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VI. NEWS SOURCES
Оглавление51. Second Essential of News Writing.—As explained in the preceding chapter, the first essential in news writing is a proper appreciation of news and news values. The second essential is the possession of a story to write. This chapter will discuss news sources, leaving for Chapter III an explanation of the methods of getting stories.
52. Gathering News.—The prospective reporter who supposes that newspaper men wander aimlessly up and down the streets of a city, watching and hoping for automobiles to collide and for men to shoot their enemies, will have his eyes opened soon after entering a news office. He will learn that a reporter never leaves the city room without a definite idea of where he is going. If newspapers had to police the streets with watchers for news as the city government assigns officers of the law, the cost of gathering news would be prohibitive.
53. Police as News Gatherers.—As a matter of fact, a paper has comparatively few paid men on its staff, though it has hundreds of non-paid watchers who are just as faithful. The police are the chief of these. As every reporter knows, a policeman is compelled to make to his captain a full and prompt report of every fire, robbery, murder, accident, or mishap involving loss of, or danger to, life or property occurring on his beat. This report is made to the local precinct or station, whence it is telephoned to police headquarters. At the central station the report is recorded in the daily record book of crime, known familiarly to the public as the "blotter." Not all of the reports recorded on the police blotter are made public, because hasty announcement of information received by the police oftentimes would forestall expected arrests; but such information as the desk sergeant is willing to utter is given out in brief bulletins, sometimes posted behind locked glass doors, sometimes simply written in a large ledger open to public inspection. Whether written in the ledger or displayed on a bulletin board, these bulletins are known always as slips, of which the following are typical examples:
Oct. 4
Suicide Attempt
Theodore Pavolovich, 24 yrs., arrested Oct. 1, 1915, fugitive, abandonment, Chicago, attempted suicide by stabbing with a fork while eating dinner. Sent to Emergency Hospital, ambulance 4. 12:50 p. m.
Conway
Oct. 4
Clothing Found
Woman's coat, hat, and purse found on bank of Lake Michigan, foot of Pine St., 4:10 p. m. Skirt taken from water, same place, 4:30 p. m., by patrolman Heath. Clothing identified as Mrs. George Riley's, 18 Veazy St., missing since noon. 4:40 p. m.
Nock
Oct. 18
Leg Broken
Mary Molinski, 40 yrs., single, 492 Grove St., fell down stairs, 7:05 p. m. Leg broken. Conveyed to St. Elizabeth Hospital by patrol 3. 7:30 p. m.
Pct. 3.
Oct. 19
Calf Carcass Found
Calf carcass, black and white hide, weight about 85 pounds, found at 11th and Henry Ave. 6:30 a. m.
Oper
These slips need little explanation. The name signed to each is that of the police officer reporting. The Pct. 3 signed after the third indicates merely the local precinct from which the report was made. The time at the end of each slip signifies the exact time at which the report was received at police headquarters.
54. Arrest Sheets.—In addition to the slips there are the "arrest sheets," on which all arrests are recorded. These sheets are open always to public inspection, as the public has a right to know of every arrest, lest a man be imprisoned unjustly. On page 37 is given a verbatim reproduction of the arrests recorded in a city in the Middle West. The M or S at the top of the fifth column stands for married or single, and R and W at the top of the eighth, for read and write. The D and D charge against the second offender is drunk and disorderly. It will be noted that the cases entered after ten o'clock had not been disposed of when this sheet was copied. From these arrest sheets and the slips, as the reader may readily see, the reporter is able to get a brief but prompt and accurate account of most of the accidents and crimes within the city. And with these advance notices in his possession he can follow up the event and get all available facts.
