Part 10

=3. Indirect Quotation Beginning.=--This method is best adapted to the playing up of a brief resumé of the content of the speech. It is sometimes called the "_that_-clause beginning" because it always begins with a _that_-clause which is the subject of the principal verb of the sentence--"was the statement of," "was the declaration of," etc. The _that_-clause may contain a resumé of the entire speech or only the most striking statement in it. Here is one of the latter:

| That the cruise of the battleship fleet| |around the world has taught the citizens | |of the United States that a powerful | |fleet is needed in the Pacific was the | |statement of Rear Admiral R. C. Hollyday,| |chief of the bureau of yards and docks of| |the navy, at a luncheon given to him by | |the board of trustees of the Chamber of | |Commerce at the Fairmont Hotel | |yesterday.--_San Francisco Examiner._ |

It is not always necessary to use the phrase "was the statement of." A variation from it is often very good:

| That it is the urgent mission of the | |white people of America, through their | |churches and Sunday-schools, to educate | |the American negro morally and | |religiously, was the sentiment of the | |twelfth session of the International | |Sunday-school Convention last night, | |voiced with special power and eloquence | |by Dr. Booker T. Washington, the chief | |speaker of the evening.--_Louisville | |Courier-Journal._ |

| That the Irish race has a great destiny| |to fulfill, one greater than it has | |achieved in its glorious past, was the | |prophecy of Prof. Charles Johnston of | |Dublin university in his lecture at the | |city library Sunday | |afternoon.--_Wisconsin State Journal._ |

It is perfectly good usage to begin such a lead with two _that_-clauses or even with three. The two clauses in this case are of course treated as a singular subject and take a singular verb. It is usually best not to have more than three clauses at the beginning and even three must be handled with great care. Three clauses at the beginning, if at all long, bury the speaker's name too deeply and may become too complicated. Unless the clauses are very closely related in idea, it is usually better not to use more than two. Naturally when more than one _that_-clause is used in the lead, all of the clauses must be gathered together at the beginning; never should one precede and one follow the principal verb. Here is an example of good usage:

| NEW YORK, Feb. 25.--That America is | |entering upon a new era of civic and | |business rectitude and that this is due | |to the awakening of the moral conscience | |of the whole people was the prophecy made| |here tonight by Governor Joseph W. Folk | |of Missouri.--_Chicago Record-Herald._ |

=4. Summary Beginning.=--This is a less formal way of treating the indirect quotation beginning. It is simply a different grammatical construction. Whereas in the _that_-clause beginning the principal verb of the sentence is outside the summary (e. g., "That ... was the statement of"), in the summary beginning the principal verb of the sentence is the verb of the summary and the speaker is brought in by means of a modifying phrase; thus:

| MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 1.--Both the free | |trader and the stand-patter are back | |numbers, according to Senator Albert J. | |Beveridge of Indiana, who delivered a | |tariff speech here tonight.--_Milwaukee | |Free Press._ |

| Federal control of the capitalization | |of railroads is the solution of the | |railroad problem suggested by E. L. | |Phillipp, the well-known Milwaukee | |railroad expert, in the course of a | |speech at the third annual banquet of, | |etc.--_Milwaukee Free Press._ |

The summary beginning may be handled in many different ways and allows perhaps more grammatical liberty than any other beginning. The summary may even be given a sentence by itself as in the following. This kind of treatment may easily be overdone and should be handled with great caution:

| If you have acute mania, it is the | |proper thing to take the music cure. Miss| |Jessie A. Fowler says so, and she knows. | |Miss Fowler discussed "Music | |Hygienically" before the "Rainy Daisies" | |at the Hotel Astor yesterday and | |prescribed musical treatment for various | |brands of mania.--_New York World._ |

=5. Keynote Beginning.=--Very closely related to the summary beginning is the keynote beginning, in which the subject of the main verb is an indirect presentation of the content of the speech. Whereas the summary beginning displays its resumé in a complete sentence, the keynote beginning puts the content of the speech in a single noun and its modifiers. Thus:

| The ideal state university was the | |theme of a speech delivered by, etc. |

| The mission of the newspaper to tell | |the truth, to stand for high ideals, and | |to strive to have those ideals adopted by| |the public was the keynote of an address | |delivered by, etc. |

