CHAPTER XIX

NEWS WRITING

They are the abstracts and brief chronicles of the time. SHAKSPERE.

NARRATION has been divided in this book into three classes: (1) Narratives more or less fictitious, written to please (Chapter XVII); (2) narratives of historical or biographical fact, based on reading, and written to inform as well as to please (Chapter XVIII); (3) narratives of current events, written to convey prompt and accurate information, to tell the news (Chapter XIX).

Many kinds of narrative are really news writing. — This last kind of narration has much wider uses than the term

news writing" may seem to imply. Not merely reports intended for daily newspapers, but all material except editorials found in college weeklies, much of the contents of college annuals, and many reports of a narrative sort written by professional and business men, may be grouped together under this head. There may not seem to be any close connection between the college reporter's account of a student debate, or a game, and the business manager's monthly report to his board of directors, or the engineer's statement of progress on public works during a fiscal year. Yet these and many other kinds of narrative writing have this in common, that they aim to report an event or series of events with clearness and accuracy. While the primary purpose of fiction is to please, and the primary purpose of history is to interpret events long past, the primary purpose of news writing is to report recent events for public information. What happened? That is all we ask of the

newspaper. The newspaper does not always answer it. Unfortunately other purposes have crept into our newspapers through business competition. They too often, in their attempt to be entertaining, fail in the primary purpose of giving information. Yet many of the methods which they have developed, contrary as they seem to the principles of ordinary composition, have proved by experience to be the best for this special purpose.

Nothing could be farther from the purpose of this brief chapter than to instruct students in writing for the newspapers. Journalism is a business, which is learned by long and hard experience. That some valuable preparation for it can be given in university departments of journalism, properly equipped with printing plants, and manned by practical newspaper men, there is now no doubt. But all that is attempted here is to show students how some of the fundamental principles of news writing can be and should be applied to their ordinary work in narrating recent events. The widest application of these methods in the practical use of English after graduation will be in business and professional letters and reports. Every man appointed to any administrative office, every foreman, manager, inspector, supervisor, architect, engineer, every person charged with observing or controlling events, must write news all his life. It is the commonest kind of writing, commoner even than exposition, and much commoner than argument. Concerning the sort of news that one tells about his own experiences for the entertainment of his friends, something has already been said in the chapter on letter-writing (Chapter X). There the desire to give pleasure, the principle of interest, may be said to control. In all other kinds of news writing, while interest governs the selection and proportion of details, clearness and force are the main essentials. In the majority of cases the news writer may assume an initial interest on the part of the reader. His business is not chiefly to attract people to read his report, but to make the reading of it easy and profitable. This end he seeks by various applications of the principle of economy of attention.

Economy of attention. By demanding economy of attention we mean that since the human mind has limited powers of exertion, and a large natural inertia, writers and speakers must make the lightest possible drafts upon those powers. They must save wear and tear on the reader's brains. The writer of a textbook ought to practice economy of attention in compassion for the unfortunate students who have to read it. The writer of news will practice economy not from motives of compassion but in self-defense. If he does not, people will not read what he has to say. The next day they are likely to buy another paper. Of course the principle of economy of attention applies to all kinds of composition, but it is particularly important in this kind of narration.

The story thrice told. — In obedience to this principle of economy of attention, a good news report tells every story three times. That sounds contradictory, but the custom is really admirable. The newspaper tells us the story first in the head, secondly in the lead, and thirdly in the body of the article. The head contains the most striking points of the story, so phrased that he who runs may read. It is true that many newspapers, in their striving for sensational effects, misrepresent the news in their heads; but many others do not. A glance over the pages of the right sort of paper gives the busy reader a notion of the events of the day, even though he may not read a line of the news itself. If, attracted by the importance or novelty of some piece of news as indicated by the head, he begins to read further, he finds in the first paragraph, often a single sentence, a compact statement of the principal facts. This is called the lead (rimes with deed). Below that comes the body of the story, perhaps a column or a page of details. These three divisions, the head, the lead, and the body of the story, will be briefly considered.

The head. For a college paper heads seldom extend beyond two "decks"; that is, two distinct phrases or sentences in different type, each occupying one or more lines, e.g.:

CLASS RUSH ABOLISHED
Faculty Prohibits Scrap

on account of Protests
from Alumni and
Parents

SUCCESSFUL SEASON ENDS
Team Has Won Nine out
of Eleven Games

NEW LABORATORY OPENED
Best Equipment in the State

For minor news articles, as well as for editorials, the single line head is used. In general it is well in writing news heads to follow the rule of most daily newspapers that there must be a finite verb, a participle, or an infinitive in every head. Mere noun-phrases, such as "Fire in the Dormitory" and "Prospects for Baseball" are too tame. "Juniors Elect a Neutral President" is better than "The Junior Election. "Dramatic Club Will Play The Rivals" is to be preferred to "Choice of Play." The limitations of type and the width of columns determine the exact choice of words by the head writer, who is really writing for the printer. Students in this course may well experiment as far as time permits with short, apt heads for their news stories, chiefly as an exercise in compact expression.

The lead. - The first sentence, or two or three sentences, of a good news story, will always be found to contain all the important elements of the entire article. The lead of a fire story, for example, will give the place, time, cause, and effect of the fire, including the estimated loss, all in one sentence. If a truck has collided with a trolley car on the way to the fire, that will make a second sentence; unless the collision, resulting in personal injury or death, is more important than the fire, in which case the order of the two sentences will be reversed. Not until his attention is called to it does the ordinary newspaper reader fully appreciate the convenience of the lead. If

his time is limited, he need read no further. If he has been misled by the head, and finds that the story is not likely to interest him, he is saved useless labor. While unskillfully written leads are likely to make clumsy sentences, the best work in this field arouses the admiration of a discerning reader. By all means let the student in his news stories, the business or professional man in his reports, adopt the principle of the lead. Let his first sentences tell in a nutshell all that there would be to tell if his report had to be made by telegram.

The body. After the lead comes the body of the story. The second paragraph of the fire story is quite likely to state more at length the extent of the damage and the danger to surrounding property. The third paragraph may deal with the cause of the fire, and the circumstances connected with its discovery. Following paragraphs take up minor details, interviews with eye-witnesses, humorous or pathetic episodes, and other points, in order of diminishing importance. The story seldom has a strong close. It seems to end in anticlimax.

Details in order of decreasing importance. Readers whose standards of excellence in composition are based solely on books and magazines are apt to suppose this upside-down method of the reporter to be a mere blunder. On the contrary, with all the crudities evident in its application, the principle underlying the arrangement of a news story is fundamentally sound. It is a fine example of adaptation to a practical end, and yields the maximum economy of attention. So striking is the contrast between the method of news writing and the method of fiction or drama, that no one who has once had it called to his attention can fail to be impressed by it. The novelist or dramatist introduces his characters, brings forward his dominant motive or idea, leads us through scenes of growing suspense and mystery to a baffling moment of crisis; and then, within sight of the end, gives us for the first time the decisive act which determines all that follows. He values suspense, surprise, climax; and the pleasure he gives us is rather in the