,the reader feels the difference1 though he may not be able to explain it4 ,brevity as well as force favors the ,anglo-,saxon4 8,begin0 is shorter than 8commence40 ,it is a better word for the news writer4 ,likewise it is better to say 8,a movement was begun0 than 8,a movement was inaugurated40 ,the latter is a word in good standing--presidents are inaugurated--but let it be confined to its proper use4 8,build0 is preferable to 8construct0 when the words may be used interchangeably4 ,examples might be multiplied1 but in the end the writer must rely on his own judgment of word-values1 sharpened by a study of good writing4 ,this rule may be formulated3 ,in seeking force1 choose the ,anglo-,saxon word instead of its foreign equivalent unless clearness demands the latter4 ,the active voice is usually more forcible than the passive4 8,jones succeeds ,smith0 and 8,a house is building0 are better news sentences for this reason than 8,smith is succeeded by ,jones0 and 8,a house is being built40 ,short sentences1 unless they become monotonous1 are preferable to long4 ,the speed with which stories are put together in the newspaper office1 especially when the writer is working to 8catch an edition10 is one factor that makes news writing forcible4 ,working under pressure1 the reporter writes with a nervous1 hurried energy that makes for short sentences and quick1 telling phrases4 ,he has no time for involved construction and prettiness of language4 ,his aim is to 8feature0 the big facts of the story--to put what he calls a 8punch0 into the lead4 ,what such a story lacks in elegance it makes up in force4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4--,a good news story1 illustrating especially the virtue of conciseness3 ,,chicago1 ,nov4 #e4--8;,it is hard to give away money10 declared ,james ,a4 ,patten1 retired ,board of ,trade operator1 at a ,y4 ,m4 ,c4 ,a4 meeting last night at ,evanston4 8,a person must acquire the habit10 he added4 8,after that it comes easy40 ,then he gave the ,evanston association #be1jjj1 with the condition that it raise an additional #ge1jjj within the next ten days4 ,the meeting opened a campaign for raising a fund of #ajj1jjj4 7,note in the foregoing the effective use of direct quotation47 ,,ii4--,simplicity of form and diction adds to the force of the following news dispatch3 ,,london1 ,nov4 #e4--;,dr4 ,hawley ,h4 ,crippen1 convicted of the murder of his wife1 ,belle ,elmore1 the actress1 to-day played his last card and lost4 ,he will be hanged on ,november #h4 ,changed as he was physically1 ,crippen maintained his composure even in the trying moment when he heard his doom pronounced4 ,at once the ,court's decision was announced1 a warden touched the prisoner on the shoulder and the latter1 without a word or gesture1 turned and left the dock4 ,he was conducted at once to ,pentonville ,prison4 ,those who have seen ,crippen during his imprisonment say that his bearing has never changed from the moment of his arrest4 ,he sleeps throughout the night soundly and eats heartily4 ,he spends much time in reading4 ,miss ,leneve has visited him in the prison three times4 7,all the salient facts of the story are summed up in the opening paragraph4 ,note the use of metaphor--8played his last card and lost40 ,touches such as this lift a story above the commonplace4 ,note1 too1 that no attempt is made at so-called 8fine writing407 ,,iii4--,rewrite the following3 ,within three hours after a 8ten spot0 had been deposited with ,chief of ,police ,william ,smith as a reward to the patrolman arresting one ,fred ,wilson1 charged with the larceny of a coat and a pair of shoes from ,j4 ,w4 ,morris at a ,south street rooming house1 said ,fred ,wilson was resting his tired body within the confines of the city bastile4 ,morris left the reward and a description of the man who1 he said1 had taken the articles4 ,each policeman was given the description and told to look out for the man4 ,it fell to ,officer ,john ,haden at the ,frisco ,depot to garner the loose change by collaring ,wilson and taking him to headquarters4 ,he had the shoes and coat in his possession at the time and told ,haden that he had merely put them on to wear for a little while4 ,it is believed that he was preparing to leave ,smithton for another haven when arrested4 7,the foregoing is a sample of 8fine writing40 ,why not say #aj or 8a ten-dollar bill0 instead of 8ten spot08 8,charged with stealing0 is shorter and more to the point than the technical expression1 8charged with the larceny of40 8,within the confines of the city bastile0 evidently means 8in the city jail40 ,other violations of good news style will be apparent after a moment's thought4 ,when in doubt ask yourself3 ,how would ,i say this if ,i were relating the incident in conversation8 ,then write it that way4 ,be natural47 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,writer',s ,,viewpoint ,newspaper work is an exacting profession1 because things a journalist has done do not count4 ,like a hen he must lay an entirely new egg every day4--,from an address by ,,arthur ,,brisbane at ,columbia ,university1 ,new ,york4 ,as many changes have come in recent years in country journalism as in any other line of human endeavor4444 ,the pronoun 8we0 has been banished from the editorial and news columns1 and the 8slop0 and 8hog wash0 known as 8puffs0--that is1 fulsome compliment and paid-for flattery--has become obsolete4--,from an editorial in the ,fulton 7,mo47 ,gazette4 ,the three notes of modern reporting are clarity1 terseness1 objectivity4 ,the news writer of to-day aims to tell a story that shall be absolutely intelligible1 even to minds below the average--since everybody reads2 to economize space to the last degree1 and to keep himself1 his prejudices1 preferences1 opinions1 out of the story altogether4--,from an editorial in the ,st4 ,louis ,republic4 ,the news writer is the agent of the paper that employs him4 ,as such1 in a wider sense he is the agent of the public1 which relies on the newspaper to keep it informed of the day's happenings4 ,the story is the all-important thing2 the reader as a rule cares nothing about who wrote it or what the writer thinks of it4 ,the viewpoint of the news writer must be that of the unprejudiced1 but alert1 observer4 ,he must approach his story with a mind open to the facts and he must record the facts unvarnished by his own preferences and opinions4 ,comment on the news of the day is the function of the editorial columns4 ,it has no place in the news story4 ,the writer who willfully injects his own likes and dislikes into the story breaks faith with his employer1 whose space he is using1 and with the public that buys the paper4 ,the ideal news story1 apart from questions of style1 has these qualities3 #a4 ,it is written without prejudice4 ,it is fair1 both in spirit and in detail4 #b4 ,it is written from an impersonal1 objective viewpoint4 #c4 ,it is written in good taste4 #d4 ,it has originality4 ,,fairness ,in writing your story remember always that it will be read not merely by a circle of men and women of your own tastes and opinions1 but by persons of all classes1 of all races1 of dozens of different shades of religious and political belief4 ,the daily press is the popular university4 ,protestant1 ,catholic and ,jew look to it for information2 it sets the standard of ,english for the masses2 for many it is the only reading4 ,the tremendous influence of the press imposes an obligation on the news writer4 ,his story must be simple and direct1 so that all can understand2 more important still1 it must be fair4 ,approach every story in a spirit of open-mindedness1 remembering that nearly every question has two or more sides4 ,tell the facts and let the reader draw his own conclusions4 ,tell all the facts essential to a clear understanding of the story4 ,a story may be true in detail and yet work an injustice by omission4 ,let your story be fair in detail and in the impression it leaves4 ,even aside from the ethical obligation1 business reasons demand fairness4 ,no paper can afford to offend a large group of readers by a slighting reference to a race or a religious sect4 ,call the races by their right names4 ,words such as 8,dago0 are forbidden by fairness1 by good taste and by business policy4 ,before making a damaging statement about a person1 be sure you have legal evidence in which there is no loophole4 ,hesitate even then--go to the city editor for instruction4 ,if you are a correspondent1 let your office know the facts--all the facts4 ,bear in mind that homicide is not necessarily murder4 ,there is grave danger1 no matter how convincing the evidence may appear to be1 in calling a person a murderer before he has been so branded by the courts4 ,if he is acquitted he has ground for a libel suit against the newspaper that has charged him with crime4 ,,impersonality ,news writing is objective to the last degree1 in the sense that the writer is not allowed to 8editorialize40 ,he must leave himself out of the story4 ,true1 he may give it1 in his way of telling the facts1 a certain individuality and power1 but he is not permitted to cross the border line between the strict presentation of news and the editorial4 ,only writers whose stories are signed are allowed to use the capital ,i4 ,they are the exceptions in modern newspaper making4 ,the average news writer1 however brilliant his work1 receives only the commendation of his fellows4 ,it is for this he strives1 and the satisfaction that comes of work well done1 rather than for public recognition4 ,always in the middle of things1 close to history in the making1--and that is one of the fascinations of the 8game0--the newspaper man must yet remain in the background4 ,the story is the big1 the vital thing4 ,in it1 for the time being1 he is willing to sink his personality4 ,the age of personal journalism in its old sense has passed4 ,in the new era the writer's personality counts for just as much1 or more1 but he must use it wholly as an instrument belonging to his newspaper and the public4 ,it is not meant by this that he must work always by rule and line1 but that he must refrain from coloring his story with his personal prejudices and opinions4 ,even the 8we0 of the editorial columns is fast being discarded for a more impersonal form4 ,most city newspapers now avoid it altogether and the same tendency is seen in the more enterprising country journals4 ,it is still used in a large number of papers published in the rural districts1 both editorially and in the news sections1 but these are gossipy neighborhood chronicles rather than newspapers in the modern understanding of the word4 ,impersonal writing does not consist alone in the omission of 8we0 and 8,i40 ,avoid generalities that are likely to imply approval or disapproval on the part of the writer4 ,if ,smith was killed by a neighbor1 tell when and where and how he was killed4 ,don't generalize by saying1 8,a dastardly crime was committed40 ,if your story is pathetic it is not necessary to tell the reader so4 ,let him find it out from the simple1 human facts4 ,in describing a pretty girl1 don't stop with saying she is pretty2 tell how she is pretty--tell the color of her hair and eyes4 ,strive always to be specific4 ,with this in mind you are not likely to stray far from the impersonal4 ,,good ,,taste ,cultivate good taste in news writing1 as in all kinds of writing4 ,your story is read by the woman in the home as well as by the man on the street4 ,leave out all revolting details and think twice before you use a word or an expression of doubtful propriety4 ,good taste distinguishes the story written carefully1 with its possible effect on the reader's sensibilities in mind1 from the story that runs recklessly into paths avoided in conversation4 ,never use cheap slang4 ,one kind of slang1 that which is clean-cut and expressive1 without taint of vulgarity1 may afford a legitimate short-cut in news writing as in speech4 ,an expression of this type1 if it persists in the language1 ultimately finds a place in the dictionary4 ,it is the other kind of slang1 the vulgar or silly1 against which the news writer must be on his guard4 ,horrible details are not wanted by the well-edited newspaper4 ,leave out the three buckets of blood4 ,the word 8blood0 in itself brings an unpleasant picture before the reader and may shock a person of delicate sensibilities4 ,most newspapers caution their writers against its overuse4 ,certain things are glossed over in our daily speech4 ,this is true in ever greater degree of the newspapers4 ,horace ,greeley said that what ,providence permitted to happen he wasn't too proud to report4 ,that is not the working principle of the modern newspaper1 which omits some things and edits others4 ,the moral obligation of the newspaper to its readers1 as well as good taste1 demands the pruning down of some classes of news4 8,all the ,news ,that's ,fit to ,print0 implies this obligation4 ,it is poor taste to attempt facetiousness in reporting a death4 ,never call a body a 8stiff40 ,puns on the names of persons1 unless they are peculiarly apt or are justified by special circumstances1 are to be avoided4 ,the same rule applies to exaggerated dialect put in an offensive manner and to nicknames of the races4 ,these instances further illustrate the need of fairness and sanity in the writer's viewpoint4 ,common sense is an excellent guide in many of the delicate little problems of this kind that crop up daily in every newspaper office4 ,,originality ,originality is the quality that gives a news story distinction4 ,rules may aid1 but the power to make a story original must come largely from the writer himself4 ,many writers can put facts together into a coherent whole4 ,the highest rewards are reserved for those who can tell old facts in a new way4 ,the main secret of original news writing lies in keeping the impression fresh4 ,everything interests the new reporter4 ,as he gains familiarity with the work1 there is danger that his viewpoint will become jaded4 ,especially if he is covering the same run of news day after day must he fight against this tendency to fall into a rut4 ,the newspaper has no use for the man in a rut4 ,the reporter who becomes cynical loses the news writer's best asset1 the power to feel the pathos or the injustice or the humor of the thing he is writing about4 ,if he himself cannot feel his story he is not likely to impress the reader with it4 ,the newspaper workshop1 unlike any other1 must create something different every day1 although human nature1 from which it gets its raw materials1 remains the same through the ages4 ,there is no variation from one day to another in the basic themes of the news1 but there is an endless variation in the local color1 in the shadings of motive1 in all the details that go to make one story different from all others4 ,take the story of death in a tenement house fire4 ,there is the outline1 the basic fact1 of stories without number2 yet each story1 told with its wealth of human1 moving detail1 has the power to affect the reader as if the theme itself were absolutely new4 ,a dozen houses in the same block look alike from the outside2 yet the life that each conceals is different from the life in all the others4 ,here1 then1 is need for originality in the writing of news4 ,if the reporter's outlook is cynical he is likely to overlook the human side of the story for the lifeless skeleton of commonplace facts4 ,his story may be mechanically correct1 but it has no power of appeal4 ,without distorting a single fact1 in plain1 everyday words1 the news writer may tell a story of human suffering that will rouse his readers to generous response4 ,this he may do1 not by editorial comment1 but by putting the facts in the most effective1 which is usually the simplest1 manner4 ,editorial comment in such a story would weaken the effect4 ,the facts1 properly told1 are enough4 ,one word of caution perhaps should be given3 ,in looking for the feature do not descend to the trivial4 ,to return to an illustration just used1 don't write the lead of your fire story on the rescue of the family cat and overlook the fact that human lives were lost4 ,originality does not consist in straining after a feature at the expense of the vital things in a story4 ,triviality comes with cynicism4 ,the power to be truly original1 to put life into a story based on a commonplace theme1 comes with the broad1 human sympathy that results from keeping the impression ever fresh4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4--,the following story1 adapted from a newspaper1 violates practically every rule that can be laid down for the writing of news4 ,apart from its errors of style1 it is written with prejudice and in bad taste4 ,rewrite the facts in half the present space1 remembering 7#a7 to be fair2 7#b7 to leave yourself out of the story2 7#c7 to omit revolting details2 7#d7 to avoid 8fine writing0 and cheap slang4 ,tom ,jones1 one of ,smithton's worthless citizens1 tried to shuffle off this mortal coil last ,friday afternoon by cutting his throat with a pocket knife4 ,it seems ,jones had filed complaint against ,john ,smith and ,susie ,williams for stealing4 ,they were brought up in ,justice ,wagner's court on ,friday afternoon for trial1 ,jones being the prosecuting witness4 ,when he was put upon the witness stand he flatly contradicted himself in statements made in his complaint to the ,prosecuting ,attorney4 ,when he did this ,mr4 ,brown at once dismissed the case against ,john ,smith and ,susie ,williams and filed complaint against ,jones for perjury1 and put him under arrest4 ,constable ,walker at once took him in charge and was preparing commitment papers1 when ,jones expressed a wish to go into the hall for a drink of water1 which permission was given him by the constable4 ,soon after he had left the room an unusual noise was heard like the rushing of water and on investigation the man was found lying on the floor with his throat cut and the blood spurting like water from a fountain4 ,he stuck the blade of an ordinary pocket knife into his throat and severed some of the arteries1 and would probably have bled to death1 except for the unfortunate arrival of a physician who stopped the blood1 and he is now in a fair way to recover and may yet go over the road4 78,it seems0 is unnecessary at the beginning of the second paragraph4 ,instead of 8tried to shuffle off this mortal coil0 say simply that he 8tried to kill himself40 ,cut out the grandiloquent phrases47 ,,ii4--,note the stereotyped form of the following story1 in which the feature is obscured by a mass of routine detail4 ,the story is as lifeless as if it had been constructed by filling in blank spaces in a set form4 ,although it has certain unusual elements1 it is totally lacking in originality of treatment3 ,after he had been arrested on complaint of ,henry ,flannigan1 #ef years old1 who conducts a repair shop at #ajjj ,center street1 on a charge of stealing two revolvers from the shop ,sunday afternoon1 ,william ,weaver1 #ah years old1 of #cdde ,broadway1 turned on the man and accused him of being a second ,fagin1 of running a fence and of having several small boys employed to steal goods for him4 ,the police arrested ,flannigan and his sons1 ,henry1 ,jr41 aged #ae1 and ,fred1 #ad1 at their home1 #hda ,division street1 and ,alex4 ,jones1 #ai1 #ajdc ,west avenue4 ,flannigan denied he was running a 8fence0 but admitted buying a lot of goods from the boys4 ,they were locked up at the ,fifteenth ,district ,police ,station4 7,query3 ,does the average reader understand what 8running a fence0 means8 ,why not make this clear8 ,it may be noted that some newspapers insist that police stations be identified for the reader1 not by their numbers1 but by the names of the streets on which they are situated4 ,thus1 in ,st4 ,louis1 the ,fourth ,district ,station is called the ,carr ,street ,station2 the ,ninth1 the ,dayton ,street ,station1 and so on4 ,the number1 as a rule1 means nothing to the reader1 while the street name gives him at once an idea of the locality47 ,,iii4--,in the following short feature story the writer has got away from set forms and produced a readable story4 ,little stories of this type are highly esteemed by newspapers with a leaning toward human-interest news--especially if they are accompanied with pictures3 ,,chicago1 ,nov4 #g4--,stephen ,rheim hit into a double play1 although he didn't know it for several days1 when his safe hit won a game for the ,west ,chicago ,high ,school baseball team over the ,wheaton nine last ,june4 ,in the grand stand was ,miss ,catherine ,smith1 also of ,west ,chicago1 and a loyal fan4 8,if he makes a hit ,i'll marry him10 she cried1 according to friends1 as ,rheim came to bat at a critical point in the game4 ,after ,rheim's hit had won the game friends told him of ,miss ,smith's remark and introduced him to the blushing young woman1 who explained that she was 8just joking40 ,but ,rheim fell in love and remained there4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,accuracy ,the surest guarantee for right-doing in journalism is contained in the teaching that right is always right and that it must be done for its own sake4 ,this is the great basic truth to be taught the students of schools of journalism and impressed upon the minds of all newspaper workers4 ,no other 8endowment0 than this of sound principles is to be desired1 either for newspapers or individuals1 because both must work out their own salvation in life's daily battle1 which is won for the right only by those steadfast souls that fight for the sake of right alone4--,from an editorial in the ,st4 ,louis ,post-,dispatch4 ,the haste and hurry of which so much is made may and does prevent polished work in a newspaper office4 ,but it does not prevent accurate1 careful1 painstaking work4 ,the history of the world which lay on your doorstep this morning is amazingly accurate2 the mistakes in it are few and far between 444 ,the average high school of to-day turns out a variety of ,english that the best natured city editor consigns to perdition in seven tongues1 and beats out of the aspiring cub without delay or remorse4 ,and in the important matter of brevity and directness of saying what you have to say in the curtest and plainest phrase of which the language is capable1 the newspaper is the greatest educator in the world4--,from an article by ,,george ,l4 ,,knapp4 ,a first essential of good news writing is accuracy4 ,the word should be graven in the mind of every reporter and every editor4 ,it is spoken by the city editor to his reporters almost every hour of his working day4 ,placards on the walls may call attention to it1 as in some offices where1 with laudable brevity1 the motto is urged upon the staff3 ,,accuracy ,,terseness ,,accuracy ,if a story is accurate1 if it is written with a nice attention to detail1 it is likely to be fair4 ,if a story is not accurate1 it is not news in the best sense4 ,accuracy implies more than mere grammatical correctness4 ,it means more even than the stating of every fact with precision4 ,a story may be taken to pieces1 fact by fact1 and every sentence found to be correct2 yet the whole may give a false impression4 ,accuracy means the spirit as well as the letter of the truth4 ,,observation ,truthful1 precise writing is the fruit of accurate observation4 ,if one would write news1 he must learn first to see news clearly and without prejudice4 ,therein the trained reporter excels the casual observer4 ,the one has learned to observe keenly2 the other1 well equipped though he may be in the rules of rhetoric1 has not schooled himself in the business of seeing things with an eye single to getting the facts in right proportion4 ,learn to observe and you will have gone far toward mastering the art of news getting and news writing4 ,casual observation is nearly always faulty4 ,take for example the conflicting statements of persons on the witness stand4 ,one man1 telling his version of an automobile accident1 swears the car was going fully thirty miles an hour1 another is certain the speed was only eight miles2 one heard the driver sound a warning 8honk10 another is equally positive no warning was given4 ,each witness is a reputable citizen and each thinks his version is the truth4 ,the discrepancy in their testimony is due1 not to any effort to deceive1 but to the common failure to observe carefully4 ,it is the business of the newspaper man1 whose eyes must serve thousands of readers each day1 to see rightly what others see imperfectly or not at all4 ,he is subject to the same human limitations as the others1 but he must make it his duty1 by training his mind and his eye1 to reduce those limitations to the minimum4 ,then1 and then only1 can he gather and write news with the maximum of efficiency4 ,in giving names and street addresses there is special need of accuracy4 ,watch1 too1 the spelling of all the words in your copy4 ,remember the dictionary is made for use4 ,,names ,the average good citizen likes to see his name in print1 but he is deeply offended at seeing it misspelled4 ,smythe's name is a thing peculiarly his own2 he can never cherish any particular regard for the newspaper that persists in calling him ,smith4 ,so with ,browne and ,maughs and ,willson4 ,their names are not ,brown1 ,moss1 ,wilson4 ,a reader whose name is misspelled feels1 unconsciously perhaps1 that he has been robbed of some intimate possession4 ,a blow has been aimed at his individuality4 ,to paraphrase a great reporter of life1 his 8good name0 has been stolen1 and as a good citizen he resents the theft4 ,the misplacing of an initial or the careless dropping of a letter from a name may cost the newspaper a subscriber4 ,certainly it convicts the paper of inaccuracy in one man's eyes4 ,he reasons that if the paper is mistaken in the spelling of his name1 it may be guilty of other grave inaccuracies in its news4 ,his faith in the paper is shaken4 ,and the newspaper that loses the faith of its readers is in danger of losing the good will that is its chief asset4 ,,street ,,addresses ,care should be taken in the writing of street addresses4 ,the difference between two street numbers may represent the difference between respectability and its opposite4 ,a serious injustice may be done a person by printing his name with the wrong street address4 ,such a mistake was made not long ago by a western newspaper1 which gave an address in a neighborhood of doubtful reputation to a citizen of high standing4 ,as a result of the writer's carelessness the newspaper was sued for libel4 ,the reporter should be constantly on his guard in taking down the addresses given by unknown persons4 ,especially is this true with reference to the data furnished by criminals for the police 8blotter40 ,it is a common practice of habitual criminals to give as their own the addresses of reputable citizens4 ,learn all you can of the city in which you work4 ,such knowledge will be invaluable as a safeguard against many pitfalls4 ,the city directory is an excellent guide1 but sometimes is inaccurate4 ,,spelling ,spell correctly4 ,this applies not alone to proper names4 ,some news writers are prone to shift the burden of spelling to the man who edits the copy or to the proofreader4 ,doubtless there are many brilliant news gatherers who are deficient in spelling1 but1 other things being equal1 the man who spells correctly is preferred to him who is slovenly in this respect4 ,bad spelling1 though not fatal to a writer's chances1 is often a sign of lazy habits of mind4 ,the precise thinker1 as a rule1 has too much regard for the tools of his trade--his words--to abuse them4 ,the city editor judges the new man largely by his copy4 ,the story that shows attention to spelling1 to all the little niceties of writing1 assuredly has a better chance of a favorable reception than the story1 of equal news value1 that betrays carelessness4 ,,summary ,if any hard-and-fast first principle relating to accuracy can be laid down1 it is this3 ,get the names right4 ,once this principle is grounded in the mind of the reporter1 he is fairly sure to strive for accuracy in all the details of his story4 ,persons who know nothing of the inner workings of the newspaper office may profess to believe that stories are written without regard to accuracy and are thrown into type haphazard1 just as they come from the writers4 ,nothing could be farther from the truth4 ,a newspaper that permitted such a condition would be swamped with libel suits within a week4 ,in every newspaper office1 certainly in every newspaper office worthy the name1 there is an unceasing war against inaccuracy of every kind4 ,the new reporter learns this when he comes in jubilant from an assignment1 only to be sent back to get the middle initial of a name4 ,the out-of-town correspondent learns it when he is called from his bed by long-distance telephone to explain a vague statement in a story he had wired earlier in the night4 ,when one considers the difficulties under which news is gathered and the limited time at the newspaper's command1 the wonder is not that errors occasionally creep into the news columns but that the errors are so few4 ,the newspaper as it goes to the reader1 though it is the product of many very human persons working under pressure1 is remarkably accurate4 ,a painstaking effort has been made to give the reader a true picture of the day's happenings4 ,copy readers have gone over the reporters' copy for errors of fact and of style2 proofreaders have corrected typographical errors after the matter has been set in type2 one or more editors have read the revised proofs with an eye single to detecting faults4 ,the newspaper1 of all modern institutions1 is the most human4 ,it is written by1 for and about men and women4 ,its failings are the common failings of humankind4 ,forewarned thus against himself1 it is the duty of the news writer1 even while he works with one eye on the clock1 to be always vigilant in the battle against inaccuracy--to do his full share1 and more1 in keeping the columns of his paper free from misstatement of every kind4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,the following stories are presented1 not for any specific bearing on the discussion of accuracy1 but as 8horrible examples0 of bad news writing in general4 ,inaccuracy in a news story seldom stands alone as a fault1 because if a story is inaccurate the chances are it is deficient in other respects4 ,the writer who does not take his work seriously enough to get his facts correct is not likely to pay attention to style4 ,the stories here reproduced may serve as a warning against some of the faults pointed out in the preceding chapters4 ,i4 ,this and the story under ,,ii show the absurdity of attempted 8fine writing03 ,shrouded in deep mystery and in spite of the fact that strenuous efforts were made to keep the details of the affair secret1 startling facts regarding the robbery of the ,blank sorority house came to light yesterday4 ,the house was entered by a burglar some time during the ,christmas recess and some valuable silverware was taken4 ,but this is not all4 ,although when interviewed on the subject the members of the sorority refused to give any of the details to the public1 some unique traits have developed in the burglar which may enable an ambitious ,sherlock to unravel as deep a mystery as has ever puzzled ,pinkerton's band of trained sleuths4 7,query3 ,isn't it about time to give the word 8strenuous0 a needed rest87 ,,ii4 ,the story of a death was told thus in a small newspaper3 ,mrs4 ,eliza ,williams1 mother of ,mrs4 ,geo4 ,brown1 was released from her physical surroundings ,saturday morning at ten o'clock and called to occupy a building1 a house not made with hands eternally in the heavens4 ,she has been in this earth life #hg years4 7,evidently the foregoing means3 8,mrs4 ,eliza ,williams1 mother of ,mrs4 ,george ,brown1 died at #aj o'clock ,saturday morning4 ,she was #hg years old40 ,the simplest style is always the best in writing of death4 ,say 8body10 not 8remains02 8coffin10 not 8casket02 8the dead man 7or woman710 not 8the deceased0 or 8the defunct40 8,burial0 is better than 8interment40 8,the late0 is nearly always useless4 8,obsequies0 implies that the ceremonies were imposing2 in most cases 8funeral0 is the proper word4 ,never use a flippant word in a death story4 ,in all news writing spell out proper names3 e4g41 8,george10 not 8,geo40 ,most newspapers use numerals in giving the hour1 as #aj o'clock4 ,it is usually preferable to place the hour before the day2 thus1 8at #aj o'clock ,saturday morning40 ,be careful to refer to the dead in the past tense2 the verb in the last sentence of the story quoted should be 8had been407 ,,iii4 ,note the use of cheap slang in the following story3 ,fred ,smith1 a young man about #ah or #ai years old1 who formerly resided in this neighborhood but more recently at ,jonesburg1 had been boozing at the saloon all day and in the evening walked out of that burg on the railroad track4 ,he evidently fell with his head down on one side of the dump and one foot over the rail4 ,the #g o'clock passenger struck him and mashed the foot4 ,he was picked up by the train crew and brought to town and received medical attention4 7,it is seldom in good taste1 nor is it safe1 to accuse a person of drunkenness4 ,bear in mind the injunction3 ,tell the facts and let the reader draw his own conclusions47 ,,chapter ,v ,,news ,,values ,the newspaper man is compelled1 as the price of success in his calling1 and often through severe experience1 to learn that only that which is true is 8news40 ,there is a popular impression that all is grist that comes to the newspaper mill1 and that everything brought into the office is published4 ,the fact is that the hardest task of newspaper work is to sift the truth out of the masses of falsehood offered daily4444 ,daily newspaper workers have neither time nor need to fabricate falsehoods for public deception4 ,their time and their energies are too fully engaged in trying to winnow out the truth from the ignorant or willful distortions of it with which they have to deal daily4 ,often the falsehoods are unintentional1 and arise from the fact that few people are gifted with ability to tell the exact truth1 and nothing else1 about what they have seen or heard4 ,but they have also to deal with masses of downright lies1 inspired by interest or malice4--,from an editorial in the ,chicago ,inter-,ocean4 ,the foregoing chapters have dealt with news writing in