Reporting by W. S. CHAPMAN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 1, 1910

Reporting

By W. S. CHAPMAN

Writing for the Press—No. 5

Reporting

W. S. CHAPMAN

It does not follow, because I advise you to acquire a practical knowledge of reporting, that I am suggesting that you enter the employ of some newspaper editor as a paid reporter. A Sabbath-keeper could not consistently do this.

A salaried newspaper reporter must ever stand ready to do the bidding of his employer, unquestioningly, at all times, under all circumstances; to accept each and every assignment given him; to go anywhere, and investigate anything that comes under the heading of news. He is not supposed to have likes or dislikes, preferences or compunctions, conscience or religion. He is to spare none. The old, the young, the innocent, the guilty, the man of wealth or fame, or the poor and outcast,—the facts must ever be told, regardless of consequences; the details of the happenings, however hideous and humiliating they may be to the parties concerned, and no matter where or on whom the blow falls, are to be laid bare. In such work a Sabbath-keeper can have no part.

Neither am I suggesting a too close attention to this work of reporting. It is not best to make a hobby of it, or to seek news items continuously, daily. A paid reporter is supposed to pick up every available item coming within his reach. A corresponding reporter is expected to send in only the more important and more interesting items. This latter is the only kind of reporting it will be well to engage in.

Be careful, therefore, not to degenerate into a 'gossip.' Gossip may or may not be news; but it is in a class not worthy, generally, of the attention of a Sabbath-keeper.

To chronicle the fact that Miss Green gave a reception to Miss Plum from Centerville: that the time was delightfully passed playing forfeits; and refreshments were —, etc.; the following young ladies being present —, etc.—such a report is gossip. Utterly refuse to touch that sort of thing.

But when Mrs. Townsend is called, suddenly, by telegraph, to Centerville, her father having been taken dangerously ill, and leaves on the early train, all good citizens will be anxious to learn about the matter, as the old man, the former county treasurer, has always been a prominent character. Be certain to send in such an item: it's news, locally, of the very best kind.

If you send in items but once a week to your home paper, it will seldom be necessary for you to go from home to obtain them. When it becomes known that you are 'correspondent for the paper,' your neighbors and friends will be certain to think of you when anything of interest occurs, and to furnish you with the particulars.

Keep a tablet, with pencil attached, in some convenient place; and when any item comes to hand, let some member of the family make a note of it. You will be surprised to see how fast they will accumulate. When leisure moments come, study these jottings, and write them out for the paper on separate sheets. Occasionally pick them up and reconsider the matter, querying whether the composition can not be improved in arrangement, diction, or condensation. This work will be your 'school work,' and if faithfully followed up, will insure proficiency.

This field—not an overworked one, either—can be entered by our people with great benefit to themselves and to the cause. By doing this work they become what may be termed 'corresponding reporters;' i. e., those sending in items of news, occasionally, or regularly by appointment, but not under a salary, to their local paper, or as opportunity offers, to newspapers at a distance.

A newspaper correspondent usually confines himself to the sending in of a chatty letter once a week, or on stated occasions, as agreed upon, such a letter generally containing items of interest from the home of the writer only, which are inserted as such, headed with the name of the town or village from which the news is sent.

A corresponding reporter deals more in isolated items of news, and happenings of interest, gathered from any point, preferably, however, from within the county, describing each on a separate sheet of paper. These items the editor has set up singly; and the 'compo,' in 'making up' the paper, inserts them where each is most appropriate, or else uses them as 'fillers' to close small vacancies in the columns. Items of sufficient importance might receive distinctive headings, and be assigned a more or less important position, according to the estimate the editor might put upon them, and according to the congested or vacant condition of some of his columns.

If the newspaper is published in the correspondent's own town, it will be best to consult the editor before writing out any item of particular interest. It is customary to present an outline of the facts to him, and he will name the number of words which, in his judgment, the article can be granted, to fill a certain amount of space. Sometimes this may be but a stickful, or about one hundred sixty words; or it may be half a column, or, to your surprise, possibly a whole column, or about fourteen hundred words.

The space assigned to an article is not always a safe criterion as to its value. In estimating the number of words to be accorded it, the editor takes into consideration the condition of the columns of his paper, and the available matter on hand. Often an item may be extended to-day to a column which to-morrow would be reduced to a stickful or two.

An item, filling a goodly proportion of half a column or of a full column, is called a 'space' story. When such a story is of peculiar interest, it can be remodeled and written out, after you have gained sufficient experience at reporting and story writing, and sent to some large daily in a big city, on 'space rates.' If accepted and printed, a check for from one dollar to ten dollars may be sent to you. Often quite an addition to your income will come from watching for such openings. Do not feel disappointed, however, if many of your efforts prove failures. Many times good material has to be sacrificed, even after acceptance.

The pay of a corresponding reporter varies according to circumstances. Items sent to your local paper may perhaps bring you in no money. The editor may put your name on the free list for a copy of the paper regularly, and furnish you with paper, envelopes, and postage. Still, the experience you will obtain, particularly because of the editor's advice and criticism of your work, will be of far greater value to you than the cash remuneration from outside papers.

Most of the contributions from a corresponding reporter can be classed as 'space' writing. When the items are sent to a paper paying cash for them, they must be carefully preserved; and once a month, with their headings, if they have any, pasted in long sheets, or strips, then sent in for payment. The office will measure them into column lengths, and you will be paid so much a column for them. This, generally, is ten cents an inch, sometimes as high as five dollars to ten dollars a column, varying according to the character of the matter, and payment being made only for that which appears in print.

It is important that you get your matter into the hands of the editor early. There is very little show, in daily papers, for items coming into the office late, unless of exceptional value. You should ascertain the hour of going to press, and aim to get your contributions in on ample time.

Should you get hold of a particularly interesting item of sufficient importance to be valuable to some distant daily, and it comes to you too late to mail and reach the office before the paper goes to press, you should telegraph a 'query,' describing the story, and asking if the editors wish to have it. If it is desired, they will reply, naming the number of words that you are permitted to use in telegraphing. This style of story business with newspapers I will describe more fully farther along. If your telegraph matter is used, you will be paid 'space rates.' Remember, however, that all large daily papers receive from two to five times as much telegraph matter daily as they can use. Yours, therefore, may be 'turned down' simply because it came late, and there was no room, or because more important matter

came after it was accepted. No two papers treat this kind of matter alike. Some send checks without the asking; others require correspondents to send in their bill and copy of 'stuff.'

The 'art' in newspaper writing is to put the climax into the opening sentence. Proficiency here goes far toward insuring success everywhere.

Reporting, especially studying to make bright, sharp, breezy items out of commonplace occurrences,—items that will 'make folks sit up and take notice,'—is 'art' in journalism, and can be mastered in no other way than by practise as a reporter. Once mastered, the art banishes forevermore all dulness from your writings. When you write, your stories will 'tell something;' you will tell it interestingly; you will cull it of all superfluity; you will tell it so the hurried business man can catch the idea quickly, getting the gist of the matter even in skimming your story; and your 'stuff' will linger in the minds of the readers as a pleasant memory.

How important all this becomes when associated with the presentation of truth to the carnal mind, which is enmity to it! 'Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,' surely applies in this work.