Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-26
NEWS WORK SHINES
| AMID WARS SCENES
Associated Press Gives Full
Recognition to Courageous
Deeds Of Employees.
HIGHEST STANDARDS HELD

tuOIIISl " HNOHI1IS ll.I1
NEW YORK, April 26.-The report of
the board Of directors Of the Associated
Press this year is considered of such
unusual interest as to warrant publ
cation. 1t refers, with other things, to
the experiences of some Associated
Press men in the foreign service, and in
making this part public the board au
thorized the insertion in parentheses of
the name Of the man concerned. The
report follows:
! To the members OF the Associated
Press:
In earlier reports We have endeavored
to summarize briefly the most important
news events of the year. We make
no such attempt this year. There have
making news has developed than dur
ing some previous years. and all news
| paper men must wonder whether we
snail ever return to former standards
| OF news values. Nor do we enlarge in
this report upon the news-gathering
| achievements of the organization. With
| those achievements have come many
inevitable disappointments. Overtaxed
capIes. muddied censorships and similar
exigencies of war often have upset our
plans and frequently neutralized the re-
sourcefulness Of our stan. Yet we have
incomparably the most comprehensive
machinery Tor collecting and distribut-
ing news that the world has ever
| known.
Countless Perils Met.
| OF our men abroad, we gratefully
acknowledge our appreciation Tor
| peooes and mines at sea and shot and
shell on land have held no fears for
them' Their escapes amid danger have
! Deen countless. One Drank NJ. Amer
ica) was knocked down by a Zeppelin
pomb IN London. but worked all that
night as usual-merely an incident Of
the days work in an office building
| Which itself has been hit by such shells;
another (Robert T. SmalD fell into the
Icy Somme, but rode thirty-fve miles
to cable the story of the first American
in Peronne; another (Charles T. Thomp-
son) was on the highest rampant of the
it and him under earth, but on that
afternoon he wrote story which
thrilled the press of Europe as we'll as
of the United States: another walter
Whiffen) was shot in the knee on
Russian observation post; another
| (Charles S. Smith). after bayonet and
fist encounter at Hardin. escaped with
painful lacerations: another Games
Hickey was blown through glass
! door by the Halifax explosion but be-
| fore dressing his wounds was resource
.ful enough to find in demolished build
| ing the terminus of the cable to the
| West Indies and sent by way of Ber-
muda and Havana to New York the first
! direct messages out of Halifax. Such
| incidents are not unusual in the service
| of your organization.
Preserved Best Traditions.
Through the year the Associated
Press has by maintaining it's standards
of accurate reporting preserved the
best traditions of journalism. The good
maine Of the Associated Press has not
been impaired. The public confidence
in our dispatches has steadily grown
until millions of readers now hesitate
to give credence to many published re-
Iports until assured that they were car
ried by our association. The sensa-
ttional Zimmerman note with its report
of diplomatic intrigue in Mexico was
universally accepted as genuine be-
cause the Associated Press said it was.
The bombardment of Paris at long
range was ridiculed by other press as
sociations and by ordnance experts. but
the Paris bureau of the Associated
Press, which for two days alone re.
ported this startling development of
the war to American readers, convinced
the skeptical quite as thoroughly as
did the official confirmation of its re-
port. When the governments action in
taking over the Dutch ships In Ameri-
can harbors was reported in Europe
several chancelleries inquired in Euro
pean capitals whether the Associated
Press announced this fact. This repu-
tation for telling the truth on the part
now quite as generally throughout
diplomatic and journalistic circles
abroad as it is in the United States and
1t is an asset of membership in this
Organization that Is of the utmost
value.
During the last year the war has
naturally drawn heavily upon our staff.
It has been the policy of the manage
ment not only not to seek exemption
from government service on behalf of
its employees. but to encourage such
service Men who year ago were
serving this organization are now by
hundreds in the military and naval or
other service of the United States. Our
operators in particular have been able
to render valuable service. for which
their training has peculiarly fitted
lost more than one-fourth of our staff.
and many more men are soon to leave
us.
Employees Lives Insured.
In this period of war, as the activi-
ties and responsibilities of our service
have steadily increased, it is a source
Of great pride to know that those upon
whom the burden has fallen have met
their obligations with a measure of
faithfulness and Intelligence, for which
the management is deeply grateful. BY
tdirection of the board Of directors. and
as partial recognition Of the eff
cheney. Of the staff. the life of each en-
lploye in the United States, while in the
service. has been insured for the benefit
Of his heirs or dependents, in the sum
of $1,000. Because of the greater risk
involved, established companies will
not accept insurance upon the lives of
our men in foreign service, but the
board itself has assumed liability on
their behalf.
While the growth in membership was
unusually large during the last year.
the members should not mistake the
policy as to growth. Unlike. the pri-
vately-owned and profit-making news
agencies. we do not traffic in news. We
welcome only such additions to mem
bership as strengthen the news gather
ing facilities Of this body. At the close
of the year there were 636 evening
newspapers. 8s1 morning newspapers
and sixty-one Sunday morning news
papers. or a total Of 1888. receiving the
service. These newspapers. from the
smallest. which received a 50o-word
| daily telegraph service. to the largest.
| which receives upward Of 80. 900 words