however, the pronoun _I_ is used somewhat freely, while such stilted
phrases as _the scribe_, _your humble servant_, etc., are absolutely
taboo.

=177. Slang.=--Finally, mention must be made of slang, the uncouth
relative in every respectable household. It is used freely on the
sporting page, but is barred from other columns, its debarment being due
to its lack of elegance and clearness. On the sporting page slang has
been accepted because there one is writing to a narrow circle of
masculine Goths who understand the patois of the gridiron, the diamond,
and the padded ropes and prefer it to the language of civilization. But
such diction is always limited in its range of acquaintances and
followers. A current bit of slang in Memphis may be unintelligible in
Pittsburg. A colloquial ephemeralism in a city may be undecipherable in
the country districts twenty-five miles away. A large percentage of the
athletic jargon of the sporting club and field is enigmatical to the
uninitiated. And since a newspaper man writes for the world at large
rather than for any specific class or group, he cannot afford to take
chances on muddying his sentences by the use of slang. The best test of
a good journalist is the instinct for writing for heterogeneous masses
of people. That word is not a good one which is clear only to select
readers, whether select in ignorance or select in intelligence. The news
story permits no such selection. It is written, not for the few, not for
the many as distinct from the few, but for all. No other kind of reading
matter is so cosmopolitan in its freedom from class or provincial
limitations as is the news story, and none is more unwavering in its
elimination of slang. Newly coined words, it is true, are admitted more
readily into news stories than into magazine articles, but slang itself
is barred. One may not write of the "glad rags" of the debutante, or the
"bagging" of the criminal, or the "swiping" of the messenger boy's
"bike." One may not even employ such colloquialisms as "enthuse,"
"swell" (delightful), "bunch" (group). But one may use such new coinages
as _burglarize_, _home-run_, and _diner_ rather freely. When in doubt
about the reputability of a word, however, one should consult a standard
dictionary, which should be kept continually on one's desk.

PART III

TYPES OF STORIES

TYPES OF STORIES

XIV. INTERVIEWS, SPEECHES, COURTS

=178. Four Types of Stories.=--To the casual new