Chapter C: Fire Stories with More Than One Feature (4)

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The news itself is comparatively easy to get. In a large city every court is watched every day by a representative of the press, either a reporter for an individual paper or for a city news gathering association. In some cities where there is no independent news gathering agency papers sometimes club together to keep one reporter at each court. The man who is on duty must watch all day long for cases that are of interest for one reason or another. Even with all this safeguarding sometimes an important case slips by the papers; often the reporter on duty considers of little interest a case that is worth columns when some paper digs into it. Every reporter however who is trying to do court reporting should learn the ordinary routine of legal proceedings; for example, the place and purpose of the pleas, the direct and cross examination of witnesses, and other legal business.

As we shall see when we begin to write court reports, it is necessary to exercise every possible trick to put interest into the story. In the actual court room all that relieves the dreary monotony of legal proceedings is an occasional bit of interesting testimony. And when the reporter tries to report a case he sometimes finds that interesting testimony is all that will lighten up the dull monotony of his story. Therefore while he is listening to a case he tries to get down verbatim a large number of the interesting questions and answers. Or if he is unable to be present he tries to get hold of the court stenographer's record to copy out bits of testimony for his account. Beyond this recording of testimony there is really little difficulty in court reporting except the difficulty of separating the interesting from the great mass of uninteresting matter.

As to the actual writing of the report of a legal trial, the one thing that the reporter must remember is that a case is seldom reported for the public's interest in the case itself. There is usually some other reason why the editor wants a half a column of it. That reason is the thing that the reporter must watch for and when he finds it he must make it the feature of his report to be embodied in the first line of the lead.

When we try to play up the most interesting feature of a court report we find that we must fall back upon the same beginnings that we used in reporting speeches and interviews. There are several possible ways of beginning such a story, depending upon the phase of the case or its testimony that is of greatest importance.

=1. Name Beginning.=--The proper name beginning is very common. It is always used when any one of prominence is involved in the story or when the name, although unknown, can be made interesting in itself--as in a human interest story. The name is usually made the subject of the verb testified, as in this lead:

The name of a well-known company often makes a good beginning:

The name of the judge himself may be used in the first line:

=2. Continued Case Beginning.=--Many court reports begin with the name of the case when the case has been running for some time and is well known. Each individual story on such a case is just a continuation of a sort of serial story that has been running for some time and in the lead each day the reporter tries to summarize the progress that has been made in the case during the day's hearing. However each story, like a follow-up story, is written in such a way that a knowledge of previous stories is not necessary to a clear understanding:

In some cases this sort of a lead begins with the mere mention of the continuing of the trial:

=3. Summary Beginning.=--The lead of a court report often begins with a brief summary of the result of the trial or of the day's hearing:

The summary may be presented in as formal a way as the _that_-clause beginning which we used in reports of speeches:

=4. Direct Quotation Beginning.=--A direct quotation of some striking statement made by the judge, by a lawyer, by a witness, or by any one connected with the trial may be used at the beginning of the lead. Here is a lead beginning with a quotation from the title of a case:

=5. Human Interest Beginning.=--The human interest beginning is a more or less free beginning which may be used in the reporting of rather insignificant cases which are of value only for the human interest in them. The beginning is capable of almost any treatment so long as it brings out the humor, beauty, or pathos of the situation. Sometimes the story begins with a rather striking summary of the unusual things that came out in the testimony, as in this case:

Here is an interesting illustration of the use of a trivial incident as the basis for a humorous lead:

The lead of a report of legal proceedings is very much like the lead of a report of a speech or an interview. It always begins with the most interesting fact in the case and briefly summarizes the result of the trial or the day's hearing. It is to be noted that the lead of such a story always includes a designation of the court in which the hearing was held and usually the name of the judge and of the case.

After the lead is finished a court report usually turns into a running story of the evidence as it was presented. This may be condensed into a paragraph, giving the reader merely the point of the day's hearing, or it may be expanded into several columns following the testimony more or less closely. In form, it is very much like the summary paragraphs in the body of a speech report. The result is usually more or less dry and reporters often resort to a means, similar to dialogue in fiction, to lighten it up. Some of the more important testimony is given verbatim interspersed with indirect summaries of the longer or less important speeches. Its presentation usually follows the ordinary rules of dialogue. Here is an extract from such a story:

Sometimes this direct testimony is given, not in the dialogue form, but as questions and answers. Thus:

Some papers would arrange these questions and answers differently, paragraphing each speech separately as in dialogue:

The court records take cognizance only of the actual words uttered in the testimony, but a newspaper reporter never fails to record any action or movement that indicates something beyond the words. Very often action is brought in merely for its human interest; thus:

This sort of dialogue is dangerous and may easily be overworked, but it is very often extremely effective. One word like "sadly," above, may convey more meaning than many lines of explanation.

