Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/318

 302 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

way of estimating definitely the work of the responsible editors, no certain tests of the copy-readers' skill in short, little or nothing to show for a good deal of hard work. " If only it could have been 1 printed ! " was the regretful sigh. To be sure, one valuable result grew out of the experiment. The city editor of one of the leading Chicago dailies volunteered to go over the copy, and then to criticise it before the class. His acute, incisive, luminous comments were of the greatest service to the students. He said the copy was not so much crude as commonplace, imi- tative, conventional. This was doubtless the result of studying the newspapers so closely and of attempting to acquire a profes- sional style. The results were largely negative; the common blunders and infelicities were pretty well avoided, but that rare originality which editors so eagerly seek in " cub " reporters had not been much stimulated. After all, instruction is largely a con- ventionalizing process, and too much must not be expected in the way of developing genius from average material. Even the best newspaper offices are not conspicuously successful in discovering and developing great abilities on a large scale.

The class of this year in the spring quarter of 1905 numbered twenty-five, and included three student reporters for the Chicago papers, several men who had worked on country weeklies, and one employee of the Associated Press. The class as a whole showed intelligence; much good copy was turned in. The editorials written by two or three graduate students in political science and economics were unusually pointed, clear, and vigorous. When the plans for the final practice were proposed, the question, "Why not print the paper?" again came up. The matter had already been investigated in a tentative way, but the enthusiasm of the class was so evident, and its ability so well proved, that the time seemed auspicious for pushing the experi- ment farther. The plan was broached to the manager 2. of one of the afternoon papers, who instantly and with cordiality offered to put his whole plant at the service of the class any day from five in the afternoon until the forms were locked up. Moreover, he

2 Mr. John Eastman, of the Chicago Evening Journal, whose generosity and courtesy contributed in a fundamental way to the success of the experiment.