The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-22
UTILITIES OF INTERVIEWING.

The interview is a differentiation,
naturally produced in the evolution of
the newspaper, that has been evolved
within the memory of men now living.
Whatever of merit or demerit it pos
sesses, newspaperdom Of the United
That it serves some useful purposes
of society is proved by it's universally
here and the persistence with which it
has forced it's way into foreign papers
against all the forces of conservatism
caste and governmental censorship. It
has come to be a recognized element
in the formation as well as the express
sion of that elemental force, not only
in republics, but in constitutional mon
arches, called public opinion. What
ever changes it may undergo, if it has
not attained it's limit of expansion, they
Will not have a diminuendo movement
AS it's germ was in the editorial it may
come to supplant it, the future editors
acting as switches to connect any
topic of public interest with some in
dividual charged with it either mega
lively or positively, as the editorial
policy inclines But that is specula-
tive.
which the public is informed of the
opinion of some person on some SUD-
Ject with which he is supposed to be
familiar and in which the public is
supposed to have an interest The in
dispensable factors are the individual,
the reporter and the paper; the last
being merely the duct through which
the information flows into the public
ear. It's field covers everything of
general interest It is democratic and
cosmopolitan. 1t serves the statesman
and the politician, the minister and the
criminal, the manufacturer and the
consumer; in short everything that is
regarded as news either by persons or
papers. It's utilities are manifold. If
by those seductive influences in the
use Of which corporations have be-
come adopts, to change common right
into monopolistic privilege the inter
view becomes a serviceable implement
to convey to the seduced the warning
| of popular wrath that will wreak it.
self upon them If they yield to the
tempter. 1t becomes thus most eff
| ficient instrument for the accomplish
ment of better municipal government
by the prevention of misgovernment
| It finds it's most frequent use i'll the
| domain of politics. In it's inception it
was the product of reportorial search
| for interesting matter. The reporter
| questioned or listened and afterward
wrote down what he could remember
| of the conversation. This required q
| laid the interviewer open to the dar-
ger of being made to say in public
| print, not what he said, but what some
other person thought he said. Some
| times it occurred that he was made
| to say what the interviewer wanted
said. But this occurred only in the
first days, before interviewing came to
| have it's code Of ethics and managing
editors wrote into the code prohibit
| ton Of such enterprise" and attached
| a penalty of instant dismissal on con-
viction of the offense. Nowadays no
| reporter would think of making any
thing but as accurate a report of what
was told him as he could possibly
make. One development, both of the
early indiscretions Of reporters and the
continuing imperfections of memory
is the prepared interview, in which
either the reporter submits for correc-