Page:Newspaper writing and editing.djvu/358

 agree in their accounts of what happened. The reporter must judge of the value of the testimony of each witness, and must make up a composite account of the truth as he sees it in these different narratives. The copy-reader, in editing the reporter's story, frequently finds it necessary to cut it down considerably because of the importance of other news. Again the accuracy of the report may be affected by reason of this "boiling down." The headline writer, working under strict limitations of space, may modify the impression produced upon the reader by the original story. Even on the mechanical side the accuracy of the news may be affected by a careless compositor or proof-reader. The rapidity with which all the processes of newspaper making are performed greatly increases the possibility of error. The personal equation, for which allowance is made in all scientific and technical work, enters into every part of the process of newspaper making, from the gathering and writing of the news by the reporter, through the editing of it and the writing of a headline for it, to the compositor, proof-reader, and make-up man. The chances of printing inaccurate statements under such conditions may be reduced to a minimum only by the exercise of the greatest possible care on the part of all those concerned in the rapid production of newspapers, but mistakes of this type can never be entirely eliminated.

Failure to give a complete report of the day's news is due in part to the amount of news available. Inasmuch as the average newspaper in a large city receives from two to three times as much news daily as it can publish, it is necessary for editors to select from the available news, and to decide quickly which news is the most important for their readers. The fact that this news comes in by mail, telephone, and telegraph, as well as from reporters, at intervals throughout the day and