18. School commencements, meetings of teachers’ institutes, medical societies, farmers’ alliances and the like, in which the interest is purely local.
19. Interviews with “a well-known citizen,” “a prominent official” or any other anonymous individual.
20. Theatrical notices, unless they contain some real news feature.
21. Political speeches or gossip, unless ordered.
22. Fatal accidents to trainmen or obscure persons, except where there are two or more fatalities.
This list, while not exhaustive, gives a general idea of what is to be avoided. No set of rules could be drawn up to cover every case with which the correspondent has to deal. To equip himself to give the best service he should not only learn the general principles of news writing, but should study the columns of the newspaper he represents to find out its particular needs. He should remember, too, that no rule is iron-clad. A story falling under any head of the foregoing classification may possess some extraordinary feature that will make it worth printing. In that case the correspondent should be careful to build his story around the unusual part.
Most newspapers rely on a news gathering organization for stories of railroad wrecks, big fires, floods and the like. The correspondent should never duplicate a story of this kind that he knows will reach the newspaper through another channel in time for publication. If, however, an event is of unusually grave importance, or if it happens at a late hour, the chances are that a special dispatch will be required, and the correspondent should send a bulletin of the facts immediately. Alertness in furnishing bulletins of important news is always appreciated. The correspondent should never under any circumstances duplicate a story to two newspapers in the same city.
WHAT TO SEND
A careful reading of a list of “Don’ts” will give the correspondent a fair idea of what the newspaper does want. In addition he should remember that nearly every newspaper has a hobby—a fondness for a certain class of news of which it makes a specialty. This hobby may be the gathering of news that will help along the cause of good roads, or statistics of Fourth of July accidents, or sporting news; whatever it is, the correspondent can make it a source of profit.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, for example, is particularly insistent that its correspondents keep it informed regarding sporting events. The Chicago Tribune includes in its book of instructions a list of “Tribune Specialties.” These are: