The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-11-18
GETTING THE NEWS
A newspaper is a public institu-

ton.
1t is the property of the people
who read it.
1t is the product of those who hell
to make it interesting by the infor.
nation they furnish.
| When you aid in the furnishing OF
information which goes to make uI
what we newspapermen call q
STORY" you are helping your com.
munity by keeping it enlightened as
to the happenings about and in it.
Every newspaper has it's good and
loyal friends who realize this. They
see themselves performing a public
duty when they aid in the prepare
tion of story" There are others,
however, who resent the queries put
! 4 them by newspapermen, or at least
they evidence an unresponsive atti-
tude.
I. 1t is pleasing to note that the big
ger the man the more willing his re-
Spouse TO the appeal of the news
seeker
There are some who think the or
binary newspaperman somewhat of a
walking encyclopedia and clairvoy-
ant combined They seem to think
that newspapers get their informa-
tion by some second sight method
When approached for information
which they possess, they give a hur-
ried answer The news-seeker, if he
wants to make his news story intelli-
gent, begins to ask questions. The
man grows restless, impatient and
sometimes even shows anger because
the reporter can not read his mind
Then when the story appears in
print this same fellow is the first to
begin criticism. He calls the news
paper an irresponsible rag" rid
icules the men who make it, and gem
orally shows his contempt for its
news service.
On the lcther hand, the big men are
ever ready to furnish little details
that the newro"e man seeks. They
trust him to XII : Hil.J he needs to
make his story ineligible and en-
Tightening. Probably the best ex-
emple of what big men think of
newspapers and their duty toward
them is none other than President
Wilson The newspaper correspond
ents in Washington are granted
personal interview with him at regu-
larly stated periods He answers
these questions like the great man
that he is.
There is another feature of news
gathering that comes to mind in this
connection. The real, honest news
paperman, the man who thinks his
calling profession and ranks it
alongside the other professions, has
his ethics just as the members of 9TH
err professions do. The men worthy
the name of newspaperman never be-
trays a confidence. The big man
of affairs knows this. They reveal to
their newspaper friends the inside"
of many news stories before the
event, as newspapermen say, is ready
to break" They keep him in
formed and when the time comes and
the news is ready to print, the news
paperman is so well-informed on the
details which lead up to it that he
writes a story filled with intimate
knowledge which gives the public the
information it desires and is entitled
to have.
Newspapermen are not all perfect.
We have our ideals just as others do.
There are "jack-legs among us, just
as there are in other professions, but
we believe that man for man, we are
just as near our ideal as any other
class of men. At least we would
have our friends judge us as average
mortals, anyhow.
Remember this, the newspaper is
your institution. You can help make
it. When you help the newspaper to
print the daily record of happenings,
you are helping your neighbor and
he is helping you After all that's
the best code of morals to live by
and the successful newspaper is a
pretty good indication of the kind of
people who make up the community
in which it is printed st. Peters
burg ines.