Evening journal., 1895-02-08
DANA ON JOURNALISM
He DISCUSSES THE TRAINING OF
NEWSPAPER MAKERS.

In a lecture delivered at Union college
on the education needed in preparation
for journalism Charles A. Dana saio;
The number of intellectual young men
who are looking at this new profession,
which for the want Of better name we .
call the profession Of journalism, is very
great. suppose that / receive myself ey-
cry day, taking one day with another, nan
a dozen letters from men, many OF them
college graduates, asking for employment
and an opportunity Of showing what IS ~
them. OF course they cannot all get IL IN
the same paper Now and then one obtains
n 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 takenup 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 ell start out with the best out
ft-that Is TO say, with the best education
and have known very distinguished au-
thorfties who doubted whether high edu-
cation was of any great use to 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
1 we were very near in our personal relations,
/ think he always had little grudge
/ against me because / came up through a
| college.
What sort Of preparation, what sort OF
preliminary education should man have
1 who means to devote himself to this busi-
nessY 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 20 to a newspaper Office and make a
newspaper. Well, viii not say that is not
| useful. But there has been department
| OF journalism at 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 a 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 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 first
class course of general education. and II
could have my way every young man who
4
, | not absolutely rebellious against 1t should
learn Greek and Latin after the good ole
fashion.
/ had rather take a young fellow whs
knows the AJAX of Sophocles and who hai
/ read Tacitus, and can scan every ode o
Horace, would rather take him TO repor
prize fight or spelling match, for in
stance, than to take one who has never hat
those advantages. Ibelieye in the colleges
believe in high education, but | do no
believe in scattering your fire before yoV
are In the face Of the enemy.
There Is no question that accuracy, tn
faculty Of seeing a thing as it is, Of know
ing for instance that it is 2A and not 25
and SAYING so--that is one Of the first an
most precious ends Of a good education
Y Next to that / would put the ability {
ID know how and where most promptly
10 look for what you don't know and wha
YOU want to know. Thirdly, would pu
DR.. Walkers great object, being able
tell what you know and to tell it aecurat'
n ly, precisely, without exaggeration, will
l. out prejudice, the fact just as tits, whetht
d It be a report Of a baseball game, or Of Sc
>. mon, or OF a lecture on electricity, whatevs
le il may be, to get the thing exactly as it i
r The man who can do this is very we
). educated man.
's In addition come the qualities Of persoi
al talent and genius. Now genius is gre;
factor. When we think of such a geniI
as the one have just mentioned-the la
a. Mr.. Greeley, why, our minds may well
q filed with admiration. do not suppo
y. more than one or two gentlemen here ev
k knew Mr.. Greeley personally, but he was
de man OF immense ability, of instincts of G
a. traordinary correctness in many respect
ei and Of the power Of expression-of telliI
OF what he knew in a delightfully."- picturesqr
ht humorous way--which not merely instrul
4, ed the hearer and reader, but gave him
@, sense Of delight and satisfaction from
mere art that was applied in the tellir
He had had no great advantages Of edu'
tion. He had to pick up his education
10, he went along, reading in the winter ev'
IN ings by the freight, and never wasting
on chance Of learning something
be But be lacked one Of the most precio
OF faculties, which it is another great objl
70 Of the college education to cultivate a
at bring out, and that is what we viii call I
bis critical faculty. the Judgment which, WI
TO. a proposition is stated to you or a fact
II reported, looks at it calmly and says, ''Il
Is true,n or else, ''rhat is false;" the jui
ment, the instinct, the developed and c
II, tivated instinct which knows the trJ
N. | when IL is presented ana detects error WI
- IL comes masquerading before you, with'
- the necessity Of any long examination
~ ascertain whether it is truth or error.
~ The next thing that l would dwell VI
VI VI would be the knowledge Of politics and
y pecially American politics This is v
hard subject. Its history is difficult.
YOU 80 back to the foundation Of the
by public, you will find it was extremely &C
II plicated even then, and it requires V
inc careful study and a very elevated imI
nov tiality to make your analysis at all sa
on factory to yourself as you 80 through
tbe work. Still it is indispensable to a u
Mt who means to I'LL an important plac
journalism, and all who begin upon it
tainly have that intention.
son
snd The First Blackboard.
70 Howellets "Queer Facts and Curl
Fanciesn says that "the first blaclbo
.u-.- IL. or I ar,Jr, sr Aha VAN 1-Qg