* * * * *

These quotations are usually interspersed with paragraphs which summarize the unimportant intervening testimony. The running story attempts to follow the progress of the hearing in greater or less detail, depending upon the space given to the story, just as a speech report attempts to follow a public discourse. Dry and unimportant facts are briefly summarized, interesting parts of the testimony are quoted in full. The running story is usually written while the hearing is in session or taken from a stenographic report of the hearing. After the running story has been completed, the reporter prepares a lead for the beginning to summarize the results or to play up the most significant part of the story. If the running story is short a lead of one paragraph is sufficient, but if it is long, the lead may be expanded into several paragraphs.

XIII

SOCIAL NEWS AND OBITUARIES

The study of newspaper treatment of social news is a broad one. Every newspaper has its own system of handling social news and the general tendencies that are to be noted deal rather with the facts that are printed than with the manner of treatment. Every newspaper gives practically the same facts about a wedding but each individual newspaper has a method of its own of writing up those facts. One thing that is always true of social news reporting is that the amount of space given to social items varies inversely with the importance of the newspaper and the size of the city in which it is printed. A little country weekly or semi-weekly in a small town does not hesitate to run two columns or more on Sadie Smith's wedding. The report runs into minute details and anecdotes that all of the "Weekly's" readers know before the paper arrives. But the editor prints everything he can find or invent simply because all of his readers are more or less personally connected with the affair and are anxious to see their names in print and to read about themselves. The liberty that such an editor gives himself is of course impossible in a larger paper.

On the other hand, a daily in a city of average size would reduce such a story to a stickful and a metropolitan daily would run only a one-line announcement in the "List of marriages," unless the story was especially interesting. The same thing applies to all social stories. Some metropolitan newspapers do not run social news at all.

All of this is true because social news is governed by the same principles that regulate all news values. Unless a society event has some feature that is interesting impersonally--that is, of interest to readers who do not know the principals of the event--it is of value only as a larger or smaller number of the paper's readers are personally connected with the event. Hence in a small town where every one knows every one else, society news is of great value. In a large city a very small proportion of the readers are connected with the social items that the paper has to print and are therefore not interested in them--accordingly the newspaper either cuts them down to a minimum of space or does not run them at all.

Therefore in our study society news falls into two classes: social items that are of interest only in themselves to persons connected with the events; and big society stories or unusual social events that are of interest to readers who are not acquainted with the principals.

=1. Weddings.=--The wedding story reduced to its lowest terms in a metropolitan paper consists of a one-line announcement in the list of "Marriages" or "Marriage Licenses"; thus:

| SMITH-JONES--Feb. 14, Katherine Jones |
|to Charles C. Smith.--_New York Times._ |

If the paper runs a few columns of social news and the persons concerned in the wedding are of any importance socially, the wedding may be given a stickful. Such an account would confine itself entirely to names and facts and would be characterized by very decided simplicity and brevity. Usually nothing more would be given than the names and address of the bride's parents, the bride's first name, the groom's name, the place, and the name of the minister who officiated. Occasionally the name of the best man and a few other details are added, but never does the story become personal. It is interesting only to those who know or know of the persons concerned.

For example:

It will be noted that in the above story the name of the bride is written out in full, "Miss Katherine M. Jones." Many newspapers, however, would simply give her first name, thus: "Katherine, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Jones."

If the above wedding were of greater importance more details might be given. These would include the attendants, descriptions of the gowns of the bride and her attendants, the guests from out of town, music, decorations, the reception, and perhaps some of the presents. Sometimes the wedding trip and an announcement of when and where the couple will be at home are added. The above story might run on into detail something like this:

This is probably as long a story as any average paper would run on any wedding, unless the wedding had some striking feature that would make the story of interest to readers who did not know the principals. Note in the foregoing story the simplicity and impersonal tone. There is a wealth of facts but there is no coloring. This tone should characterize every society story. A list of out-of-town guests might have been added, but as often that would be omitted. In some cases the last sentence might be followed by an announcement like this:

In this connection the young reporter should note the distinctions in meaning of the various words used in a wedding story. For instance, he should consult the dictionary for the exact use of the verbs "to marry" and "to wed"--he should know who "is married," who "is married to," and who "is given in marriage," etc. He should also know the difference between a "marriage" and a "wedding."

