Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-10-10

cially in the police court next day. Should
Sir Humphrey Makeshift elope with
Squire Bolingbroke's wife a discreet silence
must be preserved until u bill for divorce
is filed, and then 1t is often prudent to only
hint at the names of the parties until the
trial begins. No comments must be made
on a case sub judice. Everything must
%"happen" in the fullest sense of the term
before it can be presented to newspaper
readers, and then it must be set forth in a
stiff, established form.
Sensationalism is frowned upon, person.
alities rigidly prohibited and piquant Cos
sip strictly forbidden. In fact an English
reporter gets no chance to "spread" him
self. He may report a speech in the best
style known to the s~tenographic wit; he
may write up Il fire in stercotyped phrases,
or give the list of prizes at u flower show
with the descriptive aid of the catalogue,
but to presume to exercise his fancy in re-
cording the shifting scenes of life would
entail upon him the severest kind of
censure, if not instant dismissal, with the
editorial verdict that he was a disgrace to
the profession.
One result of this policy of repression is
that the reporter becomes a mere machine,
He goes through a daily routine mechani-
cally, takes and transcribes his shorthand
notes like an automaton, and adde's his
brain with parrot like phrases that have
done duty for time immemorial, and will
probably continue to enhance the dulncss
of British Journalism until the crack of
doom. He is a reporter pure and simple,
whose ears have to be acuter thar his eyes,
and whose usefulness is graded according
to his ability to write shorthand and his
celebrity of transcription. Whatever de-
scriptive matter is needed by a British
newspaper is generally done by a Especial
commissioner" whose work is heavy com
pared with that Of the average American
news gatherer, but who would feel insulted
were he classed with the ordinary reporters
of his journal.
porter is to be employed on the parliament
ary staff of a London daily. Great pains
are taken with parliamentary reporting,
each journal maintaining Il separate force
of from five to eighteen men. Some of the
newspapers only give the leading speeches,
but The Times prints a very full report,
devoting three or four pages a day to the
proceedings of both houses. The Han
sard (which is recognized as the official rec
ord of the debates, is made up largely from
The Times report, members having the
privilege Of clipping from it's pages and
extending and correcting their remarks
before publication in the official volumes.
The Times has the largest reporting staff
in parliament. The men begin with
~"turns' of half an hour or twenty min
utes; late at night the turns" are cut
down to five or ten minutes, and the re-
porters drive to Printing House square to
transcribe their notes. Their quarters are
very comfortable. An extensive reference
library is at their command, and so that
they maynot be disturbed in their work of
transcription servants are constantly at
their elbows to supply every want.
In the matter of accommodation, both
for editors and reporters, the English jour-
nails are very liberal. Each writer has a
separate room, and an electric bell within
reach to summon an attendant, and five or
six rooms are usually set apart for the re-