Evening star., 1960-04-24
A CRITICS LITERARY LAW

Z. NoTthcote PARKINSON, an
Englishman tDith a long and
distinguished academic career,
has been UritiHg scholarly books
since 1884. Then in 1857 dp-
pedred "Pdrkinson's LdW."
book Uhich reUedled to the
business executives and bureau
Gratis eUeryUhere the real facts
of organizdtiondl life.
Mr.. Parkinson addressed the
American Society OF Newspaper
Editors at their meeting here
yesterday on "NeUSpdpermen
Can't Write" This is the teIt
of the speech iUith the elimind-
tton of a teW Introductory pard-
graphs:
This is a gathering Of news
papermen and it is as a news
paperman myself that l am
privileged to speak.
My memories of journalism go
back to boyhood and to the days
. when sometimes used to deliver
my fathers copy to the old York
shire Herald.
My experience in journalism
was next with the Fortnightly,
which has always appeared once
a month, and I have since con-
tributed to the Times, the Econo-
mist, the Saturday Evening Post,
the New York Times, Punch, the
Straits Times, Esquire and many
other newspapers and periodicals.
So I have never been far from
printers ink. And in a period of
about 80 years have watched the
craft of journalism sink from the
status of a profession to the status,
in the main, of a rather sordid
trade. Editors in the old sense
have been elbowed out by manag-
ing directors and made subordi-
nate. in policy, to advertising
managers. Here in the United
States the newspaper has become
an advertising medium with Just
enough editorial matter to keep up
the theoretical circulation. Myself
a Journalist, I cannot look upon
many current newspapers with
any particular sense of pride.
My theme today is not, however,
the state of journalism but the
language used by the journalist.
This subject has been sub-edited
Tor me to read, rather crudely,
"Newspapermen Can't Write" do
not feel quite as strongly about it
as that; nor, if did, would re-
lieve my feelings befc7c this par
ticular audience. There is such
thing as bad publicity as we'll as
good. I do feel, however, that some
things need saying about the Ian
-euage used by the journalist.
Inherent Difficulties
.. In commenting, as I am bound
TO do, on the use and misuse of
this language, may I say, first of
all, that am aware of the inher-
ent difficulties of the journalists
life? There are elegant writer's who
publish slim volume every three
years, giving themselves weeks in
which to hesitate over using this
phrase or that. The result can be,
though it sometimes is not,
polished example of English prose.
In writing for the newspapers we
have the same sort of task to per-
form but with this difference. that
we must do it every day. 1t should
be no matter for aStonishment if
our standards should be somewhat
lower, our achievements something
less.
When all this is granted, how
ever. there is still some reason
TO deplore the sort of language
that is often used. Nor is it quite
true to say that haste accounts
for everything. More basic is the
journalists own standard of edu-
cation and his idea of what the
public is supposed to want.
should like to comment upon
these two influences. having given
some thought to both. It is no
longer the exception, perhaps, for
the young newspaperman to have
attended a school of Journalism;
university department dedi-
Gated, apparently, to this particu-
lar art, A curious feature of these
schools is that their graduates
seldom know shorthand. That
being so, it seems fair to ask what
they have learnt. To this ques-
ton the answers are by no means
unanimous. In some colleges the
students in this subject are en-
couraged to produce a student
newspaper, which I take to be a
waste of time. In others, where
the student newspaper is firmly
in the hands of future engineers
and chemists, the students are
given a rather vague course in
current affairs.
From neither type of class will
the student necessarily emerge
with any idea of how to write the
English language. They may have
been told at some stage how to
edit a newspaper; but that is not
initially what they will be asked
to do. And there must be some
further doubt about the profess
sors of this subject. If they really
know how to edit a newspaper. we
are bound to wonder sometimes
why they are not doing it. Or can
. it be that merely talking about it
is easier and perhaps even better
paid?
The Students Future
The character and fate of these
schools of journalism must de-
pend, to large extent, upon those
who can offer employment to their
graduates; most of whom, ad-
mittedly, are not even destined
for journalistic career. 1t would
not be difficult, therefore. for edi-
. tors to set certain standards. both
by stating a preference for grad
yates who have not studied jour-