The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-20
REPORTING in ENGLAND.
IL 10 Not tho Pleasant Task That II Is
in the United statss--Newspaper
Methods There ana Here.
From the london News.


two countries. A smart New York re-
porter would get his paper into n libel
suit, or find himself in Jail fOr con-
Quoting his work here in the American
way, almost as quickly as an English
reporter would find himself discharged
from O. Yankee paper, for not knowing
news when 1t was handed him, If he
followed the cautious lines he has been
accustomed to in Great Britain.
One striking difference in the jour
nalism of the two great English speak
ing countries is the giving out of de-
tails, or assignments, to reporters. In
America a man comes to the office
about noon and receives the very latest
information to hand by post, wire, or
ticker" (the tape), while in England
members of the staff, if they do not
receive an overnight letter or wire from
the office, at their home in the morn
ing, are free for the day and draw their
salary Just the same. In this country
the valuable man is the literary chap"
with the neat gift OF throwing together
stereotyped phrases. In New York the
man who makes the money is the wide
awake, enterprsing, up to date fellow
who gets out his own assignments and
comes to the office every day primed
with ideas for working up good news
stories. Here reporter who brings in
an idea Is apt to be considered imperti-
nent. On this side a reporter looks on
an engagement as a gallery man in the
house as big thing; there he consid-
ers all routine work beneath him. Here
a man goes out on an assignment and
If the person sought does not wish to
express his views, he comes back empty
handed. There a reporter who returned
| thus few times from interviewing
trips would lose his position.
NOT WELL THOUGHT OF.
In England nearly all reporters are
| tirst-class shorthand men; in America
| shorthand writing among newspaper
| men is almost unknown. Probably on
| account of the larger leisure class here,
| English readers want exactly what a
| speaker has said, and then draw their
| own conclusions from it; here what Is
| wanted is a bright, enterprislng article,
| with the salient points made the most
of, the rest fading away in the per-
| spectiVe.
| Among the first things that an
American newspaper man discovers in
| this country is that he is not so well
| considered here as he is at home. Here
| eerybody takes you for a penny liner
| Ii is little puzzling to understand how
| well dressed man can be set down
| this way, often by people who do not
| make half what he does in the course
of the year, but that is the general i'm
| preston. l went into a Bond street
| jewelers. when l first came to England,
to ask an explanation Of a curious thing
l had noticed in the window, with the
| intention of writing it up If found it
| newsy The dealer, who took me for a
| probable purchaser, explained what l
| wanted to know kindly enough. Then
| / gave him my card. An American
would have redoubled his efforts to
| please, and tried to get me to make an
| article on the subject. This man said,
| after a little, Now, that will make a
| lot of copy for you, won't it?' l had
intended writing a half column on what
was really an interesting subject; but
| the patroniZing remark settled II.
| put 1t in the paper in about six lines.
| COMMUNICATIVE OFFICIALS.
| But 1t is in trying to obtain important
| information from the houses of parlia-
ment and about the foreign and colonial
| offices that an American reporter learns
| how surprisingly i'll served the English
are content 10 be, as regards news. No
| alderman in New York, no legislator at
| Albany, no congressman at Washing
| ton hardly the president Of the United
| States himself would dare to be so
scant of courtesy and disObliging to
| even an unimpOrtant American news
| paper man as are some private seCre-
| taries, and even liveried attendants, in
| English official life to representatives,
| not Of the news agencies alone, but of
the biggest London dailies. 1t is al
most impossible to get an interview
with a man like Chamberlain; people
are content to gather his views in the
| report of one of his speeches at some
country hustings, and wait for an eX-
| PLANTATION of an important diplomatic
| move on the floor of the house. The
nearest the most expert, enterprising
and capable reporter can get to an ac-
| count of a cabinet meeting, or a hint of
the premier's policy, is a nod or smile
| from one of the private secretaries to
the effect that some wild guess the re-
porter has hazarded is not altogether
wrong, or a fiat denial of some canard
the reporter has brought in. An Ameri-
can newspaper man in his own country
who could not get, at first hand, fresh
news from the biggest politician would
soon make life not worth living for that
politician.
Only few days ago l saw in a copy
of the most widely read social paper
In America a paragraph which ran like
this: Mrs. Blank, the intimate friend
Of Mr.. and Mrs Mckinley, is not meet
ing with anything like the social sue
cess in Washington which her wealth
beauty and position gave her the right
to expect. 1t is an open secret thai
Mrs. Blanks social failure is due tC
her cool treatment of the newspaper
representatives who were at Canton il
the closing days of the campaign" The
lady's name was printed
INTERVIEWING IN ENGLAND.
Another surprise awaits the Ameri
can reporter in England when he goes
out interviewing. Objectionable az
some features of American journalism
are, the general respect for a reporter
over there is such that never once
even when l have had such a disagree
able assignment as going to a hous'
where father or husband, son or broth
er, lay dead, in order to get up fact
for an obituary, have l ever been re
ceiVed with anything except the great
est courtesy and given the information
l wanted The average for courtesy
certainly, for polish is higher here thar
it is there, but an Englshman can new
er get it out of his head that an in