Page:The Newspaper World.djvu/94

 Liners and Lineage. 83 description of an event which is worth only half-a-dozen lines. To the credit of the newspaper calling it may be said that no liner will knowingly trade in false news. Those responsible for the contents of newspapers — managers or sub-editors — are chary about giving publicity to com- munications which come from entire strangers, unless there is an opportunity for verification. Instances have occurred, however, in which men acting as liners have sent absolutely apocryphal news which has been inserted and paid for. But nemesis soon overtakes the man who endeavors to dishonestly fo^ow the liner's useful calling, and retributive justice takes the severe form of a decision that for the future his contributions will under no circum- stances be accepted by the journal he has deluded. Liners have a weakness for high-flown or exaggerated language, but this rarely sees the light, for an unsympa- thetic sub-editor will so condense the account that the public peruse only a bare record of facts. But, to con- clude, it may be said that the liner fills, to the advantage of readers, a useful position in the newspaper hierarchy, and that, even with the most complete organization, it would be next to impossible for newspapers to dispense with his contributions. •