CONTENTS

CHAPTER   PAGE
I. Newspaper Copy
Terminology—Directions for Preparing Copy
1
II. The English of the Newspapers
Clearness—Conciseness—Force
7
III. The Writer’s Viewpoint
Fairness—Impersonality—Good Taste—Originality
17
IV. The Importance of Accuracy
In Observation—In Names—In Street Addresses—In Spelling
30
V. News Values
The Reporter—What Is News?—The Newspaper’s Problem—Kinds of Stories
41
VI. Writing the Lead
What the Lead Is—What the Lead Should Contain—Observance of Style—Leads to Be Avoided—Sentence Structure—Leads That Begin With Names—The General Rule—Study of 100 Typical Stories
57
VII. The Story Proper
Compression and Expansion—The Mechanics of the Story
79
VIII. The Feature Story
What the Feature Story Is Not—Stories for Entertainment—The Human-Interest Story—The Editor’s Problem—Sunday Magazine Stories
98
IX. The Interview
When the Interview Is Incidental—When the Interview Is the Story
113
X. Special Types of Stories
Stories of Fires—Deaths—Weddings—Crimes—Business—Second-Day Stories—Rewriting
129
XI. The Correspondent
Writing for the Wire—Some Pitfalls to Be Avoided—What Not to Send—What to Send—Sporting News—How to Send—Handling the Big Story—Sending by Mail—General Instructions—Payment
150
XII. Copy Reading
Qualifications for the Work—Organization of Copy Readers—Editing the Story—Rules About Libel—The Guide Line—Marks Used in Editing—Additions and Insertions—The Lighter Side—The Copy Reader’s Schedule
171
XIII. Writing the Head
First Requisites of the Head—Definiteness—The Question of Tense—The Mechanics of the Head—Some Things to Avoid—Symmetry and Sense—Special Kinds of Heads—Capitalization
193
XIV. Don’ts for the News Writer 211
XV. Newspaper Bromides 224
  Index 231