Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-09
MAKING JOURNALISTS,
The Proposed School for Editors
Novel Educational Departure.
Some of the Earlier Demands OF the
How to Interview
Management of
q Scandal.
kansas City Start

not only have several leading eastern educa
tional institutions taken steps to introduc,
them as special departments, but quite {
number of prominent newspaper men hav,
of late Endorsed the idea.
Folks used to think that the instinct of 8
good reporter was born in him, like desirs
to torture cats and other depravity, in chill
dren, and could not begrafted on by artificial
process The oldfashioned way of GETTING
into the guild was to hang around the by,
ways of the professor, with a large rope and
small appetite, until what is popular "
known as nose for news was sufficiently de
veloped to slide into Irregular sit" Many
believe that this nose was developed by con-
tinually surrounding it with a large, thicl
beer glass, and IN this way that fell destroye,
jimjams has laid its icy hand on MANY 8
bright, ambitious young man, who might
otherwise be reporting base ball matches at
as much as IS a week. Starvation snatches
out most of the rest, and what remain are al
present ornamenting the profession.
There used to be no royal road to news.
paperdon. 1t was kind of survival of the
fttest. The successful man had to have nat
ural talents to start with, but they were
nodded into shape by hard knocks, and before
he was full-fedged the chances were he had
been ''firedn more times than a locomotive
engine going from Kansas City to San Fran.
cisco.
The new system of dollhouse journalism
will produce reporters without all these in
termediary hardships, just as medical college:
turn loose ready-rnade doctors, without thei1
experimenting on saving off legs and devas
tating peoples inside arrangements before.
hand
This is a frst-rate scheme if it can be done.
But in order to give the boys practical knowl-
edge, they viii have to be familiarized with
all those episodes that usually come under. a
reporters observation. It goes without say
ing that to do this there must be occasiona.
dog fights on the college campus conducted
by the professor in canine-masticatus, and q
boulevard provided, on which there can be a
thrilling runaway at least twice week It
will also be necessary to have smuggling
matches, an imitation police court, while to
martriculate student in ST. Louis journal.
ISM the president Of the university must oc-
casionally elope with the wives Of the fac
ulty, or spirit their old daughters away from
home and throw them into the canal
One of the earliest demands of this institu-
ton viii naturally be text book; something
new and novel in the history of educational
literature. To supply this want, work has
been prepared at enormous expense, which is
designed to give the ambitious beginner a
general idea of how the usual run of news is
worked up and an insight into some Office
technicahties. 1t was the purpose of this
article to give brief review of the advance
sheets of the book, but the subject is fascinat-
ing and it is easy to stray off of the main
RI Tba Foil
give pretty good idea of the design:
In an interview, start off with something
about sending up your card. You may not
have had deck with you, but it's all right
anyhow. Then blaze away with your ques-
tons, taking care to keep the party inter
viewed IS much in the background as posi-
BILE, and bringing the reporter out strong
Let the reporter do most of the talking and
express all the opinions and the other man
occasionally agree with him, so as to make
paragraphs and have the article appear "gos-
sipy." Ring in puff for the paper, and
intimate that the other reporters were laying
all around the transoms and key-holes club
bing themselves. Wind up with, ''the re-
porter bowed himself out" Never say, ''the
reporter kicked himself OUT
a special article is pleasant essay in
which some one in possession of interesting
facts makes q confdant of a reporter and de-
liberately tells him everything he doesn't
want to see in print. The man who gives the
thing away, is vaguely alluded to as "de-
tective," ga well-known citizen" "a promi-
nent physician" etc. he turns his heart of
hearts inside out and lets the reporter scrape
it. If the facts are decidedly improper. so
much the better. Specials are considered
good Sunday reading The opium habit is
recognized subject and should be written up
once a month. The article generally begins
about reporter loafing in drug store, and
the main pill butcher Tprnarking how the
opium habit has increased of late. Ring in
something about a victim coming in all broke
up and buy a dimes worth of morphine
It's great starter. Then fire in your stats
tics. Work up a story about some away
up society ladies using the drug, and
wind up by jumping on the Chin
ese dens and abusing the po-
Ice for not pulling them. To write a good
special on any subject you should be unbe-
wildered by any real information or expe-
rience in it. In writing up a big fire, de-
vote your opening stanza to generalities, and
ring in something about the most disastrous
confiagration in the history of the CITY.
Nextround, get down to business. and say the
department was promptly. on hand. Then slap
In glowing description of how the flames
burst through the roof and licked up the
maasard Work in fire ffand, doomed build
ing, destroying element, and heroic efforts of
the ffTemeD as often as possible. Write in
red Tongues of fame" and 'crash of falling
walls wherever you see any blank spots, and
wind up the whole business with an account
OF how prominent citizen called the firemen
in and flied them up with taffy and tangle-
foot-that VIII make you solid with the de-
partment, and the next time they have an en-
tertainment they viii let you advertise it for
nothing for them
4 typographical error is the excuse given
to a 25o-pOund man who calls to inquire why
his name appeared in the police court report
As to a scandal, get on the verge of de-
cency, sit on it, and let your feet hang over
the edge. Whenever you come TO a rather
tame stretch, cut it off short, and say: 'sTEe
details are unfit for publication New re-
poTteTs generally select the heaviest adver-
tlser TO write up in this shape, for such an eff
Tort Is always sure to attract the attention of
the business Office and the proprietor Of the
pa2er. In fact, proprietOrs rarely, if ever,
lai, after this sort of thing, to send inusedi-
ately for the new man and raise his salary:
or, II they can't raise 1t right away, they give
bin an order good on Saturday. Then they
carefully erase bis name from that LIST of eel
a. l.