University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1912-11-25

Dropped IN among the great SKY
scrapers of New York City is minia-
ture structure which has been called
the greatest institution of learning in
the United States. The building is
old-fashioned and blackened by years
of wear. Nevertheless it remains in
constant use-both day and night
for here is published the New York
Sun, a newspaper that is one OF
Americas institutions.
Seated at the desks and typewriters
any night in the week are the men
who are keeping up the Suns reputa-
tion of being "the newspaper mans
newspaper" 1t is said that the ordi-
nary graduate of the literary depart
ment of Harvard could not hold down
a position as a reporter on The Sun.
An alumnus of the Sun school would
be welcomed by any newspaper in
this country.
| A peculiar air of democracy per-
vades this editorial room. Maybe 1t
is because the night editor sits in one
corner at a desk no better than the
cub reporters. Or it maybe that the
remembrance of Day, Beach, Dana
and Laffan mingling with the report
ers in this room nurses this spirit of
good will.
The reporters are mostly men who
have been graduated from other
newspapers to the Sun and who, be-
fore entering newspaper work, took
a degree from university. 1t is said
IS per cent are university men. After
catching on to the knack of the Sun
style and making good. their posi-
tions are theirs for a life time. There
never has been a shake-up.
1t was Charles Anderson Dana who
sat up the high ideals Of journalism
now practiced by the Sun. After
serving an apprenticeship under Hor-
ace Greeley on the New York Tribune.
Dana became editor of the Sun in
1868. He did not change the make
up of the Sun; indeed its appearance
is much the same as when Day estab-
lished it in 1888. 1t has been marked
by this consistency.
Dana's bequest to the Sun may be
summed up in the words he used in
the beginning: "The Sun will study
clearness, condensation. point, and
will endeavor to present its daily
photograph of the whole Worlds do
I ings in the most luminous and lively
manner 1t will not take as long to
read the Sun as to read the London
Times or Webster's Dictionary, but
when you have read it, you will know
about all that has happened in both
hemispheres
And Dana knew good writing when
it came to his desk or went into the
paper 1t is still related how he used
to walk over to the city editor after
the paper was out and point to SEN
tence he had marked. asking who had
written it. The editor did not know
what was coming until. telling the re-
porter's name, he would hear Dana
say: mo, no, that is the work of
Homer"
Also, the daily photographer of the
worlds doings' has been wonder
fully true one. Even when many re-
liable papers were hoodwinked into
printing a press agent story lately
about Gaby Deslys's jewels being
stolen, the Sun came out with the
fact that a thorough hunt showed the
actress had no valuable jewelry. Sun
reporters get the truth even if it
takes the most work. A story is told
how one cub reporter was praised by
the managing editor as great re-
porter when he had been scooped on
big story which he and another re-
porter had given their word to keep
out of the paper three days.
Another feature of the Sun stories
is the manner in which human-inter-
est points are brought out An anal
ysis of the front page of the Sun
shows that many of the shorter sto-
r;es are based only OH the fact that
they picture life.
All of the stories are written in a
bright ard piquant style. The stories
start with lively lead and hold your
interest all the way through. How
much can you write interesting?" is
the Suns standard of the worth of