St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-03-24
NEWSPAPER WRITER'S


Gratifying 10pr0voAoo1D 1o tAo Char
aetsr Of Jeu1nalisA.
Why is. it we s0mDtimes hear the
question asked, that tho owners and
managers Of newspapers do not take
greater pains in the pelection Of tho
men who do the worl pm theml Why
is il. tho outsider won( brs, that men Of
shady characters. or V th no character
ut all. are able to obt in situations ~
writers or correspondc3 3ts of prominent
journals. In short, W. are not all the
men engaged in an occupation which
offers SO fine . scope 1f talent which
Is 10 attractive to me- Of brain-why
are not all such men I holars and gen.
tlenen:
The first suggestion at these queries
brings up is to REMIND the questioner
that . large majority of the capable
and successful journ1 sts Of the day
are men Of good chara er as well as OF
a careful education. here are few
great newspapers In De country in
the Offices Of which naea who can
worthily claim the MAJ OF gentlemen
arc not preferred to hose who are
careless In their cou1nct and way
Of living. There ID = Improvement
noticeable in this respe$ from year to
year. The American Newspaper IS It
exists now. is . very tcent creation.
1t has grown up since he opening OF
the war Of the rebelliou Many OF the
weekly newspapers ot to-day have
larger establishments . employ moro
men than most of the ddlly newspapers
could show in 1850 Sd,he OF the most
valuable newspaper properties In the
United States have beet entirely built
up within the past hfte years Men
of limited means who have acquired
newspaper Of small cir1 lation and in
fluence in certain local 1ies. have seen
them increase until thsf have become
enormously remunerattta In nearly
every American newspaper office what
il known. - 'the bushess manage
ment'' has vast deal 3 do with the
growth and success Of ~ paper. Sue
cessful business manae pent in many
Offices consists '.in keel,hg down ex-
penses." and this result4 oftentimes in
the employment Of npn who are
..cheap" in character an1 inssnsible to
the value Of . good nane. They are
men who .:can get news or who can
turn OF quickly fiippanf and fetch
ing" article. but who have such weak.
nesses As to render then incapable Of
advancement in the prosb Ssion Of jour.
nalism. They are men VII never ''tget
ahead" but who still have ability
enough to make them useful iu . way.
They are tolerated bscssN they PR
form an amount Of work which men Of
better standing in the community
could not be got to do for the same
money. Occasionally. Of course. there
is some really brilliant and forcible
writer who is able to make himself in.
dispensable in . newspaper office to
which he brings most disreputable
private life and reputation. But gen.
orally speaking. it may be asserted that
the tendency in journalism. as In other
professions and callings. is to set up
standards of conduct and character
which render it more and more difficult
for knaves and blackguards to obtain
IN entrance into it Let US hope that
the time may come when it will be q
difficult and rs unusual for such per-
sons to become journalists as it is for
them now to obtain access to any OF the
other great professiona-WashssgeoH
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