=2. Wedding Announcements.=--Wedding announcements are run in the social columns of many papers. These items contain practically the same facts that we find in the story written after the wedding, except, of course, that the reporter cannot dilate on decorations, and must stick to facts. These facts usually consist of the names of the couple, the names of the bride's parents, and the time and the place of the wedding. Additionally the reporter may give the minister's name, the names of the maid of honor and of the best man, the reception or breakfast to follow, and where the couple will be at home.

There are of course many other ways to begin the announcement. "Miss Mary E. MacGuire, daughter of, etc."; "Invitations have been issued for the wedding of Miss, etc."; "One of the weddings on for Tuesday is that of Miss, etc."; "Cards are out for the wedding on Saturday of Miss, etc."; and many others. In each case the bride's name has the place of importance.

=3. Announcements of Engagements.=--Announcements of engagements are usually even briefer than wedding announcements. The item consists merely of one sentence in which the young lady's mother or parents make the announcement with the name of the prospective groom.

The item may also begin "Mr. and Mrs. X. X. So-and-So announce, etc.," or simply "Announcement is made of the engagement of Miss Stella Blank, daughter of, etc."

=4. Receptions and Other Entertainments.=--If a paper is to keep up in society news, it must report many social entertainments. However, such events are treated by large dailies as simply, briefly, and impersonally as possible. Such a story, like the report of a wedding, consists merely of certain usual facts. The name of the host or hostess, the place, the time, and the special entertainments are of course always included. Sometimes the occasion for the event, the guests of honor, and a description of the decorations are added,--also the names of those who assisted the hostess.

If the event is held especially for débutantes, the fact is noted at the very start. "A number of débutantes assisted in receiving at a tea given by, etc."; "The débutantes of the winter were out in force, etc."

Such a story is usually followed by a list of guests, a list of out-of-town guests, a list of subscribers, or something of the sort. Ordinarily the list is not tabulated but is run in solid, thus:

| The guests were: Miss Kathleen Smith, |
|Miss Georgia Brown, etc. |

Very often the names are grouped together, thus:

The number of variations in such stories is limited only by the ingenuity of the people who are giving such entertainments. But in each case the reporter learns to give the same facts in much the same order. And he gives them in an uncolored, impersonal way that makes the items interesting only to those who are directly connected with them. The story may vary from a single sentence to half a column, but it always begins in the same way and elaborates only the same details. Before trying to write up social entertainments, a reporter should always be sure of the use of the various words he employs--"chaperon," "patroness," etc. For instance, can we say that "Mr. and Mrs. Smith acted as chaperons"?

=5. Social Announcements.=--Social announcements of any kind are usually, like the wedding and engagement announcements, confined to a single sentence. They tell only the name of the host and hostess, the name of the guest of honor or the occasion for the event, the time, and the place. Thus:

A study of the foregoing sections on society stories shows how definitely a reporter is restricted in the facts that he may include in his social items--how conventional social stories have become. This very restraint in the matter of facts makes it the more necessary for a reporter to exercise his originality in the diction of social items. He must guard against the use of certain set expressions, like "officiating," "performed the ceremony," and "solemnized." While restricted in the facts that he may give, he must try to present the same old facts in new and interesting ways--he may even resort to a moderate use of "fine writing," if he does not become florid or frivolous.

=6. Unusual Social Stories.=--Just as soon as any of these stories contains a feature that is of interest to the general public in an impersonal way it leaves the general class of social news and becomes a news story to be written with the usual lead. Even the presence of a very prominent name will make a news story out of a social item. For instance, the wedding of Miss Ethel Barrymore was written by many papers as a news story. On the other hand, an unusual marriage, an unusual elopement, or anything unusual and interesting in a wedding gives occasion for a news story. Here is one:

Or the story may be handled in a more humorous way, thus:

=7. Obituaries.=--Like many other classes of newspaper stories, the obituary has developed a conventional form which is followed more or less rigidly by all the papers of the land. Every obituary follows the same order and tells the same sort of facts about its subject. It begins with a brief account of the deceased man's death, runs on through a very condensed account of the professional side of his life and ends with the announcement of his funeral or a list of his surviving relatives.

