INDEX

A

Abbreviation, marks used in, 6, 186;

care necessary in, 221

Accuracy, importance of, 30;

in observation, 31;

in names, 33, 35, 179;

in street addresses, 34;

in spelling, 34;

effort to obtain, 36, 225;

in interview, 121;

in business stories, 133;

in correspondence, 151;

essential in copy reading, 175

Active voice, 13, 204

Add, how marked, 188

Advance copy, 123;

notices by mail, 161;

held for release, 168

Advertisement, head compared to, 194

Ages, style in giving, 217

Alliteration, in headlines, 202

Anglo-Saxon, words preferred, 13, 103;

in heads, 196

Asquith, the Right Honorable H. H., on prolixity, 211

Assignment, defined, 2

Associated Press, dispatch from, 70

B

Bad taste, example, 27

Baltimore Sun, story from the, 142

Banner, in head writing, 209

Beat, defined, 2;

measured by minutes, 134

Bible, as model for news writer, 9, 61

“Bohemians,” no longer tolerated, 191

Boston Transcript, head from the, 197

Box head, defined, 209

Brisbane, Arthur, on newspaper work, 17

Bromides in writing, 224;

list of, 226

Bulletins, when to send, 157, 159, 166

Business stories, care necessary in covering, 133

C

Capital letters, how indicated, 186;

in heads, 206, 210

Cheap slang, example, 39

Chicago Evening Post, stories from the, 126, 139

Chicago Inter-Ocean, editorial on news, 41

Chicago Record-Herald, stories from the, 72, 76;

instructions to correspondents, 154, 220;

style, 177;

head from the, 199

Chicago Tribune, order to correspondents, 157;

news specialties, 160

Christian Science Monitor, editorial on news writing, 79

Cincinnati Enquirer, sporting news, 160;

on promptness, 166;

style of heads, 202

City editor, has “nose for news,” 43;

judge of story, 81;

valuing news, 103

Classified, see Department

Clearness, necessity of, 9;

in heads, 196

Climax, first in news story, 57, 79

Collective nouns, 218

Compression, in news writing, 80

Conciseness, why desirable, 11;

in telegraph stories, 152

Copy, defined, 1;

how to prepare, 4;

reading copy, 171;

specimen page of, 185;

“A Copy,” 189;

schedule, 192

Copy readers, duties of, 3, 171;

qualifications of, 172;

organization of, 174;

must be vigilant, 178;

work under stress, 190

Corrections, care necessary in making, 5

Correspondents, functions of, 150;

pitfalls for, 154;

alertness appreciated, 159;

instructions to, 169;

how paid, 170

Court reports, to be watched carefully, 179

Crime news, question of ethics, 131

D

Damaging statements, 19, 133, 155

Death stories, choice of words in, 38;

examples, 38, 141, 142, 143;

points to cover in, 130

Deck of head, defined, 201

Definiteness, in news writing, 22;

examples, 94, 147;

in heads, 197

Department stories, 48;

“slugs” given to, 182

Dialect, use of, 23, 88, 219

Don’ts for news writer, list of, 211

Drop line in head, 207

E

Editing, marks used in, 184;

page of edited copy, 185

Editorial comment, not permitted in news, 20;

weakens story, 25

End-mark, use of, 5, 187

Expansion, in news writing, 80

Ex parte statements, danger in, 156, 180

F

Fairness, essential in story, 18

Faking, not tolerated, 82, 153

Feature stories, defined, 3;

examples, 29, 106, 108, 124, 127;

treatment of, 47, 98;

for entertainment, 101;

suggestions for, 111;

may be interview, 120;

sending by mail, 168

Fictional method, in news writing, 71, 99

Fine writing, not wanted, 10, 103, 224;

examples, 16, 38, 226

Fire stories, general plan of, 79;

examples, 72, 77, 89, 95, 139, 142;

analysis of a story, 92;