=6. Participial Beginning.=--This is less common than the other kinds of indirect quotation beginnings but it is often very effective. The summary of the speech or the most striking statement is put into a participial phrase at the beginning and is made to modify the subject of the sentence (the speaker). It must of course be remembered that such a participial phrase can be used only to modify a noun, as an adjective modifies a noun, and can never be made the subject of a verb. Here is an example of good use of this beginning:

| Upholding the right of public criticism| |of the courts on the theory that there | |can be no impropriety in investigating | |any act of a public official, Judge | |Kennesaw M. Landis last night addressed | |the students of Marquette College of Law | |and many members of the Milwaukee | |bar.--_Milwaukee Free Press._ |

Just as it is perfectly possible to begin an indirect quotation lead with two _that_-clauses instead of one, it is also possible to use two participial phrases in the participial beginning; as:

| Pleading for justice and human | |affection in dealing with the delinquent | |child, and urging the vital need of | |legislation which shall enforce parental | |responsibility, Mrs. Nellie Duncan made | |an address yesterday which stirred the | |sympathies of an attentive audience in | |the First Presbyterian Church.--_San | |Francisco Examiner._ |

Although the participial phrase usually gives the summary of the speech, not infrequently the participial construction is used to play up the name of the speech or some other fact and the summary comes after the principal verb of the lead; thus:

| Paying tribute to the memory of | |President William McKinley last night at | |the Metropolitan Temple, where exercises | |were held to dedicate the McKinley | |memorial organ, Judge Taft told in detail| |of his commission to the Philippine | |service and his subsequent intimate | |connection with the President.--_New York| |Tribune._ |

=7. Title Beginning.=--There are two reasons for beginning the report of a public utterance with the speaker's subject or title. The title itself may be so broad that it makes a good summary of the speech, or it may be so striking in itself that it attracts interest at once. In the following examples the title is really a summary of the speech:

| NEW YORK, Dec. 15.--"The Compensation | |of Employes for Injuries Received While | |at Work" was taken by J. D. Beck, | |commissioner of labor of Wisconsin, as | |the theme of his address before the | |National Civic Federation here | |today.--_Milwaukee Free Press._ |

| "The Emmanuel Movement" was the subject| |of an address by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise of| |the Free Synagogue yesterday | |morning.--_New York Evening Post._ |

In the following stories the reporter began with the title evidently because it was so strikingly unusual and also because it was the title of a strikingly unusual speech by an unusual man. This kind of title beginning is always very effective:

| "Booze, or Get on the Water Wagon," was| |the subject on which Rev. Billy Sunday, | |the baseball evangelist, addressed an | |audience of over 4,000 persons at the | |Midland Chautauqua yesterday afternoon. | |For two hours Sunday fired volley after | |volley at the liquor traffic.--_Des | |Moines Capital._ |

| "If Christ Came to Milwaukee" was the | |subject of the Rev. Paul B. Jenkin's | |Sunday night in Immanuel Presbyterian | |Church.--_Milwaukee Sentinel._ |

=8. Speaker Beginning.=--It is obvious that this is the easiest beginning that may be used in the report of a speech. But just as obviously it is the beginning that should be least used. Just as in writing news stories a green reporter always attempts to begin every lead with the name of some person involved, in reporting a public discourse he has a strong desire to put the name of the speaker before what the speaker said. But the same tests may be applied to both cases. Are our readers more interested in what a man does than in the man himself; do our readers go to hear a given speaker because they wish to hear what he has to say or because they wish to hear _him_? Whenever the public is so interested in a man that it does not care what he says, then you may feel safe in beginning the report of what he says with his name. This test may be altered, especially in smaller cities, by previous interest in the speech; if the speech has been expected and looked forward to with interest, then, no matter if the speaker is the President himself, his name is not as good news as what he has to say. Even if the lead does begin with the speaker's name, the reporter usually tries to bring a summary of the speech or the most striking statement into the first sentence after the name. For example:

| Speaker Joseph G. Cannon placed himself| |on record last night in favor of a | |revision of the tariff in accordance with| |the promise of the Republican party | |platform and declared that so far as his | |vote was concerned he would see to it | |that the announced policy of revision | |would be written in the national laws as | |soon as possible. The words of the | |speaker came at a luncheon given to six | |rear admirals of the United States navy | |by Alexander H. Revell of Chicago in the | |Union League Club, at which the need of | |more battleships and increased efficiency| |of the fighting forces of the republic | |were the principal themes of discussion. |

