te man to handle
such a story, and to handle it in such a way that it shall bear no
resemblance to the story published by the other paper. For this reason
the most skillful reporters on a daily are the rewrite men. They must
find new features for old stories, or new angles of view, or new
relations of some kind between the various details.

=272. Bringing a Story up to the Minute.=--The first requisite in
rewriting is the necessity of making old news new, of bringing it up to
the minute. No matter when the events occurred, they must be presented
to the reader so that they shall seem current. Currency is all but a
necessity to life, vigor, interest in a yesterday's event. Here is an
item of news in point. Suppose the following story from an afternoon
paper is given a reporter on a morning daily:

|Charged with running his car thirty miles an hour, |
|Dr. Harry O. Smith, prominent city physician with |
|offices in the Vincennes Building, was arrested on |
|Kentucky Street this afternoon by Motorcycle |
|Policeman DuPre. After giving bonds for his |
|appearance to-morrow, Dr. Smith left in his machine |
|for Linwood, where he was going when stopped by |
|Policeman DuPre. |
| |
|Concerning his arrest Dr. Smith refused to make any |
|other statement than that he was on his way to see a|
|patient. |

The reporter cannot see Dr. Smith to obtain additional facts, because
the doctor is out of town. Nor can he expect any more news, since the
case will not come up until some hours after his paper will have been in
the hands of its readers. It is also against journalistic rules to begin
with "Dr. Smith was arrested yesterday." That _yesterday_ must be
eliminated from the lead. Here is the method one rewrite man used to
get out of the difficulty:

|Even doctors will not be allowed to break the city |
|speed laws if one Cincinnati motorcycle policeman |
|has his way. |

Another way in which he might have avoided the troublesome _yesterday_
would be:

|One of the first cases on police docket this morning|
|will be the hearing of Dr. Harry O. Smith, prominent|
|Cincinnati physician with offices in the Vincennes |
|building, who was arrested on a charge of speed