The Columbus journal., 1882-09-27
Journalism and Women.

NO WOTA Is mOTe ana more
curiOusly misunderstood than that re.
quired by journalism. It not only re.
quires special talent of q high order, but
the greatest amount of technical disci.
pine, general information, adaptability,
~quickness of dictiOn. and fertility of re.
sources. With all this it requires, too,
what is almost q sixth sense; the mental
habit of keen analysis and swift comb.
nation. While these qualifications are,
in their perfection, the result of expert.
epce, they must also be natural gifts.
The journalist, even as the poet, is born,
not made. The young woman who as
pires to do critical literary work" would,
upon trial, probably be found incompe.
tent to write a local paragraph satisfac
torily. If she is earnest in her desire to
enter journalism she must be content to
begin at the beginning. She must real.
ize the Importance of that sympathetic
perception, graphic d%elineation. and
power of representation that character.
ize the able reporter. 1t is a department
whose discipline is invaluable and whose
scope it may we'll be a young woman's
aspiration to ably fill. and there is not the
slightest danger of her work being too
good for 1.-THE anxiety should be to have
it sufficiently good. If the aspiring young
woman is ready to begin in the simplest
manner, and bring her best abilities to
whatever she is set TO do. she may, in
time. grow to other work. That de-
ponds wholly on innate ability and her
power OF perseverance.
Again. the professional journalist is as
often amazed as amused over the atti-
tude taken by the young woman whose
contribution he rejects. Now, it is an
unwritten law we'll understood in jour.
nalism that 10 editor is under the slight
est obligation to give a reason for mis-
acceptance or non-acceptance of a man.
uscript. He is not called upon to write
a private critique on the article to the
author of it. His acceptance or rejection
is an absolute and unquestionable fact.
Among amateur writer's this does not
appear to be understood. 1.-The art
icle is hardly available for the columns
of the Daily Designer" writes the editor
of that journal. Now that is sufficient.
That should end the matter. The article
may be better in some respects than a
dozen others he accepts, but if he be in
any sense worthy of his place he has an
innate intuition of subtle fitness and in
tellectual adjustments. which he could
no mOr communicate than he could put
lis mental life on exhibition. Moreover.
there is not the slightest necessity of his
communicating them. But his contrib
utor cannot let the matter rest. Perhaps
she has written a book, and she is not
gratified with his review of it. She must
write him a letter deprecating his judy
ment. She wants to know if he has
read her book carefully. She tells him
the Critical Connoisseur gave two col
umns of extracts from it, and that she
thinks it too bad, she does. that ne re-
ferred to it so unkindly. She favors him
with nine pages of her views on his con-
duct. She alludes touchingly to the
fact that sever of her dearest lady friends
each sent her a copy of the Daily De-
signer that contained his cruel allusiOn
to her volume on transatlantic Hurri-
canes" and she begs him to devote n
little half hour to her production and
then write fairly of it. All sub-editors
and reporters understand that it is an
unjustifiable impertinence to ask the
managing editor his reason for publish
ing or not publishing any matter sub
mitted to his judgment. Outside writer's
and aspiring amateurs rarely seem to
comprehend this truth, and their trans
gr~essions are largely from ignorance
rather than from intention. The nature
of editorial work requires absolute power
of decision in order to preserve the unit
les of the journal the editor conducts.
and the amateur contributor should not
permit his amour propre to incite him to
open any discussion regarding the justice
of the editorial judgment. Boston Cor.
Chicago Tribune.