points to cover in, 129

Flippancy, to be avoided, 23, 88, 103

Follow copy, 6, 176

Follow stories, 183

Force in writing, how obtained, 12

Foreign words, 215

Freak head, example, 209

Fulton (Mo.) Gazette, editorial on country journalism, 17

G

Generalities, to be avoided, 21

Good taste, essential in news writing, 22;

illustrated, 109

Gossip, beware of unfounded, 154

Greeley, Horace, view of reporting, 23

Guide line, in reading copy, 181

H

Headlines (heads), defined, 3;

old style, 62;

written by copy readers, 175;

danger of libel in, 179, 194;

how designated, 183;

newspapers judged by, 193;

reproductions of, 195, 197, 199, 201, 204, 207, 209;

not mere labels, 196;

tense in, 198;

local in application, 202;

trite phrasing in, 204;

various styles of, 208

Hope, Anthony, on style, 113

Horrible details, to be shunned, 23

Human-interest stories, defined, 47;

examples, 50, 72, 95, 109;

value of, 102;

prescription for, 103;

uncovering facts of, 104;

divergence in treatment of, 132;

in demand, 161

Humor, example of, 49;

examples of unconscious, 191, 192

I

Imperative form, in heads, 203

Impersonality, in news writing, 20

Inserts, in copy, 5, 187, 189

Interview, defined, 113;

when incidental, 114;

as the story itself, 118;

first steps in getting, 118;

examples, 119, 120, 124–128

Irwin, Will, on reporting, 1

J

Journalism, personal era gone, 21;

daily problem of, 132;

sensational, 193

Jump head, defined, 209

K

Kansas City Star, departure from custom in the, 62, 71;

stories from the, 71, 72, 75, 76, 108;

style, 178;

heads, 200

Knapp, George L., on newspaper English, 30

L

Lead, introduction of story, 2;

method of writing, 57;

what it contains, 59;

styles vary, 62;

kinds to be avoided, 63;

police data in, 64;

names in, 65;

general rule for, 67;

examples, 70–78, 147, 148

Lecky, W. E. H., on style, 79

Legibility, how obtained, 5

Libel, danger of, 20;

possible in names, 155, 179;

rules about, 178;

in headlines, 179, 194

Lower case, defined, 210

Lyman, Hart, on art of compression, 171

M

Mail, how to send stories by, 168

Make-up, defined, 4;

methods of, 84

Mechanics, of story, 84, 123;

of head, 201

Metaphor, use of, 15

N

Names, must be watched, 6;

misspelling resented, 33;

in beginning story, 65;

in business stories, 133;

danger of libel in, 155, 179;

style in giving, 221

News, often pruned, 23;

basic themes unchanging, 25;

values, 41;

how judged, 43;

sensational, 45;

plain, 46;

feature, 47, 98;

human-interest, 47, 102;

department, 48;

crime news, 131;

ages quickly, 134;

from out of town, 150;

sporting, 162;

told in heads, 194

Newspaper, English often criticized, 8;

fascination of work, 20;

workshop unique, 25;

safeguards against error, 36;

its problem, 44;

women readers of, 46;

source of entertainment, 100;

handling crime news, 131;

telegraph service, 150;

wants facts only, 154;

variations in style, 176;

headlines important, 193

New York Evening Post, editorial on style, 7

New York Herald, instruction, 84

New York Mail, story from the, 127

New York Sun, style a model, 50;

stories from the, 50, 73, 99;

head from the, 204

New York World, stories from the, 95, 109, 124, 146;

head from the, 209

Norton, the Rev. William B., on slang, 224

O

Observation, accuracy essential in, 31

O’Malley, Frank Ward, story by, 50

Originality, one secret of, 24;

story lacking in, 28;

example of, 106

Outlook, comment by the, 55

Overline, defined, 209

P

Paragraphs, indentation of, 5;

length of, 184;

when run together, 186

Pictures, with feature stories, 29;

in Sunday magazine, 105;

by mail, 162

Pitfalls, for reporter, 154

Place, as feature of story, 76

Plain news story, 46

Police stations, how named, 28

Pronouns, care necessary in use of, 88

Proofreading, not copy reading, 3

Puns, on names, 23

Pyramid, form of head, 208

Q

Query, defined, 163;

blind, 165.

