Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-01-11
The Journalist of To-day.

The Journalist of To-day.
4 FACTOR OF MODERN CIVILIZATION
SKETCHED VIRTUES, VICES AND VI
CISSITUDES OF NEWSPAPER LIFE
TACT, JUDGMENT AND VERSATILITY |
ITS CHIEF REQUIREMENTS.
[The Americana
For the mass of the people, to-day, the
or, more Familiarity, the news
paper man, and his life have the same
that the actor and his life
possess. There is some analogy between
The two; for the cause of the fascination
is the same. It is in the self-revelation
which they both exhibit; the one by
showing the public what it is, or ought
to be; the other telling the public what
it does or ought TO do, and both acting
as teachers. The analogy is continued
in that they both work at night and
both are in measure impersonal; the
one always appearing before the public
in character not his own the other
rarely appearing personally before the
public at ALL In saying this, the Gree
leys, Raymonds and Danas are not
meant, as far as it relates to journalists,
nalist, the man whose work is or has
been done in sIl parts of his paper. He
is the man about whom least is known,
and he it is who, under one name or an
other, attaches the constant reader" to
the paper by his judgment as to what
the ttcOnstant reaoer" wants to read.-
As type of the American journalist of
to-day, we take the one who in theatre
cal parlance would be called the "gen-
eral utility man," though the journalis-
tic general utility man ranks higher,
and Is more useful and valuable than his
theatrical brother, and commands high
er pay. Our average American jour-
nalist of to day may be taken to be from
twenty-five to thirty years OF age, and
perhaps he is rather thin and round
shouldered He is well and quietly
dressed, though his hat is apt to be more
recently bought than his coat, or his
trousers will be newer than his boots,
which may have-their heels unblacked,
since he probably blacks them himself.
He is apt to have clean shaver face,
except Mephistophelian moustache
and his face has a noticeable pallOr
peculiar to these who work at night
He is most noticeable for his eyes, which
are apt to have peculiar dilation, which
also comes from being
MORE USED TO THE LIGHT OF A LAMP
THAN OF THE SUN.
In crowd the experienced and OBJ
serving newspaper man can pick out his
fellow in nine cases out of ten by these
peculiarities, and especially by the pecu-
liar rowing eye, which has been taught
to take in everything at a glance, while
apparently half closed and seeing moth
ing, as its owner walks through street
with unusually rapid walk for our
journalist is always a rapid walker. In
his personal habits he is obliged to be
correct, or sink out of sight. No man of
irregular habits can stand the strain OF
writing and thinking clearly from late
at night, until early in the morning, and
our average American Journalist OF to.
day does not drink as he used to, al.
though, like many other brain workers
he is often suhject to a periodical spree
of day or two. He does, however, gen
orally smoke like furnace, and the
more furousIy as the night goes on. A
newspaper office late at night is no place
for disciple of Trask. Profanity is his
besetting sin, bat this he most often
practices when he discovers, too late to
change it, chat through oversight he has
used a singular for plural, or has omit
ted the conclusion of an elaborate pre-
mise, and that his writing has gone be
fore hundred thousand readers, more
or less, in 3 mangled form. In educa-
ton he is nowadays, more often than
not, a college graduate. A great New
York daily once canvassed Its staff-at
time when certain Harvard boat
crew captain, who, by the way, is now
8 reporter on q newspaper, put an insult
upon reporters by CHASING them with
loafers-for the purpose of seeing how
many college graduates were connected
with it, and il was discovered that from
compositor 70 local correspondent, there
were sixty five bachelors of arts, grad
yates of universities, from Harvard and
Beaver Dam to Heidelburg, Upsala and
Moscow. A college education, apar;
from it's merely refining influence, oul
journalist finds of most value to him
from the ability that he has gained o.
putting his finger upon factso to speak
and in his knowledge of historical paral-
Iels, which enables him to make deduc-
lions by analogy. This, of course, is
apart from the
SPECIAL VALUE OF SPECIAL STUDIES.
to journalist, and refers simply to the
general utility of college education fol-
SO far as general writing and editorial
style go, the college bred novice in a
newspaper office soon finds that he will
have to uulearn much that he has been
taught. So far as his journalistic educa
tion goes, the broader it is the better
1t is apt, however, to be like very broad
river shallow, running rapidly, with a
deep pool here and sand bar there, but
all making to one end. His reading is
the reverse of Quintilian's advice, to
read multuln sed non multa. His chief
merits are readiness, adaptability and
abstraction. He must be, and general
ly is, ready, If necessary, to write lead
ing editorial, which shall be compress
ed, clear and comprehensive, upon the
causes of the downfall of the Polish en-
pire, at 2:30 in the morning. and at the
same time listen to the merits of the
"boss Amazon troupe" as they are laid
down by its advance agent, who puffs
vile tobacco smoke and smells of lager
beer. He mast stand ready to write a
halt column obituary" of General Ig>
natieff, though he may never have heard
of him before, and he must be ready to
cut that half. column short without ap-
parent abruptness, in order to help the
A. She SoiApI III EftuOiHS Oh ILL Po& e.S' =
telegram from the seat of war in the
southwest. In memory, he must be able
to carry in his head anything that has
been in the paper within week, so that
old news may not be reinserted, and he
must remember what has recently been
said or written on any given subject
within q given time He must also be
consummate actor, able to hear start
ling piece of news without changing
countenance, and able to act as if he
knew nothing Of q subject. while he
knows all, in order to get q person to
tell what he knows. In the art of put
ting leading questions he must be at least
az expert as an ordinary criminal law
yer. Ia conversation, he must be able
to hold his own on thesubject which his
listener ia most conversant with, and
this he often does by very rapid cram"
for an important Interview
He has the cant terms Of art at his fin
gers ends, and
KNOWS CHIAROsCURO FROM MoRBIDEz.
IA,
and an etching from an engraving. OIL
foreign languages he has enough smat-