-376.
an outsider to be given to the work of the reporter. But since attention is directed mainly to the " story " element in the news, little appreciable improvement in the work of the reporter can
be traced directly to this source, and the young reporter can not always be held strictly accountable for over -emphasizing the manner of the telling of the “ story ” rather than what is told.
If the cardinal sin of a reporter is held to be dullness rather than inaccuracy , he conformsto what he believes to be the standards of his profession .
It must be remembered, too, that the reporter, on the other
hand, is sometimes in the hands of " the man higher up ” who " improves ” or “ elaborates” his report and thus introduces inaccuracies . “ Speed the day of the fact- loving, truth -serving, intelligent reporter!” cries the reader impatient with the sins of the press.16 The long- suffering reporter, writhing under criticism
he deems unjust, replies that his copy is doctored by the re-write
man to make it flashy,17 and that he is called a poor newspaper man when he refuses to invent stories . “ A reporter's success on
the average newspaper,” he affirms, “ depends on how skilfully he can weave ordinary facts into a story that shall be topped by
bold -faced headlines.” 18 If the reporter gives too many details,
he may involve his paper in litigation ; if he gives too few , he may be reminded that he is not on a weekly paper. The reporter has also been influenced by the general conditions of the press. The reporting of news long suffered because the work was ill organized. “ The reporting profession ,” says O 'Brien , “ was still in the statusless condition in which the reporter , within
one circuit of the clock, might be fawned upon by the very highest and snubbed by the very lowest.” 19 “ Still an obscure pressman," writes Edmund Garrett, “ I have written reports and paragraphs, leaders and skits, verses and
16 E . A . Fitzpatrick, " The Lost Art of Reporting," New Republic, May 27 , 1916 , 7 : 93 .
17 Two news itemswere recently sent to the office of a local paper where they were changed beyond recognition . When the “ re -write man ” was reproached with having so altered the copy as to make it absolutely untrue
his retort was, “ But I made the stories interesting.”
18 H . P . S., “ In Defense of Reporters,” New Republic, June 10 , 1916 , 7 : 147.
19 William O 'Brien , Recollections, p. 186 .
