Journalism (1940)

[Music] the alphabet has only 26 letters with these 26 magic symbols however millions of words are written every day millions of words to report the news of all the world in newspapers words to tell the news of local happens in thousands of suburban small town and country papers millions of other words and magazines of various types in farm periodical in business Publications in trade and Technical journals and in general and popular magazines giant presses print all these words and someone buys them either on news stands through the mail or from News Boys first however words must be written and there are many writing jobs on newspapers if you visit The Newsroom of a daily paper you will find it very similar to any busy office although arranged somewhat differently The Newsroom is the heart of the newspaper the managing editor who on most papers coordinates all activities of news Gathering send certain reporters out on important assignments this reporter is in a hurry and for a very good reason he's going to cover a fire covering a fire is usually an ex exting event but it doesn't come nearly as often as you might think amid the turmoil and confusion the reporter must be able to think clearly and quickly and he must get his facts accurately assignments of this type may keep the reporter out in bad weather for many hours of hard tiresome work but there's a real thrill in seeing your own by line over a story when it's in print and there's always the feeling that you'll try to make the next story just a little better a newspaper of any size divides its local territory into districts reporters are given certain beats in these districts such as the city hall which they cover day after day the hospital beat is a valuable news source and one on which events sometimes happen with startling speed other reporters cover the airports bus and railroad stations which provide a good opportunity to interview celebrities arriving or departing reporters on Beats are known as outside men since they work away from the office most of the time Gathering news every reporter must secure from the people along his beat a steady supply of the everyday happenings which fill most of the local news Columns of a newspaper the police station is frequently assigned to beginners the Cub reporter takes information and leads on news of crime accidents and death from the daily police record or blotter although he gathers the news the op side man often does not write the story himself Odd as this may seem much of the time he stays on his beat and phones in his information this is especially true on the larger papers and on nearly all daily papers when the deadline is near the information is taken at the other end by a rewrite man who is usually a more experienced writer and is paid more for his work after the story is written and before it is set up in type copy readers edit for errors improve it here and there if they can and write the headlines then the story is set in type by the operator of a l type A type setting machine which casts the words in solid lines of lead type the placing of the type after it has been set is often supervised by the makeup editor he has already planned the general arrangement of the paper on a layout sheet and has selected a spot for the story among all the other stories pictures and advertising material practically all daily newspapers have special departments in which certain sections of the paper are written and edited one of these departments handles the telegraph news which it receives from the great press associations with reporters and writers scattered all over the world the Press associations gather important news and relay it to hundreds of newspapers over special Telegraph Wire services this Tet at the local newspaper is bringing in news reports from distant parts of the nation and world the sports section is handled in another special Department the sports reporter must be a specialist in his knowledge of sports he gets his story right at the sporting event and often sends it into his paper play byplay the financial section is reported by experts in the field of Business Financial reporters and editors must be able to analyze and explain business condition I conditions as well as to report them and they must be extremely accurate for even a slight error has been known to influence the financial Market the society section for the most part is handled by news women important social events are usually covered by Society reporters in person however much of the news for the society section comes in over the telephone women find it difficult to compete with men in general reporting jobs so girls who want to be successful in journalism should would prepare for work in the special women's departments home decoration Child Care gardening and household hints are found in the homemaking section A Department handled by women also included are cookery meal planning suggestions menus recipes and attractive ways of arranging the table work in Fashions Beauty care and merchandise reporting affords further opportunities almost exclusively for women music and and dramatic critics must be authorities in their fields they report from firsthand observation and to hold reader confidence they must be truthful in the information they give the public and they must be fair to artists and performers the editorial writer must be able to write on many subjects but instead of merely reporting news he analyzes it and explains its meaning often expressing his personal opinions he must reason accurately and fairly and write in an interesting manner to understand and interpret problems of the day he must read and study continually in addition to having a great amount of knowledge and experience another specialist is the political writer he must interview political candidates and workers he must also report a great many speeches and be able to interpret for the people who read his paper acts of government and the ideas of political leaders the work of feature writers is is found in the Sunday editions and in magazines and these writers have names usually well known to readers some feature writers started their careers by writing about their Hobbies a number of magazines will buy articles on how to do things and how to make things especially if the writer can supply good illustrations the columnist is another writing specialist it's nice work but it takes years of experience and a genuine talent for writing some columnists and writers of many other kinds of material are able to place their work with syndicates The Syndicate WFTS copies and sends them out to be printed in hundreds of newspapers or at the local newspaper a matrix is received from The Syndicate The Matrix is made of material like heavy paper into which has been stamped words and pictures it is placed in a casting box into which molten type metal is poured The Matrix serves as a mold and leaves its impression on the metal when cool the solid type metal which now is similar to type is removed from the casting box and the Matrix may be discarded the type is now ready to be used to print the original Syndicate material on the newspaper's own press the country editor unlike the city editor must spread his attention Over All Phases of the business he must go out after news himself and from local Merchants solicit the advertising that provides part of the revenue from his paper he must then write the advertising as well as the news and plan the layout of each issue and that's not all he is also a printer knowing every branch of the business he's types Setter Pressman and press feeder all in one in fact he has to know and be able to do a great many things which can be learned only through actual experience and and there's no better place to get this experience than on a Small Town Newspaper being able to set tipe by hand is almost a necessity for in addition to his newspaper work job printing forms an important part of the business of the country publisher all this knowledge and experience seems a great deal to ask of one man but he leads a happy life and takes pride in the fact that he is in business for himself the publisher of a city paper has the responsibility of running a large organization his is a good position and one you might do well to aim for but there aren't many of them as it is one of the top positions in journalism you will probably start outside in just any kind of weather reporting news if you choose journalism as your life work news reporting is a young man's job for the reporter must have stamina and endurance to withstand the strain of long and strous hours of work he must have the courage and perseverance to get the story in spite of obstacles the qualifications of a newspaper worker are not easy ones to fill check your qualifications find out what courses you should take in school if you don't like to write you won't be happy in journalism if you do like it practice writing as much as you can your School newspaper and your English and social science classes are good places to start make them your first assignments toward success