printing office many printing terms are commonly heard about the
editorial room. All copy is measured by the _column_ and by the
_stickful_. A column is usually a little less than 1,500 words and a
stickful is the amount of type that can be set in a compositor's
_stick_, the metal frame used in setting type by hand--about two inches
or 100 words. A bit of copy that is set up with a border or a row of
stars about it is said to be _boxed_. Whenever copy is set with extra
space between the lines it is said to be _leaded_ (pronounced
"leded")--the name is taken from the piece of lead that is placed
between the lines of type. The reporter must gradually learn the names
of the various kinds of type and the various proofreader's signs that
are used to indicate the way in which the type is to be set, for the
whole work of writing the news is governed and limited by the mechanical
possibilities of the printing office. The commonest signs used by the
proofreader or the copyreader, together with instructions for preparing
copy, are given in the Style Book at the end of this volume. (A complete
list of proofreader's signs can be found in the back of any large
dictionary.) _Style_ is a word which editors use to cover a multitude of
rules, arbitrary or otherwise, concerning capitalization, punctuation,
abbreviation, etc. A paper that uses many capital letters is said to
follow an _up_ style, and a paper that uses small letters instead of
capitals whenever there is a choice is said to follow a _down_ style.
Every newspaper has its own style and usually prints its rules in a
Style Book; the Style Book given in this volume has been compiled from
many representative newspaper style books. It sets forth an average
style and the beginner is advised to follow it closely in his practice
writing--for, as editors say, "uniformity is better than a strict
following of style."
IV
THE NEWS STORY FORM
When we come to the writing of the news we find that there are many
sorts of stories that must be written. In the newspaper office they are
called simply stories without distinction. For the purpose of study they
may be classified to some extent, but this classification must not be
taken as hard and fast. The commonest kind of story is the simple news
story. Practically all newspaper reports are news stories, but as
distinguished from other kinds of reports the simple news story is the
report of some late event or occurrence. It is usually concerned with
unexpected news, and is the commonest kind of story in any newspaper. It
is to be distinguished from reports of speeches, interview stories,
court reports, social news, dramatic news, sporting news, human-interest
stories, and all the rest. The distinction is largely one of form and
does not exist to any great extent in a newspaper office where all
stories are simply "stories."
The simple news story is probably the most variable part of a newspaper.
Given the same facts, each individual reporter will write the story in
his individual way and each editor will change it to suit his individual
taste. No two newspapers have exactly the same ideal form of news story
and no newspaper is able to live up to its individual ideal in each
story.
But there are general tendencies. Certain things are true of all news
stories; whether the story be the baldest recital of facts or the most
sensational featuring of an imaginary thrill in a commonplace happening,
certain characteristics are always present. And these characteristics
can always be traced to one cause--the effort to catch and hold the
reader's interest. When a busy American glances over his newspaper while
he sips his breakfast coffee or while he clings to a strap on the way to
his office, he reads only the stories that catch his interest--and he
reads down the column in any one story only so long as his interest is
maintained. Hence the ideal news story is one which will catch the
reader's attention by its beginning and hold his interest to the very
end. This is the principle of all newspaper writing.
The interest depends, in a large measure, on the way the facts are
presented. True, certain facts are in themselves more interesting to a
casual reader than others, but just as truly other less interesting
facts may be made as interesting through the reporter's skill. The most
interesting of stories may lose its interest if poorly presented, and
facts of the most commonplace nature may be made attractive enough to
hold the reader to the last word. The aim of every reporter and of every
editor is to make every story so attractive and interesting that the
most casual reader cannot resist reading it.
In the old days news stories were written in the logical order of events
just like any other narrative, but constant change has brought about a
new form, as different and individual as any other form of expression.
Unlike any other imaginable piece of writing, the news story discloses
its most interesting facts first. It does not lead the reader up to a
startling bit of news by a tantalizing suspense in an effort to build up
a surprise for him; it tells its most thrilling content first and trusts
to his interest to lead him on through the details that should logically
precede the real news. Therefore every editor admonishes his reporters
"to give the gist of the news first and the details later."
There are other reasons for this peculiar reversal of the logical order
of narrative. Few readers have time to read the whole of every story,
and yet they want to get the news--in the shortest possible time.
Therefore the newspaper very kindly tells the important part of each
story at the beginning. Then if the reader cares to hear the details he
can read the rest of the story; but he gets the news, anyway. Again, if
the exigencies of making up the stories into a paper of mechanically
limited space require that a story be cut down, the editor may slash off
a paragraph or two at the end without depriving the story of its
interest. Imagine the difficulty of cutting down a story that is told in
its logical order! If the real news of the story were in the last
paragraph it would go in the slashing, and what would be left? Whereas,
if the gist of the story comes first the editor may run any number of
paragraphs or even the first paragraph alone and still have a complete
story.