Questions-and-answers method, example, 127

Questions, in heads, 203

Quotation, as lead of story, examples, 73, 74;

preceding story, example, 75;

when undesirable, 116;

in beginning interview, examples, 119, 124, 126;

should not be slavish, 121;

indirect, 126;

in telegraphing, 170;

may be libelous, 180

R

Reporter, his run or beat, 2;

viewpoint of, 17;

responsibility of, 19;

must observe keenly, 31;

place on newspaper, 42;

must not “editorialize,” 89;

idea of big story, 114;

power to do harm, 133;

seeking the right word, 224

“Report of a Suicide,” 99

Rewriting, 136;

examples, 138, 139

Running head, 202

Run-over head, 209

S

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, editorial on newspaper “endowment,” 30;

story from the, 106;

instructions to correspondents, 167

St. Louis Republic, editorial on reporting, 17;

on news values, 129;

rules about libel, 178

St. Louis Star, on revolting stories, 213

Scandal, perverted idea about, 161

Schedule, kept by copy reader, 192

Scoop, see Beat

Second-day stories, 134

Sentences, preference given short, 14, 88;

in lead of story, 65;

avoid monotony in, 65, 220

Signed story, exceptional, 20;

example, 127

Simplicity, keynote of news writing, 9;

in writing of death, 39;

in lead, 61;

in head, 196;

Springfield (Mass.) Republican on, 214

Slang, in news story, 10;

two kinds of, 22;

in head, 202

Slug, name given story, 3, 181

Space rates, for correspondents, 170

Special correspondent, see Correspondent

Speeches, how covered, 122

Sporting news, instructions regarding, 162

Springfield (Mass.) Republican, on paragraphs, 184;

on short words, 214

Story, defined, 1;

qualities of ideal, 18;

short feature, example, 29;

kinds of, 46;

plain, 46;

feature, 47, 98;

human-interest, 47, 102;

lead of, 57;

data from 100 typical stories, 68;

body of, 79;

mechanics of, 84, 123;

often pruned, 85, 164;

unlike novel, 87;

for entertainment, 101;

special types of, 129;

telegraph, 150;

marks in editing, 184;

adds and inserts, 188

Street addresses, must be closely watched, 34

Style, three qualities of, 9;

special rules of, 62, 175;

variations in, 177

Sub-head, defined, 210

Suicide stories, examples, 71, 72, 146;

motive a feature, 131;

often ignored, 132

Sunday magazine stories, 48, 105

Superlatives, use sparingly, 219

Swiftness, essential in copy reading, 173, 177

Symmetry, desired in heads, 205

Symposium, defined, 124

T

Technical terms, to be avoided, 10

Telegraph news, boiled down, 141;

how gathered, 150;

skeletonizing, 152;

estimating value of, 153;

what not to send, 156;

what to send, 160;

sporting news, 162;

how to send, 163;

handling big story, 165;

instructions regarding, 169

Telephone, used by correspondents, 163, 166

Thoroughness, in covering story, 82

Time, styles in giving, 39, 139, 217, 219;

as feature of story, 75;

“to-day” preferred, 134;

in heads, 202

Trite expressions, in heads, 204;

list of, 226

Trivialities, to be avoided, 26, 83, 153, 156

Type, counting units in head, 206;

illustration of Gothic, 207;

upper and lower case, 210

Typewriter, preferred for news writing, 4

U

Upper case, defined, 210

V

Verbosity, not permitted, 11, 185

Viewpoint, must be unprejudiced, 17

W

Washington Herald, editorial on newspaper English, 57

Washington Times, editorial on news, 150

Wedding stories, points to be covered in, 131

Well-known, overworked, 217

Whiteing, Richard, on daily journalism, 98

Whitman, Walt, on simplicity of style, 193

Transcriber’s Note:

The cover was created by the transcriber using elements from the original publication and has been placed in the public domain. No known textual or punctuation changes to the original publication have been made.