its general aspects4 ,this and succeeding chapters will be devoted to the more technical phases of the subject4 ,it is not the purpose here to discuss in detail methods of gathering news1 but to tell how to write news4 ,the reporter1 when he sits down to his story1 is assumed to be in possession of the facts4 ,the problem then is how to put those facts together most effectively4 ,but since news writing presupposes news gathering1 a general knowledge of the reporter's work and of what is implied by the term 8news0 is essential to a clear understanding of the technical side of the story4 ,,the ,,reporter ,what the eyes are to the body the reporter is to his paper and to the public that reads it4 ,his work is the foundation of modern newspaper making4 ,editorial comment illuminates the news1 make-up and headlines aid in its attractive presentation but after all the story is the main thing4 ,it is for the story that all other features of the newspaper exist4 ,no matter what branch of newspaper work one may eventually enter1 training gained as a reporter will be invaluable4 ,the men who reach executive positions in a newspaper office without having served a reporter's apprenticeship are rare exceptions4 ,practically all who have attained high rank in journalism began work as gatherers of news4 ,they learned first to see news and to estimate its values4 ,a reporter may be able to see news without being able to write a good story1 but the opposite seldom holds good4 ,certainly the best news writers are those who have learned1 as reporters1 what news is4 ,the city editor of a metropolitan newspaper holds his position largely by virtue of his ability to pass quick and accurate judgment on the news value of a story4 ,he has a 8nose for news0 that enables him to discard the trivial in the grist of the day's happenings for the vital and interesting4 ,it is this ability that the reporter must cultivate by every means in his power4 ,,what ,,is ,,news8 ,news has been roughly defined as that which interests people4 ,but that definition is too general4 ,a book or a sermon or a play may interest people1 but in themselves they are not news4 ,the fact1 however1 that a book has been published or a sermon preached or a play produced1 is news1 if that fact has an element of public interest4 ,the importance of a story in the eyes of the editor depends on one or more of several considerations--on the property involved1 as in a fire or an earthquake2 on the number and the prominence of the persons concerned2 on the distance of the happening from the place of publication2 on the timeliness of the story2 on the element of human interest4 ,this list is not exhaustive2 local and temporary reasons often have weight in the editor's judgment of a given story4 ,to illustrate1 suppose a newspaper is waging a crusade against grade crossings in its city4 ,the story of a grade crossing accident immediately assumes an importance for that newspaper beyond its ordinary news value4 ,before the crusade was started the story might have been told in a paragraph2 now it is allowed to run at length4 ,,the ,,newspaper',s ,,problem ,remember1 in forming your estimate of the news value of a story1 that the newspaper is read by men and women of all classes--by the banker and his stenographer1 the day laborer and the college professor4 ,a story is valuable as news in proportion to the number of persons it interests4 ,the account of a great disaster1 like the ,san ,francisco earthquake and fire1 appeals to all readers4 ,it is the big news of the day1 taking precedence over all other stories in the make-up of the paper4 ,news of an increase in the cost of some necessary article of food is valuable because of the vast number of persons it affects4 ,so with the story of a national election1 a great labor strike or a declaration of war4 ,these are the exceptional stories whose importance as news is as obvious to one unskilled in newspaper making as to the trained editor4 ,but what of the more commonplace happenings of the day8 ,the problem that confronts the editor daily is to make a paper that will appeal to as many readers as possible4 ,the man who asks a newspaper to print1 as news1 a long dissertation on recent discoveries in ,asia ,minor mistakes the purpose of daily journalism4 ,such an article might interest other men engaged in making similar discoveries1 but it would be passed over by the vast majority of readers4 ,newspapers are often charged with pandering to the sensational4 ,why1 it is asked1 do they print the story of a murder on the first page1 while general religious news is published in a separate department1 if published at all8 ,the shop window of the merchant furnishes the answer3 the merchant1 like the newspaper1 puts his most alluring wares in front4 ,the display in both cases is based on a sound knowledge of human nature4 ,what do people talk about in the evening8 ,on his answer to that question the editor's choice of stories largely depends4 ,mrs4 ,jones1 talking to ,mrs4 ,smith1 tells first about the elopement of a neighbor's daughter4 ,not until that is disposed of does she comment on last ,sunday's sermon4 ,newspapers formerly were made on the assumption that men were the only readers4 ,now they are made with the tastes of women ever in mind4 ,the evening newspaper1 especially1 is edited for the women1 on the theory that it is taken home in the evening1 while the morning newspaper is taken out of the home by the man going to work4 ,the newspaper is a business enterprise4 ,in order to live it must get advertising4 ,to get advertising it must have circulation and to get circulation it must interest its readers4 ,it can not do this by shooting continually over the heads of its readers4 ,but1 while the newspaper reflects public taste1 it is generally a little better than public taste4 ,certain classes of news are suppressed and others are carefully edited4 ,what is done with news on the border line depends on the individual policy of the paper4 ,,kinds ,,of ,,stories ,while the variety of news is infinite and no hard-and-fast classification can be attempted1 news stories may be roughly grouped in three large divisions3 #a4 ,the story based on a recent happening of more or less importance in itself1 as a fire or a business transaction1 told without attempt at embellishment4 ,this may be called the plain news story4 ,it is the primary form of news writing4 ,clearness and conciseness are its first requisites4 #b4 ,the story called by the newspaper man a feature or a human-interest story4 ,into this class falls practically all news writing--except that set aside in departments--which does not fit in the preceding group4 ,some writers perhaps would make a distinction between 8feature0 and 8human-interest0 as applied to news1 but since the terms are often used interchangeably1 it has seemed simpler to include them under one head4 ,a feature story1 then1 adopting this as a general term1 is a story based on something odd or unusual1 humorous or pathetic4 ,such a story often depends more on the manner of the telling than on what is told4 8,human-interest0 narrows the definition to the story that appeals to the emotions by its humor or pathos4 ,stripped to the bare facts1 a human-interest story may be without news value2 but told with the keen sympathy that comes of accurate observation and a knowledge of human nature it may have an even greater value1 that of giving the reader a clearer insight into the real life about him4 ,feature stories concerning odd or unusual or grotesque things1 such as the man with the longest beard in the world or the boy who builds an airship in his back yard1 may be only a few lines in length or they may be developed into page ,sunday articles4 ,a study of the magazine and feature pages of any metropolitan daily paper will show the possibilities of this kind of story4 ,almost any subject may be made into a feature story if the writer has the gift of originality4 #c4 ,department or classified news4 ,under this head come stories that are grouped by the newspaper in separate departments1 as sporting news1 market reports and society notes4 ,the extent to which news is classified varies widely with different newspapers4 ,some include only a few broad departments1 while others classify news on many subjects1 as schools and colleges1 genealogy1 women's clubs1 etc4 ,when1 however1 a department story becomes of general interest1 it is taken out of its department and placed in the general news columns4 ,this may be done1 for example1 with the story of a world's championship baseball game or of a sudden break in the stock market4 ,it must be understood that this grouping is subject to many variations4 ,there is often an overlapping of the three kinds of stories described4 ,the nature of news1 based as it is on the doings of people1 makes it impossible for one to put a finger on a story and say3 ,this falls under ,section ,a and is written according to ,rule ,blank4 ,the classification is suggested only as a guide in the study of news writing4 ,the interview1 one of the most important features of the modern newspaper1 is not here listed as a distinct kind of story4 ,it may either form an essential part of a story or be itself a news story of any of the types mentioned4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4 ,tell how the following plain news story could be developed into a feature story of a column or more3 ,,boston1 ,nov4 #ab4--,the third new star to be discovered at the ,harvard ,college ,observatory in the last six weeks was announced to-night by ,professor ,edward ,c4 ,pickering4 ,miss ,a4 ,j4 ,gannon of the observatory staff found the star in an examination of old photographic plates taken ,august #aj1 #ahii4 ,it appears in the constellation sagittarius from that date until ,october1 #aija4 ,,ii4 ,concise1 well-told story of a humorous incident1 used by the ,st4 ,louis ,post-,dispatch as a 8filler0 on ,page #a4 ,note that the story is not clogged with irrelevant police data3 ,two burglars enjoyed a laugh1 and a saloon keeper's money was saved by the wit of ,joe ,johnson1 a negro porter1 early ,wednesday4 ,the burglars entered ,edward ,krenninghaus' saloon at #cidh ,easton avenue1 and finding the porter asleep in the back room awakened him4 8,where's the boss' money80 asked one of the burglars as he held a revolver to ,johnson's head4 8,sakes alive10 the porter stuttered4 8,if the boss kept his money here he wouldn't let me sleep in the place40 ,the burglars laughed heartily and departed4 ,,iii4 ,the following story--a mother's account of the death of her son--is a fine example of the best type of human-interest story4 ,it was published in the ,new ,york ,sun 7morning71 often referred to as the 8newspaper man's newspaper0 because of the high standard of writing that it maintains4 8,study the ,sun's style0 is the advice given to reporters in many newspaper offices4 ,the story here reproduced is by ,frank ,ward ,o',malley4 ,it was reprinted in the ,outlook of ,november #i1 #aijg3 ,mrs4 ,catherine ,sheehan stood in the darkened parlor of her home at #cfa ,west ,fifteenth street late yesterday afternoon1 and told her version of the murder of her son ,gene1 the youthful policeman whom a thug named ,billy ,morley shot in the forehead1 down under the ,chatham ,square elevated station early yesterday morning4 ,gene's mother was thankful that her boy hadn't killed ,billy ,morley before he died1 8because10 she said1 8,i can say honestly1 even now1 that ,i'd rather have ,gene's dead body brought home to me1 as it will be to-night1 than to have him come to me and say1 #8,mother1 ,i had to kill a man this morning4' 8,god comfort the poor wretch that killed the boy10 the mother went on1 8because he is more unhappy to-night than we are here4 ,maybe he was weak-minded through drink4 ,he couldn't have known ,gene or he wouldn't have killed him4 ,did they tell you at the ,oak ,street ,station that the other policemen called ,gene ,happy ,sheehan8 ,anything they told you about him is true1 because no one would lie about him4 ,he was always happy1 and he was a fine-looking young man1 and he always had to duck his helmet when he walked under the gas fixture in the hall1 as he went out the door4 8,he was doing dance steps on the floor of the basement1 after his dinner yesterday noon1 for the girls--his sisters1 ,i mean--and he stopped of a sudden when he saw the clock and picked up his helmet4 ,out on the street he made pretend to arrest a little boy he knows1 who was standing there--to see ,gene come out1 ,i suppose--and when the little lad ran away laughing1 ,i called out1 #8,you couldn't catch ,willie1 ,gene2 you're getting fat4' 8#8,yes1 and old1 mammy1' he said1 him who is--who was--only twenty-six--#8so fat1' he said1 #8that ,i'm getting a new dress coat that'll make you proud when you see me in it1 mammy4' ,and he went over ,fifteenth street whistling a tune and slapping his leg with a folded newspaper4 ,and he hasn't come back again4 8,but ,i saw him once after that1 thank ,god1 before he was shot4 ,it's strange1 isn't it1 that ,i hunted him up on his beat late yesterday afternoon for the first time in my life8 ,i never go around where my children are working or studying--one ,i sent through college with what ,i earned at dressmaking1 and some other little money ,i had1 and he's now a teacher2 and the youngest ,i have at college now4 ,i don't mean that their father wouldn't send them if he could1 but he's an invalid1 although he's got a position lately that isn't too hard for him4 ,i got ,gene prepared for college1 too1 but he wanted to go right into an office in ,wall street4 ,i got him in there1 but it was too quiet and tame for him1 ,lord have mercy on his soul2 and then1 two years ago1 he wanted to go on the police force1 and he went4 8,after he went down the street yesterday ,i found a little book on a chair1 a little list of the streets or something1 that ,gene had forgot4 ,i knew how particular they are about such things1 and ,i didn't want the boy to get in trouble1 and so ,i threw on a shawl and walked over through ,chambers street toward the river to find him4 ,he was standing on a corner some place down there near the bridge clapping time with his hands for a little newsy that was dancing2 but he stopped clapping1 struck1 ,gene did1 when he saw me4 ,he laughed when ,i handed him the little book and told that was why ,i'd searched for him1 patting me on the shoulder when he laughed--patting me on the shoulder4 8#8,it's a bad place for you here1 ,gene1' ,i said4 #8,then it must be bad for you1 too1 mammy1' said he2 and as he walked to the end of his beat with me--it was dark then--he said1 #8,they're lots of crooks here1 mother1 and they know and hate me and they're afraid of me'--proud1 he said it--#8but maybe they'll get me some night4' ,he patted me on the back and turned and walked east toward his death4 ,wasn't it strange that ,gene said that8 8,you know how he was killed1 of course1 and how--,now let me talk about it1 children1 if ,i want to4 ,i promised you1 didn't ,i1 that ,i wouldn't cry any more or carry on8 ,well1 it was five o'clock this morning when a boy rang the bell here at the house and ,i looked out the window and said1 #8,is ,gene dead8' #8,no1 ma'am1' answered the lad1 #8but they told me to tell you he was hurt in a fire and is in the hospital4' ,jerry1 my other boy1 had opened the door for the lad and was talking to him while ,i dressed a bit4 ,and then ,i walked down stairs and saw ,jerry standing silent under the gaslight1 and ,i said again1 #8,jerry1 is ,gene dead8' ,and he said #8,yes1' and he went out4 8,after a while ,i went down to the ,oak ,street ,station myself1 because ,i couldn't wait for ,jerry to come back4 ,the policemen all stopped talking when ,i came in1 and then one of them told me it was against the rules to show me ,gene at that time4 ,but ,i knew the policeman only thought ,i'd break down1 but ,i promised him ,i wouldn't carry on1 and he took me into a room to let me see ,gene4 ,it was ,gene4 8,i know to-day how they killed him4 ,the poor boy that shot him was standing in ,chatham ,square arguing with another man when ,gene told him to move on4 ,when the young man wouldn't1 but only answered back1 ,gene shoved him1 and the young man pulled a revolver and shot ,gene in the face1 and he died before ,father ,rafferty1 of ,st4 ,james's1 got to him4 ,god rest his soul4 ,a lot of policemen heard the shot1 and they all came running with their pistols and clubs in their hands4 ,policeman ,laux--,i'll never forget his name or any of the others that ran to help ,gene--came down the ,bowery and ran out into the middle of the square where ,gene lay4 8,when the man that shot ,gene saw the policemen coming1 he crouched down and shot at ,policeman ,laux1 but1 thank ,god1 he missed him4 ,then policemen named ,harrington and ,rourke and ,moran and ,kehoe chased the man all around the streets there1 some heading him off when he tried to run into that street that goes off at an angle--,east ,broadway1 is it8--a big crowd had come out of ,chinatown now and was chasing the man1 too1 until ,policemen ,rourke and ,kehoe got him backed up against a wall4 ,when ,policeman ,kehoe came up close1 the man shot his pistol right at ,kehoe and the bullet grazed ,kehoe's helmet4 8,all the policemen jumped at the man then1 and one of them knocked the pistol out of his hand with a blow of a club4 ,they beat him1 this ,billy ,morley1 so ,jerry says his name is1 but they had to because he fought so hard4 ,they told me this evening that it will go hard with the unfortunate murderer1 because ,jerry says that when a man named ,frank ,o',hare1 who was arrested this evening charged with stealing cloth or something1 was being taken into headquarters1 he told ,detective ,gegan that he and a one-armed man who answered to the description of ,morley1 the young man who killed ,gene1 had a drink last night in a saloon at ,twenty-second street and ,avenue ,a and that when the one-armed man was leaving the saloon he turned and said1 #8,boys1 ,i'm going out now to bang a guy with buttons4' 8,they haven't brought me ,gene's body yet4 ,coroner ,shrady1 so my ,jerry says1 held ,billy ,morley1 the murderer1 without letting him get out on bail1 and ,i suppose that in a case like this they have to do a lot of things before they can let me have the body here4 ,if ,gene only hadn't died before ,father ,rafferty got to him1 ,i'd be happier4 ,he didn't need to make his confession1 you know1 but it would have been better1 wouldn't it8 ,he wasn't bad1 and he went to mass on ,sunday without being told2 and even in ,lent1 when we always say the rosary out loud in the dining-room every night1 ,gene himself said to me the day after ,ash ,wednesday1 #8,if you want to say the rosary at noon1 mammy1 before ,i go out1 instead of at night when ,i can't be here1 we'll do it4' 8,god will see that ,gene's happy to-night1 won't he1 after ,gene said that80 the mother asked as she walked out into the hallway with her black-robed daughters grouped behind her4 8,i know he will10 she said1 8and ,i'll--0 ,she stopped with an arm resting on the banister to support her4 8,i--,i know ,i promised you1 girls10 said ,gene's mother1 8that ,i'd try not to cry any more1 but ,i can't help it40 ,and she turned toward the wall and covered her face with her apron4 ,this story was reprinted in the ,outlook1 under the title1 8,the ,death of ,happy ,gene ,sheehan10 with the following editorial preface3 8,the #8stories' of the reporter on a daily paper are written under such trying conditions of hurry and confusion that they seldom have1 in the very nature of the case1 what is called the #8literary touch4' ,but occasionally a news writer produces a story which has real qualities of vividness1 pathos and power4 ,the following account of the death of ,happy ,gene ,sheehan1 which we reprint by special permission from the ,new ,york ,sun1 belongs to this class4 ,on the morning when it appeared1 a group of business men1 one of whom has related the incident to us1 were riding from ,peekskill to ,new ,york in a commuters' club car4 ,several games of cards were in progress1 and the rest of the passengers were busy with their newspapers or in conversation4 ,suddenly a clergyman1 who had been reading the ,sun1 rose and asked permission to read a story which he had just finished4 ,he had read only a few lines before the card games were stopped1 newspapers were laid down1 and every man in the car was giving earnest attention to the reading4 ,it was the story of ,happy ,sheehan2 and the effect which it produced upon such a group of busy men1 not easily to be moved by sentiment1 and not at all1 except to disgust1 by sentimentality1 was the best compliment which it could have received40 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,writing ,,the ,,lead ,newspaper ,english is the standard4 ,there may be critics1 who belong to a past generation and who have learned by rule1 but for flexible1 expressive use of the language the newspaper and the other publications for the masses cannot be surpassed4444 ,when scientific or technical terms are employed there is sufficient context to make clear the application4 ,there is no strained effort or laborious use of words to-day4 ,nor is there a deterioration1 as some of the professors of ,english would have us believe4 ,newspaper style is simple1 direct1 concise1 instructive and self-explanatory4 ,this sets the standard for the great mass of the public4--,from an editorial in the ,washington ,herald4 ,the method of telling the news story is usually the opposite of that employed by the writer of fiction4 ,instead of giving the setting of his story and then working gradually toward the climax1 the news writer1 as a rule1 puts the climax in the very beginning--in what is technically called the lead of the story4 ,if three persons were killed in a train wreck he tells that fact succinctly in the opening sentence4 ,there is no halting1 no preliminary catching of the breath1 but a straightforward plunge into the main facts4 ,here again news writing is closely akin to everyday speech4 ,if you were telling1 in a hurried conversation1 of a baseball game you had just seen1 you would begin by giving the score--the result of the game4 ,then1 as time permitted1 you would elaborate with details4 ,that is the method of the news story of immediate importance1 whose primary purpose is to inform4 ,a distinction was made in the preceding chapter between a story of this kind and a feature story4 ,what is said here of the lead does not apply to feature writing1 which often follows the fictional method of holding the reader in suspense4 ,neither does it apply to the news story which is told so briefly that a summary of the facts in the beginning would result in immediate and useless repetition in the body of the story4 ,,what ,,the ,,lead ,,is ,the straight news lead of the story that is allotted enough space to warrant the giving of details contains the main facts boiled down in the opening sentences4 ,the lead should be complete in itself1 so that the reader may grasp the essentials without being compelled to read the entire story4 ,remember that your story is not an essay to be read at leisure4 ,it is written for busy men and women1 and its function is to inform1 and inform quickly4 ,the average ,american reader has no time for the rambling type of story that describes the 8dark and stilly night0 to the extent of a column and then tells in the last paragraph that a man was murdered4 ,he demands to know about the murder at once4 ,then1 if he is interested1 he will read the details4 ,seldom is the lead longer than a paragraph1 unless it is broken up by making each sentence a paragraph4 ,this first paragraph--the most important in the story1 since it tells the facts in a nutshell--should be made as concise and pithy as possible4 ,tell all the essential facts1 but avoid cumbersome sentence structure in doing so4 ,short1 simple sentences are the most forcible4 ,above all1 make the lead easy for the reader to understand4 ,,what ,,the ,,lead ,,should ,,contain ,who8 ,what8 ,when8 ,where8 ,why8 ,it is a standard rule that the news lead should answer these questions about the story4 ,properly interpreted1 the rule is a good one1 but it may be applied too literally4 ,the beginner in news writing is inclined to go to the extreme in trying to answer each question in the first sentence4 ,the result is often an involved sentence in which the reader becomes lost in a maze of participles and qualifying clauses4 ,here is a sample from a story turned in by a 8cub0 reporter3 ,while studying last night for an examination1 ,miss ,sallie ,smith1 #ah years old1 a student in the ,blank ,business ,college1 fell asleep and overturned a lamp1 severely burning her face and hands and slightly burning her father1 ,john ,smith1 a plasterer1 who came to her rescue when he heard her scream1 and causing damage amounting to about #cjj to their home1 #bjae ,east ,broadway4 ,here is material for three or four sentences1 crowded together haphazard4 ,aside from its other manifest faults1 the sentence is too cumbersome for the newspaper4 ,don't write sentences that require the reader to catch his breath before he gets to the end4 ,sometimes1 however1 the story is of such a nature that the leading facts can readily be told in a single graphic sentence4 ,for example the following lead of a published telegraph dispatch3 ,more than #ajj men are believed to have been killed by a terrific explosion in the ,blank ,mines of the ,brown ,fuel and ,iron ,company at #d3cj o'clock this afternoon4 ,this sentence answers all the essential questions4 ,note that the writer does not begin with the fact of the explosion and work toward the loss of life1 but tells at once1 in the simplest manner possible1 that #ajj men may have perished4 ,this is the vital fact of the story4 ,no words are wasted in preliminaries4 ,without attempt at ornamentation1 the writer goes directly to the heart of the story4 ,it is conceivable that he might have written1 in the conventional fashion of those who have formed the habit of beginning every story with a participle3 ,struggling vainly to escape from the poisonous gases that filled every innermost recess1 #ajj helpless miners1 caught like rats in a trap1 met death as the result of1 etc4 ,note the difference in effect between the short1 clear statement of fact and the lead that attempts to gain the reader's attention by 8fine writing40 ,get rid of the idea that because a sentence is simple it is weak4 ,the ,bible says 8,jesus wept40 ,if the average writer were called upon to put that fact into words1 he would probably rack his brain for descriptive epithets4 ,yet the ,bible tells it all in two words of one syllable each--a verb and its subject--of more compressed power than a page of thundering adjectives4 ,when the lead cannot be told in a single sentence without danger of clumsiness and confusion1 don't hesitate to divide it into several sentences4 ,in the first sentence tell the most important thing--the climax--in order to grip the reader's attention4 ,then tell the other facts needed for a quick understanding of the story and after that develop the story logically4 ,,observance ,,of ,,style ,your style of writing the lead will depend somewhat on the custom of the paper for which you are working4 ,some newspapers still insist rigidly on the who-what-when-where-why rule for beginning all except feature stories and short items4 ,others are departing more and more from the rule4 ,the tendency nowadays on a few well-edited newspapers 7notably the ,kansas ,city ,star and ,times7 is to tell the story chronologically from the start1 leaving out the lead or introduction altogether1 except perhaps in the case of especially important happenings such as the mine disaster referred to above4 ,this is probably the result of the growing importance of the headline in the modern newspaper4 ,formerly newspapers were content to use general headings1 such as 8,very ,important10 8,the ,latest from ,europe0 and 8,court ,news10 but the present-day newspaper aims to tell the story specifically in the head4 ,thus the average news story really is put before the reader three times--once in the head1 again in the lead and finally in the story proper4 ,doubt of the wisdom in all cases of this double repetition is responsible for the tendency to drop the lead and let the headline usurp its place4 ,no invariable rules as to when this is advisable can be laid down4 ,the writer should study carefully the style of his paper and be guided by it4 ,,leads ,,to ,,be ,,avoided ,it is a good general rule1 and one enforced by nearly all newspapers1 to avoid beginning a story with the time4 ,an exception may be made1 of course1 when the time of a happening is the factor that makes the story4 ,ordinarily the time is not important enough to be put first in the sentence1 though it should be told well toward the beginning of the story4 ,similarly1 avoid starting a story with the place4 ,the weakness of the lead that violates these rules is shown in the following sentence3 ,at #d o'clock yesterday afternoon1 at ,sixth and ,market streets1 ,william ,jones was shot and killed1 etc4 ,avoid the trite lead1 such as 8caught like rats in a trap0 and 8never in the history of40 ,the newspaper writer unconsciously accumulates a vast stock of convenient trite phrases1 on which he is tempted to draw when working hurriedly4 ,a moment's thought1 however1 will nearly always suggest a better way of expression4 8,at a meeting of0 is usually a weak beginning1 and some newspapers never permit it4 ,better tell at the outset what was done at the meeting4 ,it is more effective to say1 8,three patrolmen were discharged yesterday by the ,police ,board0 than 8,at a meeting of the ,police ,board yesterday three patrolmen were discharged40 ,the meeting itself is an incident4 ,the results of the meeting make the story4 ,avoid the lead burdened with police data4 ,for example3 ,frank ,smith1 #bc years old1 residing at #ajaj ,a street1 was arrested this morning at #aj o'clock by ,patrolman ,jones of the ,fifth ,district on a charge of stabbing and severely wounding ,arthur ,brown1 #bg years old1 of #beaj ,b street4 ,writing of this kind appears to have been copied from the police reports4 ,it is forbidden by all well-edited newspapers4 ,reserve unessential details for the body or the conclusion of the story if they are used at all4 ,let the lead tell the main facts unhampered by statistics4 ,,sentence ,,structure ,much that might be said further about writing the lead is summed up in the simple injunction3 ,be natural4 ,some newspapers caution their writers against beginning a story with 8a0 or 8the10 but an examination of the leading newspapers of the country shows that this practice is not generally followed4 ,strict adherence to such a rule would often cause cumbersome or unnatural sentence structure4 ,unless your paper forbids it1 don't be afraid to begin your first sentence with an article if that is the logical1 natural way to state the main fact4 ,on the other hand1 avoid overworking 8a0 and 8the40 ,the same advice is applicable to the lead in general1 and in fact to all news writing3 don't adopt one kind of sentence structure and use it to the exclusion of all others4 ,a series of sentences all built on the same plan becomes monotonous4 ,in this respect as well as in others get variety into your story4 ,,leads ,,that ,,begin ,,with ,,names ,by no means taboo the sentence that begins with the name of a person1 especially if that name is widely known4 ,often the best lead possible is one that tells the name of the chief character at the outset4 ,a 8big0 name attracts immediate attention4 ,often it is the only justification for printing the story4 ,the fact that the average citizen sprains his ankle is not news2 but it is news if the ,president of the ,united ,states sprains his ankle4 ,the name in the latter case1 not the accident1 makes the story worth while4 ,in another type of story the name is of little importance2 the main thing is the happening on which the story is based4 ,bear these facts in mind in writing your lead4 ,the ideal story1 from the news standpoint1 is one which combines big names and big happenings4 ,when1 however1 your story tells of an accident in which several persons were killed or injured1 put the names near the beginning1 even though1 considered separately1 they are not important as news4 ,in reading the account of a disaster of any kind in which human lives were lost the average reader looks first at the names2 he is eager to learn if anyone in whom he is interested was injured or killed4 ,after the ,iroquois theater fire in ,chicago1 one great newspaper devoted its entire front page to a list of the killed and injured4 ,it is a common practice of many newspapers to enclose tabulated lists of the killed and injured1 with a concise statement of the nature of the injuries1 in what newspaper men call a 8box0 to go at the head of the story4 ,this not only aids the reader but simplifies the work of the news writer4 ,it is possible1 in minor stories of unimportant persons1 to carry the 8featuring0 of names to an extreme4 ,noting this tendency in its staff at one time1 a widely read western newspaper issued a rule that thereafter no story should begin with a name4 ,no exceptions were made4 ,the result was strained and artificial writing in the first sentences of many of the leading news stories4 ,at the end of a week the order was recalled4 ,,the ,,general ,,rule ,reference has been made to the advice sometimes given news writers to tell who1 what1 when1 where and why as soon as possible in the story4 ,investigation shows that if any such rule exists it is not generally adhered to4 ,facts that come under these heads are often subordinated to make the lead clear or to give the main fact added prominence4 ,every story must be considered by itself4 ,if any strict rule can be laid down1 it is this3 ,tell the main facts first1 as clearly and forcibly as you can4 ,remember1 however1 on whatever plan you build your lead1 to answer all the essential questions somewhere in the story4 ,the story that tells who1 what1 when1 where and why1 and in addition explains how1 is likely to be complete4 ,as a reporter1 run over these questions in your mind and see if you are prepared to give an answer to each4 ,,study ,,of #ajj ,,typical ,,stories ,to ascertain the favorite newspaper method of beginning the story1 chiefly