, 1889-10-08
NEWSPAPER REPORTERS.
THEY ARE AS NEARLY UBIQUITOUS
AS MoRTALs CAN BE.

with Pencil and Paper.
There are few persons that realize the
importance Of n newspaper reporter to a
community. BE is pictured in the i'm
agination of many as a happy-go-lucky
sort Of a fellow, whose life is free from
care, and who never exerts himself until
some piece of news fairly envelops him
and he is compelled to take c~ognizance
Of it. Others view him as a mysterious
parsonage who thrives like the flowers
OF h field and the birds of the air, with
out any exertion on his part. But it is
a great error to suppose that, like the
Covers of the field and the birds of the
air, he is nourished and protected with
out T labor.
There is not a buster man living than
the reporter. He is as nearly ubiquitous
as a mortal being can be. He goes every
where and delves into everything. The
day of the popular type of the newspaper
reporter is past. Years ago, before
journalism was brought to a science, the
local representative of the paper might
have beer a very Indifferent and lazy
sort of a fellow. Those were the times
before the public was educated to appre-
ciate the value and the interest of news.
But whatever he might have been then
he Is not so now. He is one of the most
systematic, the most industrious, the
brightest OF workers. II he is not sys-
tematic, not Industrious, not bright, he
is o forced out of tho ranks and his
place taken by some one better fitted to
honor it thar the idler.
The newspaper has evolved just as
man has evolved and as society is evolv-
ing every decade. What would the
people of today do with the primitive
journal issued by BENJAMIN Franklin
from his Philadelphia office? They would
throw it aside with impotence and dis
gust as unworthy of n moments con-
s~ideration. Today the people must have
not only the news of the community in
which they live, not only the news of
their country, but the Jews of the entire
world.
Who is 1t hat does all the work for the
reading public5 Primarily, the reporter.
h word reporter" is a wider term thar
people conceive. 1t embraces every one
that contributes in any way to the news
columns Of a paper. A letter writer is a
reporter, provided he deals in his CORE.
spondence with current events. The dar-
ing journalist who accompanies an army
on its campaign and sends either wildly
graphic dispatches or letters is likewise
a reporter. The best work in n paper is
done by the reporter, because by it there
are the greater number of people enter
tanned.
The reporter is a contemporaneous
historian 1t is in this capacity that he
appears in his best light. Tacitus, Thucy-
dides, Livy, Herodotus and Xenophon
wero nothing more nor less than report
ars. Cesar combined the reporter with
the military c~hieftain.
The value of the reporter to his en-
ployer is based not more on his ability
than on his proper conduct. People like
to meet a gentleman; they do not like to
associate with a boor. True it is that a
polished manner without brains will not
make a good reporter. True it is, also,
that a man with brains and rough in his
manne may make a splendid reporter.
But we meet the ideal reporter when a
fine sense Of the proprieties and culture
arc combined.
Reporters do much good for the morale
of a community. If there were no re-
porters to ferret out offenses against
public virtue and the written law, there
might be more who would offend. The
presence of that vigilant, unwearying
feuow who is always armed cap-a-pied
with pencil and paper is n wholesome
check upon those who would like to get
their hands into the public crib and
those who might be engaged in corrup-
ton OF various kinds if this sentinel
were not ever on duty to watch their
ingolngs and outconings. The man who
Is ben upon wrong doing is ever the
first to decry the reporter.
But without hope of great rewards, or
fear OF individual contumely, the reporter
tolls on, satisfied with the consciousness
of work well lone and we'll pleased if he
pleases the patrons of his paper. Think
how much a great newspaper is indebted
to the toiling %reporterl He gets little
glory himself. Allhis labor, all his genius,
all his courage is absorbed into that great
impersonality-the daily ~paper-which
cannot hear praise, or feel the glow that
follows a well merited compliment. Once
in awhile a reporter, by some stroke of
enterprise, or by some Iine of work for
which he is peculiarly fitted, makes n
mark and a name for himself. But the
others, and they are largely in the ma
jority, work on and do just as good work
as the more lucky n and are little
known outside of their circle.
But, mark you'll While the reporter of
today Is q great improvement over the
reporter of a quarter of century ago, he
is destined to progress yet farther in the
scale OF perfection The time is comine
when he will be of more importance,
even. thar he is today. This is a blase
and al eccentric age. The public de-
mands more news and less opinions. It
wants that newsp prepared in a spicy way.
The newspaper reader is like the gour-
met, whose palate needs highly seasoned
food to make it acceptable. He wants to
know what is going on about him. He
wants to read not only the actual news
of the time, but gossip about himself and
his friends. This is a vain age. There
never was n time when the personalities
Of society were given such attention. If
the public did lot relish such matter the
papers would not give it to them.
Herein lies the great opportunity for