55. Other News Gatherers.—But there are numerous other non-paid news gatherers. Doctors are required to report to the health department every birth, death, and contagious disease to which they have been called in a professional capacity. To the coroner is reported every fatal accident, suicide, murder, or suspicious death. The county clerk keeps a record of every marriage license. The recorder of deeds has a register of all sales and transfers of property. The building inspector has a full account of buildings condemned, permits granted for new buildings, and fire devices required. The leading hotels have the names of important guests visiting or passing through the city. Thus by regular visitation of certain persons and places in the city, a newspaper through its representatives, the reporters, is able to get most of the news of its neighborhood.
| Name | Address | Occupation | Age | M or S | Where born | Color | R and W | Charge | Complainant | Officer | Precinct | Date | Time | Cell | Ward | Disposition |
| John Glass | 16 Lake St. | Cook | 32 | S | U.S. | W | Yes | Vagrancy | Jacobs | Jacobs | 3 | Oct. 15 | 8:00 am | 6 | 3 | 10 days Bound over |
| Chas. King | 124 John St. | Tailor | 28 | M | " | " | " | D and D | Hays | Hays | 6 | " " | 8:30 am | 7 | 3 | |
| Ben Loti | 50 Third St. | Peddler | 41 | M | " | " | " | Violating Health Laws | Jones | Oper | 3 | " " | 10:40 am | 8 | 3 | |
| Neil Smith | 38 West Ave. | Housework | 19 | S | " | " | " | Drunk | Hays | Hays | 7 | " " | 10:50 am | 2 | 2 | |
| Nick White | 1630 D St. | Barber | 24 | M | " | " | " | Abandonment | Chief Police, Atlanta | Olson | 3 | " " | 11:10 am | 3 | 2 | |
| Edw. Meyer | 6 Palm St. | Broker | 47 | M | " | " | " | Violating Speed Laws | Thiel | Thiel | 8 | " " | 3:25 pm | 4 | 2 | |
| Jane Gray | 2935 Elm St. | Housewife | 44 | M | " | " | " | Keeping Disorderly House | J. B. Katz | Walker | 1 | " " | 11:10 pm | 7 | 1 | |
| Peter Amt | 66 State St. | Lineman | 23 | S | Ger. | " | " | Seduction | Vera Mann | Towne | 4 | " " | 11:30 pm | 6 | 1 | |
| Alex Bass | St. Louis | Butcher | 24 | M | U.S. | " | " | Fugitive | Chief Police, St. Louis | Bower | 2 | " " | 11:45 pm | 5 | 1 | |
| Geo. Holt | 1916 4th St. | Watchman | 31 | M | " | " | " | Murder | Mrs. Holt | Owens | 3 | " " | 11:50 pm | 2 | 1 | |
| An Arrest Sheet |
56. Regular News Sources.—Places that serve as news sources are known as "beats" or "runs." The chief ones and the kinds of news found at each are:
Associated Charities Headquarters: destitution, poverty, relief work.
Boards of Trade, Brokers, Commission Men: market quotations; sales of grain, stocks, and bonds; financial outlook.
Boxing Commission: boxing permissions and regulations.
Building Department, Real Estate Dealers, Architects: new buildings, unsafe buildings.
Caterers: banquets, society dinners.
Civic Organizations: reform movements, speakers, etc.
Civil Courts: complaints, trials, decisions.
Commercial Club: business news.
Coroner's Office: fatal accidents, murders, suicides, suspicious deaths.
County Clerk: marriage licenses, county statistics.
County Jail: arrests, crimes, executions.
Criminal Courts: arraignments, trials, verdicts.
Delicatessen Stores: banquets, society dinners.
Fire Department Headquarters: fires, fire losses, fire regulations, condemned buildings.
Florists: banquets, dinners, receptions, social functions.
Health Department: births, deaths, contagious diseases, reports on sanitation.
Hospitals: accidents, illnesses, deaths.
Hotels: important guests, banquets, dinners, social functions.
Labor Union Headquarters: labor news.
Morgue: unidentified corpses.
Police Headquarters: accidents, arrests, crimes, fires, lost and found articles, missing persons, suicides, sudden or suspicious deaths.
Political Clubs and Headquarters: county, state, and national political news.
Probate Office: estates, wills.
Public Works Department: civic improvements.
Railway Offices: new rates, general shipping news.
Referee in Bankruptcy: assignments, failures, creditors' meetings, appointments of receivers, settlements.
Register of Deeds: real estate sales and transfers.