The arrangement of news stories in American newspapers is thus a very
natural one, resulting from the exigencies of the business. Just how to
fit every story to this arrangement is a difficult task. However, there
are certain rules that the reporter may apply to each story, and these
are very simple.
In the first place, almost every story has a feature--there is some one
thing in it that is out of the ordinary, something that gives it
interest and news value beyond the interest in the incident behind it.
No two stories have the same interesting features; if they had, only
one of them would be worth printing and that would be the first. This
extraordinary feature the reporter must see at once. If a building burns
he must see quickly what incident in the occurrence will be of interest
to readers who are reading of many fires every day. If John Smith falls
off a street car the reporter must discover some interesting fact in
connection with Mr. Smith's misfortune that will be new and attractive
to readers who do not know John and are bored with accounts of other
Smiths' accidents. The accident itself may be interesting, but the part
of the accident that is out of the ordinary--the thing that gives the
accident news value--is the feature of the story, and the reporter must
tell it first.
Thoroughly determined to tell the most interesting part, the gist, of
his story in the first paragraph, the reporter must remember that there
are certain other things about the incident that the reader wants to
know just as quickly. There are certain questions which arise in the
reader's mind when the occurrence is suggested, and these questions must
be answered as quickly as they are asked. The questions usually take the
form of _when?_ _where?_ _what?_ _who?_ _how?_ _why?_ If a man falls off
the street car we are eager to know at once who he was, although we
probably do not know him, anyway; where it happened; when it happened;
how he fell; and why he fell. If there is a fire we immediately ask what
burned; where it was; when it burned; how it burned; and what caused it
to burn. And the reporter must answer these questions with the same
breath that tells us that a man fell off the car or that there was any
fire at all.
The effort to answer these questions at once has led to the peculiar
form of introduction characteristic of every newspaper story. Newspaper
people call it the lead. It is really nothing but the statement of the
briefest possible answers to all these questions in one sentence or one
short paragraph. It tells the whole story in its baldest aspects and
aims to satisfy the reader who wants only the gist of the story and does
not care for the details. When all his questions have been answered in
one breath he is ready to read the details one at a time, but he won't
be satisfied if he must read all about how the fire was discovered
before he is told what building burned, when it burned, etc. For
example:
| Fire of unknown origin caused the |
|practical destruction of the famous old |
|"Crow's Nest," at Tenth and Cedar |
|streets, perhaps the best known and |
|oldest landmark in the Second ward, |
|yesterday afternoon.--_Milwaukee Free |
|Press._ |
This is the lead of an ordinary news story--a newspaper report of a
fire. The lead begins with "Fire" because the story has no unusual
feature--no element in it that is more interesting than the fact that
there was a fire. The reporter considers "Fire" the most important part
of his story and begins with it. As soon as we read the word "Fire" we
ask, "When?"--"Where?"--"What?"--"Why?"--"How?" The reporter answers us
in the same sentence with his announcement, "yesterday afternoon"--"at
Tenth and Cedar Streets"--"the famous old 'Crow's Nest,' perhaps the
best known and oldest landmark in the Second ward"--"unknown origin."
_How_ is not worth answering, in this case, beyond the statement that
the destruction was practically complete. Thus the reporter has told us
his bit of news and answered our most obvious questions about it at the
very beginning of his story--in one sentence. According to newspaper
rules this is a good lead. The order of the answers will be considered
later. For the present we are concerned only with the facts that the
lead must contain.
V
THE SIMPLE FIRE STORY
The simplest news story is the story which has no feature--which has no
fact in it more important than the incident which it reports--e.g., the
fire at the end of the last chapter. If we recall the various elements
of news value we note that any incident may be given greater news value
by the presence of some unusual or interesting feature--a great loss of
life, an unusual time, a strikingly large loss of property, or simply a
well-known name. Such a story is called a story with a feature, because
its interest depends not so much on the incident itself as upon the
unusual feature within the incident. On the other hand, many news
stories do not have features. Many stories are worth printing simply
because of the incident which they report, without any unusual feature
within them. For example, a building may burn with no loss of life, no
great loss of property, and no striking occurrence in connection with
the burning. Such a fire is worth reporting, but there is no fact in
the story more interesting than the fact that there was a fire; the
story has no feature.
The leads of these two kinds of stories are different. When a story has
a feature it is customary to play up that feature in the first line of
the lead. If the story has no feature, is simply the record of a
commonplace event, the lead merely announces the incident and answers
the reader's questions about it.
The commonest of featureless stories is the simple fire story in which
nothing out of the ordinary happens, no one is killed, no striking
rescues take place, and no tremendous amount of property is destroyed.
