e cable bulletin a Milwaukee and a New York paper can
obtain German victory and English repulse of repeated Teutonic attacks.
Not only _can_, but _do_. It is only fair to the would-be reporter,
therefore, to tell him that at times in his journalistic career he may
be permitted to see snow only through a motorist's yellow goggles. The
modern newspaper is a business organization run for the profit or power
of the owners, with the additional motive in the background of possible
social uplift,--social uplift as the owners see it. They determine a
paper's policies, and a reporter must learn and observe those policies
if he expects to succeed.

=129. Following Commands.=--Observance of this injunction is
particularly valuable in stories relating to political and civic
measures. If one is on a paper with Republican affiliations, one may be
forced to hear and report a G. O. P. governor's speech with an
elephant's ears and trumpet,--or with a moose's ears and voice if the
journal is Progressive. It makes no difference what the reporter's
personal feeling or party preferences may be. On such papers he must
follow precisely the commands of the managing editor or the city editor
and must feature sympathetically or severely what they request. Usually
an intelligent sympathy with the general policy of the paper is
sufficient for a reporter, no matter how conscientious. It is only
rarely that he is trammeled with being forced to write contrary to his
convictions. But at those times when such commands are given, he must
see and write as requested or seek another position.

=130. Consistency of Policy.=--On the other hand, suppose in policies
affecting the official standing of a newspaper every reporter saw and
presented events from his own distorted angle. How consistent would a
modern newspaper be? And how long could it hold the respect or patronage
of its readers?

=131. Clearness.=--Next in importance to accuracy comes interest. A
story must be interesting to be read. Every paragraph must be clear. Its
relation to every other paragraph must be evident, and the story as a
whole must be presented so that it may be understood and enjoyed by the
reader with as small expenditure of mental effort as possible. Ideas
that are connected in thought, either by virtue of their sequence in
time or for other reasons, must be kept together, and ideas that are
separated in thought must be kept apart. If the story is one covering
considerable len