News Writing Part 17

=287. What Not to Send.=--The first thing to know in correspondence work, therefore, is what not to send. Never report merely local news, such as minor accidents, burglaries, and robberies; obituaries, marriages, entertainments, and court trials of little known personages; murders of obscure persons, unless unusual in some way or involved in mystery; county fairs, fraternal meetings, high-school commencements, local picnics and celebrations; crop and weather conditions, unless markedly abnormal, as frost in June; praise of individuals, hotels, amus.e.m.e.nt gardens, business enterprises generally; in fact, any press agent stories. Stories trespa.s.sing the limits of good taste or decency should of course be suppressed. Local gossip affecting the reputations of women, preachers, doctors, and professional men generally should be held until it can be verified. Any sensational news, indeed, should be carefully investigated before being put on the wires. But as the a.s.sociated Press says in a pamphlet of instructions to its employees:

A rumor of sensational news should not be held too long for verification. If the rumor is not libelous it should be sent immediately as a rumor, with the addition that "the story is being investigated."

Should the news, however, involve persons or firms in a charge that might be libelous, a note to the editors, marked "Private, not for publication,"

should be bulletined that "such and such a story has come to our attention and is being investigated."

While accuracy in The a.s.sociated Press despatches is of the highest value and we would rather be beaten than send out an untruthful statement, there is such a thing as carrying the effort to secure accuracy so far as to delay the perfectly proper announcement of a rumor. So long as it is a rumor only it should be announced as a rumor.

=288. What to Send.=--After cautioning the correspondent against sending stories containing merely local news, unfounded rumors, and details offensive to good taste, one must leave him to gather for himself what his paper wants. Big news, of course, is always good; but those special types of news, those little hobbies for which individual papers have characteristic weaknesses, one can learn only by studying the columns of the paper for which one corresponds. Some newspapers make specialties of freak news, such as odd actions of lightning, three-legged chickens, etc. Others will not consider such stories. One daily in America wants a bulletin of every death or injury resulting from celebrations of the Fourth of July. Another in a Middle Western state wants all sporting news in its state, particularly that concerning colleges and high schools. Still another, an Eastern paper this time, wants educational news--what the colleges are doing. Other kinds of information in which individual publications specialize are news of nationally prominent men and women, human interest love stories, odd local historical data, humorous or pathetic animal stories, golfing anecdotes, increase or decrease in liquor sales or the number of saloon licenses, etc.

=289. Conducting a Local Column.=--When conducting a column giving the news of a particular locality or neighborhood, the one thing not to write is that there is little news in the community this week or to-day.

The readers of a column should not be allowed to suspect that one has little information to present. All about one are unnumbered sources of news if the correspondent can only find them--humorous incidents, reminiscences of old pioneers, stories of previous extremely wet, dry, hot, or cold seasons, recollections of Civil, Spanish American, and European War battles, etc. Such stories may be had for the asking and played up when there is "nothing doing this week." The use of good feature stories bearing directly on the life of the community will fill one's column, put money into one's pocket, and add readers to the subscription list of the paper.

=290. Stories by Mail.=--A correspondent's stories may be sent in any one of three ways--by mail, telephone, or telegraph. The mail should be used for any stories the time of publication of which is not important, such as feature stories, advance stories of speeches, elections, state celebrations, etc. One may use the mail for big stories, provided there is certainty of the letter reaching the office by 10:00 A.M. for afternoon papers and 8:00 P.M. for morning papers. If the news is big, it is best to put a special delivery stamp on the envelop and wire the paper of the story by mail. If there is doubt about mail reaching the paper promptly, use the telegraph every time. When sending photographs ill.u.s.trating important news events, one should use special delivery stamps and wire the paper that the pictures are coming. In the case of advance speeches, where the ma.n.u.script is forwarded several days ahead, the reporter should specify not only the exact day, but the precise hour for release of the speech, and at the time stated he should wire definite release,--that the address has been given, the speaker beginning at such and such an hour. The necessity of keeping close future books and of keeping the state or telegraph editor in intimate touch by mail with coming events may be urged upon all correspondents. A single event properly played up by a skillful correspondent may be made productive, before its occurrence, of three or four attractive mail stories. And it is the quant.i.ty of such stories that adds to the reporter's much desired revenue.