from the point of view of sentence structure1 the writer examined #ajj first-page stories in sixteen of the leading daily newspapers of the country4 ,this is the result1 tabulated3 ,beginning with subject of main verb #ga ,beginning with modifying phrase or clause #bc ,beginning with direct quotation #d ,beginning with 8,there is0 #b ,in other words1 #ga per cent4 opened with a simple1 direct statement of fact1 with the qualifying parts subordinated4 ,twenty-three per cent4 opened with a qualifying phrase or clause containing some feature of the story1 as 8thanks to the wireless telegraph10 8dragged more than #ajj feet0 and 8unless a court ruling interferes40 ,four per cent4 began with a striking quotation1 while only #b per cent4 used the 8there is0 structure in the first sentence4 ,of the seventy-one stories that began with the main clause1 twenty-two put names first4 ,in nearly every such case the name was that of some widely known person1 either nationally or in the community in which the paper is published1 such as the ,president1 a governor or a chief of police4 ,only six of the #ajj stories began with a subordinate phrase in the participial form4 ,one story opened by answering the question 8why0 in a 8because0 clause and two opened with 8although40 ,not one gave the time or the place first in the sentence4 ,in no case was the introductory sentence long or involved4 ,the figures here compiled are instructive in showing that the modern news writer wastes no time in preliminaries1 but goes straight to the heart of his story4 ,the first words of twenty typical leads of the #ajj examined1 indicating their sentence structure1 are here given3 ,eleven men were killed 444 ,with two of the leading families of ,monroe county arrayed against each other 444 ,two chivalrous firemen rescued 444 ,stirred by the disclosures 444 ,with the arrival of the steamship 444 ,business reverses are said to have been the cause 444 ,evidence tending to prove that 444 ,the ,united ,wireless ,station 444 ,three hundred insurgents 444 ,governor ,hadley's statement 444 ,sure of a prompt response 444 ,a general denial 444 ,declaring the farmer to be the last person considered 444 ,president ,taft 444 ,a verdict of 444 ,the results of the 444 ,with a dead man at the steering wheel1 an automobile 444 ,the 8wet0 or 8dry0 issue 444 ,indictment of twelve men 444 ,complaints have reached 444 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4 ,straightforward1 simple news lead of an ,associated ,press dispatch1 broken up into three terse sentences3 ,,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 ,nov4 #ai4--;,four men were killed to-day by the premature explosion of a five-inch gun at the ,indian ,head ,proving ,grounds of the navy4 ,the breech block of the gun1 which was being tested1 blew backward into the gun crew4 ,lieutenant ,arthur ,g4 ,caffee was one of the men killed4 ,the dead in addition to ,lieutenant ,caffee are3 7,list of the dead follows1 then a detailed story half a column in length47 7,note that all the essential questions are answered in this lead3 ,who8 8,four men10 giving names4 ,what8 8,killed40 ,when8 8,to-day40 ,where8 8,at the ,indian ,head ,proving ,grounds40 ,the cause of the explosion was not determined1 but the writer tells succinctly how the men were killed47 ,,ii4 ,contrast the foregoing method with that of the following lead from the ,kansas ,city ,star1 in which a dramatic situation is emphasized by holding the interest suspended4 7,the names are fictitious73 8,fore60 ,the word rang distinctly in the clear air yesterday afternoon4 ,a party of golf players watched a ball which went whizzing through the air from ,no4 #d to ,no4 #e hole on the golf links at ,swope ,park4 ,almost in their line of vision a puff of smoke went into the air4 ,the faint sound of a shot reached them4 ,they saw a man fall4 ,john ,smith1 formerly a clerk for the ,blank ,brothers ,coal ,company1 had shot and mortally wounded himself4 ,scores of golfers and other persons walking about the park rushed to the spot where ,smith had fallen4 ,the first to reach him was ,mrs4 ,j4 ,w4 ,jones of #aj ,a street1 who had been strolling about the park with her four children4 ,she heard the revolver shot and saw ,smith fall4 ,the bullet had entered his head near the right temple and passed through4 7,the story continues to the extent of a column47 7,this story illustrates what has been said of the tendency1 as regards news of secondary importance1 to work toward1 rather than from1 the climax4 ,a news lead of the type in ,i would have contained the fact of the suicide in the first sentence4 ,note the effect of the short sentences47 ,,iii4 ,the lead of another suicide story from the same newspaper in which the method is more conventional3 ,after suffering from acute rheumatism that had rendered him helpless three years1 confining him to his home and necessitating his retirement from active business1 ,john ,w4 ,williams1 #ej years old1 ended his life at #e o'clock yesterday afternoon in his apartments at #bj ,west street by a revolver shot4 7,all the essential facts about the story are here told in a nutshell4 ,the lead could have stood as a complete story had space requirements demanded that the succeeding paragraphs be 8killed407 ,,iv4 ,opening of a fire story from the ,chicago ,record-,herald in which the human-interest feature is 8played up03 ,seven families were driven to the streets and two sleeping infants rescued and carried from their cribs by their terrified mothers in a fire which last night attacked the ,catalpa ,apartments1 #agbg-bi ,humboldt boulevard1 causing a loss of #cj1jjj4 ,the fire1 which spread rapidly throughout the three-story brick apartment building1 was caused by a faulty boiler in the basement4 ,the flames rushed up the air shaft1 thus attacking the three floors at practically the same time4 ,the fire occurred early in the evening1 before any of the families had retired1 and this fact alone prevented probable fatalities4 7,note how the writer has jumped right into the middle of things without waste of words4 ,while the human-interest element is made prominent1 other features of the story are not neglected47 ,v4 ,lead showing that good news style does not demand that all the salient facts be crowded into one sentence3 ,,london1 ,nov4 #ah4--;,an army of #cej militant suffragettes tried to storm ,parliament ,friday4 ,charging with ,amazonian fury against the double line of police about the building1 they made half a dozen attempts to break through the cordon4 ,six women were arrested4 ,,vi4 ,lead from the ,new ,york ,sun which begins with a direct quotation3 8,if hell stood in need of a king or queen there are people on earth to-day who could take the job and hold it down10 said ,bishop ,quayle of the ,methodist ,church1 in a sermon he preached yesterday morning in the ,washington ,heights ,church4 ,bishop ,quayle1 a product of ,kansas ,city1 is considered 8a typical man of the ,west10 one who not only ventures to slap another man on the back1 but whom another ,westerner would dare slap on the back4 7,here the news writer has called attention to his story by picking out and 8featuring0 a striking sentiment from the speaker's remarks4 ,the second sentence skillfully characterizes the speaker and conveys the idea that here is no stereotyped report of a sermon1 as the reader might have feared1 but a pleasant1 informal summary of its most interesting points47 ,,vii4 ,in which the story is summarized in a short opening quotation3 ,,laredo1 ,,tex41 ,nov4 #ai4--8,mexico to-night faces the most serious crisis in recent years40 ,the foregoing statement made to-night by ,united ,states ,consul ,garrett at ,nuevo ,laredo1 ,mexico1 just across the border1 summarizes the situation as it exists now along the frontier4 ,,viii4 ,illustrating the use of direct quotation in the lead to give the 8atmosphere0 of an interview3 ,,new ,,york1 ,nov4 #ah4--8,this is the age of woman1 the domestic pet4 ,also it is the age of gold1 which is necessary to the proper coddling of domestic pets40 ,this is one of the ideas which ,miss ,margaret ,mc,millan has come to ,america to lecture about4 ,miss ,mc,millan is not 8another of those ,english suffragists40 ,she was born in ,westchester1 ,n4 ,y41 and is an authority in ,england on the education and needs of children4 ,,ix4 ,lead in which the feature is put in indirect quotation3 ,,baltimore1 ,nov4 #ab4--;,drinking and cigarette smoking are not on the increase among the women of ,america1 according to ,lillian ,m4 ,n4 ,stevens1 president of the ,national ,women's ,christian ,temperance ,union4 ,addressing the annual convention of the organization here to-day1 she said in part3 7,direct quotation follows47 ,x4 ,the chronological method of telling a story which is so short that a summary of the facts in a formal lead would be useless3 ,,nyack1 ,n4 ,y41 ,oct4 #bg4--;,joseph de ,bonti1 an #h-year-old boy of ,haverstraw1 before starting for school put a revolver cartridge in his mouth and began biting on it4 ,the cartridge exploded and the boy fell to the floor dead1 the bullet having gone upward through the brain4 ,,xi4 ,example of the use that is sometimes made of an apt quotation to precede a feature story4 ,from the ,kansas ,city ,star3 ,matilda wash the dishes2 ,lucinda fetch the broom2 ,and ,sookey set the chairs nice all around the room4 --,old ,song ,,hutchinson1 ,,kan41 ,nov4 #ah4--;,because ,stubbs won in ,kansas1 ,ernest ,switzer1 an employ of the ,bell ,telephone ,company1 must play the part of an unwilling ,cinderella while the hired girl spends the evening taking in the canned drama at the motion picture shows4 ,,xii4 ,where the time is the feature of the story3 ,an hour before the funeral of his father was held yesterday1 ,william ,brown1 #cj years old1 was called from his home1 #aac ,z street1 and arrested4 ,the arrest was made at the request of the police of ,chicago1 etc4 ,,xiii4 ,where the place is the feature of the story3 ,,guthrie1 ,,ok41 ,nov4 #ag4--;,in rooms numbered #fb1 #dg and #cb at the ,royal ,hotel there is sweeping and dusting to-night4 ,governor ,haskell has notified the landlord of the hotel that he will return to ,guthrie early ,saturday morning to resume his official residence1 which he abandoned the night of ,june #aa to go to ,oklahoma ,city4 ,,xiv4 ,showing how the same story was epitomized by two different writers3 #a4 ,from the ,chicago ,record-,herald3 ,,denver1 ,nov4 #ag4--,ralph ,johnstone1 the ,wright brothers' most daring aviator and the holder of the world's record for altitude flights1 fell #ejj feet at ,overland ,park to-day1 and broke every bone in his body4 ,in attempting a 8spiral glide0 to the earth he forgot for a moment that the atmosphere here has not the carrying power of that to which he was accustomed1 and death was his penalty4 ,many thousands of spectators were on the field when ,johnstone fell1 but only a few hundred of them actually saw the accident1 for the attention of the great crowd was centered upon ,johnstone's partner1 ,hoxsey1 then in air4 #b4 ,from the ,kansas ,city ,star3 ,,denver1 ,nov4 #ag4--,with one wing tip of his machine bent and broken1 ,ralph ,johnstone1 the aviator who held the world's altitude record1 fell from a height of five hundred feet into the inclosure at ,overland ,park aviation field late this afternoon and was killed4 ,when the spectators crowded about the inclosure reached him1 his body lay beneath the engine of the biplane with the white planes that had failed him wrapped about it like a shroud4 ,nearly every bone in his body was broken4 ,,xv4 ,the following leads illustrate various faults4 ,criticize from the point of view of style and re-write3 #a4 ,alleging a systematic police third degree by means of which she insists special officers of the ,blank ,street ,district have persecuted her #ai-year-old son1 ,john1 ,mrs4 ,mary ,smith of #ajaj ,c street appeared before ,judge ,william ,brown in chambers1 ,friday noon1 and succeeded in laying before the judge evidence of such a character that the court held in abeyance its revocation of the young man's parole4 ,if the contention of the mother proves correct1 ,chief of ,police ,jones will likely take a hand and the ,board of ,police ,commissioners may be given the matter4 #b4 ,the three-story brick building at #adj-aeh ,d avenue was completely destroyed by fire early to-day1 the blaze being extinguished only after three alarms had been sounded4 ,the damage is estimated at #ej1jjj4 ,the building was occupied by the ,blank ,bag ,company and was situated in the center of a factory section4 ,the three hundred employs1 men and women1 are thrown out of work4 #c4 ,at the meeting of the ,blank ,improvement ,association at ,smith ,hall1 ,broadway and ,wilson street1 yesterday afternoon1 a fight was proposed against the ,city ,railways ,company and a complaint will probably be filed in ,police ,court in a few days if the ,eighth street car line is not extended to the city limits4 ,they also want more cars during the rush hours over the present line4 ,william ,howard1 manager of the ,city ,railways1 has refused to put on more cars to accommodate the traffic1 it is said4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,story ,,proper ,there are numbers of people whose ideal paper is one in which the editorials shall be written by an ,addison1 a ,lamb1 or a ,swift2 the art criticism by a ,ruskin2 while the financial editor shall be an ,adam ,smith4 ,it is a fairly safe guess that a newspaper with such a staff would have a life about as long as the ministry of all the talents4 ,imagine ,mrs4 ,battle's views on whist 444 written in an hour at midnight4 ,good writing really consists of clearness of expression mingled with true literary form4 ,and these are qualities not unobtainable even in a daily paper1 as ,mr4 ,strachey 7editor of the ,london ,spectator7 himself admitted4--,from an editorial in the ,christian ,science ,monitor1 ,boston4 ,i have always cared much for style and have endeavored to improve my own by reading a great deal of the best ,english and ,french prose4 ,in writing1 as in music1 much of the perfection of style is a question of ear1 but much also depends on the ideal the writer sets before himself4 ,he ought1 ,i think1 to aim at the greatest possible simplicity and accuracy of expression1 at vividness and force1 at condensation4 ,the last two heads will usually be found to blend2 for condensation1 when it is not attained at the sacrifice of clearness1 is the great secret of force4 ,i should say1 from my own experience1 that most improvements of style are of the nature either of condensation or of increased accuracy and delicacy of distinction4--,from the ,memoirs of ,w4 ,e4 ,h4 ,,lecky4 ,most news stories1 as already pointed out1 work backward from effect to cause4 ,in the story of a fire1 for example1 the writer first sets forth the most important results of the fire4 ,if there were no features of obvious news interest1 such as the loss of life or heavy property loss1 he may cast about for picturesque details that will enable him to give a novel turn to his story4 ,in either event he begins with the effect4 ,the lead written1 containing perhaps a suggestion of the cause1 he proceeds to tell the story in detail4 ,usually the facts are put down in the order of their importance1 unessential details being reserved for the last paragraph4 ,this method may be departed from1 of course1 if the most striking fact about the fire was not the result but the manner of its starting4 ,if the fire1 in itself unimportant1 was one of a series started by an incendiary1 the feature of the story manifestly is found in the cause and not in the effect4 ,the lead in that case would be built on the cause1 which is the reason for printing the story4 ,,compression ,,and ,,expansion ,in any case the story begins with the main fact and moves toward the contributory incidents4 ,keeping his lead in mind1 to avoid needless repetition1 the writer expands his story to the required length by the addition of details4 ,what he shall tell is determined partly by his judgment of news values and partly by the space limit the editor has set4 ,told to write half a column1 he is expected to fill that space and no more4 ,the correspondent who wires1 in reply to an order for #cjj words1 that he can't tell his story in less than #a1jjj1 is certain to call down the wrath of the telegraph editor4 ,the city reporter who cannot or will not compress his story into the space allotted him is not likely to remain long on the payroll4 ,no matter what your personal opinion of the news value of your story1 remember that the editor is the judge4 ,another phase of 8writing to space0 presents itself1 and this has more to do with the gathering than with the writing of news4 ,the writer needs the ability to compress his story2 he needs1 too1 to learn the art of expansion4 ,the order to write half a column may find him unprepared if he has failed1 as a news gatherer1 to collect sufficient details to fill that space4 ,the problem now is not one of cutting down the facts1 but of telling all the facts he can muster4 ,ordered to write a certain number of words1 the reporter is assumed to have the necessary information about his story4 ,he is expected to tell the story without padding and without faking4 ,it may be said here incidentally1 since the subject is one of perennial discussion outside of newspaper offices1 that faking is not tolerated by any reputable newspaper4 ,a reporter who manufactures news may succeed in deceiving his office a few times1 but eventually he will be found out and dismissed4 ,harmless exaggeration in giving a story local color is often permitted1 but no self-respecting city editor will publish a story that a reporter tells him is untrue4 ,there remains but one solution to the problem of expansion and that is to get more facts4 ,the reporter should bear this in mind in covering his story4 ,to be on the safe side1 he should get all the details possible in the time available4 ,then1 when he returns to his office1 he will be prepared if the city editor calls for a longer story than he had expected to write4 ,even though the reporter is ordered to write only a few lines1 the labor spent in covering a story thoroughly is not wasted4 ,having a complete knowledge of his subject1 he is better able to determine what are the main facts and to present them in right proportion4 ,incomplete investigation leaves a reporter with the fear that he may have overlooked something essential which a rival news gatherer has found4 ,the good reporter--and he is the one who is most likely to be a good news writer--spares no effort in running down every smallest clew that may help him to understand his story4 ,persistent investigation1 even when the story on the surface appears commonplace1 may uncover an important feature and enable the reporter to score a notable beat for his paper4 ,what the newspaper demands is that the writer shall tell his story so that every sentence adds something new to it4 ,the order to expand a story1 viewed in this light1 does not contradict what has been said of the need of brevity4 ,in adding to your story to bring it to the prescribed length1 avoid senseless repetition of details4 ,don't repeat an idea in different words simply to fill space4 ,try to make every sentence count4 ,bear in mind what you have told in the lead and strive to set forth the details in relation to the main facts4 ,if your lead is built on the rescue of a woman by firemen1 tell the details so they will contribute to the effect of the opening statement2 don't switch your attention to the man who turned in the alarm and forget the rescue4 ,the turning in of the alarm is probably a trivial detail and1 if mentioned at all1 should not be allowed to clog the movement of the story4 8,don't worry about who called the ambulance or who turned in the alarm0 is one of the rules in the ,new ,york ,herald's pamphlet of instructions to reporters4 ,,the ,,mechanics ,,of ,,the ,,story ,the ideal news story1 from the standpoint of mechanics1 can be cut off at almost any paragraph and yet remain self-explanatory4 ,this is the direct result of telling the facts in the order of their importance and making the story explain itself as it proceeds4 ,the story that fails materially in this respect receives scant courtesy from the city editor4 ,if passed on to the composing room without revision1 it might cause trouble in the make-up of the paper should the necessity arise of cutting it down to make room for later and more important news4 ,properly written1 the story can be shortened by taking off paragraphs from the bottom up4 ,thus the method of writing the body of the story is suited to the mechanical limitations of the paper4 ,to understand this fully some knowledge of the manner of making up the paper is necessary4 ,one unacquainted with newspaper work may wonder idly now and then how the editors manage each day to get just enough news matter to make the paper 8come out even40 ,the reporter learns quickly that a vast deal that is written for the paper never gets into print4 ,much is cut out of the copy2 what survives and is set into type is often still further subjected to pruning4 ,it is the business of the make-up editor1 who watches the type set into the forms in the composing room1 to see that the big stories are displayed according to schedule in the most prominent positions in the paper1 with the minor news tapering off4 ,on ,page #a he puts the cream of the day's news--the stories that seem most likely to attract the reader--on the same principle that the merchant puts his most attractive wares in his show window4 ,suppose now that late news is received that makes it necessary to cut down something in type4 ,it is only a few minutes before press time2 there is not time to shorten a story by rewriting it4 ,if the story he decides to cut has been constructed strictly according to rule1 the editor has only to take off enough from the end to make the space he requires4 ,in actual practice1 however1 he may be compelled to use considerable ingenuity in making his cuts1 taking out a paragraph here1 a line there1 and possibly writing a new line to hold the remaining parts of the story together in logical sequence4 ,resetting of type1 a source of delay and expense1 is avoided whenever possible4 ,for this reason care should be taken in marking proofs1 especially late proofs1 not to make unnecessary changes that would require the resetting of several lines4 ,if a word is to be taken out1 try to substitute matter to fill the space so that only one new line will need to be set4 ,it is not necessary that the reporter know the mechanical side of newspaper making in order to write a good story1 but a general knowledge of this phase of the work is desirable4 ,it has been truly said that every scrap of information the reporter possesses may at some time be turned to account4 ,this is true also of information regarding the workings of the newspaper1 in his own and other departments4 ,knowing how stories are pruned down in the composing room1 he will be less inclined to bury the main facts of his story in the last paragraph4 ,while the same general principles of news writing apply to all newspapers1 the need of making the story explain itself as it proceeds is more pronounced on the evening than on the morning newspaper4 ,the morning paper seldom prints more than three editions and hence there is less occasion for 8making over0 than on the evening paper with its half dozen or more editions4 ,the story that occupies a column in the first edition of the evening paper may be reduced to a paragraph before the end of the day4 ,then1 too1 the greater speed with which the evening paper is turned out makes it imperative that a story be so written that it can be changed with the least possible delay4 ,do not get the idea from the foregoing that your story should be a dry-as-dust recital of bare facts4 ,try to weave your facts together into a coherent story that will hold the reader's attention at every point4 ,the best news story moves with a swing that carries the reader swiftly and easily along from the lead to the conclusion1 and leaves him at the end with a definite and clear idea of what he has read4 ,from the standpoint of the reader there is added reason for making the story self-explanatory as it goes4 ,if he does not care to read to the end1 the story nevertheless should stand complete in his mind1 as far as the essential facts are concerned1 at whatever point he leaves off4 ,the novelist's hint that something startling will be disclosed later has no place in the news story4 ,certain of the general rules that govern all good writing are applicable in even greater degree to news writing4 ,be careful not to omit essential words4 ,the omission of the word 8not10 for example1 may reverse the meaning of an entire sentence4 ,the same is true of an omitted or a misplaced comma4 ,observe the standard rules of punctuation1 with any special rules that may be in force on your paper4 ,use pronouns guardedly2 it is better to repeat a name than run the risk of ambiguity4 ,for the same reason the words 8former0 and 8latter0 are frowned upon by many newspapers4 ,although needless repetition of ideas should be avoided1 don't be afraid to repeat a word if that is the simplest1 most direct way of conveying your thought4 ,a dog is a dog2 it is absurd to call it a 8canine0 7and 8canine10 by the way1 should be used only as an adjective71 simply to avoid repeating the word4 ,put life and vigor into your story4 ,an apt metaphor may express an idea vividly and at the same time save many words4 ,what has been said of the advisability of short1 telling sentences in the lead applies also to the body of the story4 ,it is a good general rule to avoid sentences that would fill more than seven lines of type4 ,in trying to give your story freshness and originality do not go to the extreme of flippancy1 especially in writing of a serious subject4 ,flippancy is not cleverness1 though it often passes for such in the writer's own estimation4 ,you will not err in this direction if you make your story fair4 ,dialect should be used sparingly1 if at all1 and it should never be used when there is a chance that it will offend a large group of readers4 ,remember the injunction to keep yourself out of the story4 ,the experiences of a reporter in getting a story are seldom of any interest outside of the circle of his fellow workers4 ,let the story speak for itself4 ,now and then an occasion may arise that would justify the reporter in recounting his adventures1 but in any such event he should first consult the city editor4 ,unless you are pressed for time1 read over your story before you hand it to the city editor and make sure that you have let no errors creep in4 ,read it1 too1 after it appears in print and note what changes1 if any1 have been made4 ,everyone makes mistakes--but the news writer can't afford to make the same mistake twice4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4 ,the following account of a disastrous fire illustrates the standard newspaper method of handling a big story4 ,observe that the climax--the death of twenty-five girls in a fire-trap--comes first4 ,that is the vital fact1 beside which all other features are of minor importance4 ,the paragraphs are numbered for reference3 #a4 ,,newark1 ,n4 ,j41 ,nov4 #bf4--,twenty-five girls were burned alive or crushed to death on the pavement in ten minutes this morning in leaping from the windows and fire escapes of the four-story brick factory occupied by paper-box companies at #baf ,high street1 corner of ,orange4 ,the fire caught from a blaze which started in some gasoline used in cleaning an electric lamp4 #b4 ,nearly all the victims were young women employs4 ,the latest count to-night showed that sixteen bodies recovered have been identified and that six girls are still missing4 ,they may be among the unidentified dead or they may be in the ruins4 ,the collapse of a wall late to-night interrupted further search4 ,forty-nine were taken to hospitals1 and two of them may die4 7,list of the dead and fatally injured follows1 this account having been published in a newspaper in a nearby city47 #c4 ,among the injured is ,joseph ,e4 ,sloane1 deputy fire chief1 who was overtaken by the falling wall and buried in bricks and rubbish4 ,he is badly hurt1 but may recover4 #d4 ,the ambulance from the ,city ,hospital and the patrol wagons from all the precincts were dispatched to the scene4 ,an immense crowd kept the police busy4 #e4 ,one of the spectators said that at least fifteen girls had jumped from the fourth floor of the burning structure4 ,with the exception of two girls employed by the tna company1 all the employs on the first and second floors of the building escaped1 either by means of the exits or the one fire escape4 ,the two girls suffered burns about the head and face4 #f4 ,twenty of the injured were taken to ,st4 ,michael's ,hospital in the ambulance4 ,the salvage automobile took four more4 ,of these two died after reaching the hospital4 #g4 ,life nets were put into use immediately after the arrival of the firemen4 ,perhaps thirty lives were saved in this way4 ,one girl1 ,hattie ,delapey1 was badly hurt by striking the edge of the net and falling to the pavement4 ,another girl suffered a broken ankle4 ,eugene ,mc,hugh1 a foreman in the employ of the tna company1 guided several scores of girls in his employ to safety down a fire escape4 ,nearly all escaped injury4 #h4 ,less than twenty minutes after the arrival of the firemen the interior of the building was flame-swept4 ,the floors of the upper part of the building fell shortly afterward4 ,it is believed that a search of the building will reveal other bodies4 #i4 ,among those who were early at the scene was the ,reverend ,e4 ,f4 ,quirk1 assistant rector of ,st4 ,joseph's ,church4 ,he gave last rites of the church to seven of the victims4 ,mr4 ,quirk said he counted twenty-three prostrate forms on the sidewalk4 ,all were young women who had leaped from the upper windows of the factory4 #aj4 ,the rush of the flames was so swift and threw such unreasoning terror into the huddled working girls on the top story1 that the body of one was found still seated on a charred stool beside the machine at which she had been busy when the first cry of 8,fire60 petrified her with fright4 #aa4 ,horrible as must have been what went on in the smoke of that crowded upper room1 what befell outside in the bright sunlight was yet more horrible4 ,the building was furiously inflammable and the first gush of flames had cut off all possibility of escape by the stairways4 ,the elevator made one trip1 but took down no passengers and never came back4 #ab4 ,the only exit was by two narrow fire escapes1 the lower platforms of which were twenty-five feet from the street4 ,on to these overcrowded and steep lanes1 scorched dancing hot by the jets from lower windows1 pressed forward a mob of women1 blind with panic1 driven by the fire and the others behind them4 #ac4 ,a net had been spread beneath the windows1 and the girls began to jump4 8,like rats out of a burning bin10 was the way a fireman described that pell-mell descent4 ,some of them were dashed off the fire escape to the pavement sixty feet below4 ,others stood in the windows outlined against the flames and jumped clear2 others from the landings2 still others from the steps where they stood4 ,the air was full of them and they fell everywhere--into the net1 on the firemen1 and fifteen of them on the stone slabs4 #ad4 ,when the awful rain of human bodies ceased there were eight dead in the street4 ,seven more were so badly crushed that they died in hospitals4 ,fifty are still under surgeons' care4 #ae4 ,clouds of smoke and showers of burning embers spread over the city4 7,further details follow4 ,the foregoing1 with the headlines1 fills one column47 7,a laboratory guide to the analysis of the story3 ,paragraph #a4--,note that the essential points are summarized in the opening sentence4 ,there is no attempt to describe the 8lurid flames10 no philosophizing1 but a plain1 terse account of what happened--the result of the fire4 ,a brief statement of the cause follows4 ,often a story of this kind begins coming into the office just before an edition goes to press4 ,if the story is constructed on the right plan1 the lead can be sent to the composing room as a complete story for that edition1 while the rest is put into type to be added in succeeding editions4 ,paragraph #b4--;,further details concerning the loss of life4 ,observe how the elements of greatest interest1 those relating to persons1 not things1 are kept uppermost4 ,temporarily the fire itself is ignored2 what the reader wants to know about is the effect of the fire on its victims4 ,so1 too1 the destruction of the factory1 under ordinary conditions worthy of being 8played up0 in the lead because of the heavy property loss1 is passed over as of minor consequence4 ,detailed information about the victims is properly given early in the story1 to answer the questions that first come into the minds of their families and friends4 ,paragraph #c4--;,here the name of the deputy fire chief1 who was hurt while on duty1 is singled out for special mention4 ,paragraph #d4--;,detailed story of the fire begins4 ,the facts here told indicate the magnitude of the disaster4 ,paragraphs #e and #f4--;,further human-interest details4 ,paragraphs #g and #h4--,note the short sentences4 ,the story moves swiftly from fact to fact4 ,the writer is telling what happened1 without commenting on it4 ,paragraph #i4--;,human-interest feature deemed worthy of a prominent place in the story4 ,paragraph #aj4--;,effective description of the quick spread of the fire by means of incident4 ,at this point the 8fine writer0 might have lugged in his artillery of adjectives4 ,note the opposite method--the right news method--of telling specific details4 ,paragraph #aa4--;,continuation of the same method4 8,the elevator made one trip1 but took down no passengers and never came back10 is finely descriptive4 ,paragraphs #ab and #ac4--,swift1 vivid description by specific details4 ,the precision with which the story is told1 indicating accurate observation1 is noteworthy1 as in 8twenty-five feet from the street10 8sixty feet below10 8fifteen of them on the stone slabs40 ,the exact figures are obviously far more effective than a vague expression such as 8a number of40 ,paragraph #ad4--;,detailed summary4 ,note