What Is News?

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20503, 22 August 1936, Page 12

What Is News?

LIVELY CONTRAST IN LITERARY STYLES

(Written for "The Timaru Herald" by W. Vance).

On his recent return from the Rotary Conference in the United States, Mr W. Thomas of Timaru expressed his admiration for the Press of New Zealand as compared with that of America. He spoke in the following terms: “It is a real pleasure to get back to the Dominion and read the New Zealand papers to find out what the world is doing.” He said that from San Francisco to New Yorks the papers were disappointing for the small amount of international news they gave. What there was, one had to search for, until it was found in some obscure corner. There were exceptions, notable ones being “The New York Times” and “The Christian Science Monitor,” but in the Middle West the newspapers featured nothing but local community affairs and sport. To this latest compliment the Press of New Zealand must bow, but Mr Thomas is only one of hundreds of competent observers who have praised the newspapers of this Dominion. That Napoleon of News, Lord Northcliffe, declared New Zealand had newspapers that would compare with any in the world. The most severe criticism levelled against them is that they are a trifle Victorian in their make-up and outlook on news.

American News Values Overseas visitors are agreeably surprised at the large amount of space devoted to cable news on the part of our papers, but this excellence is not altogether due to an inherent virtue so much as to a paucity of national and local news. Compared with New Zealand, America is a world in itself. In that live continent there are hundreds of things happening every day that would make first class news in any newspaper. Her heterogeneous population, her social experiments, her political confusions, her law-defying factions, have given America all the problems and all the news that she wants. In addition to her geographical isolation, her definite policy of steering clear of European entanglements, has aided in assisting this tendency to ignore international affairs and to concentrate on domestic problems. These and other factors have led the American newspapers to develop entirely new and original conceptions as to what constitutes news. Repulsive Headlines To a New Zealand reader accustomed as he is to the staid headlines of the typical New Zealand newspaper, the headlines of the American newspaper would be amazing—in fact they would be perfectly unintelligible to him. Imagine being confronted with a headline “Backfire Feared in Shorts Ban.” Naturally his mind would run to motor cars—some sort of engine trouble—but on reading down the column he would be quickly undeceived. The story underneath concerned a local magistrate at Coney Island, New York, who had decided that all girls over sixteen should not be permitted to wear shorts in the streets, and that the public would be

likely to protest this decision. Here is another example: “Schultz aid Ducks Rap.” It sounds as if a gentleman named Mr Schultz had gone to the help of a duck that was being illtreated by some mischievous child. You do not have to read far before you learn that an assistant in the employ of Mr Schultz has got into trouble with the police, and has succeeded in evading punishment. “News in Action” One of the first things a young American reporter must learn is that “news is action.” To him, nothing is so dead as yesterday’s newspaper—that is why the file room of the newspaper office is referred to as “the morgue.” The tantrums of a film star are more important than the activities of a statesman, and a shoot-up in Chicago has more news value than the progress of Franco-German relations. An election campaign is only as important as it is bright. The following happy interlude on the part of one candidate found space in the best American journals. Speaking of his opponent for a high office in . the American civil life, the candidate said “This lily-livered reformer has attacked my integrity. That’s too much. I’ll knock him down and jump on his face and kick hell out of him. You watch me.” Editorial Style

Editorial comment is scarcely less bright. The Chicago Tribune, whose motto is “The World’s Greatest Newspaper,” gave the following valedictory editorial to the Mayor of Chicago on his retirement: “It is an unpleasant business to catch a skunk, but one does it. For Chicago, the Mayor’s name has meant filth, corruption, obscenity, idiocy and bankruptcy. He has given the city an international reputation for moronic buffonery, barbaric crime, triumphant hoodlism, unchecked graft and dejected citizenship. He has nearly ruined property and has completely destroyed the pride of the city. He has made Chicago a byword for the collapse of American civilisation.” Apart from the question of good taste, no newspaper in New Zealand would dare publish such comments about any man, for fear of libel action; but the libel laws of America are lax to almost vanishing point, and if any man has the temerity to sue for libel he will find that his foolhardiness is rewarded by having a good deal more mud thrown at him. Besides, should they so desire, the papers can dodge libel laws by publishing statements like: “Mayor Jones Denies that he is Divorcing his Wife Immediately” or “Mayor’s Typist vacating her Position —refuses to give Explanation.” Such statements, while they are outside the libel laws, do not enhance the character of the unfortunate Mr Jones in the eyes of his electors.

The Newsgetter in Action Behind the news is the newsgetter. In the United States, the reporter is a social institution, taking his place alongside of the film star and the gangster, (both of whom deppnd on him for that publicity which makes them famous). The reporter is made the hero of novels and talking films, and has been invested with a devilish kind of splendour. He “chisels” his way into everywhere, from the underworld of Frisco Chinatown to White House, Washington. When in America, the present King had difficulty in keeping reporters at arms length and some managed to smuggle themselves on Lloyd George’s train.

Developing with the reporter is the “sob-sister.” Her duty is to get a “slant” on the human-interest side of a sordid case. It is she who, if you are a murderer of any importance, will interview your silver-haired mother; it is she who, by hook or by crook, will get a story from the sweetheart of the gangster who has been “pumped” with bullets the previous day: in the morning an insatiable public will be served for their delectation the innermost sorrows of that unfortunate sweetheart. The Lindbergh Case One of the wonders of the newspaper world, was the amazing methods adopted on the part of the American Press to cover the trial of Hauptmann —the man convicted for the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Ever on the alert for the sensational, newseditors instructed their reporters to

“cover everything.” “Everything” was covered, with staggering results. The . little town of Flemington, where the trial took place, was swamped with an army of reporters. It is estimated that over two million words were used each day the trial was on: the wheelbarrows were filled with used flashlight bulbs from the courtroom, and a truckload and a half of copy was i carted away that had been discarded by the newspaper men. Sick of Publicity Not only were stories written and photographs taken of the principals and the witnesses, but full descriptions were given of the society and the stage beauties who attended the trial. Then of course, the inevitable

“human interest’ stories must appear. One story headed “Hauptmann Trial Girl Messenger Earns College Fund’ told how one of the girls in the Court earned money for her College fees by rushing up two flights of stairs fifty times a day with newspaper copy. The motto was “Me for action—l’d rather be moving than standing.” It is stated that it was largely the publicity methods of the American Press which drove the unfortunate Mr and Mrs Lindbergh from their own land to seek refuge in England. Reply to Criticism For years now, the American Press has been subjected to a continued barrage of criticism, but for all the

effect it has one might as well barrage Gibraltar with pigeon-peas. American newspapers have definitely thrown British traditions to the discard, and irrespective of the opinions of others, they will continue to “hustle” merrily along in their typical “star-spangled manner.” The Amercian retort to overseas criticism is: “There can be little doubt, by gosh, that our gang of stuff can give the savvy to the chinchy hillbillies across the pond. Anyhow, we’ll be whizzed If we know why these guys can’t get our drift and nab our It-go without a lot of highfalutin tripe about our yapping different from the way they yip. Where do they get that stuff? Give them the razz.”