Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1894-11-08
DANA ON JOURNALISM
HE DISCUSSES THE TRAINING or
NEWSPAPER MAKERS.


Good Education Is Valuable = what
Greeley said on This Subject.
In lecture delivered at Union college
on the education needed in preparation
for Journalism Charles A. 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, il 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
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 taken up step by step in accord
ance with their faculties and their merits.
The boys who begin at the bottom come
out at the top. At the same time these
boys do not all start out with the best out
ht-that 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 a man have
who means to devote himself TO this BUSH
i. ~
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 so to newspaper Office and make
newspaper Well, Will not say that is not
useful. But there has been department
of journalism at Cornell university for sew
eral years, aud ] have never found that
student or graduate who had pursued that
department there instead Of pursuing other
studies was of any great avail as a practical
worker in the newspaper work that be had
been trying to learn.
In fact, it seems to me, If / may be al
lowed little criticism, that the colleges
generally are rather branching out too
much, until they are inclined to take the
whole universe into their curriculum and
to teach things which do not exactly be-
long there. Give the young man a first
class course Of general education, and il |
could have my way every young man who
is going to be a newspaper man and who Is
not absolutely rebellious against 1t should
learn Greek and Latin after the good old
fashion.
/ had rather take a 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
n prize fight or a spelling match, for ia.
stance, than to take one who has never had
those advantages. Ibelieye in the colleges
believe in high education, but | do not
believe in scattering your fire before you
l are In the face of the enemy.
1 There is no question that accuracy, The
faculty Of seeing thing as it is, OF know
ing for instance that it is ~ and not 90.
and saying so--that is one Of the first and
most precious ends Of a good education
Next to that / would put the ability Il
know how and where most promptly Il
look for what you don't know and what
you want to know. Thirdly, l would put
| DR.. Walkers great object, being able "a
tell what you know and to tell il accurate
| ", precisely, without exaggeration, with.
1 out prejudice, the fact just as tits, whether
it be a report Of a baseball game, or Of a ser.
mon, or Of lecture on electricity, whatever
it may be, TO get the thing exactly as it Is.
The man who can do this is a very well
educated man.
In addition come the qualities Of person
al talent and genius. Now genius is a great
factor. When we thu. such genius
as the one / have just mentioned-the late
Mr.. Greeley, why, our minds may well be
filled with admiration. / do not suppose
more than one or two gentlemen here ever
knew Mr.. Greeley personally, but he was a
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-which not merely instruct
ed the nearer and reader, but gave him a
sense Of delight and satisfaction from thu
mere art that was applied in the telling
He had had no great advantages Of educa-
tion. He had to pick up his education as
be went along, reading in the winter even
ings by the freight, and never wasting a
chance Of learning something.
But he lacked one Of the most precious
faculties, which it is another great object
Of the college education TO cultivate and
bring out, and that Is what we will call the
critical faculty, the Judgment which, when
a proposition is stated to You or q fact is
reported, looks at it calmly and says, "Ehat
is true, or else, "That is false;" the judg
ment, the instinct, the developed and cul-
tivated instinct which knows the truth
when it is presented and detects error when
it comes masquerading before you, without
the necessity OF any long examination tC
ascertain whether it is truth or error.
The next thing that l would dwell upon
would be the knowledge of politics and es
pecially American politics This is very
hard subject. Its history is difficult. II
you 60 back to the foundation Of the re
public, you will find it was extremely com.
plicated even then, and it requires very
careful study and very elevated impair
TALLY to make your analysis at all salts
factory to yourself as you 20 through the
work. Still it is indispensable TO a mar
who means TO ill an important place il
journalism, and all who begin upon it Ger
tainly have that intention.
The First blackboard.
Howellet's "Queer Facts and Curious