This example was chosen because, while it is written in accordance with the rules of the speaker beginning, it is obviously too long and complicated--over 110 words. It would be better to gather it together and condense it as in the following:

| Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot opened | |the second day's session of the national | |conservation congress yesterday by an | |address in which he expressed his entire | |satisfaction and his confidence in the | |attitude of President Taft toward | |conservating the national | |resources.--_Milwaukee Sentinel._ |

| ST. PAUL, Minn., Feb. 10.--Booker T. | |Washington of Tuskegee, Ala., in an | |address at the People's Church tonight | |predicted that within two years the | |liquor traffic would be driven out of all| |the southern states but two.--_Milwaukee | |Sentinel._ |

There are obviously other beginnings that cannot be classed under any of the above heads. Some of them, much like the "freak" leads that may be seen in many newspapers of the present day, may be called free beginnings for want of a better name. These free beginnings are quite effective when properly handled but the novice must use them with fear and trembling. They may be witty or they may be sarcastic, but they are usually dangerous. The difference in the eight beginnings discussed above is mainly one of grammatical construction; the same fundamental ideas govern them all. Their purpose is always to play up a striking statement or a summary of the speech report and to give at the very outset the necessary explanation concerning the speech.

THE BODY OF THE REPORT

The body of the report of a speech is not so distinct from the lead as the body of an ordinary news story. In the news story it is safe to assume that many readers will not go beyond the lead, but in the report of a speech this is not so true. It is less possible to give the main facts in the lead of a speech report and the rest of the story is more necessary. Hence it must be written with as great care as the lead.

The body of the report should consist of direct quotation in so far as possible. The reader is interested in what the speaker said and it is impossible to make a summary in indirect discourse as convincing as the actual quotation of his words. Be sure that the quotations are the speaker's exact words or very nearly his exact words, so that he cannot accuse you of misquoting him. The spirit of his words must be in the quotation, anyway.

In these quotations nothing less than a complete sentence should be quoted. Do not patch together sentences of indirect and direct quotation, like the following--He said that some of us are prone to let things be as they are, "because the philanthropic rich help in our times of trouble and in sickness." Such quotation is worse than no direct quotation at all. Of course, this does not mean that one cannot add "said the speaker" to a direct quotation, but it means that "said the speaker" can be added only to quotations that are complete sentences. Furthermore whenever it is necessary to bring in "said the speaker," or similar expressions, they should be added at the end of the quoted sentence--the least emphatic part of a newspaper sentence.

Obviously a condensed report of a speech can only quote sentences here and there throughout the speech--the high spots of interest, as we called them before. These must not be quoted promiscuously and disconnectedly. The original speech had a logical order and set forth a logical train of thought. These should be followed as far as possible in the report. Bring in the quotations in their true order and fill the gaps between them with indirect discourse to knit them together and to give the report the coherence of the original speech. But do not carry this indirect explanation to the extent of making your copy a report of the speech in indirect discourse with occasional bits of direct quotation to illustrate. Remember that, after all, the direct quotation is the truly effective part of the speech.

Whenever a paragraph contains both direct and indirect quotation, the direct quotation should always precede the indirect. But it is much better to paragraph the two kinds of quotation separately, making each paragraph entirely of direct, or entirely of indirect, quotation. If a paragraph must contain both, begin it with the direct so that as the reader glances down the column he will see a quotation mark at the beginnings of most, if not all, of the paragraphs. By the same sign, when your notes are lacking in direct quotations, bring in as many of the quotations as possible at the beginning of the report and let the indirect summary occupy the end where it may be cut off by the editor if he does not wish to run it.