The lead is concerned only with his death, answering the usual questions about _where_, _how_, and _why_, and is written to stand alone if necessary. It ordinarily begins with the man's full name, because of course the name is the most important thing in the story, and then tells who he was and where he lived. This is followed, perhaps in the same sentence, by the time of his death, the cause, and perhaps the circumstances. Thus:

This, as you see, might stand alone and be complete in itself. Many obituaries, however, add another paragraph after the lead in which the circumstances of the death are discussed in greater detail. Here is the second paragraph of another obituary:

Next comes the account of the deceased man's life. It is told very briefly and impersonally and concerns itself chiefly with the events of his business or professional activities. It is but a catalogue of his achievements and the dates of those achievements. These facts are usually obtained from the file of biographies--called the morgue--which most newspapers keep. The account first tells when and where he was born and perhaps who his parents were. Next his education is briefly discussed. Then the chief events of his professional or business life. The date of his marriage and the maiden name of his wife are included somewhere in or at the end of this account. Usually a list of the organizations of which the man was a member and a list of the books which he had written are attached to this account. One of the foregoing obituaries continues as follows:

The obituary usually ends with a list of surviving relatives--especially children and very often the funeral arrangements are included. This is the last paragraph of another obituary:

This is the standard form of the obituary which is followed by most daily newspapers in fair-sized cities. The form is characterized by an extreme conciseness and brevity and an absolutely impersonal tone. Very rightly, an obituary is handled with a sense of the sanctified character of its subject It offers no opportunity for fine writing or human interest; it simply gives the facts as briefly and impersonally as possible.

XIV

SPORTING NEWS

Division of labor on the larger American newspapers has made the reporting of athletic and sporting events into a separate department under a separate editor. The pink or green sporting sheets of the big papers have become separate little newspapers in themselves handled by a sporting editor and his staff and entirely devoted to athletic news, except when padded out with left-over stories from other pages. Although on smaller papers any reporter may be called upon to cover an athletic event, in the cities such news is handled entirely by experts who are thoroughly acquainted with all phases of the athletic sports about which they write. The stories on the pink sheet enjoy the greatest unconventionality of form to be seen anywhere in the paper except on the editorial page. And yet, because athletic reporters are usually men taken from regular reporting and because the same ideas and necessities of news values govern the sporting pages, athletic stories follow, in general, the usual news story form.

One may expect to find under the head of sports almost any news that is any way connected with college, amateur, or professional athletics. The stories include accounts of baseball and football games, rowing, horse racing, track meets, boxing, and many other forms of sport, as well as any discussions or movements growing out of these sports. Many of the stories are only a few lines in length while others may cover a column or more. But in general each one has a lead which answers the questions _when?_ _where?_ _how?_ _who?_ and _why?_ and runs along much like an ordinary news story. For, after all, even athletic stories are written to attract and to hold the reader's interest whether or not he is directly interested in the sport under discussion. Any reporter who is called upon to cover an athletic event is safe in writing his story in the usual news story form.

As it would be impossible to discuss all the various stories that come under the head of athletic news, the reporting of college football games will be taken as typical of the others. The rules that are suggested for the reporting of football games may be applied to baseball games, track meets, and other sporting events. The same principles govern all of them and the stories usually summarize results in about the same way. Football stories may be divided into three general classes: the brief summary story of a stickful or a trifle more; the usual football story of a half column or less; and the long story that may be run through a column or more, depending upon the importance of the game.

All three of these stories are alike in the general facts which they contain; they differ only in the number of minor details which they include in the elaboration of these general facts. Each one tells in the first sentence what teams were competing, the final score, when and where the game was played, and perhaps some striking feature of the game--the weather, the conditions of the field, the star players, or a sensational score. After that, with more or less expansion, each of the stories gives the essential things that the reader wants to know about the game. These consist usually of the way in which the scoring was done, a comparison of the playing of the teams, a list of the star players, the weather conditions, and the crowd. If the writing of the story includes a discussion of each of these points in more or less detail, the game will be covered in all of its essential phases. The three kinds of stories differ, from one another, not in the facts that they include, but in the length at which they expand upon these facts. One rule should be noted in the writing of all these stories or of any athletic story--avoid superlatives. To a green reporter almost every game seems to be "the most spectacular," "the most thrilling," "the hardest fought," "the most closely matched," but a broad experience is necessary to defend the use of any superlative about the game.