that every sentence adds something to the story4 ,there is no padding4 ,paragraph #ae4--,the story continues a column from this point1 fact piled on fact in the order of importance4 ,a story written in this manner has been likened to a pyramid4 ,it may be cut from the bottom up at almost any point and yet stand complete47 ,,ii4 ,another kind of fire story1 from the ,new ,york ,world1 in which the news value is not so obvious as in the foregoing4 ,here the writer has seized upon the human-interest feature and developed his story accordingly4 ,the fire in itself was of no importance3 ,fire visited last night the lodging house conducted by ,mrs4 ,hannah ,tracy1 #ajb years old1 and ,mrs4 ,sarah ,wrinn1 ninety-five years old1 at ,no4 #hjc ,washington street1 and now the two aged landladies1 who never demanded board money in advance1 are in ,bellevue and their boarders are minus their care4 ,children playing in front of the old-fashioned brick house near the ,gansevoort ,market saw smoke coming from the basement1 where the two women had their living quarters4 ,little ,arthur ,weldon of ,no4 #hbf ,washington street ran to a fire box and gleefully sent in a call4 ,margaret ,havlick and ,elizabeth ,irving1 also of ,no4 #hbf1 skipped across to the store of ,joseph ,white with the news4 ,white ran to ,no4 #hjc1 broke in the basement door and found that a cat that looked to be at least one hundred years old had upset an oil lamp on a table and that the table cover was burning4 ,he threw the cover to the floor and stamped out the flames4 ,then he sprang into a rear room and found ,mrs4 ,tracy in bed1 feebly calling for help1 while ,mrs4 ,wrinn lay on the floor4 ,he carried them out1 one at a time4 ,though they had not inhaled much smoke their advanced ages led an ambulance surgeon from ,st4 ,vincent's ,hospital to take them to ,bellevue4 ,neighbors said the women were sisters4 ,mrs4 ,tracy's husband kept a dry goods store in ,christopher street fifty years ago and when he died left her a little money4 ,mrs4 ,tracy is known in the neighborhood as 8,mother0 ,tracy4 ,children have made it a point to follow her in the street1 for she often distributed cents from her little old-fashioned reticule4 7,an exception that proves a rule already stated is found in the second paragraph1 which tells how a child turned in the fire alarm4 ,an effective touch of local color is added in the last paragraph4 ,the story is a good example of restraint in writing4 ,no undue effort is made to impress the reader with the underlying pathos1 but the facts1 simply and concisely told1 are allowed to speak for themselves4 ,the headlines on the published story were3 8,sisters1 #ajb and #ie1 ,put in ,peril by ,cat--,children in ,street ,give ,alarm ,after ,animal ,knocks ,over ,lamp and ,starts ,fire407 ,,iii4 ,write a story of #cjj to #cej words from the following notes4 ,do not manufacture any details1 but put those here given into the form of a readable news story3 ,fire in brick tenement1 #aic ,adams street1 #aj o'clock last night4 ,damage #b1jjj1 estimated by ,assistant ,fire ,chief ,dunn4 ,cause was the explosion of lamp on second floor4 ,all the tenants got out safely except ,charles ,lawrence1 #ce1 a painter1 who lived with his wife and three children on the top1 fifth1 floor4 ,he was asleep in bed when his wife called out that the house was on fire and told him to get out quick4 ,he got out of bed and told her to go along with the kids2 said he would come as soon as he got his clothes on4 ,she went with the children and on the stairway met ,patrolmen ,quinn and ,brown4 ,told them her husband had delayed to dress4 ,the building was filling with smoke and they turned their attention to rescuing those on the lower floors4 ,when the firemen heard that ,lawrence was still in the house1 they went to his room and found him lying face downward on the floor1 unconscious4 ,he had inhaled smoke4 ,he died in an ambulance on the way to the ,city ,hospital4 ,the fire was extinguished in forty-five minutes4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,feature ,,story ,richard ,whiteing1 the ,english novelist1 is a strong believer that the art of literature has no greater aid than daily journalism4 ,speaking once he said3 8,some foolish people have said that daily journalism is killing literature in its highest forms4 ,i say1 to the contrary1 that the daily paper provides a sort of first course in literature1 and ,i am an immense admirer of the clear1 incisive style adopted by the halfpenny press4 8,it stimulates curiosity1 and when once you have done that in any human being you have started him on the right road4 ,the one deadly thing is apathy4 ,the cow in the field has no note of interrogation4 ,the savage might see an aroplane and not wonder4 8,you can lead a man from the curbstone to the stars when you have once made him curious4 ,a newspaper forces a man to be curious4 8,the dear old truth--that's all we want4 ,the truth is so beautiful1 so amazingly interesting1 so much more wonderful than fiction4 ,therefore ,i say that1 quite apart from morality1 it is policy for a paper to tell the truth40--,the ,fourth ,estate4 ,the feature story1 as the name indicates1 has more to do with the development of some interesting feature suggested by the day's news than with the strict presentation of news for its own sake4 ,it is therefore not subject to the same rules that govern the writing of the news story4 ,indeed it can hardly be said that the feature story is subject to any rules1 except those that apply to composition in general4 ,individuality in style counts for more in the feature story than in the news story that has no other purpose than to inform4 ,greater freedom is allowed the writer2 he is not required1 for one thing1 to summarize his story in the lead4 ,on the contrary1 he may employ the fictional method of working up to a climax4 ,the main end of all feature writing is to make the story interesting4 ,if the writer succeeds in this1 it does not much matter on what plan his story is constructed4 ,,what ,,the ,,feature ,,story ,,is ,,not ,what the feature story is can be indicated by showing what it is not4 ,in the first place1 it is not a skeletonized recital of bare facts4 ,this was amusingly brought out by the ,new ,york ,sun in reply to the statement of a college professor that the journalism of the future would be 8wholly without decorative effects40 ,the ,sun gave half a dozen examples of what might be expected from a journalism of that type4 ,here is the ,sun's 8,report of a ,suicide03 ,the body of a young woman was removed from the river at the foot of #cjith street by the harbor police yesterday afternoon4 ,pinned to her dress was a note stating that she purposed committing suicide1 signed ,edith ,g4 ,wannaquit4 ,the young woman was about twenty-six years of age4 ,she was not at all beautiful4 ,she was1 in fact1 noticeably plain of feature4 ,her fingers were not covered with magnificent diamonds4 ,she wore no rings at all4 ,her clothing was of the most inexpensive material4 ,there is no mystery whatever connected with the case1 nor have the police authorities the slightest idea that she was the victim of foul play4 ,it is deemed positive from her appearance that she did not belong to some distinguished family of this community4 ,the young woman simply had become tired of living and she jumped into the river--that is all4 ,the case is wholly lacking in any element or feature of a sensational character4 ,the names of the ,wannaquit family appear in the city directory but no inquiries were made of any members of the family1 the case not being deemed of sufficient importance4 ,it must not be inferred that the feature story1 or any other kind of news story1 should distort the facts4 ,the writer in the ,sun has merely attempted to reduce to the absurd the theory that journalism should put aside attractiveness in writing for a bare summary of facts4 ,the modern newspaper1 while its main purpose is still to inform1 is coming more and more to be a source of entertainment also4 ,it aims to instruct1 but in such a manner that the reader will not be bored4 ,,stories ,,for ,,entertainment ,after a day's work normal men and women want to be amused4 ,they are willing to receive instruction1 too1 but prefer it in the guise of entertainment4 ,therefore the newspaper incorporates features that may be likened to a vaudeville show4 ,the comic supplement is the most pronounced feature of this kind4 ,between the two extremes of the comic supplement and the editorial columns are feature stories on an infinite variety of subjects1 designed to be instructive1 entertaining or simply amusing4 ,this encroachment of the newspapers on the magazines has opened up a vast new field to the special writer4 ,signed articles1 ranging from beauty talks to sermons on civic ideals1 may be found on the editorial pages of many enterprising journals of wide circulation4 ,perhaps a separate page1 bearing some such title as 8,magazine ,section0 or 8,the ,home ,readers' ,page10 may be given to this class of articles4 ,the bulky ,sunday issue is made up in large part of similar features4 ,although this branch of modern newspaper making is distinct from the strict presentation of news and hence does not fall within the scope of this book1 it is mentioned here as indicative of the newspaper's aim to furnish attractive reading for all classes4 ,the feature story1 as the news writer uses the term1 is usually unsigned and is written for the news columns4 ,it is not1 however1 what has been called the plain news story--that is1 a story told only because of its news value as a recent happening4 ,the feature story must be timely2 it should have also an element of attractiveness1 through its humor or its pathos1 that may be lacking in the story written only to inform4 ,,the ,,human-,,interest ,,story ,many feature stories may be classified under what the newspaper man calls human-interest stories4 ,the human-interest story is just what the name implies4 ,it is written not for its immediate value as news1 but for its power to affect the reader through his emotions--to make him smile or to arouse his sympathy4 ,its appeal is directed to the interest that people feel in the intimate doings of other people4 ,real human interest cannot be faked4 ,the writer must have seen and understood his story before he can tell it in a way to impress the reader with its truth4 ,much depends on the manner of the telling4 ,a pathetic story loses its power if it descends to pathos2 a humorous story must be something more than mere flippancy4 ,there is special need that the writer choose his words carefully4 ,perhaps the best prescription for all kinds of human-interest stories1 especially those designed to arouse the reader's sympathy1 is to write simply and naturally4 ,false emotion is easily detected4 ,here again the writer should remember that the short1 ,anglo-,saxon words are the most effective4 ,ninety-seven per cent4 of the words in the ,bible are from the ,anglo-,saxon4 ,numerous instances might be cited of human-interest stories that have moved newspaper readers to contribute generously toward the alleviation of suffering4 ,such stories are not editorials4 ,the writer does not say3 ,this is a pathetic story4 ,he simply tells the facts1 and if the story is truly pathetic nothing in the way of 8fine writing0 is needed or desirable4 ,,the ,,editor',s ,,problem ,the city editor is often called upon to determine whether a happening shall be treated only as news or shall be expanded into a feature1 or human-interest1 story4 ,the story of an aged miser's death1 for example1 may be worth only a paragraph if written for its immediate news value alone4 ,but underlying the surface facts there may be a story of intense human interest--the man's life story4 ,the field of investigation that opens before the news gatherer is fraught with possibilities4 ,it is for him to clothe the skeleton of the story with the flesh and blood of reality4 ,what of the man's early life8 ,why his passion for hoarding money8 ,what deprivations did he undergo to gratify that passion8 ,these and other questions come trooping to the mind of the reporter in his quest of the story4 ,the mere fact of the miser's death becomes incidental--it is the 8peg10 as the city editor says1 on which the story hangs4 ,what the reporter finds becomes the basis of a human-interest story4 ,a paragraph stating simply that an old man known to his neighbors as a miser had died would mean little to the vast majority of readers1 but the story of the man's life1 properly told1 has the perennial interest of human tragedy4 ,willingness to dig for facts goes a long way toward success in reporting4 ,,sunday ,,magazine ,,stories ,the magazine section of the big ,sunday newspaper is made up almost altogether of feature stories4 ,usually the two outer pages of the section are in colors1 and for these pages stories are demanded that lend themselves readily to vivid color treatment4 ,a story unimportant in itself may be spread over an entire page if it is adaptable to a big1 colorful illustration4 ,such would be a story of a new and odd style of quadrille or round dancing or a speculative story about the possibilities of airships4 ,the story itself is subordinated to the pictures4 ,soberer color pages may be made of the pictures of public buildings1 of a city's skyline and the like1 with a short explanatory story4 ,the inside features of the ,sunday magazine are seldom written in the style of the news story4 ,the news element merely furnishes the suggestion1 and with that as a basis the writer handles the story in its universal application4 ,for instance1 a news item telling of the death of a motor car driver in a race may suggest a page story about all the drivers who have met death in a similar manner4 ,past events as a rule are dealt with only as they affect present or future conditions4 ,thus a news story about a rich man's death may later be expanded into a page article about the effect of his fortune on the living4 ,the story of a queer will may be the 8peg0 for a page of speculation about wills in general1 with all sorts of other queer wills mentioned4 ,the magazine section is made ready two or three weeks in advance of the date of publication4 ,this fact must be kept in mind by the writer to avoid inconsistency4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4 ,a feature story dependent for its value on an original method of treatment4 ,from the ,st4 ,louis ,post-,dispatch3 ,there was material for a good moving picture film in the adventure of ,alec ,jones1 a ,cape ,girardeau visitor1 at ,union ,station ,wednesday night4 ,jones left in such a hurry that he failed to copyright the lively scenario he created1 and anybody who wants it can have it without royalties4 ,this is about the way it will be described when it gets into the film journals3 ,,jones ,,and ,,his ,,grip4--,jones1 from ,southeast ,missouri1 is waiting in ,union ,station to take a train which leaves in an hour4 ,every time the train caller makes an announcement1 ,jones thinks his train is about to leave1 and rushes for the door4 ,just before the first call comes1 he is sitting beside a middle-aged woman on one of the round seats surrounding a pillar4 ,she thinks he is sitting too near her and moves with some show of indignation to the other side of the pillar4 ,she neglects to move her big carpet bag1 and in his excitement at the train call1 ,jones takes the carpet bag instead of his own satchel4 ,he rushes up to the train caller to ask about his train1 and that official motions him back to his seat4 ,he sits down beside an old man4 ,in the meantime the middle-aged woman misses her carpet bag1 and1 finding the satchel in its place1 opens it and is horrified to behold a pair of wool socks1 a flask and other masculine belongings4 ,she rushes around the waiting room hunting her carpet bag1 and reaches ,jones just as he is aroused by another train call4 ,this time he leaves her carpet bag and picks up the heavy suit case belonging to the old man beside him4 ,again ,jones finds out that his train is not ready1 and retires to another seat1 where a carpenter is dozing with his kit of tools beside him4 ,just as the old man1 seeking his suit case and guided by the woman1 reaches him1 ,jones jumps up again and carries off the carpenter's kit1 leaving the old man's suit case in its place4 ,the carpenter1 the old man and the woman follow him and a policeman straightens matters out4 ,sergeant ,meehan of the ,union ,station police squad says it all happened4 7,note the informality of the introduction4 ,the story aims to amuse the reader--nothing more4 ,it is a rule of most newspapers that no story shall end with indented matter3 hence the last paragraph4 ,the headlines are in keeping with the spirit of the story3 8,what ,happened to ,jones8 ,well1 ,here's the ,yarn--,being the ,comedy of ,alec ,from ,cape ,girardeau and ,his ,various ,valises407 ,,ii4 ,a feature story in subject matter and treatment4 ,from the ,kansas ,city ,star3 8,eyes made while you wait0 is not the sign on the door1 but it might be1 for that is the way they do it4 ,artificial eyes are being made to order in ,independence1 and it takes only about a half-hour to send a customer out with a 8made eye0 that scarcely can be distinguished from his natural one4 ,the laboratory is in a little room on the third floor of the ,metropolitan ,hotel4 ,the work is being done in ,independence because manufactured gas is available for fuel there4 ,natural gas is not rich enough1 and will not stand the heavy pressure that is necessary in making artificial eyes4 ,from a connection with the city gas pipes1 ,mr4 ,kohler passes the gas through a little blowpipe equipped with an apparatus for producing extreme heat4 8,thousands of artificial eyes are kept in stock10 said ,mr4 ,merry1 8but there is an advantage in making the eye to order4 ,the slightest peculiarity in size1 shape or color in the natural eye can be reproduced exactly in the artificial one40 ,the foundation of the process of manufacture is a glass tube about three-fourths of an inch in diameter4 ,the tubes vary slightly in color and in quality4 ,under the blowpipe a small portion of a tube is melted off and shaped into an eye4 ,the color is put in by very delicate processes1 and even any abnormal peculiarity of the natural eye is reproduced4 ,a young man was 8sitting for an eye0 this morning when a visitor called4 ,kohler1 glancing alternately from the natural eye of the customer to the blowpipe and back again1 quickly modeled an eye to fill that particular need4 8,in many cases they have more than one eye made while they are at it10 said ,mr4 ,merry4 8,unless handled very carefully1 the eyes are easily broken1 either by falling or from sudden changes of temperature4 ,some persons are so careless with their glass eyes--they roll them around as though they were marbles4 ,we had one customer in ,kansas ,city who had twenty-four eyes made a year ago1 and who already has broken five of them4 ,but that is not the fault of the maker of the eyes40 7,enough of the story is given here to indicate the method4 ,tell one thing that has been omitted4 ,note the absence of technical terms4 ,the writer tells the things about the making of glass eyes that interested him and hence are most likely to interest the general reader4 ,a technical description of the process would fall flat as a newspaper story4 ,the lead--8eyes made while you wait0--piques the reader's curiosity47 ,,iii4 ,a human-interest story told simply and in good taste4 ,from the ,new ,york ,world3 ,flowers1 the smiles of his fiance and the commendation of his superiors went with ,patrolman ,george ,a4 ,pattison when he limped out of ,new ,york ,hospital last night on crutches and with one leg gone4 ,just two weeks ago ,pattison lay on the sidewalk at ,forty-second street and ,fifth avenue1 one leg badly crushed by a surface car1 and smiled up at ,deputy ,commissioner ,driscoll when that man patted his shoulder and said1 8,too bad60 8,it's all right1 ,commissioner10 said ,pattison4 8,we must expect such things in our business40 ,when they heard he was to leave the hospital yesterday his comrades in the ,west ,thirtieth ,station determined he should see there were other things in 8our business0 and that 8our business0 wasn't entirely the suppression of emotion4 ,so last night the men of the ,tenderloin ,station made up a purse4 ,some of it was set aside to pay for a taxicab for the long trip from the hospital to the policeman's home in ,new ,brighton1 ,staten ,island1 and the rest went to ,broadway florists4 ,inspector ,george ,mc,clusky and ,captain ,samuel ,mc,elroy rode in the flower-filled cab to the hospital4 ,there they were met by ,miss ,mary ,lynch1 who will be married to the policeman as soon as he is fully recovered4 ,she led them to ,pattison and they told him everybody in the department knew he was a man and that ,miss ,lynch would never regret her marriage to him4 ,and he needn't worry about his future1 for his pay would be the same1 though he would be a clerk at ,headquarters when he was able to go to work again4 ,there were tears in ,pattison's eyes as he tried to thank everybody for the good feeling displayed4 ,then he was helped down the stairs4 ,when he found the taxicab was almost filled with flowers he didn't trust himself to speak1 but wrung the hands of his friends4 ,then1 with his fiance among the flowers1 he started for his mother's home1 while inspector and captain waved their caps4 ,,iv4 ,write a feature story of not more than #a1jjj words1 on any topic that you believe people would like to read about4 ,the following are given as suggestive of the possibilities of a small town3 ,the oldest house in town2 how the streets were named2 an interview with the railroad station agent on the people he meets2 if a college town1 a story of the students who earn their own expenses2 organized charities--get the human side2 hunters' licenses--number--revenue from--women hunters1 if any--possibly talks with some of the hunters2 birth rate for a given period compared with the death rate2 marriage licenses--minors who have been married--the favorite month for weddings2 collections of antiquities2 recent improvements1 such as street paving2 condition of the city jail2 the oldest man2 the oldest woman2 persons in town above the age of #ij2 women's clubs2 the public schools--how the attendance compares with that of previous years--talks with the superintendent and teachers on their work and plans2 former citizens who have become famous2 the moving picture shows--how many attend daily--talks with the show managers about the growth of the moving picture business2 any unusual industry1 such as the making of corn-cob pipes2 number of automobiles in town--condition of the country roads--farmers who own automobiles2 the public library--what books are most read--effect of the seasons on the number and character of the books read2 the post office--amount of stamp sales--odd addresses on letters--hardships of rural route carriers4 ,the list might be extended indefinitely4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,interview ,they 7teaching and accompanying reading7 can suggest the proper relation between subject and style--the man whose style is too big or too small for his subject is the born prey of the parodist2 they can call attention to the balance proper to be observed between narrative and dialogue1 and show by reference to the masters 7to ,sterne and ,congreve1 for example71 how vividness and dramatic suspense may be imparted to dialogue without loss of naturalness2 they may incite the hearer to learn from ,steele that writing may be very simple yet very distinguished1 from ,stevenson that subtlety is one thing and obscurity quite another4 ,the professor can1 and should1 preach with parrot-like persistency1 8,lucidity--lucidity--lucidity60--,said by ,anthony ,hope on the writing of novels1 but applicable also to the news story2 from the ,university ,magazine1 ,toronto4 ,an interview in the newspaper sense1 the dictionary says1 is 8a conversation held for the purpose of obtaining the opinions of a person for publication40 ,the term may be applied both to the process of questioning by a reporter to elicit information1 and to the published statement4 ,an interview may be informal or formal--that is1 it may be incidental to the end of making a story complete or it may be the end in itself4 ,,when ,,the ,,interview ,,is ,,incidental ,the city editor's fourth dimension would make it possible for him to have a reporter present at every happening which the newspaper chronicles4 ,every story would thus be obtained at first hand4 ,such a condition being manifestly impossible1 the reporter usually is compelled to rely on the information furnished him by others4 ,sometimes1 of course1 a reporter's assignment is such that he can see the story unfolding before him1 as at a fire or a court trial1 and he is enabled to write more vividly than if his facts had come to him second-hand4 ,every reporter dreams of the day when he will have the chance to write a big story that he has seen in the making4 ,it is related that a group of ,new ,york newspaper men were discussing the biggest possible story that could 8break40 ,the ideas of all were summed up by the oldest of the group3 8,suppose ,brooklyn ,bridge1 at the height of the evening rush homeward1 should fall1 and ,i should be there1 just at the edge1 the only reporter who saw it--that would be the biggest story that could happen60 ,on most of his assignments the reporter must trust to others for many1 if not all1 of his facts4 ,covering the story of an automobile accident1 for example1 he must see the story through the eyes of those who were present4 ,these persons he interviews informally4 ,from the information obtained in this way1 supplemented by his own observation of the visible results of the accident1 the reporter culls the salient facts and writes the story in his own words4 ,what he is sure of he makes his own2 other facts he may put in the form of indirect quotation1 while occasionally he may quote a person directly4 ,interviewing in its broad sense is thus at the basis of nearly all newspaper reporting1 because nearly all stories deal with persons--their doings and opinions4 ,even in covering the story which the reporter is fortunate enough to observe1 a certain amount of interviewing may still be necessary to make the story complete4 ,if it is a fire story1 he probably questions the owner about the loss and the insurance and plans for rebuilding2 he interviews various persons to find out the cause of the fire2 he talks1 perhaps1 to persons who have been rescued and their rescuers4 ,these and other facts can be obtained only by asking questions4 ,except when a story is dependent on what a person has said1 in a speech or a formal interview1 it is nearly always desirable that the reporter1 as far as possible1 should make the story his own4 ,he should hitch his wagon to the star of absolute certainty and then tell the story1 at least the salient facts1 in his own words4 ,it is poor policy in news writing1 as a rule1 to put trivial bits of information in the form of direct quotation4 ,the reporter will find that owing to the common failure to observe accurately the accounts given by witnesses of a given occurrence will vary widely4 ,it is the reporter's business to learn all that he can of the story2 to see1 in the limited time at his command1 as many as possible of the persons concerned in it1 and then to present to the reader an intelligible1 lucid account in the third person--the kernel of the story without the husks of inconsistency4 ,it is impossible to do this if the writer slavishly quotes1 in the direct form1 everybody to whom he talked in getting the story4 ,some reporters are inclined to overwork the direct-quotation method because it is usually the easiest way of telling the story1 often relieving the writer of the necessity of thinking for himself4 ,quotation marks may enclose a multitude of rhetorical sins4 ,rather than go to the trouble of coordinating his facts1 such a writer will lazily string together the statements of several persons and let it go at that4 ,this plan is obviously bad4 ,it violates the fundamental rules of news writing1 which demand that a story be clear1 concise and forceful1 and gives the reader a confused image rather than the definite1 clear-cut impression left by the story rightly told4 ,it is absurd to lug into a story the views of persons who have no vital connection with it1 simply for the sake of filling space4 ,and yet that is the error committed by some news writers1 as in a fire story1 for example1 where the janitor is quoted as saying1 8,yes1 ,i saw the fire2 it was a great sight10 or something else equally trivial4 ,when the janitor sees that he immediately gets an exaggerated idea of his own importance4 ,it is conceivable that the next time a reporter asks him for a bit of information1 the janitor will throw out his chest with the air of a personage and reply1 8,i refuse to make a statement for publication10 hoping that the newspaper will quote him to that effect4 ,the news writer who is prodigal with his direct quotation is encouraging an attitude of mind that will cause trouble for him and other newspaper men in the future4 ,if a person is asked to give information about a story and refuses1 it is seldom good policy to state that fact1 unless he bears such a close relation to the story that his silence is of interest4 ,if there is no particular reason why the opinion of ,smith1 the janitor1 should be sought1 don't commit the folly of telling several thousand readers--and ,smith--that he 8refused to talk for publication40 ,another absurdity is illustrated in the sentence3 8,smith refused to make a statement1 but said 4440 ,this paradoxical introduction may be followed by a long interview with ,smith4 ,what the writer probably means is that ,smith1 when first asked for a statement1 said that he wouldn't talk1 but later changed his mind4 ,the reader is not likely to be interested in all this1 so the copy reader cuts it down to 8,smith said40 ,,when ,,the ,,interview ,,is ,,the ,,story 8,the ,governor will be in town to-night4 ,get a statement from him on the police situation here40 ,thus the city editor outlines what he expects the reporter to bring back to the office4 ,his order is the first step toward getting an interview on a definite subject4 ,the reporter sees the ,governor1 questions him along the line indicated and returns to the office with his story4 ,now what the ,governor said is not incidental to another story2 it is the story in itself and is so written4 ,there are no definite1 fixed rules as to how it shall be written1 except that it shall fairly express the ,governor's sentiment4 ,the form in which the facts shall be presented depends on the news writer's own judgment or the editor's instructions4 ,he may begin his story in any one of several ways4 ,if the ,governor said something of grave importance in a striking manner1 the reporter may seize upon that for his lead1 throwing it into the form of direct quotation4 ,the story then might begin in this way3 8,the police department of this city must clean house4 ,there has been an alarming increase of crime here in the last six months1 and ,i am going to find out the cause40 ,governor ,smith1 who arrived in ---- last night1 thus outlined the purpose of his visit4 ,the ,governor1 etc4 7,after this explanatory paragraph the quotation is continued47 ,or the lead might be in indirect quotation1 somewhat after this manner3 ,governor ,smith declared1 on his arrival in ---- last night1 that he had determined to learn the reason for the recent increase in crime in this city4 ,he said the police department must 8clean house40 8,i am here to make a thorough investigation10 the ,governor said4 8,if the charges of grafting are proved1 ,i will proceed 4440 ,if the interview yielded nothing of importance1 the writer might base his story on the fact of the ,governor's visit3 ,governor ,smith1 with his secretary and three members of his staff1 arrived in ---- at #aj o'clock last night and went to the ---- ,hotel4 ,the ,governor is here to address the ,state ,convention of ,millers this morning4 ,in an interview last night he said 444 ,an interview may take the form of a feature story4 ,suppose the ,governor has a hobby that is worth writing about4 ,then an interview with him might begin in this way3 ,governor ,smith is going to saw all his own wood this winter4 ,he believes that bending over the sawbuck and cutting cord wood into stove lengths will put him into prime condition for 8sawing wood0 officially4 7,interview follows47 ,it must not be understood that the foregoing examples are set forms for interviews4 ,they are given merely to suggest the several ways in which the writer can begin his story4 ,the interview may be in itself either a plain news story or a feature story4 ,it may take the form of a considered statement or it may be informal in character4 ,some men give out typewritten statements of their views when asked for an interview1 while others talk freely1 putting the reporter on his honor to be fair and accurate in his quotation4 ,the question of presenting the speaker's remarks most effectively from the news standpoint is then left entirely to the writer's discretion4 ,he is not expected to quote slavishly4 ,indeed1 few men would like to have their conversation appear in print verbatim1 with the defects to which the best spoken language is liable4 ,unless the interview is printed for no other purpose than to poke fun at the speaker1 as might be done with the remarks of an ignorant and disreputable politician1 the writer should strive to convey the spirit of what is said rather than the exact words4 ,now and then a characteristic phrase or sentence may be quoted verbatim--and this is desirable in order to give a flavor of the speaker's individuality--but the faults of ordinary speech1 verbosity1 awkwardness and the like1 should not be reproduced4 ,true accuracy leaves a correct impression of the whole4 ,an interview rightly written1 telling the speaker's meaning in simple1 clear ,english seasoned with phrases that give a hint of his personality1 is more accurate in this sense than a phonographic record of the conversation4 ,it follows that the speaker's remarks need not be set down in the order in which they were made4 ,possibly the last thing he said may be put