Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1907-12-12
NEWSPAPER TROUBLES.

good and we will give our subscribers
larger and better paper from this on
Burlington Clipper.
The above is cold, matter-of fact
statement of something which any and
every newspaper experiences Dow and
then. But underneath it there is much
which the editor conceals because the
general public doesn't care about it and
wouldn't estimate rightly were it to be
/ told. No newspaper, however well stu
ated as to men and machinery, is able to
stand proof against the fluctuations
which assail from the inside. Workmen
may be ill; necessary supplies may be de-
! layed in transit machinery may break
down. Any and all of these things the
newspaper is heir to. Yet the paper must
/ be presented to the public on time, or
there is complaint Immediately. 40 one
outside the office knows the worry of tie
inside, the perplexities of trying situa-
tions, the heart-aches over failures, the
wear and tear on nervous energy from
unforeseen reverses. And then comes the
4 criticism of the public as q capstone to
the structure of adverse conditions. So
we feel like extending heartiest congratu-
lations to the Clipper that it hes emerged
/ from the storIn.-Barre Times.
4 The Burlington Clipper and the Barre
Times have been exchanging experiences
on the internal troubles of getting out a
newspaper. My! Is it possible that
such plutocratic and superior neighbors
actually have troubles like common folks?
We had supposed, from the large, varied
and inexhaustible series of aggravating
ssfiops'' that fate deals out to US little fell
lows, that there wasn't any room left for
more in this neighborhood. Trouble,
neighbors, is the only thing a newspaper
can find without chasing it up.-Mont-
pelier Journal.
Perhaps country journalism hasn't a
larger quota of trials and tribulations
than other occupations, but to those be-
hind the scenes it certainly seems that it
has. Their name is legion. And the
reading public, knowing little of them
and understanding less, fails to sympa-
thize. Because a paper comes to the
reader promptly and in presentable form
fifty-one weeks in the year, he cannot see
why anything can interfere with it the
fifty-second week. He does not begin to
know the struggle that goes on each and
every week, and day of the week; the
care, labor and worry involved in getting
the paper out on time and having it as
nearly correct as possible in all its depart
ments-news, Typography, press work
and mailing-a task necessarily borne on
the shoulders of relatively few, since the
ordinary country newspaper cannot retain
large corps of moderate workers.
The public's conception of an editor is
that of a high-browed Mind that moves
with calm elaboration from the perusal
of heavy volumes of library lore to his
secretary, where he spends the balance OF
his time in putting to paper those words
of wisdom that move the Archimedean
lever of the universe, while alert and in
dustrious reporters attend to the news
end, and the mechanical department runs
smoothly under the guidance of skilled
labor, without thought or care from the
sanctum.
How different the reality? Instead OF
time for cyclopedic reading, the editor
counts it lucky if he can catch a couple OF
hours during the week to glance through
his exchanges. His editorial writing
takes perhaps as much more time. The
balance of the week he vibrates between
the front office, where he looks over mail
and correspondence, waits on customers
and attends to bookkeeping and business
matters, and the back office, where he
helps on the makeup, typesetting, press
work and mailing.
Weekly newspapers especially have
their rush days. They cannot supply ex-
ira help for these days often, for it is not
cbtainable, so the editor has to be spare
: help aid hustle with the rest. 1t is hard
for alI-no business is more exacting.
There is always the specter of delay in
issue, and of faults in matter, makeup
and mechanism, to obtrude across the Wis
ion of those in our line of work. The
help all feel the spur, and do their share,
but the chief care and worry must neces-
sarily be or the proprietor, who is re-
sponsible to his patrons, and whose pride
and purse swell or fiatten according as he
justifies expectations.
We are moved to these reflections par
ticularly by our own experience of last
week. Having installed new and
larger press and folder, in order to in.
crease the size of our paper, we were ma
turally anxious to have the first issue &C
out as nearly on time as possible, and at
, free from defects. Unlooked-for delays
occurred and we were late starting.
Then, just as things promised well, 9
, casting on the folder broke and that
J well-nigh indispensable piece OF machin.
cry went out OF business for good, until 9
, new part could be sent for and obtained.
, So, late at night, after wearying strug-
gle to get that far, it was necessary to be.
: gin the task of hand-folding the printed
: papers-a primitive method that leaves
the sheet whole and unhandy to get at fol
reading, instead of neatly fiattened and
cut in book form. 1t had to be done that
wav or not at all an IL was done with