Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-07-30

Kent Cooper general manager of
the Associated Press, who was in
Douglas several months ago at the
meetingI of the Arizona Publishers
association, figures in a lengthy ar
ticle in the August issue of the Amer
ican Magazine.
How Did THAT Get In the Paper?'
is the title of the article, which was
written by Bruce Barton on the basis
of an interview with the general man
ager of the Associated Press, which
gathers the news for The Douglas
Daily Dispatch from every corner Of
tho world.
An insight into the romance as we'll
as the routine of newspaper work is
revealed in the article, which clears
up for the layman many of the mys-
teries which becloud his mind when
he asks himself how his daily paper
found out what has happened in the
remote regions; of the earth, what
kind of news it strives to print and
what principles guide it in its news
gathering activities.
In the usual American Magazine
style. Bruce Barton brings many 81
his points home by the means of in
teresting anecdotes and striking il
lustrations. The ingenuity of the
Associated Press, now headed by Kent
Cooper, getting the facts when every
approach seems blocked is revealed III
several accounts.
Perhaps the most interesting of
these is the account of the brilliant
news gathering which took place on
the occasion of the death of Pope
r
head of the Catholic church. While
the Pope was dying, italian govern.
ment officials, in order to appease the
none too friendly Vatican, announced
that church authorities would be given
two hours after the death in which to-
notify papal representatives in other
countries, during which time the press
would not be permitted to send out
.telegraphic messages on the subject
Press representatives were chagrined,1
for to millions of people in all parts
of the world the very hour and min
ute of the Holy Fathers death was 2
matter of supreme Importance. AS I'll
happened, just eleven minutes after
the Pope succumbed, the exact hour
and minute were known in far away
San Francisco. The innocent an
nOunC6menL OIL d lOSL DOuu CetUlCQ -
the personal address of an Associated
Press official carried the intelligence
in code form.
When the cardinals met to elect a.
successor to Pope Leo XIII, Vatican
authorities were doubly on their guard
A brick wall was constructed about
the hall to prevent anyone having
access to it. Yet every day, to their
complete mystification, detailed ac-
count of the proceedings was printed
in Associated Press newspapers
member of the Noble Guard was an
Associated Press man. He did not
sfnuggle the news out easily, how
ever, for homing pigeon which he
had taken in with him, astensibly as
a pet, but really to transmit the news
to the Associated Press office, was
ordered shot by the suspicious Car
dinal Rampolla. Laundry lists sent
out with the soiled laundry of car
dinal, and a doctors prescription
written in code language, supplied the
details of the news where the pigeon
had failed
If you have ever done anything to
get yourself into an important news
story or have made a, name for your
self in the country the files of the
Associated Press tell all about it.
Every important news story that has
ever been published, biography Of
Everybody who is anybody" all over
the world reposes there, and A. F.
staff men can have their hands on it
in an instant if occasion demands.
What is more, the biography of every
important man over so is in the hands
of every A. P. newspaper for publica-
tion in case Of his death. They are
in the hands of The Douglas Daily
Dispatch and of hundreds of other
A. p. papers throughout America.
What kinds of news are people
most interested in?" Kent Cooper
was asked. First, he asserted, they
are interested in themselves. A
person who has been to function
will always look at the list of guests
to see if his name is among them.
Second, people are interested in the
have seen. The average reader is
more interested in the sale of his
nighbor's house than in a famine IN
China in which thousands perish. He
can sympathize more with one man
Floyd Collins, entombed in Ken
lucky cave, than with all the in
habitants of South Sea island who
are destroyed in hurricane, be-
cause he has been in caves and
erie deserted places, but has never
been in a South Sea hurricane.