in the lead4 ,part of the interview may be in indirect quotation1 summarizing statements of minor importance4 ,the reporter may introduce explanatory sentences1 especially if the interview is long and deals with more than one subject4 ,he may break into the discourse to tell of the speaker's gesture at a certain point or to describe a facial expression--anything that will give the reader a vivid and true picture of the man interviewed4 ,ordinarily the reporter's questions should not appear in the story1 but sometimes they may be effectively given and the interview may consist of a series of categorical questions and answers1 resembling the reports of testimony at a trial4 ,this method may be used when the newspaper desires specific answers to certain pointed questions of great interest1 or when it seems the most direct way of getting the meaning before the reader4 ,no set rules can be laid down on this point2 every interview1 like every other news story1 presents its own problem4 ,the suggestions regarding the interview of formal character apply also to the reporting of speeches4 ,it is the custom nowadays of many men who appear often in public to give out to the newspapers in advance typewritten copies of their speeches4 ,the news writer sent to report an address1 freed of the necessity of following closely the speaker's words1 may devote his attention to the details of the meeting4 ,in covering a formal lecture or address of which no advance copy is available the reporter naturally may use the speaker's exact words more freely than in writing the interview4 ,even in such a story1 however1 it is seldom desirable to give all the speech1 and frequent summaries may be made in the writer's own words4 ,this also is a matter for the reporter's judgment of news values4 ,it is not demanded that the newspaper man be able to write shorthand4 ,if a verbatim report of a speech is desired a stenographer is employed for that purpose4 ,a word as to the mechanics of the story3 ,be careful to enclose all quoted matter in quotation marks4 ,begin each paragraph with quotation marks and don't forget to use the marks at the end of the last paragraph4 ,remember that 8he said0 used too often in dialogue becomes monotonous4 8,replied10 8asserted10 8laughed10 8remarked10 8exclaimed10 8corrected10 8inquired10 8suggested10 8urged0 and many other words may often be substituted to good advantage4 ,a series of interviews from different persons on the same topic is a symposium4 ,in this form of story the name of the speaker is given1 then the interview4 ,the lead states briefly the topic under discussion4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4 ,feature interview beginning with a striking remark in direct quotation4 ,from the ,new ,york ,world3 8,it is impossible for a woman to live in comfort in ,new ,york on #c1jjj a year40 ,this is the statement of ,mrs4 ,juanita ,la ,bar1 who has petitioned the ,orphans' ,court of ,scranton1 ,pa41 to allow her an additional thousand dollars so she can send her eleven-year-old son to school4 ,the things ,mrs4 ,la ,bar thinks absolutely necessary for a modest menage are3 ,one servant4 ,to dress not handsomely but neatly4 ,a healthful apartment4 ,the best the market affords for the table4 ,a vacation to the seashore1 country or mountains every summer4 8,i can't get along on #c1jjj10 said ,mrs4 ,la ,bar to a reporter for the ,world last night at her apartment at ,no4 #baj ,west ,twenty-first street1 8and ,i'm not extravagant1 either1 because ,i don't owe a cent40 ,the apartment was modest and comfortable1 and ,mrs4 ,la ,bar was dressed quietly1 but in well cut and well made garments4 8,ten years ago1 when my husband was alive1 we lived well at a hotel and went to the seashore every year4 ,we had a maid to look after the boy1 but we didn't keep house 4440 7,the rest of the story consists of direct quotation47 7,the method of presenting the interview here is simple and effective--first a paragraph in direct quotation that contains the meat of the story1 then identification of the speaker and a third-person statement of her views1 and finally the interview itself1 running about half a column47 ,,ii4 ,a more formal and conservative method is shown in the following3 ,,new ,,york1 ,dec4 #b4--;,b4 ,f4 ,yoakum1 chairman of the board of directors of the ,st4 ,louis ,san ,francisco ,railroad ,company1 arrived here to-day4 ,he had returned from an inspection trip over the ,frisco lines with ,b4 ,l4 ,winchell1 president of the principal roads of the system2 ,a4 ,j4 ,earling1 head of the ,chicago1 ,milwaukee ,st4 ,paul ,railway1 and ,percy ,c4 ,rockefeller4 ,mr4 ,yoakum declined to make a statement about his inspection trip so far as it may result in a traffic agreement between the ,frisco and ,st4 ,paul systems4 8,there seems to be but little stock ticker prosperity in ,new ,york1 but there is a good deal of real prosperity in the ,southwest10 he said4 8,after crossing the ,mississippi ,river one rarely hears the ,new ,york stock market referred to4 ,trading in securities is not the business of the ,west1 and securities listed on the stock exchange are not the collateral required or generally used by bankers in the ,west44440 7,three paragraphs of quoted matter follow47 ,,iii4 ,interview in which direct quotation is varied with indirect4 ,from the ,chicago ,evening ,post3 8,the ,panama ,canal will be completed at least a year sooner than the time set for the official opening1 ,jan4 #a1 #aiae10 said ,ray ,l4 ,smith1 employment agent of the ,isthmian ,canal ,commission1 to-day4 ,mr4 ,smith is in ,chicago attempting to enlist boiler-makers to take the places of the hundred men who resigned after being refused an increase in wage4 8,i attribute the reduction in time to the efficiency which has been attained by the men10 he continued4 8,when the work began laborers were imported from the ,west ,indian ,islands and from ,italy and ,spain4 ,the ,european laborers accomplished nearly three times as much a man as the ,west ,indians at first1 and they were paid twice as much4 8,now the efficiency of the ,west ,indian has been so increased that the ,european is only twice as effective40 ,according to ,mr4 ,smith1 the personnel of the workers on the canal includes representatives from nearly every country in the world4 ,there are #de1jjj employs of the commission in ,panama4 ,of them1 #e1jjj are ,americans4 ,the remaining #dj1jjj represent perhaps more tongues than were gathered around the ,tower of ,babel4 ,the bulk of the laborers are negroes from the ,barbados1 from ,trinidad and from ,jamaica4 ,besides the negroes from these islands there are ,spaniards from most of the islands except ,cuba4 8,the death rate in the canal zone is only #d4je a thousand persons10 said ,mr4 ,smith4 8,this is lower than in any ,american city4 ,the low rate is the result of the careful supervision exercised by the government4 ,for example1 there is a hospital at ,culebra1 the headquarters of the commission1 which has #b1bjj beds4 ,all the houses are screened against mosquitoes1 and in other ways the greatest attention is paid to sanitation44440 7,the rest of the interview is in direct quotation47 7,note that the writer drops direct quotation in the fifth paragraph4 ,making it clear that the speaker is his authority1 he puts his information in the third person4 ,this may be done with a plain statement of facts and figures in which there is no expression of opinion4 ,nothing would be gained by putting in the speaker's words the statistical matter here given4 ,on the other hand the reporter should be careful to quote anything of a controversial nature47 ,,iv4 ,the following paragraphs from a feature story in the ,new ,york ,mail show the questions-and-answers method in the interview4 ,the extract is from a signed story1 the only kind in which the reporter is permitted to write in the first person3 8,evidently10 ,i said1 8you are an admirer of the new woman1 the woman who earns her living40 8,well10 he said1 8you can't blame me4 ,it's always better to get business advice from a woman who knows something about business1 than from one who knows nothing about it4 ,for women are bound to meddle with their husbands' affairs1 whether they are acquainted with them or not40 8,and how about politics80 ,i ventured4 8,should women take an active part in this field1 too80 8,decidedly not10 he returned1 etc4 7,signed newspaper stories are the exceptions4 ,in the average story1 when the writer has occasion to refer to himself1 he uses some such impersonal form as 8the reporter asked0 or 8it was suggested407 ,,chapter ,x ,,special ,,types ,,of ,,stories ,the test of the news value of an event is its element of novelty4 ,whether news shall be the record of things admirable or things disgraceful practically depends on the community4 ,in the early days of ,dodge ,city1 ,kan41 or ,leadville1 ,colo41 the information that ,cherokee ,jake or ,san ,juan ,bill had attended church would have been news4 ,but in these communities at the present day the weekly presence of many citizens of equal or greater prominence has no news value4 ,in which city would the rabbi rather live1 the one where church attendance has news value1 or the one where it has none8--,from an editorial in the ,st4 ,louis ,republic1 replying to a critic of the daily press4 ,while every news story1 in the nature of the case1 presents its own problem1 the news writer soon finds that in all the stories on the same basic theme1 as those dealing with fires1 certain definite points must be covered4 ,it is impossible1 of course1 to provide a set pattern for any story or group of stories1 but a few general instructions will be found to hold good4 ,,fire ,,stories ,in covering an important fire story1 in addition to any special news features1 get the following facts3 ,exact location2 time2 cause2 names of owner and occupants of building2 losses2 insurance4 ,if possible1 see the owner to learn the extent of the damage to the building2 otherwise get the fire chief or some other person who can speak with authority to estimate the loss4 ,if persons were killed or injured1 or lives were endangered1 get all the details possible4 ,these facts take precedence over all details concerning property loss4 ,don't forget names and addresses4 ,among the points to be noted are3 ,rescues2 exits and fire escapes1 or absence of fire escapes2 other precautions1 or lack of precautions1 against crowding and panic2 thrilling1 humorous or pathetic incidents2 circumstances affecting the work of the firemen1 such as a possible failure of the water pressure at a critical time4 ,,death ,,stories ,in death stories give the following3 ,full name2 age2 time and place of death2 cause2 account of last illness2 funeral arrangements2 names of relatives2 birthplace2 account of business and political life2 society and church connections4 ,let your story be simple and dignified1 in keeping with the theme4 ,,wedding ,,stories ,in stories of 8big0 weddings give the following3 ,full names of the persons married2 their family connections2 time and place of wedding2 minister officiating2 attendants of all kinds2 descriptions of gowns of bride and attendants 7it isn't necessary to say the bridegroom wore the 8conventional black072 music2 decorations2 reception2 guests from out of town2 presents from organizations and groups of friends2 noteworthy presents from individuals2 wedding trip2 when and where the couple will be at home4 ,,crime ,,stories ,in covering a story of murder or suicide1 don't stop with the facts that appear on the surface--get the motive4 ,when one hears that a friend has killed himself the first natural inquiry is3 ,why did he do it8 ,it is this question that the city editor urges upon the reporter starting out to cover the story4 8,get the motive0 is the order1 expressed or implied4 ,if the story does not show the motive1 it must have other marked elements of interest to receive more than a few lines of space4 ,it is not within the scope of this book to discuss newspaper ethics and ideals1 except in relation to news writing1 but attention may be called briefly to that phase of the newspaper's daily problem that has to do with crime news4 ,whether or not such news is 8featured0 depends altogether on the newspaper's individual policy2 there are no general standards that fit all cases4 ,a story that one paper cuts to a few lines or throws away may be 8played up0 in another to the extent of a column or more4 ,any newspaper will give liberal space to a story that vitally concerns the entire nation or community1 such as the attempted assassination of a public official4 ,divergence comes in the treatment of human-interest news4 ,take for example the story of a shop girl who kills herself because she has been jilted4 ,here is a story that may be developed for its human-interest features1 may be dismissed with a bare statement or may be ignored4 ,the theory is widely accepted that the publication of a suicide story1 especially one that goes into detail1 may implant the suggestion of suicide in persons of morbid mind1 or may lead those who have been thinking of suicide to act4 ,it is largely for this reason that many newspapers give little space to news of this character unless it concerns someone of prominence or contains some unique human-interest feature4 ,ordinary1 routine suicide stories receive bare mention at the most1 and then usually in an inconspicuous part of the paper4 ,what shall be done with a story is the editor's problem4 ,the problem of the reporter is to get the facts and present them to the best of his ability4 ,and if a suicide story is to be covered in detail1 don't stop with the obvious--find out the 8why0 of it all4 ,,business ,,stories ,in stories dealing with business transactions1 especially court reports1 it is particularly important that the reporter get the names right4 8,brown and ,co40 may be the name of one corporation and 8the ,brown ,company0 of another4 ,don't confuse the two4 ,don't call a firm bankrupt simply because a petition has been filed asking that it be declared bankrupt4 ,wait until the case is decided in court4 ,in general--and this cannot be stressed too much--remember that the reporter has power to do irreparable harm by a careless or malicious statement4 ,an unwarranted aspersion may work an injury that no subsequent correction can wholly undo4 ,a statement in print is final2 it cannot be amended or softened as can the spoken word4 ,it is part of the news writer's plain duty--to himself1 his newspaper and the public--to choose his words carefully1 in order that no misconstruction may be placed upon them4 ,more important still1 he should never forget the obligation that rests upon him to say no thing1 directly or by implication1 that can harm an innocent person4 ,,second-,,day ,,stories ,the second-day story1 as the name suggests1 relates a development in a story printed the preceding day1 of which it is assumed the reader has some knowledge4 ,for example1 the story of a death1 if deemed of sufficient importance1 may be 8followed0 7as the newspaper vernacular has it7 by an evening contemporary4 ,but while the account first published begins by telling the fact of the death1 the second-day1 or the 8follow10 story is brought up to date in the lead with some newer facts1 probably about the funeral arrangements4 ,news ages quickly in these days of hourly editions1 when beats are measured not by days or hours but by minutes4 ,the news writer aims to give the latest possible information about his story1 and to give it in such a way that the reader will be impressed with the fact of its newness4 ,an experienced reporter will never write 8yesterday0 into the lead of his story when there is a chance of making 8to-day0 prominent4 ,the morning newspaper1 which sends its city edition to press at #b to #c o'clock in the morning1 tells of the events of yesterday4 ,it is the breakfast-table paper1 setting forth the history of the preceding day4 ,necessarily the word 8yesterday0 recurs frequently in its local columns4 ,the reporter must write his story to conform to the date of the paper's issue4 ,hence1 writing for next morning's paper of a fire which occurred at #h ,p4 ,m41 he fixes the time as 8#h o'clock last night0--this form being preferred to 8yesterday evening40 8,last night10 however1 is avoided in reference to anything that happens after midnight1 on the day of publication4 ,in such a case1 the reporter1 with the conscious purpose of making his news seem as timely as possible1 writes 8early this morning0 or gives the definite time4 ,an even greater effort to get 8to-day0 rather than 8yesterday0 into news stories is made by the evening paper1 because its special field is the news of the day on which it is published4 ,yesterday is dead2 its news has passed into history4 ,taking up the chronicle where the morning paper has dropped it1 the evening paper1 in successive editions1 records the events of the day4 ,first-page stories in early editions may be ruthlessly cut down or thrown out as more important news develops4 ,it is not enough to tell what has happened already2 the newspaper must tell what is happening and what is going to happen4 ,news that appears stale is not wanted4 ,there are so many things of vital interest happening all the time that the newspaper is not concerned with dead events1 except as they may have a bearing on the present4 ,the second-day story1 then1 if it is worth publishing at all1 must have some new feature to bring it up to date4 ,at least it must have the appearance of newness4 ,it is in giving a story this gloss that the tricks of the news writer's trade are called into play4 ,nowhere does experience count for more than in writing of a day-old event in a manner to convey the impression that the news is being told for the first time4 ,the novice may write vividly of something he has just seen1 but the trained news writer excels in the artifice of what the newspaper man calls rewriting4 ,,rewriting ,on some evening newspapers a squad of men begin work soon after the city editions of the morning papers are off the press4 ,before dawn these men are on duty1 busily preparing copy for the first edition of the paper1 which goes to press before news begins to pour in through the regular channels4 ,this work is in charge of an assistant city editor1 who paves the way for the city editor4 ,copies of the morning papers and a pair of shears are his equipment4 ,stories that promise further development during the day he lays aside for the consideration of the city editor2 others that may safely be rewritten and made to appear as new he deals out to the squad of writers2 still others1 those that are dead after one telling1 he throws away4 ,stories that hold the possibility of a libel suit--or1 as the newspaper man says1 contain dynamite--are mentally labeled dangerous and held for investigation--or the wastebasket4 ,now assume that to the rewrite man is handed a clipping telling of the arrest of a leading citizen for exceeding the speed limit in his automobile the night before4 ,the citizen gave bond to assure his appearance in police court the following day4 ,the story fills1 say1 half a column in the morning paper4 8,cut it to a stick0 is the order4 ,the novice probably would begin by saying that 8,john ,jones1 cashier of the ,first ,national ,bank1 was arrested last night for speeding10 that being the substance of the lead in the original story4 ,not so the rewrite man4 ,his story begins somewhat like this3 ,on the docket of the ,first ,district ,police ,court this morning appeared the name of ,john ,jones1 cashier of the ,first ,national ,bank1 charged with exceeding the speed limit in his automobile4 ,mr4 ,jones was arrested last night1 etc4 ,here the news writer has given his story a new lead without in the least going beyond the facts4 ,he knows that an arrest for violation of a city ordinance is followed by arraignment in police court2 from the district in which the arrest was made he knows in what court ,mr4 ,jones must appear4 ,it is assumed that the writer is an experienced reporter1 acquainted with police procedure in the city in which he works4 ,later in the day the lead of the story is changed to tell the disposition of the case4 ,nearly all the stories rewritten from other papers are subject to changes during the day or are thrown out altogether to make way for later news4 ,suppose the story tells of a fire in which persons were killed4 ,the fire was in a factory1 which1 contrary to law1 was not adequately equipped with fire escapes4 ,the morning papers told the story in detail4 ,so far as the facts about the fire are concerned1 the story is old4 ,the rewrite man1 drawing on his knowledge of similar events1 begins his story in this manner3 ,an investigation was begun to-day by ,building ,commissioner ,smith to fix the responsibility for the loss of ten lives in a fire which last night destroyed the paper-box factory of ,blank and ,company at #ajaj ,y street4 ,then the story tells of the lack of fire escapes on the building and proceeds to give details about the fire culled from the published account4 ,in later editions the lead is changed as developments warrant4 ,on some evening newspapers the rule is to use the name of the day rather than 8to-day10 8yesterday0 or 8to-morrow40 ,the paper can then be dated one day ahead and sent out as a mail edition without the necessity of changing local stories to conform to the new date line4 ,,suggestions ,,for ,,home ,,or ,,class-,,room ,,study ,i4 ,concisely told story of a fire4 ,from the ,chicago ,evening ,post3 ,lives of firemen were imperiled and a loss estimated at #ce1jjj was caused early to-day by fire which swept through the three top floors of a five-story brick building at #bdbg-ca ,west ,fourteenth street4 ,these upper floors were occupied by the ,platt-,maschek ,company1 novelties1 of which ,c4 ,c4 ,maschek is president4 ,the two lower floors are occupied by ,c4 ,a4 ,hiles ,co41 ,inc41 tool manufacturers4 ,this concern escaped with a slight loss4 ,starting supposedly from crossed electric wires on the fifth floor1 the fire broke through the roof and had spread to the fourth and third floors when it was discovered by ,policeman ,thomas ,feeney1 who was passing4 ,flames and smoke rolled out of the fifth floor windows4 ,feeney pounded on the front doors of the building and attracted the attention of ,edward ,claus1 a watchman1 who was on the first floor and unaware that the building was burning4 ,the two attempted to ascend a stairway to the third floor1 believing that there was another watchman in the novelty concern1 but flames and smoke burst through a door and they were compelled to retire4 ,glass in the door was broken by the heat and ,feeney was cut about the face and hands4 ,a general alarm was sounded and ,marshal ,horan arrived in his automobile4 ,he sent in five special calls and took charge of the many companies of firemen4 ,the heat was intense and firemen who had mounted the roofs of adjoining structures frequently were compelled to climb down4 ,while firemen were still at work on the flames about twenty-five girls reported for work4 ,it was said they would be thrown out of work by the fire4 7,notice how the two leading facts in the story are combined in the opening sentence1 the fact that firemen were in peril coming first1 then the property loss4 ,the writer manifestly has taken pains to get the firm names correct47 ,,ii4 ,brief news dispatch telling of a death by fire3 ,,new ,,york1 ,dec4 #ab4--,mrs4 ,f4 ,a4 ,hilliard1 #gf years old1 a wealthy widow of ,milwaukee1 was burned to death early to-day in her room in the ,hotel ,bristol4 ,she set fire to her clothing in attempting to light a candle4 ,mrs4 ,hilliard registered at the hotel ,nov4 #f4 ,she attracted attention by her eccentricities4 ,she refused to use either electric light or gas1 and insisted on burning candles in her room4 7,all the salient facts are told here in less than seventy-five words--the who1 when1 what1 where and why of the story4 ,this is the compressed form in which the story was carried in the news dispatches4 ,as a local story--that is1 published in the city in which it originated--its human-interest element would justify the giving of more details--but nothing of a horrible nature4 ,news1 unless it is national in interest1 shrinks in importance in proportion to the distance from the scene of the happening4 ,this rule1 of course1 would not apply in this case to ,milwaukee1 where the story would be local in significance because of the residence of the woman in that city47 ,,iii4 ,fire story summarizing the main facts in a few lines1 as carried in the report of a press association3 ,,joplin1 ,,mo41 ,nov4 #af4--;,fire of unknown origin this morning destroyed the entire business section of ,duenweg1 a mining town six miles east of here4 ,seventeen buildings were burned1 the damage being estimated at #ge1jjj4 7,it is significant1 in studying relative news values1 that this story1 dealing with property loss1 gets only half as much space as that telling of a woman's death4 ,both appeared in the same newspaper47 ,,iv4 ,death story which covers all the important points4 ,from the ,baltimore ,sun3 ,,atlanta1 ,nov4 #ac4--,united ,states ,senator ,alexander ,stephens ,clay1 of ,georgia1 died of heart disease at the ,robertson ,sanatorium to-day after an extended illness4 ,his death was as peaceful as it was sudden4 ,he was talking to his son ,herbert when he suddenly ceased speaking and fell back dead4 ,during the morning and early afternoon the ,senator appeared in better spirits than usual4 ,the attending physicians said that he was apparently recovering from the slight relapse of ,saturday4 ,mrs4 ,clay came to ,atlanta from ,marietta in the morning1 but when she found the ,senator so much improved she returned home4 ,the only member of the family present at the deathbed was the ,senator's son ,herbert1 who is mayor of ,marietta4 ,according to the physicians ,senator ,clay's death resulted from dilatation of the heart1 superinduced by arterial sclerosis4 ,the ,senator had been ill for nearly a year and went to the sanatorium on ,november #a to take the rest cure4 ,he appeared to be improving until ,saturday1 when he suffered a relapse which his weakened condition was unable to withstand4 ,the body was removed to the ,clay home at ,marietta1 where the funeral services will be held ,tuesday4 ,senator ,clay was #eg years old1 and is survived by a widow1 five sons and a daughter1 besides his parents1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,w4 ,j4 ,clay1 of ,cobb county4 7,an account of ,senator ,clay's political life1 in #cej words1 follows47 ,v4 ,death story in which the cause is of special interest3 ,,chicago1 ,dec4 #e4--,prof4 ,charles ,otis ,whitman1 head of the ,department of ,zology and director of the ,zological ,museum at the ,university of ,chicago1 died of pneumonia to-day4 ,his death was due to exposure a week ago1 when1 late at night1 he left his room to look after a flock of pigeons which he had been studying4 ,friends say that ,prof4 ,whitman feared the pigeons would be frozen4 ,prof4 ,whitman1 who was #fh years old1 was widely known as a zologist4 ,he was born at ,woodstock1 ,me41 and was educated at ,bowdoin ,college1 ,leipzig ,university1 in ,germany1 and ,johns ,hopkins ,university4 ,surviving ,prof4 ,whitman are his widow and two sons1 ,frank and ,carroll4 ,arrangements for the funeral have not been completed4 ,,vi4 ,graphically told story of the death of a famous 8man-bird03 ,,los ,,angeles1 ,,cal41 ,dec4 #ca4--,the winds1 whose treacheries ,arch ,hoxsey so often defied and conquered1 killed the noted aviator to-day4 ,as if jealous of his intrepidity1 they seized him and his fragile flying machine1 flung them down out of the sky and crushed out his life4 ,he fell dead in the field from which he had risen but a short time before with a laughing promise to thousands of cheering spectators to pierce the zenith of the heavens1 surpass his own phenomenal altitude record and soar higher than any other man dared go4 ,cross currents1 whirled off from a vagrant storm that floated in from the sea1 caught his biplane and shot him downward #efc feet to earth4 ,his body lay broken and twisted almost out of all semblance to a human form4 ,all of the spectators in the grand stand witnessed the tragedy1 as it occurred directly in front of them on the opposite side of the course4 ,they sat in awe-stricken silence until the announcer gave out the words through the megaphone3 8,hoxsey has been killed40 ,then from every part of the great stand came sobbing of women1 who but a short time before had clapped their hands to the daring aviator as he arose from the field for his fatal flight4 8,of course the success of this attempt is contingent upon the kind of weather ,i find up there10 said ,hoxsey just before he left the ground4 8,some of the temperatures one encounters in the higher altitudes are simply beyond human endurance4 ,but1 if ,i can stand it and my motor works as well as it has been working1 ,i'll come down with a record of #ab1jjj feet or more40 ,even at that moment the wind attained a velocity that kept more cautious aviators on the ground4 ,after he had ascended it gained rapidly in violence4 ,moreover1 it created a 8,swiss cheese0 atmosphere1 the most treacherous meteorological condition that man-birds have to contend with4 ,there is nothing by which it may be known why ,hoxsey did not go higher than #g1gdb feet1 which his barograph showed he had attained1 but he had apparently encountered at that altitude the same conflicting air currents that finally overcame him4 ,notwithstanding this1 and with the same reckless daring he had displayed during the last week1 he descended by a series of spiral glides1 and was performing one of his thrilling rolling dips1 when his biplane suddenly capsized and shot to earth4 ,over and over the aroplane turned as it fell1 with a speed so swift that of all the thousands who saw the tragedy not one could tell what effort the aviator made to save himself4 ,when the wreckage had been cleared sufficiently so that his body could be reached1 he was found planted firmly in his seat1 his arms around the levers4 ,the fall telescoped the biplane4 ,the steel sprocket which drove the propellers lay across ,hoxsey's face1 the motor resting upon the right side of his body4 ,every one of the ribs on that side was shattered into fragments4 ,an iron upright1 broken by the force of the crash1 held the aviator's body impaled upon its jagged point4 ,the stop watches of the judges in the stand registered the exact second of #b3ab o'clock when ,hoxsey's machine turned over and plunged in its fatal fall4 ,the news of the tragedy was telegraphed over wires leading out of the press stand before the machine struck the ground4 7,enough of the published story1 which filled more than three columns1 is given here to indicate the detailed method of treatment4 ,the death of ,arch ,hoxsey in itself was a big news story1 of nation-wide interest4 ,its importance as news was enhanced by the fact that another noted aviator1 only a few hours before1 had met death in a similar tragic manner on another aviation field47 ,,vii4 ,story of a suicide printed because of the unusual means employed4 7,names and addresses given here are fictitious47 ,from the ,new ,york ,world3 ,james ,wilson1 aged seventy1 a photographer1 committed suicide by drowning himself yesterday afternoon in a tank in his studio at ,no4 #ag ,blank street4 ,wilson lived at ,no4 #faf ,r street and was in the photograph business with his son4 ,the studio is on the third floor and consists of three rooms4 ,water leaking through his ceiling about #e o'clock yesterday afternoon attracted the attention of ,henry ,smith1 who has a printing shop on the floor underneath the studio4 ,he sent a workman to investigate and when the man returned and said that ,wilson's door was locked ,smith notified the police4 ,patrolmen ,stephens and ,jones of the ,blank ,street ,station broke open the ,wilson studio door and in the rear room found water running over the sides of a tank used in developing pictures4 ,this tank is zinc lined1 is #b feet wide1 #b feet deep and #d feet long1 and stands #e feet up from the floor1 the upper edge being only #b feet from the ceiling4 ,inside this tank was ,wilson's body4 ,wilson was #e feet #b inches tall and weighed #bjj pounds4 ,to reach the top of the tank he evidently stood on a sink beside it1 but how he managed to crawl inside has puzzled the police4 ,first1 thinking that ,wilson might have been trying to repair the tank1 the police made a search for repairing tools1 but found nothing of the kind4 ,wilson was dressed in his underclothing1 and his outer garments were found hanging on hooks4 ,the tank had to be chopped down before the body could be removed and taken to the ,morgue4 ,mrs4 ,wilson said last night that her husband had acted queerly yesterday and seemed to be brooding because a man whom he had had in his employ for a number of years was to leave him at the end of the week4 ,she said one of their sons committed suicide about seven years ago4 7,observe that the writer gives concrete details4 ,instead of saying1 vaguely1 that ,wilson1 a large man1 drowned himself in a small tank1 he gives ,wilson's height and weight and the exact dimensions of the tank47 ,,viii4 ,the following leads show how stories have been brought up to date3 #a4 ,,st4 ,,louis1 ,dec4 #i4--;,colonel ,abe ,slupsky wears modestly to-day the metaphorical wreath of hops that goes with the championship in beer drinking4 ,when he drank a bottle of beer in the caf at ,hotel ,jefferson last night it marked the completion of a task begun thirty days ago4 ,every day since then1 ,sundays included1 nineteen bottles of beer preceded the good-night one4 ,etc4 #b4 ,search in a snowstorm failed to-day to find the three robbers who held up three men and stole nearly #bj1jjj in cash and checks on the ,egremont trolley extension yesterday4 ,the amount taken was given out as #aj1jjj1 but the ,woronoco ,construction ,company stated to-day that yesterday's full pay roll was #bj1jjj1 and only a few men had been paid off when the hold-up occurred4 ,of this amount nearly half was in checks4 ,etc4 #c4 ,,belfast1 ,dec4 #aj4--,political excitement is at fever heat to-day1 following last night's riots that resulted from several ,orangemen voting for the ,irish ,nationalist candidates4 ,those so voting are being called traitors and their houses are under