Shipping Offices: departure and docking of vessels; cargoes, shipping rates, passenger lists.
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: arrests, complaints, animal stories.
Superintendent of Schools: educational news.
Vice Commission: arrests, complaints, raids.
57. News Runs.—These runs are distributed among the different reporters, sometimes only one, sometimes three or four to a person. On a small paper all of the runs, or all to be found in that town, may be given to one reporter, the number assigned depending upon the size of the town, the nature of the territory covered, and the willingness or unwillingness of the owners to spend money in getting news. On the larger papers, however, police headquarters generally provide work for one man alone, known as the "watcher." In many cases he does no writing at all, but merely watches the slips and the sheets for reports and arrests, which he telephones to the city editor, who assigns other reporters to get the details and write the stories. Another reporter watches the city clerk's office and perhaps all the other departments in the city hall, which he visits at random intervals during the day, but without such close attention to any one office as is given to police headquarters. Still another goes to the shipping offices and two or three other places which he will visit ordinarily not more than once a day. But whether he goes five times a day or only once, a reporter is held responsible for all the news occurring on his run; and if he falls short in his duty or lets some more nimble-witted reporter scoop him on the news of his beat, he had better begin making himself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness to receive him into their habitations; for a scoop, even of a few minutes, by a rival publication is the unpardonable sin with the city editor. The wise reporter never neglects any news source on his run.
58. Dark Runs.—Before we take up methods of getting stories, one other news source should be noted—what reporters know as "dark runs," runs that are consistently productive of news, but which must be kept "dark." Such places are garages, delicatessen stores, florists' shops, and similar shops providing flowers, cakes, and luxuries for private dinners and receptions. An unwritten law of trade makes it a breach of professional etiquette for a shopkeeper to tell the names of purchasers of goods, but many a proprietor, as a matter of business pride, is glad to recount the names of his patrons on Lakeside Drive and their splendid orders just given. Garage men, too, wishing it known that millionaire automobile owners patronize their shops, often are willing to tell of battered cars repaired by their men. All such sources are fertile with stories. Many a rich man's automobile crashes into a culvert or a telegraph pole and nobody knows of it but the mechanic in the repair shop. Many a prominent club-man indulges in orgies of revelry and dissipation of which none knows but the caterer and a few chosen, non-committal friends. Many a society leader plans receptions and dinners of which the florist learns before the friends who are to be invited. And by skilfully encouraging the friendship of these tradesmen, a shrewd reporter can obtain exclusive facts about prominent persons who cannot understand, when they see their names in the morning paper, how the information was made public. These "dark runs" justify diligent attention. They produce news, and valuable is the reporter who can include successfully a number of such sources in his daily rounds.
59. Value of Wide Acquaintance.—Attention may be directed, too, to the need of deliberately cultivating friendships and acquaintances, not only on these "dark runs," but wherever one goes—both on and off duty. In the stores, along the street, on the cars, at the club, the alert reporter gathers many an important news item. The merchant, the cabman, the preacher, the barkeeper, the patrolman, the thug, the club-man, the porter, all make valuable acquaintances, as they are able often to give one stories or clues to the solution of problems that are all but invaluable to the paper. And such facts as they present are given solely because of their interest in the reporter. One should guard zealously, however, against betraying the confidence of such friends. The reporter must distinguish the difference between publishing a story gained from a stranger by dint of shrewd interviewing, and printing the same story obtained from a fellow club-man more or less confidentially over the cigars and coffee. The stranger's information the reporter must publish. No newspaper man has a right to suppress news obtained while on duty or to accept the confidence of anyone, if by such confidence he is precluded the right to publish certain facts. The publication or non-publication of such news is a matter for the city editor's decision alone. But a story obtained confidentially from a friend at the club or in the home of a neighbor may not be used except with the express permission of those persons. Many a man has seen himself and his paper scooped because he was too honorable to betray the trust of his friends; but such a single scoop is worth nothing in comparison with the continued confidence of one's friends and their later prejudiced assistance. Personal and professional integrity is a newspaper man's first principle.