=1. The Brief Summary Story.=--This is the little story of a stickful or less, which merely announces the result of some distant or unimportant game. Taken in its shortest form it gives only the names of the teams, the score, the time and place of the game, and perhaps a word or two of general characterization. As it is allowed to expand in length it takes up as briefly as possible the following facts in the order in which they are given: the scoring, the comparison of play, the star players or plays. It is a mere announcement of the result of the game and no more, for that is all the reader wants. The line-ups and other tables are usually omitted, and nothing is included that goes beyond this narrow purpose. Here are a few examples:

=2. The Usual Football Story.=--The usual report of a game is a story of a half column or less which is longer than the brief summary story and not so detailed as the long football story. This is the story that a correspondent would usually send to his paper. It is like them both in the facts that it includes and differs only in length and in manner of treatment. This story is usually divided into two parts: the introduction and the running account. The introduction, or lead, is very much like the brief summary story; in fact, the entire brief summary story might be used as the introduction of a story of this type. The second part, the running account, corresponds to the running account of the game as it will be taken up with the long football story.

The introduction of the usual athletic story always contains certain facts. The first sentence, corresponding to the lead of a news story, always gives the names of the teams, the score, the time, the place, and the most striking feature of the game. After this the plays that resulted in scores are described and the star plays or players are enumerated. Usually a comparison of the two teams, as to weight, speed, and playing, follows, and the opinion of the captain or of some coach may be included. The rest of the introduction may be devoted to the picturesque side of the game: the crowd, the cheering, the celebration, etc. All of this must be told briefly in 200 words or less. The introduction is simply the brief summary story slightly expanded. Here is a fair example (the paragraph containing the scoring has been omitted):

This is ordinarily followed by a brief running account of the game. It does not attempt to follow every play or to trace the course of the ball throughout the entire game, as a complete running account would do. It is usually made from the detailed running account by a process of elimination so that nothing but the "high spots" of the game is left. Such an account may run from 200 to 300 words in length. At the end tables are usually printed to give the line-up and the tabulated results of the game, but these may sometimes be omitted. The following is an extract from a condensed running account:

=3. Long Football Story.=--The third class of football story is the long detailed account. This is all that is left of the elaborate write-ups of the season's big games that were printed a few years ago and may be seen occasionally now. Ten or twenty years ago it was not unusual for an editor to run several pages, profusely illustrated, on a big eastern football game. The story was written up from every possible aspect--athletic, social, picturesque, etc. Every play was described in detail and sometimes a graphic diagram of the play was inserted. Each phase was handled by a different reporter and the whole thing was given a prominence in the paper out of all proportion with its real importance. Such a treatment of athletic news has now been very largely discarded.

The outgrowth of this elaborate treatment is the common one- or two-column account in the pink or green sporting pages. All of the various aspects of the big game are still to be seen, condensed to the smallest amount of space; and this brief account of the different aspects of the game is arranged as an introduction of a half column or less to head the running account of the game. This is the sort of story that is used to report the Yale-Harvard games and the more important middle western games. Its form has become very definitely settled and a correspondent can almost write his story of the big game by rule.

The first part of the story, called the introduction, consists of five or six general paragraphs. The material in this introduction is arranged, paragraph by paragraph, in the order of its importance. Following this is a running account of the game which may occupy a column or more, depending upon the importance of the contest. At the end is a table showing the line-up and a summary of the results.

The introduction of the big football or baseball story usually follows a very definite order. There are certain things which it must always contain: the result of the game; how the scoring was done; a characterization of the playing; the stars; the condition of the weather and the field; the crowd; etc. The reader always wishes to know these things about the game even if he does not care to read the running account. It is equally evident that the scoring is of greater interest than the crowd, and that a comparison of the teams is more important than the cheering. And so a reporter may almost follow a stereotyped outline in writing his account. A possible outline would be something like this:

First Paragraph.--The names of the teams, the score, when and
where the game was played, and perhaps some striking feature
of the game. The weather may have been a significant factor,
or the condition of the field; the crowd may have been
exceptionally large or small, enthusiastic or uninterested;
or the game may have decided a championship; some star may
have been unusually prominent, or the scoring may have been
done in an extraordinary way. Any of these factors, if of
sufficient significance, would be played up in the first line
just as the feature of an ordinary news story is played up.
This paragraph corresponds to the lead of a news story and is
so written. For example:

Second Paragraph.--Here the reporter usually tells how the
scoring was done, what players made the scores, and how.