guard to-day to prevent violence being done them4 ,etc4 #d4 ,several hundred college boys from the ,university of ,blank crawled from the sheets this morning with dry throats1 big heads and a universal tendency toward 8never again40 ,for last night was 8football night0 and the college boys 8did things up brown40 ,etc4 #e4 ,john ,k4 ,smith1 millionaire broker1 following his fourth arrest in a month because of his strange antics with automobiles1 is in the observation ward of the ,city ,hospital pending an expert investigation as to his mental condition4 ,smith was arrested yesterday1 etc4 #f4 ,,providence1 ,,ky41 ,nov4 #bf4--;,it is believed to-day that the ten men entombed in ,mine ,no4 #c of the ,providence ,coal ,company by an explosion are dead4444 ,a windy shot in the mine yesterday caused a terrific explosion1 etc4 ,,ix4 ,write a local fire story from the following notes1 assuming it is to be printed in an evening paper in a town of about #bj1jjj3 ,home of ,a4 ,b4 ,smith1 #fjj ,converse avenue4 ,fire discovered at #a ,a4 ,m4 by neighbors returning from theater4 ,one of them broke in front door with a stick of cord wood and aroused the family1 who were asleep on the second floor4 ,fire had started in the attic from crossed electric wires1 and had burned down into the closet in the room occupied by ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,smith4 ,opening the closet to get some clothing1 ,smith was driven back by flames4 ,his wife fainted and he carried her out4 ,his hands and face were slightly burned4 ,two children1 girls1 #h and #e1 were carried out by neighbors4 ,the house1 two-story frame1 burned rapidly4 ,only a part of the furniture on first floor was saved4 ,loss about #aj1jjj1 covered by insurance4 ,whole building was ablaze when the firemen arrived4 ,smith is cashier of the ,second ,national ,bank4 ,man who broke in door1 ,a4 ,l4 ,jones1 a grocer1 #fjd ,converse avenue4 ,x4 ,assuming that the death of ,senator ,clay 7see ,no4 ,,iv7 was first published in the morning papers1 rewrite the story in #aej words for an evening paper4 ,,xi4 ,condense the story of ,wilson's suicide 7see ,no4 ,,vii7 into a telegraph dispatch of #aej words4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,correspondent ,too often the complaint against the newspaper is that it is sensation-seeking and has a predilection for scandal and unsavory gossip4 ,men and women1 including some of eminent rank in their own professions1 although having only a slight knowledge of the making of a newspaper1 have a habit of saying in their ignorance that newspapers give preference to crime1 divorce and scandal4 ,it is even added that it is impossible to get wholesome news into a newspaper4 ,this opinion is wrong4 ,it not only does injustice to most newspapers1 but1 in a measure1 it offers insult to the readers of those newspapers4 ,as a general thing newspapers give preference to only one thing--news4 ,but news is news only when it relates to something of present interest in an interesting way4--,from an editorial in the ,washington 7,d4 ,c47 ,times4 ,in addition to getting the service of one of the big news gathering organizations1 such as the ,associated ,press1 and maintaining correspondents in the leading cities of the country1 the metropolitan newspaper receives a vast amount of material from special correspondents in the cities and towns in its immediate territory4 ,by immediate territory is meant those states in which the mail edition of the paper has its greatest circulation4 ,chicago papers1 for example1 circulate not only in ,illinois1 but reach into ,wisconsin1 ,iowa1 ,indiana1 ,michigan and parts of ,missouri1 ,ohio and ,minnesota4 ,st4 ,louis and ,kansas ,city papers have a broad field in the ,southwest4 ,the newspaper's function is to give all the important news of the nation and the world1 and to give besides the special news of that section of the country which it serves4 ,it is to the end that news within this territory may be covered1 or covered more fully than it would be by a national news gathering organization1 that the paper maintains a corps of special correspondents4 ,a special correspondent is in effect an out-of-town reporter for the paper he represents1 working under the direction of the telegraph editor just as the local reporter works under the city editor4 ,the only difference is that he is not in as close touch with his chief as the local man4 ,though now and then he may get a definite assignment by wire1 he works largely on his own initiative4 ,this is added reason why he should cultivate a 8nose for news0 and the art of writing news4 ,a mistake made by wire is usually harder to correct than a mistake made in the office4 ,time is lost and unnecessary expense incurred if the correspondent sends in a slipshod story about which the office has to ask questions4 ,the correspondent is as much an agent of the paper as the local reporter4 ,he is responsible for all the news in a given territory1 and if wide-awake and efficient he can do much toward increasing the prestige of his paper in his community4 ,,writing ,,for ,,the ,,wire ,the general rules that govern all news writing apply with equal or greater force to the telegraph story4 ,so far from taking an unworthy advantage of his comparative freedom from supervision1 the correspondent should feel perhaps even more keenly than the local reporter the news writer's obligation to be absolutely fair and accurate4 ,it goes without saying that he should be concise1 because the newspaper pays for every word that he sends over the wire4 ,on the other hand he should never sacrifice clearness to save a few words4 ,few newspapers want their dispatches skeletonized--boiled down1 that is1 by the omission of such words as 8the0 and 8of40 ,if the dispatch is skeletonized intelligently1 the editor in the office can easily supply the missing words1 but most newspapers consider that any saving effected in this way is more than offset by the loss of time in editing the story4 ,unless a newspaper specifically states that it wants its news in skeleton form1 the correspondent should put it on the wire exactly as he would like to see it in print4 ,in estimating the value of his story to the paper he serves1 the correspondent should never let his personal interest in the doings of his own community bias his judgment4 ,a story that is worth a column of space in his local paper may be of no value whatever to a paper published #ajj miles away4 ,in 8sizing up0 a story let the correspondent imagine himself a stranger1 in the community for the first time4 ,what would be of interest to him8 ,what1 in other words1 is of more than purely local concern8 ,not the fact1 surely1 that a new sidewalk is being laid on ,elm street4 ,that is a matter in which the residents on ,elm street1 ,smithville1 may be vitally interested1 but it has no news value outside of ,smithville4 ,the correspondent who makes a newspaper pay tolls on trivial items is certain to get a peremptory order to stop sending1 and if he is not an authorized correspondent1 the telegraph tolls may be charged back to him4 ,no newspaper worthy of the name will knowingly print fake stories4 ,if for no other reason than self-interest1 the correspondent should hew close to the narrow line of truth1 for the faker cannot hope long to escape detection and dismissal4 ,neither should the correspondent try to win favor by inserting in his stories 8puffs0 of persons to whom he feels indebted for information4 ,the writer who seeks to use the columns of a newspaper for personal ends is unfaithful to the trust reposed in him as the newspaper's agent4 ,newspapers are in the business of buying and selling news4 ,they want the facts that are news--and the facts only4 ,,some ,,pitfalls ,,to ,,be ,,avoided 8,remember10 the ,chicago ,record-,herald tells its correspondents in a pamphlet of instructions1 8that while news is always truth1 the truth is not always news40 ,essentially the same warning is given by other newspapers4 ,while it applies partly to matters of trivial importance1 it is intended chiefly to put the correspondent on his guard against stories that are forbidden by good taste or decency4 ,when a gossipy individual approaches a correspondent and whispers that he has something 8that will make good reading10 the chances are he will tell something that no reputable newspaper would print4 ,the writer should beware of malicious gossip and unfounded rumors4 ,things that are merely rumored are not news4 ,no newspaper cares to give space to libelous matter and no newspaper that is edited on right principles will intentionally print anything that will injure the reputation of an innocent person4 ,the ,record-,herald thus states some of the pitfalls that are to be avoided3 8,if ,john ,smith leaves town and ,mrs4 ,jones precedes or follows him1 thereby causing local scandalmongers to intimate that they have eloped1 don't send it2 the chances are that the gossip is false1 and in no way can a correspondent do more irreparable damage4 8,if ,john ,smith has been financially hard up and suddenly disappears1 suffering1 perhaps1 severe mental strain1 don't send a dispatch that he is an absconder or an embezzler4 ,he may be neither4 8,or if ,john ,smith be removed from some position of trust1 and his employer has seen fit to put experts at work on his books1 don't jump to the conclusion that ,john is a defaulter1 and don't send a dispatch that he is under suspicion4 ,facts1 not suspicions1 are news4 8,be careful never to confound the name of the plaintiff for that of the defendant1 or vice versa2 nor the name of a person making an arrest for that of the person arrested2 nor the name of a lawyer for that of the client whom he is defending--in short1 remember that it is reprehensible1 if not actually libelous1 to accuse any person of anything that some other person stands accused of4 8,never draw conclusions adverse to conduct or character2 never comment upon the facts4 ,let the facts themselves tell the whole story4 8,carefully scrutinize and consider any court news affecting business standings or business transactions4 ,ex parte statements filed in court are always one-sided1 sometimes malicious1 and may be libelous4 ,not infrequently such statements are filed in the hope that they will find their way into print and thus damage the credit or reputation of the person assailed4 ,the fact that such a statement or petition has been filed does not necessarily justify publication4 8,be wary at all times of stories affecting the professional repute of doctors1 lawyers1 preachers and members of other professions largely dependent upon the esteem in which they are held4 8,shun1 whenever it is possible1 all stories affecting the characters of women40 ,,what ,,not ,,to ,,send ,here are some of the things that most newspapers include in their lists of what not to send3 #a4 ,trivial accidents1 such as the breaking of an arm or leg by machinery1 unless the person hurt is of wide prominence4 #b4 ,insignificant robberies or burglaries4 #c4 ,murders in which the persons concerned are obscure or in which there is no element of mystery4 #d4 ,unmentionable offenses1 breach of promise1 abandonment and similar cases4 ,if1 however1 the circumstances are very unusual1 send the facts guardedly1 but only the facts that can be verified through judicial proceedings4 8,such stories10 the ,chicago ,tribune adds1 8should be handled with extreme care4 ,where lynching or attempts to lynch follow assaults1 that fact should be bulletined immediately40 #e4 ,daily accounts of trials1 murder or otherwise1 unless specifically ordered4 #f4 ,puffs of individuals1 hotels1 etc41 or any other form of free advertising4 ,no press agent stories are wanted4 #g4 ,obituaries of obscure persons4 #h4 ,marriages1 unless the persons are prominent1 in which case notice should be sent in advance by mail4 #i4 ,ordinary damage suits4 #aj4 ,storm news1 unless there is loss of life or great property damage4 #aa4 ,condition of crops1 except in case of rain1 frost or drought at critical times4 #ab4 ,ordinary business transactions4 #ac4 ,meetings of secret societies1 except state or national meetings4 #ad4 ,accounts of county fairs or picnics1 unless ordered4 #ae4 ,abstracts of sermons1 unless they contain some striking news feature4 #af4 ,reports of celebrations1 unless persons of state or national prominence attend1 or of the general observance of ,christmas1 ,new ,year's or the ,fourth of ,july4 #ag4 ,stories of freaks or monstrosities1 such as three-legged chickens4 #ah4 ,school commencements1 meetings of teachers' institutes1 medical societies1 farmers' alliances and the like1 in which the interest is purely local4 #ai4 ,interviews with 8a well-known citizen10 8a prominent official0 or any other anonymous individual4 #bj4 ,theatrical notices1 unless they contain some real news feature4 #ba4 ,political speeches or gossip1 unless ordered4 #bb4 ,fatal accidents to trainmen or obscure persons1 except where there are two or more fatalities4 ,this list1 while not exhaustive1 gives a general idea of what is to be avoided4 ,no set of rules could be drawn up to cover every case with which the correspondent has to deal4 ,to equip himself to give the best service he should not only learn the general principles of news writing1 but should study the columns of the newspaper he represents to find out its particular needs4 ,he should remember1 too1 that no rule is iron-clad4 ,a story falling under any head of the foregoing classification may possess some extraordinary feature that will make it worth printing4 ,in that case the correspondent should be careful to build his story around the unusual part4 ,most newspapers rely on a news gathering organization for stories of railroad wrecks1 big fires1 floods and the like4 ,the correspondent should never duplicate a story of this kind that he knows will reach the newspaper through another channel in time for publication4 ,if1 however1 an event is of unusually grave importance1 or if it happens at a late hour1 the chances are that a special dispatch will be required1 and the correspondent should send a bulletin of the facts immediately4 ,alertness in furnishing bulletins of important news is always appreciated4 ,the correspondent should never under any circumstances duplicate a story to two newspapers in the same city4 ,,what ,,to ,,send ,a careful reading of a list of 8,don'ts0 will give the correspondent a fair idea of what the newspaper does want4 ,in addition he should remember that nearly every newspaper has a hobby--a fondness for a certain class of news of which it makes a specialty4 ,this hobby may be the gathering of news that will help along the cause of good roads1 or statistics of ,fourth of ,july accidents1 or sporting news2 whatever it is1 the correspondent can make it a source of profit4 ,the ,cincinnati ,enquirer1 for example1 is particularly insistent that its correspondents keep it informed regarding sporting events4 ,the ,chicago ,tribune includes in its book of instructions a list of 8,tribune ,specialties40 ,these are3 ,unique statistics4 ,cigaret stories1 legal1 legislative1 deaths1 insanity1 etc4 ,animal stories--by mail4 ,unique hunting and fishing stories--by mail4 ,interesting personalities about men and women in the public eye--by mail4 ,odd photographs4 ,scientific discoveries4 ,stories of romance--by mail4 ,short human-interest stories1 things that will bring smiles or tears to men and women everywhere1 are always in demand4 ,it is a perverted notion that all newspapers are eager to get so-called scandal news4 ,the 8cleaner0 the story1 the more likely it is to be printed4 ,for a newspaper published1 say1 in ,chicago1 events involving residents of ,chicago have a special value beyond their ordinary worth as news4 ,in such cases street addresses should always be sent4 ,advance notices should be sent by mail of weddings of prominent persons1 of coming elections and political conventions of all parties1 and of all meetings in which there is more than local interest4 ,if predictions as to the outcome of an election are desired1 go to the political leaders2 the personal opinions of the correspondent are not wanted4 ,stories of important business transactions and movements in the industrial world are nearly always acceptable4 ,if the newspaper you represent uses illustrations1 don't overlook an opportunity to get good pictures4 ,photographs illustrating important news stories should be mailed at the earliest possible moment4 ,use special delivery stamps and wire the newspaper that you have mailed a package which will reach the city at a certain time4 ,,sporting ,,news ,special instructions regarding sporting matter are given by many newspapers4 ,note the following3 ,never take sides in controversies4 ,send pictures of the winners of important sporting events4 ,in sending summaries of trotting meetings1 always observe the newspaper's style4 ,do not send accounts of prize fights between men of only local reputation1 except in case of death or severe injury4 ,send to the sporting editor by mail advance notice of all important contests1 and if possible send photographs of the fighters in advance4 ,be absolutely sure of your facts before stating that a record has been broken4 ,never say that a contest is for the championship of a city1 county or state1 or any other championship1 when such is not the case4 ,watch for general news features4 ,for example1 if a spectator is killed at a baseball game1 say so at once4 ,never bury facts of general interest under a story that will interest only those who read the sporting page4 ,be prompt4 ,the sporting page as a rule goes to press early1 and stories are often left out1 especially on ,saturday nights1 because they reach the office too late4 ,file stories of ,saturday afternoon events as soon as possible4 ,,how ,,to ,,send ,the correspondent sends his story in one of three ways--by telegraph1 mail or long-distance telephone4 ,practically all news of immediate interest is sent by telegraph4 ,assume that you are the correspondent of a morning newspaper and at #e o'clock in the afternoon have a story of a fire and panic in a theater1 in which five persons were killed and twelve injured4 ,you have plenty of time to send what the newspaper calls a query--a brief dispatch setting forth the salient facts of the story4 ,nearly all newspapers require their correspondents to file queries on early news4 ,an acceptable query in this case would be3 8,theater fire and panic2 five dead2 twelve injured2 five hundred40 ,this means that you are prepared to furnish #ejj words on the story4 ,it is unnecessary to say1 8,do you want the news80 or 8,how much80 ,the dispatch in itself is a question4 ,get your story into shape to put on the wire without delay if it is ordered4 ,if it is not wanted1 no reply to the query will be received4 ,assume that the story is ordered in this dispatch3 8,rush three hundred fifty theater fire40 ,that means that the correspondent is to keep his story within #cej words4 ,the fact that a newspaper does not order a story or orders less than the correspondent offers does not necessarily imply that his news judgment is questioned4 ,stories that ordinarily would be used may be crowded out by a rush of news of greater importance4 ,one story like that of the ,san ,francisco earthquake and fire will cause the omission or rigid condensation of news that usually would be 8featured40 ,sometimes the correspondent's story is not ordered because the facts are covered in the reports of a news gathering organization as fully as the newspaper desires4 ,after the date line at the beginning of your story write the time of filing1 thus3 8,centralia1 ,mo41 ,june #f4--;,filed #f3cj ,p4 ,m40 ,this will enable the newspaper to fix the blame if the dispatch is delayed4 ,in sending more than one story make each a separate dispatch1 with date line and signature4 ,for morning newspapers file all day news as early as possible1 but instruct the telegraph operator not to send until #f ,p4 ,m41 when the night press rate1 which is cheaper than the day rate1 goes into effect4 ,promptness is essential4 ,news matter received after #aa ,p4 ,m4 is likely to be thrown away unless of great importance4 ,never write a 8blind0 query1 such as 8prominent citizen killed0 or 8horrible accident40 ,state plainly and specifically what your news is4 ,it is especially important that the correspondent observe this rule in sending late news of comparatively small happenings4 ,much can be compressed into a hundred words4 ,if it is too late to order more1 your dispatch--in this case a compressed news story rather than a query--can be treated as complete in itself4 ,,handling ,,the ,,big ,,story ,the rules that apply to the sending of the early story may be waived when the correspondent has late news of big1 vital importance4 ,the main thing then is to get the story into the office1 and get it there as quickly as he can4 ,the ,cincinnati ,enquirer says3 8,never postpone sending in a good piece of news4 ,get it to us somehow1 no matter at what hour the event may occur4 ,remember that a few words of an item to-night are worth more than a column of the same to-morrow night40 ,that is a good rule for the correspondent4 ,do not delay sending news in the hope that it will be allowed greater space if you hold it a day4 ,assume that you have the story of a railroad wreck in which a dozen passengers were killed4 ,you are sure the story will be wanted4 ,it is #aj o'clock at night4 ,there is not time to query and get instructions4 ,as soon as possible send a brief bulletin1 telling what the news is and about how many words you will have4 ,then begin to send the story at once4 ,don't wait until you have completed the story before handing it to the telegraph operator4 ,give him the lead and write the story as he works4 ,send the big facts first1 then the details4 ,write simply and naturally1 without padding4 ,if you cannot get to a telegraph wire1 do not hesitate to use the long-distance telephone4 ,have your facts well in mind so that you can tell them without an expensive waste of time4 ,a big story may be rushed into type for the city edition of a morning newspaper as late as #b3cj o'clock or even later4 ,news that is important enough to warrant 8making over0 the first page or the issuance of an extra edition is available up to #d or #e o'clock4 ,evening newspapers1 as a rule1 are essentially local in character1 and hence use less special telegraph matter than those published in the morning4 ,but a big story is a big story at any hour of the day or night1 and if it develops in time for day publication the correspondent of an evening newspaper should use every effort to get it in4 ,the ,st4 ,louis ,post-,dispatch says3 8,in the early hours of the morning--say up to #aj or #aa o'clock--a brief bulletin on any important news item will be sufficient2 if the telegraph editors want more they will notify you by wire4 ,but after that hour the ,post-,dispatch would rather have too much of a good thing than not enough4 ,remember that the ,home ,edition--the principal edition of the ,post-,dispatch--is practically closed to its correspondents at noon4 ,if anything ,,big happens in your locality about that time1 rush it to the ,post-,dispatch without any preliminary notification4 ,do not hesitate to #8take a chance' at any time if you believe you have something that the ,post-,dispatch would like to know about40 ,,sending ,,by ,,mail ,feature stories1 which are as interesting at one time as another1 obviously should be sent by mail4 ,to what extent the correspondent should use the mails for matter of more immediate interest depends somewhat on the instructions he receives from his office4 ,as a rule1 early news matter for a morning newspaper should be sent by mail if the correspondent is sure his letter will reach the office by #aj o'clock at night4 ,if news of great importance is mailed1 wire the office to that effect1 telling what train your letter is on4 ,most newspapers furnish special envelopes to their correspondents for use in mailing stories4 ,don't hesitate to use a special delivery stamp in mailing important news4 ,it is often possible for the correspondent to send news in advance by mail1 to be held until a dispatch is received from him releasing the story for publication4 ,a speech or a report of which the correspondent has an advance copy may be handled in this way to save telegraph tolls and time4 ,for the evening paper1 stories of the late afternoon or night may be sent by mail when the correspondent is certain they will reach the office early in the morning4 ,but an important story1 which depends for its interest on immediate publication1 should never be entrusted to the mails when there is any likelihood that it will not be received on time4 ,in brief1 the correspondent should strive to get all worth-while news for the paper he serves and get it to his office first4 ,,general ,,instructions ,below are some general instructions that hold good for the correspondent of any newspaper1 in any territory3 #a4 ,don't send more than ordered4 #b4 ,keep the local telegraph office informed of your address and telephone number1 so that messages may be delivered to you at any time4 #c4 ,get a substitute to do your work when you are temporarily absent from town4 ,have him sign dispatches with your name to avoid confusion in accounts4 #d4 ,make it a point to keep on friendly terms with the telegraph operators4 ,they can often be of great service4 #e4 ,write your dispatches plainly4 #f4 ,if possible1 use the typewriter in preparing stories to be mailed4 #g4 ,never send letters or photographs by express4 ,the express companies deliver only during the day4 #h4 ,study the style of the newspaper you represent by comparing your stories as sent with the stories as printed4 #i4 ,spell out round numbers in dispatches4 #aj4 ,when an extract from a speech or a document is sent by wire1 indicate the beginning of the quoted matter with the word 8quote0 and the end with the words 8end quote40 #aa4 ,incur any legitimate expense in getting important news and photographs4 ,if possible1 however1 query the office and get instructions before doing so4 ,,payment ,the correspondent is paid on the basis of matter used4 ,rates vary1 but the average is #e a column1 usually estimated at #a1ejj words4 ,extra payment is allowed for exclusive news4 ,a few newspapers require correspondents to send in at the end of each month a 8string0 of their published stories1 but the majority keep an account with each correspondent by means of credit tabs showing the date of each story1 the name of the sender and the number of words4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,copy ,,reading ,if that change occurs 7a return to smaller newspapers7 there will be an increased demand for the services of the man who possesses not the common ability to make a story long and diffuse1 but the rare talent of making it short1 vivid and complete4 ,there is hardly a newspaper office in the country in which the difficult and admirable art of compression has not been to a greater or less extent neglected in recent years4--,from a lecture by ,,hart ,,lyman1 editor of the ,new ,york ,tribune4 ,the copy readers on a metropolitan newspaper do the work that is commonly associated with the word editor3 they 8blue-pencil10 or edit1 the news copy4 ,tradition has equipped the editor with a blue pencil and has made it a symbol of editorial callousness4 ,in reality1 the copy reader is much more likely to use a soft black pencil with which a word may be cut out at a single stroke or an illuminating word inserted in broad1 unmistakable characters4 ,the copy reader takes the story as it comes from the reporter and puts it through a refining process4 ,his work is critical rather than creative4 ,it is destructive so far as errors of grammar1 violations of news style and libel are concerned4 ,but if his sense of news is keen1 as that of every copy reader should be1 he will find abundant opportunity for something more than mechanical deletion and interlineation4 ,he may insert a terse bit of explanation to clear away obscurity or may add a piquant touch that will redeem a story from dullness4 ,to the degree that he edits news with sympathy and understanding1 with a clear perception of news values1 his work may be regarded as creative4 ,if1 on the other hand1 he conceives it his duty to reduce all writing to a dead level of mediocrity1 if his ideal of editing is merely to wage war on the split infinitive and substitute 8obtain0 for 8secure10 no matter what the sense1 he richly deserves the epithet that is certain to be hurled at the copy reader by the reporter whose fine phrases have been cut out--he is in truth a 8butcher0 of copy4 ,,qualifications ,,for ,,the ,,work ,the efficient copy reader has a good working knowledge of the ,english language2 he has a highly developed sense of news2 he knows the style of his paper2 he is content with nothing short of accuracy4 ,to write headlines1 he must have primarily the knack of putting the gist of a story into a few short1 simple words4 ,with all these qualifications he may yet fail if he is not able1 when occasion demands1 to work swiftly4 ,it follows that he should keep in touch with current affairs and should lose no opportunity to add to his stock of knowledge of the city in which he works4 ,the name of the ,secretary of the ,interior1 the latest development in a famous will case1 whether a thoroughfare is a street or an avenue1 the initials of the county recorder--all such details can be found in the files of the newspaper or in reference books1 but the copy reader can save valuable time if he has them filed away in his memory4 ,new words are constantly coming into general use and new ideas are demanding expression4 ,the copy reader must keep abreast of the big movements in science1 in politics1 in all the fields from which news stories are drawn4 ,the right attitude toward his work was shown by a copy reader who1 when ballooning first gave evidence of becoming a popular sport1 went to the public library and looked in the index for 8aronautics40 ,he got the best book he could find on the subject and studied it4 ,he learned the principles of ballooning and its special vocabulary and when stories of the new sport began to come to him1 he was able to 8blue-pencil0 the copy intelligently4 ,,organization ,,of ,,copy ,,readers ,the number of copy readers depends1 of course1 upon the size of the newspaper4 ,small-city papers may have no men employed solely for this work4 ,on the larger papers the staff of copy readers averages perhaps six or seven1 while some offices use as many as a dozen or more4 ,these men are said to comprise the 8copy desk10 and all news copy1 in theory at least1 passes through their hands4 ,on some papers the staff is divided1 part reading telegraph copy under the telegraph editor and part working in the local room under the city editor4 ,other offices have adopted the newer plan of the combined desk1 where both telegraph and local copy is read4 ,this desk is in charge of a head copy reader1 who apportions the copy among the readers1 passes on their work after it is finished1 and in general keeps things moving4 ,the head copy reader is in effect a news editor or an assistant news editor4 ,it is his duty to see that neither the local nor the telegraph department 8plays up0 its stories unduly1 but that each story1 whatever its source1 is rated at its true value in relation to the other news of the day4 ,,editing ,,the ,,story ,the work of the copy reader is twofold3 7#a7 to edit the copy and 7#b7 to write the head4 ,only the first of these functions will be discussed in this chapter4 ,in brief1 the copy reader should hew and polish the story to exactly the form in which it should appear in print4 ,he is a skilled workman1 employed to trim away the rough edges4 ,by this it is not meant that the copy reader is expected to give the story the grace and elegance of literature4 ,he should give it1 if it has not already1 grammatical exactness1 freedom from ambiguity1 and the force that goes with direct1 simple statement of fact4 ,this is the groundwork of the copy reader's task--to make the story correct in form as in fact4 ,less obviously1 he must make the story conform to style--not only to the general laws of news writing1 but to the special1 arbitrary style of the newspaper for which it is written4 ,every good newspaper has an individuality1 expressed partly in what is rather vaguely termed its style4 ,the general style of a newspaper1 its habitual attitude toward news1 can be learned only by close observation of its columns4 ,specific rules1 however1 are laid down to cover the more mechanical aspects of style1 such as punctuation and capitalization4 ,no two newspapers agree in all the details of style4 ,in giving an address1 for example1 the word 8street0 may be printed ,st41 ,street or street4 ,capital letters are used sparingly by some papers1 liberally by others4 ,ages may be spelled out1 as eighty-one years old1 or the figures1 #ha1 may be used4 ,style determines the method of giving titles3 it may be 8the ,rev4 ,william ,jones0 in one newspaper1 8the ,reverend ,william ,jones0 in another and 8,rev4 ,william ,jones0 in a third4 8,program0 or 8programme0 may be the form required4 ,all such rules1 which the newspaper makes in order to get uniformity1 are usually embodied in a style-book1 issued for the guidance of both the editorial and the mechanical department4 ,compositors1 as a rule1 follow style as regards capitalization and like details1 no matter how the copy is marked1 unless the specific direction 8follow copy0 appears in the margin4 ,proofreaders1 too1 are instructed to observe style4 ,it is always desirable1 however1 that copy when sent to the printer should be correct in every detail4 ,the linotype operator loses time if he is compelled to read ahead to supply a missing word4 ,mistakes that get into type are marked by the proofreaders and corrected1 but all this takes time and increases the cost of composition4 ,the ideal piece of copy has every word and every punctuation mark correct4 ,this is the standard1 as regards mechanics1 toward which the copy reader should strive4 ,sometimes1 when he is working under pressure1 he may find it impossible to correct any except the glaring mistakes4 ,here enters the factor of time4 ,when a big story comes into the office only a few minutes before time for going to press1 the copy reader cannot afford to