=291. Stories by Telephone.=--The telephone is used when the mails are too slow or a telegraph office is not convenient, or when there is need of getting into personal communication with the office. In using the telephone one caution only may be given, that the correspondent should never call up the state editor with merely a jumble of facts at hand.

Long-distance messages are costly and editors watch all calls closely in an effort to reduce tolls to a minimum. If possible, the correspondent should have his story written--certainly he should have it sketched on paper--before calling the office, so that he may dictate his news in the shortest possible time.

=292. Stories by Telegraph.=--The telegraph is for stories demanding immediacy of print, and certain rules govern their handling that every correspondent should know. Suppose at six o'clock some afternoon an automobile owned and driven by Otto Thomson, receiving teller for the local Commercial Bank, skids over a slippery, tar-covered pavement into a telegraph pole on one of the main streets of the town, killing him and severely injuring two women in the car. What should the correspondent do in such a case? The accident is good for a half-column in _The Herald_, the local morning daily, but because Thomson was only moderately prominent, one is doubtful if it is worth much in _The World_, the great daily a hundred miles away. After considering all the details, however,--Thomson's position locally and the fact that the city may be held liable for the excess of tar at a dangerous turn in the streets,--the reporter may conclude that the story is worth four hundred words. He is still doubtful, however, whether the city paper will consider it worth publis.h.i.+ng. His message, therefore,--technically known as a "query"--should be:

Otto Thomson, receiving teller Commercial Bank, killed at six P.M. by automobile skidding into telegraph pole. Two women in car injured. Four hundred. 8:35 P.M. A. D. Anderson

This means that the correspondent is prepared to wire a 400-word story about the accidental death of Otto Thomson.

It tells, too, that the query was filed at 8:35, so that blame may be placed if delivery is delayed. There is no need to ask if the paper wants further details or how much it wants.

The message itself is an inquiry. One other important point about it is that it bulletins the news. It is not a "blind"

query stating that "a prominent citizen has been killed" or that "a regrettable tragedy has occurred." It gives the facts concisely, so that the editor, if he wishes, may publish them immediately and may decide whether additional details are worth while.

=293. Waiting for the Reply.=--While the correspondent is waiting for the reply, he should begin his story and, if possible, have it ready by the time the dispatch comes. The most important details should be placed first, of course, so that if the state editor asks for fewer than four hundred words, the correspondent will have to kill only the last paragraph or so and send the first part of the story as originally written. There is no need of skeletonizing the story to lessen telegraphic charges: that is, of omitting _the's_, _a's_, _an's_, _is's_, etc. The small amount saved in this way is more than offset by the additional time and cost of editing in the office.

=294. The Reply.=--In fifteen or twenty minutes, or perhaps a half-hour, a reply will come, reading, say, "Rush three hundred banker's death."

This means that the correspondent must keep his story within three hundred words,--an injunction which he must observe strictly. Woe to the self-confident writer who sends five hundred words when three hundred have been ordered. He will receive a prompt reprimand for his first offense and probable discharge for the second. If, however, he has used his time wisely since sending the query and has written his story rightly, he will have no trouble in lopping off the final paragraph and putting the three hundred words on the wire within a few minutes after receipt of the order.

=295. No Reply.=--The correspondent need not be surprised or chagrined, however, if no reply comes,--the paper's silence meaning that the story is not wanted. The accident may have been covered by one of the regular news bureaus--the a.s.sociated Press, the United Press, or possibly a local news-gathering organization. Or the bulletin itself may have been all the paper wanted,--due credit and pay for which the correspondent will receive at the end of the month. Or the story may have been crowded out by news of greater importance. This last reason is a very possible one, which every correspondent should consider whenever a story breaks.

The s.p.a.ce value of a paper's columns doubles and quadruples as press time approaches,--so that a story which would be given generous s.p.a.ce if received at eight o'clock may be thrown into the wastebasket if received four hours later.

