And I
assure you that no one shall interfere with you. No favours to anybody; no
use of the news-columns for revenge or exploitation. The only questions a
news-item need raise in your mind are: Is it true? Is it interesting? Is it
printable in a newspaper that will publish anything which a healthy-minded
grown-person wishes to read?"
"Is that 'straight'?" asked Cumnock. "No favourites? No suppressions? No
exploitations?"
"'Straight'--'dead straight'! And if I were you I'd make this particularly
clear to the Wall Street and political men. If anybody"--with stress upon
the anybody--"comes to you about this, send him to me."
Howard was uneasy about the managing editor, Mr. King. But he soon found
that his fears were groundless. Mr. King was without petty vanity, and
cordially and sincerely welcomed his control.
"We look too dull," King began when Howard asked him if he had any changes
to suggest. "We need more and bigger headlines, and we need pictures."
"That is it!" Howard was delighted to find that King and he were in perfect
accord. "But we must not have pictures unless we can have the best. Just at
present we can't increase expenses by any great amount. What do you say to
trying what we can do with all the news, larger headlines and plenty of
leads?"
"I'm sure we can do better with our class of readers by livening up the
appearance of our headlines than we could with second-rate pictures.
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