hesitate over a misplaced comma2 his first concern is to get the story to the printers1 with the facts straight4 ,incidentally1 it is a good general rule that the copy reader should not make a change in a minor detail of style unless he is sure he is right4 ,when in doubt about a comma1 omit4 ,just what is meant by style may be seen from the following extracts regarding the use of figures from newspaper style-books3 8,when an indefinite sum is mentioned1 do not put in figures1 as a dollar1 about a hundred dollars1 a million dollars1 millions of dollars1 etc40--,chicago ,record-,herald4 8,when figures are given in round numbers1 say #a million dollars instead of #a1jjj1jjj2 also million for #bej1jjj2 million for #ejj1jjj2 million for #gej1jjj4 ,also #8,the attendance was ten thousand'2 but #8,the attendance was #aj1cge4'0--,kansas ,city ,star4 ,,rules ,,about ,,libel ,only at the price of eternal vigilance on the part of reporters and editors can libelous matter be kept out of the newspaper4 ,no item is too small to contain a potential libel suit2 indeed it is the small items that most frequently cause trouble4 ,routine items1 especially those from police sources1 should be watched carefully4 ,a story of considerable length that appears dangerous is always closely edited1 but too often minor stories1 because of their very insignificance1 are allowed to slip by the copy desk and into print without thought of their mischief-making possibilities4 ,a vest-pocket card containing libel warnings and headed 8,look at ,this ,every ,day10 is given by the ,st4 ,louis ,republic to each of its copy readers4 ,first is this note3 8,editors and reporters should never forget that no news article is valuable enough to compensate for a libel suit4 ,take no chances4 ,when in doubt1 consult the head of your department40 ,the rules which follow are a good summary of the main facts about libel that the copy reader needs to remember3 8#a4 ,heads are danger points4 ,never make in a head a damaging assertion which is not borne out fully in the text4 ,qualify in both to be sure4 8#b4 ,make no assertions against any person's conduct or character unless you are ready to supply complete legal evidence4 8#c4 ,do not draw conclusions adverse to conduct or character4 ,never leave the plain facts4 ,let the facts tell the whole story4 8#d4 ,be sure the wrong person is not made to appear4 ,this is often done1 either by slips in writing names or mistakes about identity of persons involved4 ,get every name absolutely right4 8#e4 ,be careful about using names given by unknown persons4 ,it is a common practice for criminals and other delinquents to assume the names of respectable persons4 ,dangerous ,ground 8#a4 ,court ,reports4 ,any court news affecting business standing or business transactions4 ,watch names4 ,be careful about reporting business failures or embarrassments4 8#b4 ,stories affecting professional repute of doctors1 lawyers1 preachers and other professions dependent upon personal esteem4 8#c4 ,stories affecting the character of women4 ,use no epithets or adjectives unnecessarily4 ,never on hearsay connect a woman with a detrimental action4 ,watch names4 8#d4 ,statements from one side4 ,this includes petitions in law cases4 ,never base an assertion on these ex parte statements4 ,get both sides or say that it is from one side and be careful even then4 ,the fact that a petition has been filed does not necessarily justify publication40 ,bear in mind1 too1 that a libelous statement is not excused by the fact that it is quoted4 8,it is said10 8it is reported0 and like expressions scattered through a story are no defense against a suit for damages4 ,the newspaper is responsible for everything it prints4 ,avoid the libel that lurks in qualifying words4 ,a statement otherwise harmless may be so colored with adjectives and adverbs expressing disapproval that it will furnish ground for legal action4 ,let the plain facts tell the story4 ,the copy reader--in fact1 anyone concerned in the preparation of news matter--will do well to inform himself thoroughly of the laws on this subject4 ,,the ,,guide ,,line ,assume now that you are editing a story to carry what is called a top head 7a head used only at the top of a column74 ,in the upper left-hand corner of the first page the city editor or the head copy reader has written a guide line naming the story and designating the size of the head4 ,this is the 8slug0 by which the story is identified in all the processes through which it passes from the copy reader into print4 ,the guide line1 for example1 8,fire ,no4 #b10 is set in caps at the head of the story and remains there until the story is placed1 with its head1 in the position allotted it by the make-up editor in the type forms4 ,any identifying word may be used to name a story1 but no two stories should bear the same 8slug40 ,the guide line1 of course1 is not intended to appear in print1 its purpose being merely to facilitate the handling of the story4 ,but as lines designed only for office information have a way of slipping into the paper in the hurry of making up1 the copy reader should take care1 when he 8slugs0 a story1 to choose some word that will not cause embarrassment if published4 ,it is related that a facetious copy reader once 8slugged0 a wedding story with a view to furnishing amusement for the office force4 ,the next morning the proprietor of the newspaper1 who happened to be particularly interested in the wedding1 and a hundred thousand or more other readers saw1 between the headlines and the story proper1 in bold-face capital letters1 the amazing line3 8,suicide ,no4 #c40 ,the printer who made up the page had neglected to throw away the guide line4 ,since then the copy readers on that paper have taken care to 8slug0 stories discreetly4 ,the text of the story is put into type on one or more linotype machines1 while the top head1 at least part of which generally must be set by hand1 goes to another department of the composing room4 ,for this reason the guide line that appears on the story must be duplicated on the copy for the head1 in order that no mistake may be made in assembling the two4 ,a story that carries a minor head1 which may be written in the clear space left by the reporter at the top of the first page1 need not be 8slugged0 unless there is some special reason for labeling it4 ,the guide line is used to bring together all the stories that go into one department4 ,thus all items intended for the sporting page are marked 8,sport40 ,sometimes a story is to be followed by one or more related stories4 ,take for example the account of a widespread flood1 of which reports are received from several towns4 ,the story which is to come first is marked 8,lead ,flood0 and all other items bearing on the same general subject are labeled 8,follow 7generally abbreviated to 8folo07 ,flood40 ,if 8folo0 items are to appear in a set order1 they should be marked 8,first ,folo10 8,second ,folo10 etc4 ,the term 8folo0 should not be confused with 8add40 ,an 8add0 to a story is tacked on without a break1 while a 8folo0 is a separate story1 with its own head4 ,a dash somewhat shorter than the regular news size is used before the 8folo0 and usually the head is of a special type to indicate the dependence of the story on what has gone before4 ,in the example given above1 8,fire ,no4 #b10 the numeral shows the style of head to be written4 ,heads are numbered or lettered1 each office having its own system4 ,usually the most important head is called ,no4 #a or ,a1 the next ,no4 #b or ,b and so on4 ,a ring is drawn around the guide line1 or any other direction to the printer1 to show that it is not a part of the text4 ,,marks ,,used ,,in ,,editing ,having noted any directions marked on the story1 the copy reader proceeds to the business of making it ready for publication4 ,with an eye to detect imperfections1 he goes through the story1 adding a word now and then for the sake of clearness1 attacking bombast and obscurity1 transposing misplaced words and phrases1 perhaps even picking up a feature from the end and putting it in the lead4 ,the beginning of each paragraph is plainly indicated1 either with the paragraph mark 77 or in the manner shown in the illustration4 ,short paragraphs are favored as an aid to the reader's eye4 ,seldom is a newspaper paragraph longer than twenty lines1 or about #aej words2 the conservative ,springfield 7,mass47 ,republican sets a limit of #djj words4 ,follow the style of the newspaper in this respect4 ,when several words are cut out of copy1 it is a good practice to bridge the gap with a curving line connecting the ends of the matter which is left standing4 ,by following this line with his eye1 the compositor is enabled to skip rapidly over the omitted portion4 ,never leave a single word standing marooned with a long deletion on each side4 ,scratch out the word and rewrite it at the beginning or the end of the erasure1 where there is no chance that the type-setter will overlook it4 ,illustration3 ,specimen ,page of ,edited ,copy4 ,use the caret mark 77 to denote an insertion4 ,three horizontal lines drawn under a small letter indicates it is to be set as a capital2 a diagonal line through a capital from left to right makes it a small letter4 ,a ring around an abbreviated word means it is to be spelled out4 ,but if there is any danger of misunderstanding 7as in the case of 8,co410 which may stand for county or company71 write out the word as you desire it set4 ,vice versa1 a ring may be drawn around a complete word to show it is to be abbreviated4 ,to make the period plain it may be encircled1 or a small cross 7x7 may be used instead4 ,an inverted caret mark 7v7 is sometimes drawn under an apostrophe to distinguish it from the comma4 ,the same method may be used to make quotation marks stand out plainly4 ,two short parallel marks are used for a hyphen and a single longer line for a dash4 ,transposition is denoted by lines as illustrated in the cut4 ,to run two paragraphs together draw a 8run-in0 line from the end of the first to the beginning of the second paragraph4 ,when a page ends on a sentence but not on a paragraph1 draw a diagonal line from the last word to the lower right-hand corner and a line on the next page from the upper left-hand corner to the first word4 ,make the paragraph sign at the end of a page when it closes with a paragraph4 ,never write up and down the page in the margin4 ,if what you have to insert cannot be written between the lines1 put it on another piece of paper and paste it in the copy at the proper place4 ,lines written the vertical length of the page are sure to make trouble for the copy cutter1 who cuts the copy into small 8takes0 for the linotype machines4 ,the operator1 too1 is bothered by having to stop and turn the page so he can read it4 ,see that the pages are numbered and that the story is closed with an end-mark4 ,any mark that plainly denotes the end will answer the purpose4 ,some of the symbols used are 8#cj0 enclosed in a circle1 a cross made of parallel lines and a mark like the letter ,h4 ,a common error in copy reading is the omission of quotation marks at the end of quoted matter2 be careful on this point4 ,in general1 copy should be marked with a view to simplifying the work of the printer as much as possible4 ,too many marks are worse than too few4 ,never put the printer's ingenuity to the test by an intricate maze of lines to indicate a transposition2 if there is any chance of confusion1 cross out and rewrite4 ,neatness in copy is desirable1 but it should never be allowed to stand in the way of making the intent of the writer perfectly clear4 ,anything to be omitted should be crossed out so unmistakably that there will be no possibility of its being set4 ,be equally careful not to cross out too much4 ,,additions ,,and ,,insertions ,not all stories come to the copy reader completed4 ,as press time draws near1 important stories are taken from the reporters page by page and rushed to the composing room4 ,no confusion need result if the copy reader marks each piece properly4 ,assume that you are handling a late wreck story1 which is coming to the copy desk bit by bit4 ,the first installment sent to the printers is 8slugged0 8,lead ,wreck10 or perhaps simply 8,wreck40 ,at the end be sure to write the word 8more40 ,this informs the copy cutter1 who receives the copy in the composing room1 that the story is still running4 ,the second installment should be marked 8,first ,add ,wreck10 the next 8,second ,add ,wreck0 and so on1 the word 8wreck0 being repeated each time4 ,at the end of each installment up to the last the word 8more0 should be written plainly and the last should be closed with an end-mark4 ,often the process is somewhat complicated by the necessity of making insertions in the story4 ,matter to be inserted is generally lettered1 as 8,insert ,a ,wreck10 8,insert ,b ,wreck10 etc4 ,if possible1 the point at which the insertion is to be made should be noted on the copy1 as 8,insert ,a ,wreck after first paragraph40 ,otherwise1 the place should be designated on a proof sheet4 ,at the close of the 8insert10 as the trade slang has it1 write 8,end ,insert40 ,the terms 8,a ,copy10 8,b ,copy0 and so on are sometimes used to mark sections of a story which are sent over in advance of the lead4 ,the copy reader then designates in the lead where these sections are to be placed4 ,for example1 he may write at a certain point1 8,here pick up and insert ,b copy10 and at the end1 8,pick up ,a copy40 ,an 8add0 may be sent out with the guide line1 8,add ,fire1 lead to come10 but when the story is broken up into several parts it is simpler to use letters as indicated4 8,turn rule for add0 is sometimes written at the end of a story when more is expected4 ,this means that an inverted rule1 which in proof shows as a heavy black line1 is to be placed after the story to indicate it is incomplete4 ,a story is marked 8,head to ,come0 when for any reason the copy for the head is not sent to the composing room with the text4 ,a story intended for publication in a certain edition is so marked1 as 8,first ,edition10 8,rush for ,home ,edition10 8,up-,state ,edition40 ,often a story is brought up to date with a new lead after running through one or more editions4 ,this matter should be 8slugged0 8,new ,lead10 and the changes marked on a clipping of the story or a proof sheet4 8,must0 on a story indicates that under no circumstances is it to be killed4 ,not infrequently the copy reader keeps two or even three stories moving in sections to the composing room at the same time4 ,while he is waiting for an 8add0 to a fire story1 he may edit the first installment of a dispatch from ,washington1 prepare an 8,insert ,murder0 and in the intervals write heads and take care of several small items4 ,the example is extreme1 but it illustrates the condition of stress under which the copy reader often works4 ,to seize and retain the main facts of a story1 so he can write the head after the copy has left his hands1 he must keep his mind keyed up to the highest notch of efficiency4 ,names above all must be closely watched4 ,a moment's wandering of the attention may lead to the statement in a headline that ,jones killed ,smith1 when in fact ,smith killed ,jones4 ,plainly the day of the irresponsible 8,bohemian0 in journalism is at an end2 the modern newspaper demands clear-headed1 alert1 dependable workmen4 ,,the ,,lighter ,,side ,copy reading has its lighter side4 ,gems of unconscious humor come to the desk over the wire1 through the mails and now and then from the 8cub0 reporters in the local room4 ,witness the following1 taken verbatim from a story that did not get into print3 ,patrolman ,prim of ,twelfth ,district ,station suffered two broken knuckles of his right hand1 when he struck ,charles ,wilson1 of ,no4 #bcbd ,b street1 yesterday afternoon on the nose4 ,wilson resisted arrest and the fight followed4 ,the latter's nose was slightly scratched1 and is held at the station4 ,a volunteer correspondent wrote3 ,sneak theaves made away with the contribution box ,sunday eavning just after there had been a liberal donation from the congregation of some fifty dollars at the ,methodist ,church4 ,it seams that no one was paing eny atenshion to the countribution box after the colexion was taken4 ,it setting in easy reach of a good many on the alter4 ,the person or persons that speited it away was very boald as well as slick1 at eany rate it was taken while the congercation was still in the house4 ,some say they think they know who took it and there will be a clost watch on them for the next fiew days4 ,a suburban correspondent contributed this3 ,john ,angel1 the man who was rescued from a horrible death last ,thursday night by being killed by a passenger train1 passing over his body1 by ,fred ,anderson1 is yet in a very serious condition but is somewhat improved from his condition on ,friday4 ,,the ,,copy ,,reader',s ,,schedule ,on a printed form the copy reader keeps a record of all the stories he handles1 giving the name of the writer1 the style of head1 the estimated number of words and the time4 ,a sample entry would be3 8,jones--,fire--,no4 #d--bej--h3cj10 meaning that ,jones1 a reporter1 wrote a #bej-word fire story1 which the copy reader sent to the printer1 with a ,no4 #d head1 at #h3cj o'clock4 ,such a record enables the editor at any time to trace an offending item to its source4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,writing ,,the ,,head ,the art of arts1 the glory of expression1 and the sunshine of the light of letters1 is simplicity4 ,nothing is better than simplicity--nothing can make up for excess or for the lack of definiteness4--,,walt ,,whitman4 ,newspapers in ,greeley's day were judged by their editorials2 to-day they are judged in large measure by their headlines4 ,big type is associated in our minds with the sensational4 ,the paper that habitually uses scare heads is put down as yellow1 while the paper with subdued heads is regarded as conservative in its policies4 ,the distinction does not always hold good3 a newspaper with conservative heads may be essentially yellower in its treatment of news than one which spreads a banner across the top of the first page to catch the eye of the possible buyer on the street4 ,but as a rule it may safely be said that the style of heads mirrors in a general way the newspaper's character4 ,it would be going too far1 of course1 to assert that yellowness is in direct proportion to the size of the headlines1 but it is true in the main that small head letter stands for conservatism and glaring type for so-called yellowness1 with the average ,american newspaper in the middle ground4 ,whether or not headlines are an index to news policy1 they are one of the most important features of the modern newspaper4 ,properly written1 they enable the busy reader to grasp quickly all the essential facts of the day's news4 ,the head is nothing more nor less than the story in tabloid form4 7,see ,figure #a47 ,in this it differs radically from the title of a book or a play1 which merely suggests the theme4 ,the newspaper head is written to pique and gratify curiosity at the same time4 ,,first ,,requisites ,,of ,,the ,,head ,the head is an advertisement1 and like all good advertisements it should be honest1 holding out no promise that the story does not fulfill4 ,it should be based on the facts as set forth in the story and nothing else4 ,the head writer is bound by the same rules as the reporter2 neither is permitted to 8editorialize0 or to draw conclusions4 ,if ,smith is merely accused of murder for killing ,jones1 the fact that space is limited does not excuse the statement that ,smith murdered ,jones4 ,as the story is qualified so should the head be4 ,a libelous statement in a head is cause for a damage suit1 even when the story itself is not libelous4 ,illustration3 ,,english ,,railway ,,strike ,,is ,,settled ,,by ,,lloyd-,,george 99 99 99 ,chancellor of ,exchequer ,hero of ,britain1 ,eclipsing ,asquith--,men to ,return to ,work at ,once and ,no ,discrimination to ,be ,shown4 99 99 99 ,,arbitrators ,,are ,,to ,,decide ,,differences 99 99 99 ,representatives of ,workmen and ,employers in ,equal ,numbers1 ,with ,impartial ,chairman1 to ,have ,supreme ,authority4 ,figure #a4--,st4 ,louis ,post-,dispatch head4 ,this form of head is well adapted to giving a synopsis of a big news story4 ,like the story1 the head should be simple4 ,here again the short ,anglo-,saxon words are the best4 ,indeed1 the head writer is put to the necessity of using short words if he would make the head tell the story4 ,the head is a mosaic4 ,words must be fitted into a certain fixed space1 in such a way that the meaning will not be obscured4 ,this is the head writer's chief problem--to meet the mechanical requirements of the head and at the same time make the thought so plain that none can fail to understand4 7,see ,figure #b47 ,a cardinal rule of head writing is expressed in the curt injunction3 ,get action into the head4 ,make the head a statement of fact1 not a mere label4 ,never say 8,shocking ,accident0 or 8,terrible ,fire10 but tell what happened as specifically as possible4 ,try to get a verb in the head1 either expressed or implied4 ,this rule1 like all others that have to do with newspaper work1 is not to be applied literally under all conditions4 ,exceptions may often be made in handling the feature story4 ,but in nine cases out of ten the best headline is one that states a complete thought in the simplest possible manner4 ,illustration3 ,,two ,,hotel ,,guests ,,may ,,die 99 99 99 ,others ,escape ,winthrop ,fire in ,nightclothes 99 99 99 ,some of ,them ,suffer from ,slight ,injuries 99 99 99 ,loss ,is #ej1jjj on ,cottage and ,hotel 99 99 99 ,beach ,section ,threatened and ,boston ,gives ,aid ,figure #b4--;,conservative type of head1 from the ,boston ,transcript4 ,notice that the second line of each deck after the first consists of a single word4 ,,definiteness ,as many ideas as possible should be crammed into the head4 ,hence the omission by most newspapers of 8a10 8an0 and 8the10 and the rule against repeating important words4 ,an article is used now and then to fill out a line1 but rarely at the beginning of a line unless it is part of a title4 ,the rule against the repetition of nouns1 adjectives1 verbs and adverbs1 which is enforced by practically all newspapers1 not only makes for variety in the head1 but insures definiteness by compelling the copy reader to seek out descriptive words to fit the idea4 ,for example1 the top part of a head chosen at random reads3 8,graham to ,give ,value for ,taxpayers' ,money40 ,the second deck says3 8,banker ,candidate ,promises to ,apply ,business ,methods to ,office if ,he ,is ,elected ,mayor40 ,notice that the name ,graham is not repeated1 but that identifying words are used instead2 he is the 8banker candidate40 ,the head is thus made more specific and an additional idea is introduced4 ,the statement that he will 8give value for taxpayers' money0 is amplified and explained in the sentence following4 ,the copy reader's ingenuity is often put to the test when it becomes necessary to use synonyms in the head to avoid repetition4 ,he should be on his guard against using interchangeably words of similar meaning4 ,to call a modern hotel an inn or a woman a 8member of the weaker sex0 verges on the ridiculous4 ,a cat is a cat or an animal1 never a 8feline40 ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,tense ,heads are usually written in the present tense unless they relate to a future event4 7,see ,figure #c47 ,this is the historical present1 used instead of the past tense for the sake of greater vividness4 8,defies ,his ,accusers0 drives home the recency of the occurrence4 ,the reader feels that he is getting something new4 8,president ,speaks at ,albany0 means that the ,president has just spoken1 either on the day of publication or the previous day4 ,it is news--the latest thing the ,president has done that is of public interest4 ,it must not be inferred from this that the past tense is barred from the head4 ,on the contrary there are occasions when it would be absurd to use anything else4 ,the copy reader would write1 8,william ,smith ,dies0 or 8,william ,smith is ,dead10 but in giving details of the dead man's life it would be manifestly foolish to say1 8,is ,born in ,missouri10 8,is a ,civil ,war ,veteran40 ,while the copy reader must observe the style of the paper that employs him1 he is not expected to apply any rule slavishly in defiance of common sense4 ,illustration3 #b ,,hurt1 #ej ,,routed ,,by ,,blaze ,,in ,,flats 99 99 99 ,tenants of ,apartment-,house ,are ,driven to ,street in ,night ,attire4 99 99 99 ,,boys ,,trapped ,,on ,a ,,roof 99 99 99 ,youths ,finally ,slide to ,ground on ,rain ,pipe--,fire ,loss ,is #be1jjj4 ,figure #c4--;,four-deck head from the ,chicago ,record-,herald2 a well-balanced1 typographically neat head built according to a general plan followed by many newspapers4 ,the ,kansas ,city ,star and ,times1 recognized as one of the most carefully edited newspapers1 affords a striking exception to the general practice of putting the head in the present tense and omitting the articles4 ,the ,star prefers the past tense when it can be properly used and encourages sentences with all the articles supplied4 ,for example3 8,a ,tennessee ,wreck ,hurt #ba--,two ,coaches ,were ,burned1 but ,sixty ,persons ,escaped40 ,most newspapers would have said3 8,tennessee ,wreck ,hurts #ba--,two ,coaches ,are ,burned 7or ,burn71 but ,sixty ,persons ,escape40 ,without arguing the relative merits of the two types of heads1 it is worth noting that the ,star's departure from custom in this and other respects has given it a distinct individuality that no reader can overlook4 7,see ,figure #d47 ,whichever tense is used1 take care to make the head consistent throughout4 ,don't switch from the present to the past1 or vice versa1 without reason4 ,illustration3 ,,two ,,robbers ,,got #aj4ebc 99 99 99 ,a ,,woman ,,was ,,the ,,victim ,,of ,,kansas ,,highwaymen4 99 99 99 ,money ,intended to ,pay ,off the ,men of the ,sheridan ,coal ,company1 ,near ,pittsburg1 ,was ,taken--,could ,have ,had #cj1jjj4 ,figure #d4--,typical ,kansas ,city ,star head1 using the past tense4 ,,the ,,mechanics ,,of ,,the ,,head ,the divisions of a head are known variously as lines1 decks or banks4 ,a two-line or a two-deck head is one divided into two parts by a dash4 ,the word 8line0 in this sense means a complete division of a head1 no matter what its length in type lines4 ,the top deck1 which is set in the largest type1 should contain the leading feature of the story4 ,this is amplified and minor features are added in the other parts4 ,most papers require that each division of a head shall state a complete thought1 having a verb expressed or implied2 or1 to put the rule negatively1 that no sentence shall be continued from one division into another4 ,the other type of head--the running head--is shown in this example from the ,cincinnati ,enquirer1 the dashes indicating the divisional breaks3 8,pomp--,waits on ,humility1--,as ,dignitaries of a ,great ,church ,bow in ,prayer4--,impressive ,scenes ,witnessed at ,music ,hall--,when ,episcopal ,triennial ,convention ,opened40 ,all heads are made local in their application4 ,the word 8here0 in the head on an out-of-town story means the city in which the paper is published1 not the place where the story originated4 ,time is given1 in the head with reference to the date of publication4 ,thus a story dated ,may #i1 is published in the morning paper of ,may #aj1 and 8to-day0 in the head means ,may #aj4 ,,some ,,things ,,to ,,avoid ,alliteration occasionally may be used with good effect in a head1 but unintentional alliteration--as 8,commercial ,club ,considers ,cleaning ,contracts0--should be avoided4 ,slang1 unless apt and timely1 has no greater justification in the head than in the story4 ,some newspapers forbid the head that asks a question1 except perhaps on stories of a freakish nature1 on the theory that a newspaper's business is to inform1 not to ask questions4 ,others permit the questioning head as a means of qualifying a statement4 ,thus a report which has not been verified may be headed with a line followed by an interrogation point1 as 8,revolution in ,cuba80 ,this style of head writing may easily be overworked4 ,seeing several question marks on the same page1 the reader might jump to the conclusion that he had better subscribe for a paper that can tell him something instead of one that appears to deal mainly in rumors4 ,another style of head discouraged or forbidden altogether by some papers is the unintentional imperative4 ,this is a head beginning with a verb in the third person plural form1 which may be read as an injunction to do something4 8,kill ,thirty ,men0 may be the head on a story of an insurrection4 ,it means1 of course1 8,they ,kill ,thirty ,men10 but the form1 when the subject is not expressed1 is also the imperative4 ,only a few newspapers bar this head altogether1 as there is seldom any possibility that it will be misconstrued4 ,an iron-clad rule forbidding it can be justified only on the ground that the rule is part of a newspaper's arbitrary style4 ,illustration3 ,,taft ,,up ,,in ,,the ,,monument 99 99 99 ,,president ,,goes ,,sightseeing ,,in ,,the ,,capital4 99 99 99 ,rides ,up the ,tall ,tower ,along ,with ,some ,tourists--,then ,visits the ,senate's ,new ,office ,building and ,says ,he's ,having ,fun ,like an ,excursionist4 ,figure #e4--,new ,york ,sun head4 ,the ,sun style demands that in this head the last line of the third deck shall end flush at the right4 ,trite phrasing should be avoided in the head whenever possible4 8,score0 and 8probe0 and 8rap0 are handy words for the copy reader because of their brevity and are liable to overuse4 ,the head that contains worn-out expressions or that fails to get anywhere is1 in the office vernacular1 wooden4 ,woodenness is an unpardonable sin4 ,try to give the head a swing and an element of originality4 7,see ,figure #e47 ,avoid negative statements in the head4 ,tell what happened rather than what didn't happen1 unless a negation is the feature of the story4 ,other things being equal1 the active voice is better than the passive4 8,jones ,defeats ,smith for ,mayor0 is preferable to 8,smith ,is ,defeated by ,jones40 ,avoid the monotony of beginning each division of a three or four-deck head with the same subject4 ,the following is an extreme example of this fault3 8,she ,died ,to-day--,esteemed ,lady ,passes ,away at ,her ,home ,west of ,city ,this ,morning--,she ,was #he ,years of ,age--,she ,leaves ,five ,children and ,thirteen ,grandchildren40 ,an even more glaring defect in this head is the omission of the name4 ,the reader learns only that 8she0 died4 ,don't build any part of the head on a fact that is tucked away near the end of the story and hence may be pruned off in making up the paper4 ,in handling a story that is likely to be cut down between editions1 base the head on features well toward the beginning so that the head will not have to be changed4 ,,symmetry ,,and ,,sense ,each head must be written according to a fixed typographical plan4 ,there is a definite limit to the number of letters and spaces each type line will contain1 and the copy reader who exceeds that limit is sure to be reminded1 sarcastically1 that 8type isn't made of rubber40 8,long heads0--heads that will not fit into the allotted space--are a source of vexation and delay if they are not repaired before being sent to the composing room4 ,the copy reader should take pains to make each head fit the pattern before it leaves his hands4 ,until he has familiarized himself with the heads he must write1 he may find it convenient to keep at hand a style card on which is pasted a sample of each head used1 with notations showing the number of letters and spaces to be written in the different divisions4 ,each type line is said to contain so many units1 counting spaces as well as letters4 ,all the letters of a line set in 8caps0 are one unit each1 except ,i1 which is one-half1 and ,m and ,w1 which are one and one-half each4 ,the line1 8,,william ,,smith ,,dies10 contains #ag units 7not counting the quotation marks74 ,a unit beyond the usual limit may be crowded into the line by thin-spacing--that is1 by allowing less than the regular space between words4 ,the same system of counting is used for a line set in capitals and small letters1 allowance of course being made for the greater width of the capitals4 ,the head should be symmetrical1 but it is not required that it fit the pattern with absolute exactitude4 ,insistence on mechanical perfection would cause waste of time and might result in hiding the meaning4 ,sense should not be sacrificed to form4 ,as between a mechanically exact head that is not clear and a head that is less symmetrical but tells the story plainly1 the copy reader should choose the latter4 ,for each line of a head there is a maximum and a minimum limit1 and if the copy reader keeps within these the head will be as near to the standard as can be expected4 ,illustration3 ,,too ,,much ,,flabby ,,education1 ,,he ,,says 99 99 99 ,president ,schurman ,talks on ,character to ,victorious ,cornell ,crew4 ,figure #f4--,two-deck head consisting of drop line in caps and pyramid in caps and lower case4 ,figure #f shows a two-line head with the top deck set in #cj-point condensed ,gothic type and the second deck in #ab-point ,wayside4 ,the top deck here is a drop line3 the sentence drops down from one type line into another4 ,the second is called a pyramid4 ,in writing such a head a word in the first deck should never be divided4 ,in the second deck division is permissible1 but the head is better if it can be avoided4 ,fifteen to seventeen units in each line of the top deck make a symmetrical head1 when both lines are approximately the same length4 ,in writing the pyramid the copy reader after a little practice can tell at a glance whether a sentence will fit4 ,care should be taken not to place an indivisible word where it will cause trouble4 ,for example1 if the first line of a pyramid1 set with the usual spacing between words1 ends on the letter 8m0 in 8,schmidt10 the word must be shifted to the second line1 with the result that too much white space appears in the first4 ,the dash is generally used to separate distinct ideas in the same deck of a head4 7,see ,figure #e47 ,various arbitrary rules affecting the mechanics of the head are observed by different newspapers1 and the copy reader going from one paper to another is likely to find a brand new set of patterns to work by4 ,these mechanical details1 however1 are easily mastered after one has acquired the knack of putting the story into terse1 meaty sentences4 ,the only way to learn how to write heads1 after one knows the general principles1 is to write them4 ,,special ,,kinds ,,of ,,heads ,overline4--,head over a cut4 ,when the name appears under a cut 7this being an underline71 it is not repeated in the overline1 which must be an identifying sentence4 8,banker ,who ,is ,running for ,congress0 and 8,woman ,who ,shot at ,burglar in ,her ,home0 are typical overlines4 ,box ,head4--,head enclosed in a border4 ,many overlines are set in this way4 ,banner4--,a headline extending across the top of a page4 ,jump or ,run-,over ,head4--,head used over the continuation of a story that runs over 7jumps7 from one page to another4 ,some newspapers require a new head for the jump2 others use the top deck of the original head set in smaller type4 ,freak ,head4--,special type of head used over freakish news stories4 7,see ,figure #g47 ,illustration3 ,,can',t ,,fix ,,puffs2 ,,sues ,,for #be1jjj4 99 99 99 ,woman's ,shoulder ,injured on ,street ,car and ,she ,asks ,damages of ,company4 ,figure #g4--;,freak head from the ,new ,york ,world1 set in italics to distinguish it from other news heads4 ,sub-head4--,a head1 usually one line1 placed within the text of the story to avoid the monotony of an unbroken front of type4 ,most newspapers use sub-heads in stories running half a column or more4 8,two sub-heads or none0 is the rule in some offices4 ,a sub-head is based on the paragraph immediately following4 ,,capitalization ,type1 in the printer's vernacular1 is upper case 7capital letters7 and lower case 7small letters74 ,a word that is capitalized is said to go up4 ,a word not capitalized is put down4 ,when both capitals and small letters are used in a line1 it is said to be in caps and lower case 7abbreviated l4 c474 ,a line set in capitals is all caps4 ,the general practice is to capitalize all nouns1 pronouns1 adjectives1 verbs1 adverbs and interjections in the head1 as in the title of a book or play4 ,this is a detail left to the compositor1 who is guided by the newspaper's typographical style4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,don',,ts ,,for ,,the ,,news ,,writer ,a vast deal of the slipshod and prolix stuff which we are compelled to read or to listen to is1 of course1 born of idleness4 ,when1 as so often happens1 a man takes an hour to say what might have been as well or better said in twenty minutes1 or spreads over twenty pages what could easily have been exhausted in ten1 the offense in a large majority of cases is due1 not so much to vanity1 or to indifference to the feelings of others1 as to inability or unwillingness to take pains4--,from an address1 8,culture and ,character10 delivered before the ,university of ,aberdeen by the ,,right ,,honorable ,h4 ,h4 ,,asquith4 ,the following list of 8,don'ts0 has been compiled from a considerable experience in reading newspaper copy and in directing the work of students in journalism classes4 ,practical application is made of some of the principles discussed in preceding chapters3 #a4 ,don't think it necessary to call a child a 8tot40 #b4 ,don't hesitate to repeat a name for the sake of clearness4 ,too many personal pronouns lead to confusion4 #c4 ,don't say a wedding 8occurred40 ,things occur unexpectedly2 they take place by design4 #d4 ,don't use 8loan0 as a verb4 ,the verb is 8lend40 #e4 ,don't say 8,smith graduated10 but 8,smith was graduated40 ,a school graduates its pupils2 they are graduated4 #f4 ,don't say 8a number of0 when you can avoid it4 ,nothing could be more vague4 ,try to give the exact number or at least an approximation4 8,several0 is usually better than 8a number of40 #g4 ,don't advertise a particular revolver or other manufactured article by naming it in your story1 except for special cause1 as when this information may furnish a clew to a person's identity4 ,also it is seldom desirable to give the caliber of a firearm4 #h4 ,don't use 8amateur0 when you mean 8novice40 ,an amateur is not necessarily unskilled2 he is simply not a professional4 ,an unskilled beginner is a novice4 #i4 ,don't make the mistake that appeared in this published headline3 8,audience of #e1jjj ,see ,aroplane ,flight40 ,an audience hears2 spectators see4 #aj4 ,don't spell 8forward10 8backward10 8toward10 8homeward0 and similar words with a final 8s40 #aa4 ,don't use stories that are not fit for any member of any family to read4 ,if a mob makes such a demonstration against a man accused of criminal assault that the story has to be covered for that feature1 a mere hint will be sufficient to cover the revolting part4--,from the ,st4 ,louis ,star ,style-,book4 #ab4 ,don't use 8burglarize40 ,the dictionary contains no such word4 #ac4 ,don't say 8he had his arm cut off40 ,that means literally that he got someone to perform the operation of cutting off his arm4 ,say1 in case of accident1 8his arm was cut off40 #ad4 ,don't say 8,smith sustained an injury40 ,to sustain is to bear up4 ,say he 8suffered an injury40 #ae4 ,don't use 8over0 in the sense of 8more than40 ,say 8more than #cjj persons heard the lecture40 #af4 ,don't use 8party0 for 8person40 8,party10 outside of legal documents1 means a group of persons4 #ag4 ,don't leave out essential words1 trusting that the copy reader will be able to guess what you mean4 ,the omission of the little word 8not0 may cause serious trouble4 ,whenever possible go over your story carefully before turning it in4 #ah4 ,don't use a word in different senses in the same paragraph4 #ai4 ,don't use 8state0 for 8say40 ,a statement is formal4 ,most persons merely say they are going fishing4 #bj4 ,don't divide a word at the end of a page4 #ba4 ,don't fail to read your story in print and note the changes that have been made4 ,don't make the same mistake twice4 #bb4 ,don't use 8purchase0 for 8buy10 8remainder0 for 8rest10 8portion0 for 8part0 or any long word when a short one can be found4--,from the ,springfield 7,mass47 ,republican ,rules4 #bc4 ,don't confuse 8beside0 and 8besides40 8,beside0 is never anything except a preposition2 8besides0 can also be used as an adverb1 in the sense of moreover4 #bd4 ,don't use 8female0 for 8woman40 #be4 ,don't confuse 8plurality0 and 8majority40 ,a winner in an election has a plurality over his nearest opponent2 he has a majority if his vote exceeds the combined vote of his opponents4 #bf4 ,don't use two or more words where one will do as well1 as 8put in an appearance0 for 8appear40 #bg4 ,don't overwork the word 8secure40 ,it is often loosely used where 8get10 8obtain10 8procure10 8collect0 or some other word would more exactly express the thought4 #bh4 ,don't say 8tried an experiment40 ,experiments are made4 #bi4 ,don't say 8the above statement40 8,above0 is an adverb2 8foregoing0 is the right word here4 ,you wouldn't write 8the below statement40 #cj4 ,don't say 8at the corner of ,ninth street and ,broadway40 8,at ,ninth street and ,broadway0 is sufficient unless you desire to specify one of the four corners4 #ca4 ,don't use 8suicide0 as a verb4 ,say 8he killed himself0 and tell how4 #cb4 ,don't use a foreign word or phrase when ,english will answer the purpose--and it nearly always will4 8,a dollar a day0 is better than 8a dollar per diem40 ,don't mix languages1 as in 8a dollar per day40 #cc4 ,don't say 8fifty people were present40 ,use 8persons40 8,people10 according to ,webster's ,dictionary1 means primarily 8the body of persons who compose a community1 tribe1 nation or race2 an aggregate of individuals forming a whole2 a community2 a nation0--as 8the people of the ,united ,states40 8,persons0 refers to individuals4 #cd4 ,don't say 8united in marriage0 or 8joined in the holy bonds of matrimony40 ,say they were 8married40 #ce4 ,don't use 8depot0 when you mean 8station40 ,a depot is a storehouse for freight or supplies2 railway passengers arrive at a station4 #cf4 ,don't call a fire a 8holocaust0 or a 8conflagration0 unless circumstances warrant4 ,consult the dictionary4 #cg4 ,don't call the wife of ,dr4 ,jones 8,mrs4 ,dr4 ,jones40 ,she is simply ,mrs4 ,jones4 ,a woman does not gain a title by virtue of her husband's rank or profession4 #ch4 ,don't make a practice of using a man's occupation as a title1 as in 8,barber ,smith40 ,he is 8,smith1 a barber40 ,certain exceptions are permitted by most newspapers1 as in 8,policeman ,riley40 #ci4 ,don't fall into the habit of describing every bride as 8blushing10 or every five-dollar bill as 8crisp0 or every gold piece as 8bright1 new40 #dj4 ,don't say 8among those present were 444 and others40 ,leave out 8and others40 #da4 ,don't tell the reader 8this is a pathetic story40 ,if it is1 he will find it out for himself4 #db4 ,don't overwork 8well-known0 and 8prominent40 ,in revolt against a long line of 8well-known grocers0 and 8prominent saloon keepers10 some newspapers have prohibited the use of these words altogether in referring to persons4 ,it is always better to identify your characters specifically4 ,tell how a man is prominent4 #dc4 ,don't say 8,jones was present at the meeting and spoke40 ,of course he was present4 ,simply say he spoke4 #dd4 ,don't call a dog a 8canine40 8,canine0 is an adjective4 ,you wouldn't call a cow a 8bovine40 #de4 ,don't call a body found in a stream a 8floater40 #df4 ,don't use 8lady0 for 8woman0 under the impression that you are paying a compliment4 8,woman0 is a good1 stanch word at which no real woman can take offense4 #dg4 ,don't write anything in violation of confidence4 #dh4 ,don't say 8an old man #hj years of age40 ,it's sufficient to say that he is 8#hj years old40 #di4 ,don't say 8#e o'clock ,p4 ,m4 yesterday afternoon40 ,say either 8#e ,p4 ,m4 yesterday0 or 8#e o'clock yesterday afternoon10 according to the style of your paper4 #ej4 ,don't write 8at an early hour this morning0 when 8early this morning0 will do as well4 #ea4 ,don't say 8completely destroyed40 8,destroyed0 is sufficient4 #eb4 ,don't say 8he was presented with a gold cane40 8,a gold cane was presented to him0 is the correct form4 #ec4 ,don't say 8the money was divided between ,smith1 ,jones and ,brown40 ,it was divided among them4 ,use 8between0 in reference to two only4 #ed4 ,don't overwork 8that40 ,some newspapers favor its omission in indirect discourse when the meaning is plain without it1 as in the sentence3 8,he said 7that7 ,john was his friend40 ,never omit1 however1 at the sacrifice of clearness4 #ee4 ,don't call every girl pretty4 ,if a girl is pretty1 you are usually justified in telling something more about her4 #ef4 ,don't say 8less than fifty persons were there40 ,use 8fewer40 8,less0 refers to quantity1 8fewer0 to numbers4 #eg4 ,don't make a collective noun plural unless you mean to convey the idea of plurality4 ,the word 8audience0 is singular when you mean the audience as a unit4 ,it is plural when you have in mind the individuals that compose the audience1 as 8the audience waved their hats40 #eh4 ,don't call a policeman a 8minion of the law40 #ei4 ,don't use 8enthuse40 ,there is no such word4 #fj4 ,don't waste your energy on trivialities4 #fa4 ,don't use 8illy0 for 8ill10 which may be either adjective or adverb4 8,illy0 does not exist in good usage4 #fb4 ,don't overwork 8very40 ,through abuse the word has lost much1 if not all1 of its force4 8,he's a very good man10 as spoken1 usually gives the idea that he is only passably good4 8,he's a good man0 is stronger4 ,be sparing in the use of superlatives4 #fc4 ,don't use dialect to the disparagement of any nationality4 ,don't use it at all unless you are sure of your ground4 #fd4 ,don't color your story with modifying words that imply approval or disapproval4 #fe4 ,don't write #cjj words when you are told to keep your story within #ajj4 #ff4 ,don't say 8at the present time40 ,say 8at present0 or 8now40 #fg4 ,don't say 8,miss ,smith presided at the piano40 ,she merely played the piano4 #fh4 ,don't say that 8this town was thrown into a state of great excitement10 8business was entirely suspended10 8a great sensation was created10 or any other of the conventional things4 ,they are usually untrue and never interesting4--,from the ,chicago ,record-,herald's ,instructions to ,correspondents4 #fi4 ,don't speak of 8tasty0 decorations4 ,they are tasteful4 #gj4 ,don't fall into a groove in sentence building4 ,seek variety4 ,a series of three or four sentences each beginning with 8the0 is monotonous4 #ga4 ,don't begin a story with 8there is0 when you can find a better way4 #gb4 ,don't try to show superior knowledge by writing above the heads of your readers4 ,news writing should express1 not conceal1 thought4 ,leave stilted phrases for the campaign orator4 #gc4 ,don't use technical terms that are not generally understood4 #gd4 ,don't say 8he plead guilty40 ,the past tense of 8plead0 is 8pleaded40 #ge4 ,don't use 8further0 referring to distance2 the right word here is 8farther10 as 8a mile farther east40 8,further0 should be used in other senses1 as 8further1 he said1 etc40 #gf4 ,don't say 8partially0 for 8partly40 8,partially0 means with prejudice4 ,a building is partly of brick4 #gg4 ,don't use an abbreviation that can be misunderstood4 #gh4 ,don't say 8a man by 7or of7 the name of ,smith40 ,say 8a man named ,smith40 #gi4 ,don't confuse the words 8prohibition0 and 8temperance40 #hj4 ,don't say 8the then governor40 8,then0 is an adverb4 #ha4 ,don't begin a sentence with figures4 ,spell out1 or re-cast the sentence4 #hb4 ,don't say 8his whereabouts are unknown40 8,whereabouts0 is singular2 so also 8politics40 #hc4 ,don't say 8in our midst40 #hd4 ,don't use 8inaugurate0 for 8begin40 ,a movement is begun2 a president is inaugurated4 #he4 ,don't abbreviate names1 as 8,geo40 for 8,george10 8,jno40 for 8,john10 etc4 #hf4 ,don't contract 8all right0 to 8alright40 ,there is a good word 8already0 7not of the same meaning1 however1 as 8all ready07 but 8alright0 has no justification4 #hg4 ,don't say 8one of the most unique40 8,unique0 expresses an absolute condition2 it has no degrees4 #hh4 ,don't use an apostrophe before the 8s0 in 8its0 7possessive of 8it071 8hers10 8ours10 8yours10 8theirs40 8,it's0 means 8it is40 #hi4 ,don't use 8don't0 when you mean 8doesn't40 ,be careful to place the apostrophe between the 8n0 and the 8t40 #ij4 ,don't call every little flurry a panic4 #ia4 ,don't write 8capitol0 when you mean the seat of government--the city4 ,the building is the capitol2 ,washington is the capital of the ,united ,states4 #ib4 ,don't say 8he walked a distance of a mile40 ,omit 8a distance of40 #ic4 ,don't begin your story with a general statement such as 8a terrible accident occurred last night40 ,tell what really happened4 #id4 ,don't forget to use quotation marks at the end of quoted matter4 #ie4 ,don't write it variously 8street10 8,street0 and 8st40 ,find out the style of your paper and stick to it if you would gain the good will of the copy reader4 #if4 ,don't try to save money for the office by crowding your copy on a sheet without margins4 ,leave plenty of white space at the top and the bottom so the sheets can be pasted together4 #ig4 ,don't say 8he secured a position as janitor40 ,most persons simply get jobs4 #ih4 ,don't make the mistake of the reporter who wrote of a 8three-cornered duel40 ,a duel 7from the ,latin duo7 is a fight between two persons4 #ii4 ,don't speak of a climate as 8healthy40 ,persons are healthy1 places healthful4 #ajj4 ,don't use 8gentleman0 for 8man40 8,gents0 is atrocious4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,newspaper ,,bromides ,contrary to the opinions of many1 the newspaper has saved its readers from that modern perversion of our already forcible ,english1 slang4 ,it has pruned its language of affectation1 fine writing and indiscriminate and excessive use of adjectives4--,from an address by the ,,rev4 ,,william ,b4 ,,norton1 of ,evanston1 ,ill41 as reported by the ,chicago ,evening ,post4 ,if a reporter is lazy or inclined to 8fine writing0 he has only to reach into the grab-box of his memory to draw out a word or phrase1 all ready to his hand1 that seems to suit the occasion4 ,was the horse running fast8 ,then it was going at 8breakneck speed40 ,did the young woman who was pulled out of the river fall in love with her rescuer8 ,then 8her gratitude melted into love40 ,it was the 8old1 old story40 ,she became his 8blushing bride0 and the news of the marriage was to the discarded suitor 8like a bolt from a clear sky40 8,a host of friends0 attended the 8nuptials0 and the 8happy couple0 were 8showered with congratulations40 ,handy1 cut-and-dried expressions will creep into copy unless the reporter is always on the alert to find the right word4 ,many of the figures of speech in this category doubtless possessed charm and piquancy at one time1 but through long usage they have sunk to a meaningless level4 ,they have become part of the stock in trade of the 8fine writer10 who seeks to confound the reader with large words4 ,other words and phrases are merely trivial or in poor taste4 ,the news writer should study to fit his words exactly to the meaning he intends to convey1 instead of lazily giving way to the temptation to draw on a ready-made stock4 8,bromides0 is the name given by the newspaper man to this stock of handy expressions4 ,the term is thus defined in a bulletin issued by a metropolitan newspaper for its copy readers3 8,a bromide1 in a newspaper office1 is a word1 phrase or expression1 or turn of style1 that is especially lacking in originality--overworked1 hackneyed--a #8chestnut4' ,the daily travail of the editor and the copy reader is in scouting for errors of grammar and skirmishing with inaccuracy and awkwardness4 ,but it is a massacre of libel2 a war of extermination against bromides40 ,the following list of 8bromides0 includes both trite and grandiose expressions which the news writer will do well to avoid and the copy reader to eliminate if they are passed on to him4 ,the list is intended to be only suggestive of the evils of 8bromidic0 writing4 ,it is far from exhaustive4 ,almost any newspaper man could add similar expressions which have come within his experience3 admiring friends agent of death ancestral domain and many others angry mob arch culprit avenging justice battle-scarred veteran beautiful and accomplished bereaved widow better half beyond peradventure of a doubt big mogul 7locomotive7 bleeding1 mangled form blunt instrument blushing bride body of the deceased bolt from a clear sky bonds of matrimony bosom of the briny deep bourne from which no traveler returns brand from the burning breakneck speed break the news gently breathless silence burden of bluecoats burly negro busy marts of trade carnival of crime catch of the season caught like a rat in a trap caught red-handed certain party 7for person7 challenge contradiction checkered career city bastile city's fair escutcheon clutches of the law commercial emporium conspicuous by his absence contracting parties 7in marriage7 conventional black cool as a cucumber cowering poltroon crisp ten-dollar bill crowded to its utmost capacity culminated in the nuptials cynosure of all eyes ,dan ,cupid's dart dastardly assassin day of reckoning delicious refreshments demure miss devoted slave devouring element diabolical outrage divine 7for preacher7 divine passion dull1 corroding care dull1 sickening thud durance vile dusky damsel downy couch ebbing life blood effected an entrance eked out a bare existence elegant creation entered a state of coma evening repast exigencies of the occasion extended heartfelt sympathy facile pen failed to materialize fair sex fair women and brave men fateful words feast of reason feathered songster fell design festive occasion fever heat few and far between fiery steed first fall of the beautiful fleeting breath foeman worthy of his steel for it was none other than he formulated a design fragrant ,havana frenzied finance furtively secreting gathered to his fathers general public genial boniface gilded youth goes without saying grand old party gratitude melted into love great beyond grewsome spectacle grim reaper groaned under the weight of toothsome viands hairbreadth escape happy benedict heartrending screams hied himself high dudgeon high road to recovery host of friends human freight hungry flames hurled defiance hymeneal altar immaculate linen in a clerical capacity inclemency of the weather inner circles of society jury of his peers kind and indulgent father knights of the grip large and enthusiastic audience last but not least late lamented launched into eternity leaden missile light collation lingering illness lion of all social gatherings little blind god located his whereabouts lodged in jail long sleep 7death7 lull before the storm lurid flames made good his escape man of parts maze of mystery minions of the law modicum of notoriety mourned their loss natty suit neatly engraved invitations neat sum never in the history of news leaked out nice manners nick of time nipped in the bud notorious crook and police character old1 old story 7love7 oldest inhabitant one fell swoop one fine day own inimitable way pale as death pangs of poverty phials of his scorn piercing shriek of anguish pillar of the church police dragnet populace was up in arms portals of his living tomb portent of evil prepossessing appearance present incumbent presided at the piano prominent 7of persons7 public prints put in an appearance quiet home wedding raging torrent rash act recipient of handsome and costly presents remains 7for body7 rendered a widow ripe old age rising young barrister rooted to the spot rumors are rife rushed post haste sacred edifice sad rites sad tidings scene beggared description seemed to spring from thin air serious but not necessarily fatal set the town agog shook like a leaf shorn of his accustomed affability shrouded in mystery silver-tongued orator sixteen summers 7in giving age7 smoking revolver snorting iron horse 7locomotive7 snug income sole topic of conversation spread like wildfire stepped into the breach sterling worth and high promise still evening air stood aghast storm king stung with remorse succulent bivalve suicide 7as a verb7 summoned medical aid sustained an injury swathed in bandages sweet slumber thickest of the fray this mortal coil tidy sum tiny tots tireless vigil tonsorial parlor took into custody took the bit in his teeth totally destroyed to the bitter end tried and true official tripped the light fantastic ubiquitous reporter unbiased probe under cover of the darkness unfortunate victim unique in the city's annals united in the bonds of matrimony upholders of law and order vale of tears vanished as if the earth had swallowed him up vengeance his portion viewed the remains vouches for the authenticity of war to the knife waxed eloquent weaker sex wedded bliss wee sma' hours weird scene well-known club man white as a sheet wildest excitement with becoming grace without fear of successful contradiction witnesses duly sworn ,,index ,a ,abbreviation1 marks used in1 #f1 #ahf2 care necessary in1 #bba ,accuracy1 importance of1 #cj2 in observation1 #ca2 in names1 #cc1 #ce1 #agi2 in street addresses1 #cd2 in spelling1 #cd2 effort to obtain1 #cf1 #bbe2 in interview1 #aba2 in business stories1 #acc2 in correspondence1 #aea2 essential in copy reading1 #age ,active voice1 #ac1 #bjd ,add1 how marked1 #ahh ,advance copy1 #abc2 notices by mail1 #afa2 held for release1 #afh ,advertisement1 head compared to1 #aid ,ages1 style in giving1 #bag ,alliteration1 in headlines1 #bjb ,anglo-,saxon1 words preferred1 #ac1 #ajc2 in heads1 #aif ,asquith1 the ,right ,honorable ,h4 ,h41 on prolixity1 #baa ,assignment1 defined1 #b ,associated ,press1 dispatch from1 #gj ,b ,bad taste1 example1 #bg ,baltimore ,sun1 story from the1 #adb ,banner1 in head writing1 #bji ,beat1 defined1 #b2 measured by minutes1 #acd ,bible1 as model for news writer1 #i1 #fa 8,bohemians10 no longer tolerated1 #aia ,boston ,transcript1 head from the1 #aig ,box head1 defined1 #bji ,brisbane1 ,arthur1 on newspaper work1 #ag ,bromides in writing1 #bbd2 list of1 #bbf ,bulletins1 when to send1 #aeg1 #aei1 #aff ,business stories1 care necessary in covering1 #acc ,c ,capital letters1 how indicated1 #ahf2 in heads1 #bjf1 #baj ,cheap slang1 example1 #ci ,chicago ,evening ,post1 stories from the1 #abf1 #aci ,chicago ,inter-,ocean1 editorial on news1 #da ,chicago ,record-,herald1 stories from the1 #gb1 #gf2 instructions to correspondents1 #aed1 #bbj2 style1 #agg2 head from the1 #aii ,chicago ,tribune1 order to correspondents1 #aeg2 news specialties1 #afj ,christian ,science ,monitor1 editorial on news writing1 #gi ,cincinnati ,enquirer1 sporting news1 #afj2 on promptness1 #aff2 style of heads1 #bjb ,city editor1 has 8nose for news10 #dc2 judge of story1 #ha2 valuing news1 #ajc ,classified1 see ,department ,clearness1 necessity of1 #i2 in heads1 #aif ,climax1 first in news story1 #eg1 #gi ,collective nouns1 #bah ,compression1 in news writing1 #hj ,conciseness1 why desirable1 #aa2 in telegraph stories1 #aeb ,copy1 defined1 #a2 how to prepare1 #d2 reading copy1 #aga2 specimen page of1 #ahe2 8,a ,copy10 #ahi2 schedule1 #aib ,copy readers1 duties of1 #c1 #aga2 qualifications of1 #agb2 organization of1 #agd2 must be vigilant1 #agh2 work under stress1 #aij ,corrections1 care necessary in making1 #e ,correspondents1 functions of1 #aej2 pitfalls for1 #aed2 alertness appreciated1 #aei2 instructions to1 #afi2 how paid1 #agj ,court reports1 to be watched carefully1 #agi ,crime news1 question of ethics1 #aca ,d ,damaging statements1 #ai1 #acc1 #aee ,death stories1 choice of words in1 #ch2 examples1 #ch1 #ada1 #adb1 #adc2 points to cover in1 #acj ,deck of head1 defined1 #bja ,definiteness1 in news writing1 #bb2 examples1 #id1 #adg2 in heads1 #aig ,department stories1 #dh2 8slugs0 given to1 #ahb ,dialect1 use of1 #bc1 #hh1 #bai ,don'ts for news writer1 list of1 #baa ,drop line in head1 #bjg ,e ,editing1 marks used in1 #ahd2 page of edited copy1 #ahe ,editorial comment1 not permitted in news1 #bj2 weakens story1 #be ,end-mark1 use of1 #e1 #ahg ,expansion1 in news writing1 #hj ,ex parte statements1 danger in1 #aef1 #ahj ,f ,fairness1 essential in story1 #ah ,faking1 not tolerated1 #hb1 #aec ,feature stories1 defined1 #c2 examples1 #bi1 #ajf1 #ajh1 #abd1 #abg2 treatment of1 #dg1 #ih2 for entertainment1 #aja2 suggestions for1 #aaa2 may be interview1 #abj2 sending by mail1 #afh ,fictional method1 in news writing1 #ga1 #ii ,fine writing1 not wanted1 #aj1 #ajc1 #bbd2 examples1 #af1 #ch1 #bbf ,fire stories1 general plan of1 #gi2 examples1 #gb1 #gg1 #hi1 #ie1 #aci1 #adb2 analysis of a story1 #ib2 points to cover in1 #abi ,flippancy1 to be avoided1 #bc1 #hh1 #ajc ,follow copy1 #f1 #agf ,follow stories1 #ahc ,force in writing1 how obtained1 #ab ,foreign words1 #bae ,freak head1 example1 #bji ,fulton 7,mo47 ,gazette1 editorial on country journalism1 #ag ,g ,generalities1 to be avoided1 #ba ,good taste1 essential in news writing1 #bb2 illustrated1 #aji ,gossip1 beware of unfounded1 #aed ,greeley1 ,horace1 view of reporting1 #bc ,guide line1 in reading copy1 #aha ,h ,headlines 7heads71 defined1 #c2 old style1 #fb2 written by copy readers1 #age2 danger of libel in1 #agi1 #aid2 how designated1 #ahc2 newspapers judged by1 #aic2 reproductions of1 #aie1 #aig1 #aii1 #bja1 #bjd1 #bjg1 #bji2 not mere labels1 #aif2 tense in1 #aih2 local in application1 #bjb2 trite phrasing in1 #bjd2 various styles of1 #bjh ,hope1 ,anthony1 on style1 #aac ,horrible details1 to be shunned1 #bc ,human-interest stories1 defined1 #dg2 examples1 #ej1 #gb1 #ie1 #aji2 value of1 #ajb2 prescription for1 #ajc2 uncovering facts of1 #ajd2 divergence in treatment of1 #acb2 in demand1 #afa ,humor1 example of1 #di2 examples of unconscious1 #aia1 #aib ,i ,imperative form1 in heads1 #bjc ,impersonality1 in news writing1 #bj ,inserts1 in copy1 #e1 #ahg1 #ahi ,interview1 defined1 #aac2 when incidental1 #aad2 as the story itself1 #aah2 first steps in getting1 #aah2 examples1 #aai1 #abj1 #abd-abh ,irwin1 ,will1 on reporting1 #a ,j ,journalism1 personal era gone1 #ba2 daily problem of1 #acb2 sensational1 #aic ,jump head1 defined1 #bji ,k ,kansas ,city ,star1 departure from custom in the1 #fb1 #ga2 stories from the1 #ga1 #gb1 #ge1 #gf1 #ajh2 style1 #agh2 heads1 #bjj ,knapp1 ,george ,l41 on newspaper ,english1 #cj ,l ,lead1 introduction of story1 #b2 method of writing1 #eg2 what it contains1 #ei2 styles vary1 #fb2 kinds to be avoided1 #fc2 police data in1 #fd2 names in1 #fe2 general rule for1 #fg2 examples1 #gj-gh1 #adg1 #adh ,lecky1 ,w4 ,e4 ,h41 on style1 #gi ,legibility1 how obtained1 #e ,libel1 danger of1 #bj2 possible in names1 #aee1 #agi2 rules about1 #agh2 in headlines1 #agi1 #aid ,lower case1 defined1 #baj ,lyman1 ,hart1 on art of compression1 #aga ,m ,mail1 how to send stories by1 #afh ,make-up1 defined1 #d2 methods of1 #hd ,mechanics1 of story1 #hd1 #abc2 of head1 #bja ,metaphor1 use of1 #ae ,n ,names1 must be watched1 #f2 misspelling resented1 #cc2 in beginning story1 #fe2 in business stories1 #acc2 danger of libel in1 #aee1 #agi2 style in giving1 #bba ,news1 often pruned1 #bc2 basic themes unchanging1 #be2 values1 #da2 how judged1 #dc2 sensational1 #de2 plain1 #df2 feature1 #dg1 #ih2 human-interest1 #dg1 #ajb2 department1 #dh2 crime news1 #aca2 ages quickly1 #acd2 from out of town1 #aej2 sporting1 #afb2 told in heads1 #aid ,newspaper1 ,english often criticized1 #h2 fascination of work1 #bj2 workshop unique1 #be2 safeguards against error1 #cf2 its problem1 #dd2 women readers of1 #df2 source of entertainment1 #ajj2 handling crime news1 #aca2 telegraph service1 #aej2 wants facts only1 #aed2 variations in style1 #agf2 headlines important1 #aic ,new ,york ,evening ,post1 editorial on style1 #g ,new ,york ,herald1 instruction1 #hd ,new ,york ,mail1 story from the1 #abg ,new ,york ,sun1 style a model1 #ej2 stories from the1 #ej1 #gc1 #ii2 head from the1 #bjd ,new ,york ,world1 stories from the1 #ie1 #aji1 #abd1 #adf2 head from the1 #bji ,norton1 the ,rev4 ,william ,b41 on slang1 #bbd ,o ,observation1 accuracy essential in1 #ca ,o',malley1 ,frank ,ward1 story by1 #ej ,originality1 one secret of1 #bd2 story lacking in1 #bh2 example of1 #ajf ,outlook1 comment by the1 #ee ,overline1 defined1 #bji ,p ,paragraphs1 indentation of1 #e2 length of1 #ahd2 when run together1 #ahf ,pictures1 with feature stories1 #bi2 in ,sunday magazine1 #aje2 by mail1 #afb ,pitfalls1 for reporter1 #aed ,place1 as feature of story1 #gf ,plain news story1 #df ,police stations1 how named1 #bh ,pronouns1 care necessary in use of1 #hh ,proofreading1 not copy reading1 #c ,puns1 on names1 #bc ,pyramid1 form of head1 #bjh ,q ,query1 defined1 #afc2 blind1 #afe4 ,questions-and-answers method1 example1 #abg ,questions1 in heads1 #bjc ,quotation1 as lead of story1 examples1 #gc1 #gd2 preceding story1 example1 #ge2 when undesirable1 #aaf2 in beginning interview1 examples1 #aai1 #abd1 #abf2 should not be slavish1 #aba2 indirect1 #abf2 in telegraphing1 #agj2 may be libelous1 #ahj ,r ,reporter1 his run or beat1 #b2 viewpoint of1 #ag2 responsibility of1 #ai2 must observe keenly1 #ca2 place on newspaper1 #db2 must not 8editorialize10 #hi2 idea of big story1 #aad2 power to do harm1 #acc2 seeking the right word1 #bbd 8,report of a ,suicide10 #ii ,rewriting1 #acf2 examples1 #ach1 #aci ,running head1 #bjb ,run-over head1 #bji ,s ,st4 ,louis ,post-,dispatch1 editorial on newspaper 8endowment10 #cj2 story from the1 #ajf2 instructions to correspondents1 #afg ,st4 ,louis ,republic1 editorial on reporting1 #ag2 on news values1 #abi2 rules about libel1 #agh ,st4 ,louis ,star1 on revolting stories1 #bac ,scandal1 perverted idea about1 #afa ,schedule1 kept by copy reader1 #aib ,scoop1 see ,beat ,second-day stories1 #acd ,sentences1 preference given short1 #ad1 #hh2 in lead of story1 #fe2 avoid monotony in1 #fe1 #bbj ,signed story1 exceptional1 #bj2 example1 #abg ,simplicity1 keynote of news writing1 #i2 in writing of death1 #ci2 in lead1 #fa2 in head1 #aif2 ,springfield 7,mass47 ,republican on1 #bad ,slang1 in news story1 #aj2 two kinds of1 #bb2 in head1 #bjb ,slug1 name given story1 #c1 #aha ,space rates1 for correspondents1 #agj ,special correspondent1 see ,correspondent ,speeches1 how covered1 #abb ,sporting news1 instructions regarding1 #afb ,springfield 7,mass47 ,republican1 on paragraphs1 #ahd2 on short words1 #bad ,story1 defined1 #a2 qualities of ideal1 #ah2 short feature1 example1 #bi2 kinds of1 #df2 plain1 #df2 feature1 #dg1 #ih2 human-interest1 #dg1 #ajb2 lead of1 #eg2 data from #ajj typical stories1 #fh2 body of1 #gi2 mechanics of1 #hd1 #abc2 often pruned1 #he1 #afd2 unlike novel1 #hg2 for entertainment1 #aja2 special types of1 #abi2 telegraph1 #aej2 marks in editing1 #ahd2 adds and inserts1 #ahh ,street addresses1 must be closely watched1 #cd ,style1 three qualities of1 #i2 special rules of1 #fb1 #age2 variations in1 #agg ,sub-head1 defined1 #baj ,suicide stories1 examples1 #ga1 #gb1 #adf2 motive a feature1 #aca2 often ignored1 #acb ,sunday magazine stories1 #dh1 #aje ,superlatives1 use sparingly1 #bai ,swiftness1 essential in copy reading1 #agc1 #agg ,symmetry1 desired in heads1 #bje ,symposium1 defined1 #abd ,t ,technical terms1 to be avoided1 #aj ,telegraph news1 boiled down1 #ada2 how gathered1 #aej2 skeletonizing1 #aeb2 estimating value of1 #aec2 what not to send1 #aef2 what to send1 #afj2 sporting news1 #afb2 how to send1 #afc2 handling big story1 #afe2 instructions regarding1 #afi ,telephone1 used by correspondents1 #afc1 #aff ,thoroughness1 in covering story1 #hb ,time1 styles in giving1 #ci1 #aci1 #bag1 #bai2 as feature of story1 #ge2 8to-day0 preferred1 #acd2 in heads1 #bjb ,trite expressions1 in heads1 #bjd2 list of1 #bbf ,trivialities1 to be avoided1 #bf1 #hc1 #aec1 #aef ,type1 counting units in head1 #bjf2 illustration of ,gothic1 #bjg2 upper and lower case1 #baj ,typewriter1 preferred for news writing1 #d ,u ,upper case1 defined1 #baj ,v ,verbosity1 not permitted1 #aa1 #ahe ,viewpoint1 must be unprejudiced1 #ag ,w ,washington ,herald1 editorial on newspaper ,english1 #eg ,washington ,times1 editorial on news1 #aej ,wedding stories1 points to be covered in1 #aca ,well-known1 overworked1 #bag ,whiteing1 ,richard1 on daily journalism1 #ih ,whitman1 ,walt1 on simplicity of style1 #aic ,transcriber's ,note3 ,words appearing in small capitals in the original publication have been rendered as uppercase2 italics denoted with underscores4 ,no known textual or punctuation changes have been made4