The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-10-15
SCHOOLS OF JOURNALISM.

Courses in journalism are offered in several uni
yersites and by one or two correspondence schools.
Now the truth is that journalism is thing fast
becoming obsolete. Instead of newspaper man
being journalist in this rapid age, he IS CLASSIFIED
and marked as a reporter. editor. an editorial
writer or a printer Yes. printers are classed
as newspaper nowadays; but they are not
journalists any more than the reporters or ed
itors or business managers. One of the old-time
journalists of the Horace Greeley school would
have pretty hard time holding his in the
modern newspaper field. SO we do not think the
universities are giving i'll journalism, but,
rather, are pointing the way to become successful
newspaper men and women to their students. If
they succeed in that they accomplishing really
wonderful piece of good work.
great manly men of as many different minds
are employed on the modern newspaper, yet each
of these is working to make his paper better than
his rival sheet At the same time, each of the
underlings must in many instances subordinate his
own opinions to the will of the man higher up
that is, the managing editor. And in great many
instances the managing editor has to subordinate
his opinions to the will of the owner of the paper.
And the owner has to be pretty careful what poll
cies he orders to be pursued his paper will lose
prestige and money-and newspaper the down
hill grade can eat up more money than a hay press
can hay.
But there is reason why great many things
done about newspaper Office cannot be taught IN
school. 1t might possibly help develop the ''nose
for news" which is essential to the reporter. A
story is told of a reporter whose nose had not
been very keenly developed This reporter was sent
out to report swell wedding. When time for
closing up came, the editor hunted up the reporter
and asked him where his story was
Nothing doing" said the reporter; "the bride
groom failed to show up
Nothing, of course, can take the place of the
practical experience to be derived from actual work
on a newspaper Schools can teach their students
how story ought to be written and that style is
universal. The rule is to tell the whole story in
the first sentence Then follow with details
very simple rule, indeed Schools can also teach
something of the best methods of preparing copy.
They might include the ancient rule about writing
on one side of the sheet And great many other
things which every newspaper man knows could
be taught, so that the graduates would not be en-
tirely green when they leave the school and begin
actual work. The ethics of the newspaper work
also could be touched upon. And 1t could be i'm
pressed upon the young men and women that men
in actual work probably know what particular thing
is to be avoided better than the schoomaster
professor of journalism under whose instruction
they have been The things to be avoided
many, and sometimes hard to avoid. The best
papers nowadays are those which make judicOus
selection of the news matter they have. The best
newspaper man is the one who knows what not to
print. What not to print is different on different
papers. The schools cannot make rules this
subject. They can, however, point out that differ
ent newspapers have different ideas such things
and by pointing out that undoubtedly make
better cub reporters of their students than they
would be without that training But it is likely
those same students could learn in the same
time put in in actual work on newspaper The
school training, however, might help them to land
a job and that is really the first thing to be Sc
cured when one contemplates entering the news
paper field as life work