The evening times., 1898-08-20
ENGLISH JOURNALISM.
II In Compared With the Breezy
American Article.


The Hull. Eng. correspondent OF the
Los Angeles Times writes as follows
Only when an English journalist opens
ono of the San Francisco Sunday papers
does he realize the wide gulf which sep
arates the two styles of Journalism.
everyday Journalism in America and
England. Which is the happier style Is
not for me, an Englishman, to say, for
never having served a minutes appren-
ticeship to the sensational style. 1 can
not give a fair verdict. II / give some
idea of the grind of the boy fresh from
an English college, who enters the pro-
fession IL will enable my Los Angeles
readers to distinguish at glance the
differences of method in .he raising of
news. A youngster. perhaps eighteen
wears of age, desires to become jour
nalist, is apprenticed for five or seven
years to the editor of the local journal,
be it a daily or weekly. which Is pun-
lished in his town or city II he has
learned his shorthand, which he should
do proficiently in three months. he goes
about with the senior-junior reporter, the
ports the police courts, fakes up the
street accidents, sits at coroners' IN
quests and hangs about the weekly cat
tie markets for the price of beef. NUT
ton, ETC., per pound.
"After the late conner knows the ropes,
he is let loose to do the important en-
gagement of finding how many sheep
there are in the market. or nshing out
the value Of a hundredweight of pota-
toes. Here at the first shot can be seen
the wide difference which marks the two
STYLES. The Britisher covers little.
though to him vitality important details.
which the American scribe passes by on
the other side, and at which the Amer
lean reader would not condescend to
glance The minutest details OF those in
nocent items of news are given fully
1 remember writing three broad English
columns of a chapel bazaar. l even went
so far as to describe the articles on a
lady's linen stall. / was forced TO do it
couldn't help it.
After groveling in the mire. in the mud
and the filth of the police court. and lis
tening to the sickening stories of the cor
oners court, the junior aspires to a VIII
!age wedding He described all the pres
ents away, down to the six spoons given
by the jeweler who sells the bashful
bridegroom the ring. The spoons are CIV
en- for lunch. and appear at the end OF
the list. .'Mr Jones. six silver spoons. "
After a weeks use the wife usually finds
that the spoons are made OF the vflest
lead From the wedding. the junior re-
porter rises to doing" the local parlia-
ment, I beg pardon. the urban district
council; the parish council where they
discuss whether they should straw the
pump in the winter to save 1t from
freezing, or, perhaps, the town council.
He reports faithfully and well the SUBJ
lime rhetorical vaporing of the village
grocer, who disagrees with the chairman
because the latter doesn't hit 1t with the
parson, and SO on. The "scenes" and
.'breezes" are recorded to the very woril
his editor is highly pleased. and says
he'll be gem some day. He reports
the football and cricket matches SO full
ly, giving every run, shot and score. that
his concessions to the players would
make the heart Of every baseballer melt
within him. He plays to the men, wor-
ships them, writes about where they
were born, how many brothers they have
and never fails to state how many fami-
lies their mothers worked for. He goes
to scientific lectures on the most out
landish and dry-as-dust subjects. 50 far
as readers Of the paper are concerned.
He endeavors to follow the professor
with his shorthand. but the technical
phrases, the awfully big words beat him.
and at the end of the lecture he begs
the gentleman's manuscript, and into the
paper It goes Wholesale! This is what
the British public suffers every day. In
short the English reporter is trained tc
think and write as others. He becomes a
machine; he has but little power to think
for himself. He has not one particle o:
the resource, the wit, the humor of his
American brother. II he showed an.
humor in his reports his editor would
most surely cut It out. This rs so far
as a bi-weekly or weekly English paper
is concerned
But . better state Of aArairs ex.