This may be taken as typical of all featureless stories. The reporter,
in writing a report of such a fire, merely answers in the lead the
questions _when_, _where_, _what_, _why_, and perhaps _how_, that the
reader asks concerning the fire. The most striking part of the story is
that there was a fire; hence the story begins with "Fire." For example:
| Fire today wrecked the top of the |
|six-story warehouse at 393 to 395 |
|Washington street, used by the United |
|States army as a medical supply |
|store-room for the Department of the |
|East. Capt. Edwin Wolf, who is in charge |
|of the warehouse, says the loss on tents, |
|blankets, cots, and other bedding stored |
|on the floors of the building was |
|large.--_New York Mail._ |
As one reads down through the rest of the story he finds nothing more
striking than the fact that there was a fire. Therefore there is no
particular feature. No one was killed; no one was injured; the loss was
not extraordinary for a New York fire--nothing in the story is of
greater interest than the mere fact that there was a fire. Hence the
story begins with the word "Fire." Notice that it does not begin "A
fire" or "The fire"--for the simple reason that the word _fire_ does not
need an article before it. The editor will also tell you that it is not
considered good to begin a story with an article, for the beginning is
the most important part of a story and it is foolish to waste that
advantageous place on unimportant words.
The first word tells the reader that there has been a fire. He
immediately asks where?--what burned?--when?--how much was lost? And the
reporter proceeds to answer his questions in their order of importance.
The reporter who wrote this story apparently thought that the time was
of greatest importance and slipped it in at once--"today." He might just
as well have left the time until the end of the sentence because it is
not of very great interest. He considers the question "_Where_" of next
importance, and answers with "the top of the six-story warehouse at 393
to 395 Washington Street." The question "what?" he answers with a
clause, "used by the United States army as a medical supply store-room
for the Department of the East." He does not try to answer the question
"_why_?" because, as the rest of the story tells us, no one knew exactly
what caused the fire. And as for the "_How_?" there is nothing
extraordinary in the way that it burned beyond the fact that it burned.
Thus, in one sentence, he has answered all four questions about the
fire, except a little query concerning the amount of the loss. That he
considers worth a separate sentence of details.
This is not a perfect lead. Many editors would consider it faulty, but
it illustrates one way of writing the lead of a featureless fire story.
Obviously there are faults; for instance, the time is given an undue
amount of emphasis and the cause is omitted.
Suppose that we construct another lead from the same story--a lead which
would be more in accordance with the logic of newspaper writing. We
shall begin with the word "fire," but after it we shall slip in a little
mention of the cause since to the reader not directly acquainted with
the property that point is always of the greatest importance. Then we
shall tell where the fire was and after that what was burned. And last
of all we shall give the time since that is of least importance to the
average reader. This would be the result:
| Fire of unknown origin wrecked the top |
|of the six-story warehouse at 393-395 |
|Washington street, used by the United |
|States army as a medical supply |
|store-room for the Department of the |
|East, destroying a large number of tents, |
|blankets, cots, and other bedding, today. |
We might as well have put the _what_ before the _where_ or altered the
lead in any other way. But we would always begin with the word "fire"
and answer all the questions that the reader might ask--in one short
simple sentence. This constitutes our lead. We have told the casual
reader what he wants to know about the fire. We give him more details
about the fire if he wants to read them, but after we have stated the
case clearly in the lead we no longer reckon his time so carefully and
allow ourselves some latitude in the telling. After the lead we begin
the story from the beginning and tell it in its logical order from start
to finish, always bearing in mind that the editor may chop off a
paragraph or two at the end.
Hence the second paragraph of the story as it appeared in _The Mail_
begins:
| John Smith, a man employed in the |
|stock-room on the sixth floor, saw smoke |
|rolling out of one corner and notified |
|other employees in the building, while |
|Patrolman Hogan turned in an alarm. |
We are back at the beginning now and telling things as they came. The
next paragraph of the story tells us how they fought the fire, and the
third tells us how they finally brought it under control. The last
paragraph of the story reads:
| There are three such warehouses in the |
|country, one at St. Louis, another at San |
|Francisco, but the one in this city is by |
|far the largest. In it are kept supplies |
|for the Departments of the East, Gulf, |
|Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines. |
The editor of _The Mail_ had plenty of space that day and saw fit to run
this last paragraph, but we should not have lost much had he chopped it
off. Perhaps the reporter's copy contained still another paragraph
telling about Captain Wolf, but that did not pass the editorial pencil.
Even more of the story might have been slashed without depriving us of
much of the interesting news.
Judging from the above story a newspaper account is divided into two
separate and independent parts: the lead and the detailed account. The
lead is written for the casual reader and contains all the necessary
facts about the fire; it may stand alone and constitute a story in
itself. The detailed account is written for the reader who wants to hear
more about the incident, and is written in the logical order of
events--with an eye to the danger of the editor's pencil threatening the
last paragraphs. In other words, the reporter tells his story briefly in
one paragraph and then goes back and tells it all over again in a more
detailed way. If the story is of sufficient importance the second
telling may not be sufficient and he may go back a third time to the
beginning and tell it again with still greater detail--but that is
another matter. For the present we shall consider only the lead and the
first detailed account.
