Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-16
THE JOURNALISTS NIGHTMARE.
eScoops' and What They Mean In the
lie. of nm Active Newspaper Wan.

They were all so united on the PROPOSE
ton that it was unnecessary TO reler II u
the swell barkeep for decision
.Scoops.'' said the sharp-nosed reporter
g., tho others ..are the bane and the night
mare of a newspaper mans life. from tae
PROPRIETOR and managing editor DOWN u
the Maltese office cat Many man oceu-
pies a desk today because of good peat,
and many another man 1s engaged IN {,
more humble occupation because he fa,leo
TO see one Scoops constitute the seesd"
of journalistic life. Ut.
"A newspaper man Is as touchy On .its
subiect as a woman on her PACK nan
iustly so because standard Is formed py
which his journalistic talents are larseN
rated and his salary in accordance IL tne
city editor asks him too olten why az he
d.dn't get it, he finally gets 1t where the
fowl gets the AK. and new man appears on
his former assignment
Editors however. are usually conSlder-
ate with a good man: for the latter VIII
scoop his rival as often as he himself IS
sroope,i-perhapS oftener-and II thus eNcns
itself up. Sometimes, however, the Weld
er of the blue pencil has an attack OF acute
indigestion, like the rest of u.s. ana thlnss
arr apt to be unpleasant
"A good big beat fills the entire ONCE
with hilarious joy. and particularly the
lucky reporter rejoices II ofttimes means
an increase In salary. The office or the
chief rival contemporary Is thrown into
corresponding gloom
..The city editor is the adjutant general of
III. force Usually he is considerable as
his dutv to the proprietor permits Nearly
all are graduates from the ranks Nnere
the magazine newspaper story writer Hnds
the city editor he usually portrays has al
WAYS been a deep, dull mystery TO me- he
may treat outsiders ITO be kind to the mag
azine story writer as their stories some
times relate, but to his force he does not
carry a drawn sword in his left hand ana a
pen dipped in red-hot caustic in his rlsht.
IL. that the men under MN many
are his peers, capable Of taking mis- desk
at a moments notice and running Ii as Well
as he.
The now you have = II and now you
haven't Il in our profession is well illus
trat-d by little occurrence that happened
in Washington a few years ago. and II
proves the element OF luck IN the matter
Of securing news.
at was undecided whether Congress
would pass as read a certain very important
national measure. The New York papers
were especially anxious about it. The drift
Of opinion among the correspondents was
that II would not so pass On Monday
night. say. the correspondent Of one OF the
metropolitan morning dailies wired his pa
per that IL positively would not go through.
This paper had been talking that end OF
the bill all along.
The correspondent of rival morning
paper had drawn the same conclusions from
his DAYS investigations at the Capitol He
was on his way down the west marble steps
when he met member TO whose opinion on
the probable fate of the bill he attached
great weight. The member declared that
the bill would positively be passed. una
mended and unchanged. at the opening of
the session the following day.
The correspondent cast his own con-
trary opinions and those of the members
nc had interviewed to the winds. He wired
that night that the bill would certainly
pass the following day 1t did. Its passage
was a surprise TO the country.
Before night the other correspondent
was relieved of his position by telegraph.
one made a bold hazard against his own
judgment, took that of another and Won.
The other conscientously obeye1 TIE die
tates Of his conclusions, based largely upon
the opinions of men who We're IN position
10 advise him correctly. and LOST.
This also illustrates the popularity
Of securing news by Washington CORE
spondents. It is sui generis. Rules which
obtain in other cities are impractica abb here.
Most of the correspondents are picked men,
who earn and command good salaries. But
one 81 their most important functions is 10
make acquaintance with men in official and
congressional life. II is important ele-
msnt in his profession to know who to see
about piece of news, and the little inter-
view in question between the correspondent
and the congressman on the west steps is
but an example of everyday episodes In the
life of Il Washington correspondent"