The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-10-23
DANA ON JOURNALISM
HE DISCUSSES THE TRAINING OF
NEWSPAPER MAKERS.

cessruI In Making Journalists. but n
Good Education Is Valuable - what
Greeley said ON This Subject.
In lecture delivered at Union college
On the education needed in preparation
Tor journalism Charles 4. Dana said:
The number OF intellectual young men
who are looking at this new profession,
which for the want Of a better name we
call the profession Of journalism, is very
great. | suppose that | receive myself ev-
cry day, taking one day with another, half
"A dozen letters from men, many of them
college graduates, asking for employment
and an opportunity Of showing what Is in
them. OF course they cannot all get it in
the same paper. Now and then one obtains
"A place, but generally the rule that is OBJ
served in all well organized newspaper Of
fees is that the boys who began at the be
ginning are tal,onup step by step in accord
ancc with their faculties and their merits.
| The boys who begin at the bottom come
4 out at the top At the same time these
boys do not all start out with the best out
/ ht-thnt is to say, with the best education
/ and | have known very distinguished au-
thorities who doubted whether high edu-
cation was Of any great use To a journalist.
/ Horace Greeley told me several times that
the real newspaper man was the boy who
had slept on newspapers and ate ink. Al
though | served him for several years and
! we were very near in our personal relations
| think he always had a little grudge
/ against me because | came up through
college.
What sort of preparation, what sort of
! preliminary education should n man have
who means to devote himself to this busi-
nessp There are colleges which have lately
introduced schools Of journalism or depart
ments of journalism, where they propose
to teach the art of newspaper making, TO
| instruct the student in the methods he
should employ and to fit him out so that
he can go to n newspaper Office and make
newspaper. Well, will not say that is not
useful. But there has been "a department
of journalism ut Cornell university for sew
eral years, and | have never found that a
student or graduate who had pursued that
department there instead of pursuing other
studies was of any great avail as practical
worker in the newspaper work that he had
been trying to learn.
In fact it seems to me, if | may be al
lowed little criticism, that the cole, es
generally are rather branching out too
much, until they are inclined to take the
whole universe into their curriculum ard
long there. Give the young man first
class course of general education. and If
could have my way every young man who
is going to be newspaper man and who is
not absolutely rebelious against it should
learn Greek and Latin after the good old
fashion.
l had rather take young fellow who
knows the Ajax of Sophocles, and who has
read Tacitus, and can scan every ode OF
Horace, would rather take him to report
"A prize fight or a spelling match, for in.
stance, than to take one who has never had
those advantages. believe in the colleges
, believe in high education, but | do no
believe in scattering your fire before yol
are in the face of the enemy
There is no question that accuracy, th'
faculty of seeing thing AS it is, of know
ing for instance that it is % and not 2S,
and saying so-that is one of the first and
most precious ends of a good education
Next to that l would put the ability tC
know how and where most promptly tC
look for what-you don't know and what
you want to know. Thirdly, would put
DR.. Walkers great object, being able &c
tell what you know and to tell il accurate
ly, precisely, without eXaggeration, with
out prejudice, the fact just it is, whether
it be a report Of a baseball game. or of n ser
mon, or Of a lecture on electricity, whatever
it may be, to get the thing exactly as it is
The man who can do this is very wei
educated man.
In addition come the qualities Of person
al talent and genius. Now genius is great
factor. When we think Of such genius
as the one have just mentioned-the lat,
Mr.. Greeley, why, our minds may well b,
filled with admiration. | do not suppos,
more than one or two gentlemen here evel
knew Mr.. Greeley personally, but he was
man of immense ability, of instincts Of ex
traordinary correctness in many respects
and of the power of expression-of telling
what he knew in delightfully."- picturesque
humorous way-whch not merely instruct
ed the hearer and reader, but gave him 6
sense OF delight and satisfaction from tn,
mere art that was applied in the telling
He had had no great advantages OF educa
tion. He had to pick up bis education a
he went along, reading in the winter even
, ings by the freight, and never wasting d
chance Of learning something.
But he lacked one Of the most preciou,
faculties which IL Is another great object
of the college education to cultivate and
bring out. and that is what we will call tn,
critical faculty, the judgment which, wher
proposition is stated TO you or u fact Il
reported, looks AT IL calmly and says, "Iha
is true" or else, That is false" the judg
ment. the instinct, the developed and cul
tivated instinct which knows the trutl
when 1t is presented and detects error whei
it comes masquerading before you, withou
the necessity of any long examination Z
ascertain whether it is truth or error 50
The next thing that would dwell upo
would be the knowledge of politics and es
? pecially American politics. This is yer
hard subject Its history is difficult.
you go back to the foundation Of the re
public, you will find it was extremely com
= plicated even then, and il requires yer
careful study and very elevated impal
tiality to make your analysis at all salts
factory to yourself as you go through tn
work Still 1t is Indispensable TO ma
- who means to I'LL an important place i
Journalism, and all who begin upon IL Gel
tainly huYe that intention.