There are certain other points to be noticed in the report of a
featureless fire. Under no condition should it begin with the time. Why?
Because, unless the time is of extreme interest, no one cares
particularly when the fire occurred. And if the time is of great
interest--as, for instance, if a church should burn while the
congregation is in it--then the time becomes a feature to be played up
and the story is no longer a featureless story. We are now considering
stories in which nothing is of greater interest than the mere fact that
there was a fire.
The same is true of the location. Who cares what street the fire was on
until he knows more about the fire? If the location were of such
significant importance as to be played up, the story would no longer be
a featureless story.
The paragraphing is also important. Since the lead is in itself a
separate part of the story it should always be paragraphed separately.
Do not let the beginning of the detailed account lap over into the lead,
and do not introduce into the first paragraph any facts which are not
absolutely a part of the lead--that is, facts that are absolutely
essential to a general knowledge of the fire. When once you begin to
tell the story in detail tell it logically and paragraph it logically.
Do not tell us that John Smith discovered the fire and that the loss is
$500 in the same paragraph. Take up each point separately and treat it
fully before you leave it--then begin a new paragraph for the next item.
* * * * *
To take a hypothetical case, suppose that misfortune visits the home of
John H. Jones, who lives at 79 Liberty Street. A defective flue sets his
house on fire and it burns to the ground. By inquiry we find that the
house is worth about $4,000 and is fully insured.
There is nothing particularly striking about the story. We are sorry for
Mr. Jones, but many houses worth $4,000 are set on fire by poor
chimneys and many more houses burn down. No one was hurt, no one was
killed; the most striking part of it all is that there was a fire. We
would begin with the word "Fire." Perhaps our readers would be most
interested in the cause of the fire and we shall tell them that first.
Then we shall tell them what burned, when it burned, and where it stood.
There is nothing else that a casual reader would want to know and the
lead would read:
| Fire starting in a defective chimney |
|destroyed the residence of John H. Jones, |
|79 Liberty street, at midnight last |
|night, causing a loss of $4,000, covered |
|by insurance. |
Our casual reader is satisfied. For the reader who wishes to know more
about the fire we add a paragraph or two of detail. First, we may tell
him who discovered the fire; then how the Jones family managed to
escape; and after that how the fire was extinguished, and we might slip
in a paragraph explaining just what trouble in the chimney made a fire
possible. The editor may chop off any number of paragraphs or cut the
story down to the lead, and yet our readers will get the facts and know
just exactly what was the reason for the fire bell and the red sky at
midnight last night.
VI
THE FEATURE FIRE STORY
A fire story without a feature begins with "Fire" because there is
nothing in the story more interesting than the fact that there has been
a fire. Such was the case in the burning of John Jones's house in the
last chapter. But just as soon as any part of the story becomes more
interesting than the fact that there was a fire, the story is no longer
featureless--it is a fire story with a feature, or, for the purposes of
our study, _a feature fire story_. This feature may be related to the
story in one of two ways. In the first place, the answer to some one of
the reader's questions may be the feature--e.g., the answer to _when_,
_where_, _what_, _how_, _why_, _who_. On the other hand, the feature may
be in some unexpected attendant circumstance that the reader would not
think of; for instance, loss of life, an interesting rescue, or
something of that sort. Such a distinction is entirely arbitrary and
would not be considered in a newspaper office, but it will make the
matter simpler for the purposes of study.
A. FEATURES IN ANSWERS TO READER'S CUSTOMARY QUESTIONS
(_When_, _Where_, _What_, _How_, _Why_, _Who_).
Suppose that John Jones's house did not burn in the usual way--suppose
that there is some striking incident in the story that makes it
different from other fire stories. The story has a feature. Perhaps the
answer to some one of the reader's customary questions is more
interesting than the answers to the others--so much more interesting
that it supersedes even the fact that there was a fire. Then it would be
foolish to begin with the mere word "fire" when we have something more
interesting to tell. The fire takes a second place and we begin with the
interesting fact that supersedes it. For the present we shall consider
that this interesting fact is the answer to one of the questions that
the reader always asks; for instance, why the house burned or when it
burned.
=1. Why.=--Perhaps Mr. Jones's house was set on fire in a very unusual
way. There was a little party in session at the Jones's and some one
decided to take a flash-light picture. The flash-light set fire to a
lace curtain and before any one could stop it the house was afire. Few
fires begin in that way, and our readers would be very interested in
hearing about it. The story has a feature in the answer to the reader's
_Why?_ And so we would begin our lead in this way: