NECESSITY FOR SPEED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 189, 11 August 1931, Page 5

NECESSITY FOR SPEED.

Rapidity Demanded in All Stages.

The speed of delivery which is represented in its most up-to-date form by the new machine on which the “ Star ” of to-day is printed is a quality which has in modern times permeated the whole of the journal’s organisation. Early in the genesis of the newspaper it was discovered that speed was essential for a complete news service. The story that relates to a happening which time has dulled is, with certain exceptions, a drug on the market of information.

The first branch of the service into which the problem of promptitude entered was that of the reporting stdV, the news gatherers. While local events could be'covered promptly and handled «in the office with despatch, the covering of a large district, and news from other countries and cities, presented a pressing difficulty. The first means of overcoming the position was the use of carrier pigeons. Those who have not worked with these faithful little servants cannot realise their immense value. Important events were covered in the old days and the stories sent to the office on the wings of the feathered messengers. Even now, where there in an event in a part of the country remote from telephone or telegraph, the birds are used with confidence and fine result.

The obvious advantages of the telegraph and the telephone need little discussion. The newspapers were the first to realise the importance of the discoveries, and to utilise the advantages they offered, thus being an important factor in their development. The cable was incorporated to bring the tale of events from distant lands, and now the radio provides still another fast and certain method of news transmission. Increased demands were made for speedy methods in the job printing department, and above all in the»« final printing of the paper itself. Every demand was for speed. More than that, the very nature of the work demands accuracy. A banker can have his w’ork checked and checked again, over a period of days if need be, but the journalist who makes a mistake cannot draw his story from the pare*- and rectify the error.

So it can be seen that speed is only good if it is allied with accuracy. What man strives for in himself, he has achieved in his machinery. The outstanding example is the rotary press.