=296. Hours for Filing.=--The extreme hours for filing dispatches to catch the various editions are worth noting and remembering. For an afternoon paper the story should be in the hands of the telegraph operator not later than 9:00 A.M. for the noon edition, 12:00 M. for the three o'clock, and 2:00 P.M. for the five o'clock edition. If the news is extraordinary--big enough to justify ripping open the front page--it may be filed as late as 2:30 P.M., though the columns of an afternoon paper are practically closed to correspondents after 12:30 or 1:00 P.M.

Any news occurring after 2:30 P.M. should be filed as early as possible, but should be marked N. P. R. (night press rate), so that it will be sent after 6:00 P.M., when telegraphic charges are smaller. For a morning paper news may be filed as late as 2:00 A.M., though the columns are practically closed to correspondents after midnight.

=297. Big News.=--When big or unusual news breaks,--news about which there is no doubt of the general interest,--the correspondent should bulletin a lead immediately, with the probable length of the story and the time of filing affixed. Thus:

Marietta, Ga., Aug. 17.--Leo M. Frank, whom the Georgia courts declared guilty of the murder of fourteen-year-old Mary Phagan of Marietta, was lynched two miles from here at an early hour this morning. Frank was brought in an automobile to Marietta by a band of twenty-five masked men who stormed the Milledgeville prison farm shortly after midnight. Two thousand. 8:35. Sherman

Then--particularly if the hour is nearing press time--the correspondent should follow as rapidly as possible with instalments of the detailed story, without waiting for a reply to the bulletin lead. When there is doubt about the length, editors would rather have one not take chances on delaying the news,--would rather have too much of a story than too little. Besides, a writer cannot get further than the second or third instalment before specific orders will arrive from the paper.

=298. The Detailed Story.=--After the lead, the details follow as in a normal story, the individual instalments being given the operator as fast as he can take them, each one marked "More" except the last, which is marked "30." Thus the continuation of the bulletin lead of the Frank lynching just given would be:

Not one of the armed prison guards, according to the best information now obtainable, raised a hand to prevent the mob accomplis.h.i.+ng its purpose. Frank was taken from his cell and rushed to a spot previously chosen for the lynching, about a hundred miles from the prison. Not a soul, it is said, knew positively whether the men were his friends or his enemies until the lifeless body was discovered this morning.

More. 8:45 P. M. Sherman

Then the final instalment might read:

The rope placed around Frank's neck was tied in such a way as to reopen the wound caused some weeks ago when a fellow prisoner attempted to kill him by cutting his throat. Loss of blood from the re-opened wound no doubt would have caused his death had he not strangled. Thirty. 9:15. Sherman

The "thirty" is the telegrapher's signal indicating the completion of the story.

=299. Sporting News.=--In handling sporting news a few specific instructions are needful, the first being the necessity of absolute impartiality in all controversies. Local rival sportsmen in their keen desire to win are continually breeding quarrels, which frequently make it difficult for the observer not to be biased; but the correspondent must be careful to present simple facts only, without editorializing.

The need of filing all afternoon scores by 7:30 P.M., with 8:00 P.M. as the outside limit, should also be noted. Morning papers put their sporting news on inside pages and must make up the forms early. There is need of the utmost caution in having the news correct, particularly the box scores of baseball games, which have an unhappy way of failing to balance when one compares individual scores with the totals. In all contests where a seeming new record has been made, the correspondent should be sure of the record before telegraphing it as such. If there is the slightest doubt, report it as "what is said to be a record."

Finally, one should be cautioned against reporting mere high-school contests, boxing bouts between local men, and other sporting news possessing limited interest only.

=300. General Instructions.=--In conclusion, a few general instructions may be given for the guidance of correspondents:

1. When forwarding time stories, advance ma.n.u.script of speeches, cuts, etc., send by mail. The express companies do not deliver at night.

2. In telegrams spell out round numbers; and mark the beginning of speeches by the word _quote_, and the end by _end quote_.

3. Keep the telegraph companies informed always of your street address and telephone number. It is well also to maintain friendly relations with the operators. Frequently they can be of valuable service to a correspondent.