Here is a good illustration of a part of the body of a good speech report--it is the second paragraph of one of the stories quoted under the "Speaker" beginning above:

| "I can not account for the moral | |revolution that is sweeping over the | |South," he continued. "The sentiment | |against whisky is deeper than the mere | |desire to get it away from the black man.| |That same sentiment is found in counties | |that contain no negro population. People | |who say that the law will not be enforced| |have not been in the South.--B. T. | |Washington's speech, _Milwaukee | |Sentinel._ |

You will notice that although the above paragraph is composed entirely of direct quotation it has no quotation mark at the end. This is, of course, in accordance with the old rule of rhetoric which says that in a continuous quotation each paragraph shall begin with a quotation mark but only the last shall be closed by a quotation mark.

To illustrate the errors that may be made in reporting speeches we might write the above paragraph as follows:

| Mr. Washington continued by saying that| |he could not account for the revolution | |that is sweeping over the South. "The | |sentiment against whisky is deeper than | |the mere desire to get it away from the | |black man." He says that "the same | |sentiment is found in counties that | |contain no negro population." People who | |say that the law will not be enforced | |"have not been in the South," according | |to Booker T. Washington. |

The clumsiness of this mingling of direct and indirect quotation is very clear, as is the weakness of beginning with an explanation that is really subordinate.

Much more could be said about the reporting of speeches. Very few things will make a man so angry as the misquoting of his words. Therefore, whatever other faults your report of a speech may have, let it be accurate and truthful.

XI

INTERVIEWS

If you compare any interview story with any speech report in any representative newspaper, you will readily see how a discussion of interviews easily becomes an explanation of the differences between interview stories and speech-reports; that is, how the report of an interview differs from the report of a public utterance of a more formal kind. There are few differences in the written reports. Each usually begins with a summary or a striking statement and consists largely of direct quotation. Were it not for the line or two of explanation at the end of the introduction, it would be practically impossible to tell the one from the other, to tell which of the reports sets forth statements made in a public discourse and which gives statements made in a more private way to a reporter.

The difference lies behind the report, in the way the reporter obtained the statements and quotations. And the whole difference depends upon the attitude of the man who made the statements--whether his words were a conscious or an unconscious public utterance. When a man speaks from a platform he utters every sentence and every word with an idea of possible quotation--he is not only willing to be quoted but he wants to be quoted. But when he speaks privately to a reporter he usually dreads quotation. Of course, he expects that you will print a few of his remarks but he is constantly hoping that you will not remember and print them all. He speaks more guardedly, too, since he is not sure of the interpretation that may be given to his words. Hence it is a very different matter to report what a man says in public and to get statements for the press from him in private. Any one can report a speech but great skill is required to get a good interview--especially if the victim is unwilling to talk.

The first matter that a reporter has to consider is the means of retaining the statements until he is able to write his story. It is a simple matter to get quotations from a speech because it is possible to sit anywhere in the audience and write down the speaker's words in a notebook as they are uttered. But the notebook must be left behind when you try to interview. When a man is not used to being interviewed nothing will make him reticent so quickly as the appearance of a notebook and pencil; he realizes that his words are to appear in print just as he utters them and he immediately becomes frightened. Ordinarily so long as he feels that what he says is going into the confidential ear of the reporter--and out of the other ear just as quickly--he is willing to talk more freely and openly and to say exactly what he thinks. This, of course, does not apply to prominent men who are used to being interviewed and prefer to have their remarks taken down verbatim. Such an interview, however, is little more than a call to secure a statement for publication.

It might be well to settle the notebook question here and now when it assumes the greatest importance. The stage has hardened us to seeing a reporter slinking around the outskirts of every bit of excitement writing excitedly and hurriedly in a large leather notebook. So hardened are we to the sight that some new reporters buy a notebook just as soon as they get a place on a newspaper staff. But real reporters on real newspapers do not use notebooks. A few sheets of folded copy paper hidden carefully in an inside pocket ready for names and addresses and perhaps figures are all that most of them carry. Many people dread publicity and the appearance of a notebook frightens them into silence more quickly than the actual appearance of a representative of the press. This is true in the reporting of any bit of news, in the covering of any story--and it is ordinarily true in interviewing for statements that are to be quoted. Of course, an exception to this must be made in the case of some prominent men who prefer to issue signed written statements when they are interviewed.