Third Paragraph.--The next thing of importance is a comparison
of the two teams. The reader wants to know how they compared
in weight, speed, and skill, and how each one rose to the
fight. A general characterization of the playing or a
criticism may not be out of place here.

Fourth Paragraph.--Now we are ready to tell about the individual
players. Our readers want to know who the stars were and how
they starred.

Fifth Paragraph.--This brings us down near the tag end of the
introduction. Very often this paragraph is devoted to the
opinions of the captains and coaches on the game. Their
statements, if significant, may be boxed and run anywhere in
the report.

Sixth Paragraph.--The picturesque and social side of the game
comes in here. The size of the crowd, the enthusiasm, the
celebration between halves or before or after the game, are
usually told. This material may be of enough importance to
occupy several paragraphs, but the reporter must always
remember that he is writing a sporting account and not a
picturesque description of a social event.

Seventh Paragraph.--This paragraph usually begins the running
account of the game.

* * *

N-th Paragraph.--This space at the end of the entire report is
given to the line-ups and tabulated results of the game.

This arrangement may of course be varied, and any of the foregoing factors of the game may be of sufficient importance to be placed earlier in the story. Never, however, should the various factors be mixed together heterogeneously and written in a confused mass. Each element must be taken up separately and occupy a paragraph by itself.

The running account of the game, which follows the introduction, requires little rhetorical skill. Each play is described in its proper place and order and should be so clear that a reader could make a diagram of the game from it. It must also be accurate in names and distances as well as in plays.

Probably every individual sporting correspondent has a different way of distinguishing the players and the plays and of writing his running account. It is not an easy matter to watch a game from the press stand far up in the bleachers and be able to tell who has the ball in each play and how many yards were gained or lost. Familiarity with the teams and the individual players makes the task easier but few reporters are so favored by circumstances. They must get the names from the cheering or from other reporters about them unless they have some method of their own.

There is one method that may be followed with some success. Before the game the reporter equips himself with a table of the players showing them in their respective places as the two teams line up. It is usually impossible to tell who has the ball during any single play because the eye cannot follow the rapid passing, but it is always possible to tell who has the ball when it is downed. At the end of each play as the players line up, the reporter keeps his eye on the man who had the ball when it was downed and watches to see the position he takes in the new line-up. Then a glance at the table will tell him the man's name.

The running account is written as simply and briefly as possible. It follows each play, telling what play was made, who had the ball, and what the result was. It keeps a record of all the time taken out, the changes in players, the injuries, etc. A typical running account reads something like this:

At the end of the running account are tables, usually set in smaller type, giving the line-up of the two teams and the tabulated results of the game. Some papers arrange the tables as follows:

Other papers use this system which brings the opposing players together:

The tabulated results at the end may be something like this:

Dispatches and stories on baseball games and track meets are usually accompanied by tables of results, similar to the above but arranged in a slightly different way. The form may be learned from any reputable sporting sheet.

HUMAN INTEREST STORIES

In our study of newspaper writing up to this point we have been entirely concerned with forms, rules, and formulas; every kind of story which we have studied has had a definite form which we have been charged to follow. We have been commanded always to put the gist of the story in the first sentence and to answer the reader's customary questions in the same breath. Now we have come to a class of newspaper stories in which we are given absolute freedom from conventional formulas. In fact, the human interest story is different from other newspaper stories largely because of its lack of forms and rules. It does not begin with the gist of its news--perhaps because it rarely has any real news--and it answers no customary questions in the first paragraph; its method is the natural order of narrative. The human interest story stands alone as the only literary attempt in the entire newspaper and, as such, a discussion of it can hardly tell more than what it is, without any great attempt to tell how to write it. For our purposes, the distinguishing marks of the human interest story are its lack of real news value and of conventional form, and its appeal to human emotions.

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Newspaper Reporting and CorrespondenceChapter C: Fire Stories with More Than One Feature (4)

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