4. Finish all incomplete stories. It sometimes happens that one will wire a dispatch of the beginning of a seeming big fire or a seeming great murder mystery, which the paper will feature as important news, but which later will prove of no worth. Such stories should be cleared up and the results made known to avoid keeping the paper in a quandary over the outcome.

5. When reporting fires, accidents, disasters, etc., locate the scene as accurately as possible. This is sometimes accomplished by reference to well-known buildings or landmarks, in addition to the exact street location.

6. When a big story breaks, go after it, no matter if there is need of incurring expense. Papers will stand any reasonable expense for valuable news.

7. Never forget the worth of sending time. Every minute is valuable.

8. Until you have received your first check, clip and keep every story printed. Most papers keep their own accounts with correspondents, but some require them to send in at the end of each month their "string:"

that is, all their stories pasted together end to end. Payment is then made on the basis of the number of columns, the rates varying from $2 to $7 a column of 1500 words.

APPENDIX

STYLE-BOOK

I. HANDLING COPY

=1. Definition.=--_Copy_ is any ma.n.u.script prepared for printing, and is written according to the individual style rules of each newspaper. The first thing for a reporter to do on beginning work in an office is to ask for the style-book, the manual for the guidance of reporters, copy-readers, and compositors. The chances are nine to one that the paper will not have such a book, since only the larger dailies print their rules of style, and that the reporter must study the columns of the paper and the changes made in his own stories for the individual office rules. If the paper happens to be the tenth one, however, the reporter should employ every spare moment studying the manual and should write every story, even his first one, as nearly as possible in accord with the printed rules, as the copy readers will insist on a strict observance of the regulations. Many of the rules will be mere _don'ts_, embodying common errors of diction. Others may be particular aversions of the editor or the head copy-reader and may have little regard for or relation to best usage. But such rules must be observed, even though they may be as absurd and contrary to all custom, as that of one metropolitan paper which makes its reporters write "Farwell-av," a usage peculiar to that journal. All such requirements may be found in the style-book, which, whenever in doubt, the reporter should consult rather than the columns of the paper, as the paper is not always reliable.

Uncorrected matter is frequently hurried into the forms, causing variations that the rules of composition forbid.

=2. The Typewriter.=--The first requirement in preparing copy is a knowledge of how to handle a typewriter dexterously. In all offices the reporters are furnished with typewriters, and one is helpless until one learns how to use a machine. Longhand copy rarely is sent to the compositors nowadays. If such copy comes into the office, it is generally given to stenographers or reporters to type before being dispatched to the composing room.

=3. Longhand Copy.=--At times, however, when away from the office, one cannot obtain a machine and must write in longhand. In such cases, write with painstaking care for accuracy. Other things being equal, it is the legible copy that survives. Unusual proper names and technical words that are liable to be mistaken in copying should be printed letter by letter. If there is a possibility at any time of confusing an _o_ with an _a_, or a _u_ with an _n_, the _u_ and _a_ should be underscored and the _n_ and _o_ overscored. Quotation-marks should be enclosed in half-circles--thus, "/jag"/--to show whether they are beginning or end marks. And instead of a period, a small cross should be used, or else the period be enclosed in a circle.

=4. Paper.=--Writing paper is always supplied in the office. Even when one is a correspondent in a neighboring town, stationery, including self-addressed envelopes, is frequently furnished by the journal for which one corresponds. Some newspapers, however, do not provide writing supplies. In such cases the correspondent should choose unglazed paper of a neutral tint--gray, yellow, or manila brown. The paper most commonly used is unruled print paper 6 x 9 or 8-1/2 x 11 inches in size and of sufficient firmness to permit use of either ink or pencil.

=5. Margins.=--Except for the writer's name in a ring at the extreme left corner of the page, the top half of the first page of copy should be left blank, so that the headlines may be written there by the headline writer. All the sheets should have a margin of an inch at the bottom and at each side of the paper, and all other sheets than the first should have a margin of an inch at the top. The side margins are necessary for the corrections of the copy editors; the margins at the bottom are for convenience in pasting the sheets together; and the top margins are necessary for paging.