Writers Tricks of the Trade SPRING 2017 ISSUE 2, VOLUME 7 | Page 15

J OURNALISM IN THE T YPEWRITER E RA
B Y H AL M ORRIS
G RUMPY E DITOR . COM
In these days of "fake news," how does working as a
print or broadcast news staffer differ from earlier years?
Getting the story first, ahead of the competition, was
para-
paramount.
Still is. But so was accuracy.
And most important --- no editorializing.
Editors were very firm in not expressing opinions in stories when typewriters
were the prime mode used in composing copy.
Rule of the day was: "Leave the editorializing to the editorial pages."
Not so these days.
Whether it's the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, CNN or
MSNBC, journalists/reporters seem to have great difficulty keeping opinions to
themselves. And often they get right to it in the opening paragraph.
Even without social media, competition in those typewriter days was keen.
In Los Angeles, for example, there were six daily newspapers in the
metropolitan area. Being first to get the full story --- whether a shooting or a
ribbon cutting --- was fierce.
The Los Angeles Mirror and Herald-Express, for example, both had five
deadlines a day (six with a "replate" that included the day's stock exchange action).
So reporters, rewrite staff, city desk, copy desk, typesetters and makeup editors
all had to work with dispatch to get the presses rolling with latest developments in
efforts to beat "the other guy" in getting papers to newsstands and headline
hawkers on the street.
Radio news was different, too. Rather than leading with the same on-the-hour
story over and over, as frequently happens now, the routine then called for a "new
top" or fresh headline for each hour's news.
Getting to that news was different, too. News stations dispatched mobile units.
It was not unusual to hear a report on a disaster or a bank robbery right from the
scene, often before print reporters arrived.
However, some newspapers --- in efforts to "scoop" the others --- also resorted
to mobile units in getting to news scenes.
The Los Angeles Mirror was the first in the nation to utilize cars to patrol
newsworthy areas. Each of two vehicles (Ford sedans with constantly-leaking oil),
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
P AGE 7
H AL M ORRIS
J OURNALIST
A S AN INDEPENDENT
JOURNALIST , H AL M ORRIS
PRODUCED MORE THAN
1,000 ARTICLES / COLUMNS
IN NATIONAL PUBLI -
CATIONS , FROM R EADER ' S
D IGEST TO USA
T ODAY . B ACKGROUND
INCLUDES COLUMNIST AND
AN EDITOR ON A MAJOR
L OS A NGELES DAILY ,
TEACHING NEWS
REPORTING AND WRITING
AT A C ALIFORNIA STATE
UNIVERSITY , LONG - TIME
MEMBER OF N EW Y ORK -
BASED A MERICAN S OCIETY
OF J OURNALISTS AND
A UTHORS , I NC . AND
FORMER CHAIRMAN OF
ASJA' S S OUTHERN
C ALIFORNIA CHAPTER . H E
CONTRIBUTED TO T OOLS OF
THE W RITER ' S
T RADE (H ARPER C OLLINS )
AND E - BOOK , F REELANCE
Survival: Keys to
Thrive and
Prosper. H E IS THE
GRUMP BEHIND
G RUMPY E DITOR . COM
S PRING 2017