Arizona republican., 1917-03-25
THE REPORTER

Having recently conveyed some information to the laity the subject of interviews which we thought had been widely disseminated we believe it fitting reproduce for those whose studies of natural his tory have included the reporter" the man who takes interviews and doe4s other essential things about newspapers, the following from the New York Sun:
 When Alphonse Daudet was once asked by highly unintelligent and equally uninformed the nature of his profession, he replied
 Madam, am reporter"
 Run the range of permanent English writing from Grub street down the present day of Literary Pienitude. The most distinguished examples those that flowed from the pens pencils of re- porters. Pepys and his colleague Evelyn for in- stance, set pace that any modern chronicler of events would find to be difficult follow
 Where, for instance, could you find sim cere persuasive or convincing reporter than Boswell who will go down in history the reporter of porters? Where too, has human nature had a delightful revealer and interpreter than Thackeray? Or who would desire a realistic beguiling painter of the fobles frivotes and fraites of life than Richardson Sterne? Yet all of these merely wrote life they found it upon the streets or in the drawing of London along the pleasant highways of England. They exalted journalists.
 Of there kinds of reporters. One is the type of man who becomes sort of chronic reporter of bald facts as he finds them He remains ordinary chronicler of events. In a word he is the photographer
 On the other hand you have the reporter who
  sonalty. He becomes the maker of literature This is art. Upton Sncair's book The Jungle" was re- markable piece of reporting The amazing thing about it that it was secondhand reporting By this mean that he did get all his facts first hand. He obtained of the information about conditions in the packing houses from the Slav workers themselves. But vivid their account and so intense their recital that he made of it al- most literary transcript from life This of course makes SincIairs performance all the more unusual
 Frank Norris is conspicuous example He was born reporter with Zolaesque for detail that was little short of uncanny. His book, "McTeague," perfect piece of reporting of San Francisco life could be found. Gauged by the same standard "The Octopus" faithful reflection of political conditions in Southern California if the publisher of the book had sent him out assignment to report the fight between the Southern Pacific valley.
 Then, too there is Theodore Dresler-he of the book of multifarious words and incessant amorous. desire To be sure he paints with less pas sionate brush but the bigger thing is that he doggedy and consistently colors human weakness he sees it and as 1t actually exists
 The finest example of the gorifed reports in American fiction, however is presented by the ally amented David Graham Phillips. Here was a whose first writing was as a reporter and he always remained reporter. But with this inn portant difference: he interpreted life through his ownFblg vision and imagination and stamped it with his individuality If American literature the past twenty-five years had produced other book but The Story of Susan Lenox' would have yindicated he enormous debt that fiction owes to the real journalist.
 So it goes All fiction in the last analysis is merely transparent record of human progress. human piration human desire, all done in of the larger journalism.
 H. G. Wells calls the average novelist "a footnote to reality" The reporter is Reality itsefl