"What makes a good newspaperman? The answer is easy. He knows everything. He's aware not only of what goes on in the world today, but his brain is a repository of the accumulated wisdom of the ages. He is not only handsome, but he has the physical strength which enables him to perform great feats of energy. He can go for nights on end without sleep. He dresses well and talks with charm. Men admire him, women adore him; tycoons and statesmen are willing to share their secrets with him. He hates lies and meanness and sham, but he keeps his temper. He is loyal to his paper and what he looks upon as a profession; whether it is a profession, or merely a craft, he resents attempts to debate it. When he dies, a lot of people are sorry, and some of them remember him for several days."
Besides my many friendships, a small laminated card with this writing was one of the most lasting things I received from journalism school. Geeky as this sounds, I carried it in my wallet for years after college. I'd rediscover it while digging deep into my wallet for some lost piece of paper and read it once again.
I'm not sure why I kept it. Religious fervor, I suppose. Newspaper reporting, unlike most professions, is truly a calling. Salary, benefits, comfort and security are all secondary considerations to doing the job well. There's a public service element to it for sure, a fact that most people don't recognize, but it's true. Reporters really do care.
I always found this writing amusing, particularly the end, because in addition to shorting themselves on several comforts reporters must accept that fruits of their labor have a very short shelf life. Like a new car driven off the lot, their articles lose considerable value once they're read. Unlike a car, most articles are worthless in a day or two.
I don't have the card any more. I wish I knew where it went, but I've never forgotten the message. So it came to me as I read about Newbury's decision to name the new Hay Street bridge after Bill Plante. This wasn't a random landmark. As you can read in the article and in this moving piece once written by the newspaperman himself, the bridge holds special meaning to Plante.
As Walker suggests, Newspaper people don't expect to leave any indelible marks in this world, at least professionally. Bill Plante,thanks to a classy move by the town of Newbury, is the exception.
2 comments:
Serious questions are raised when a journalist accepts an honor from a government.
What is being rewarded? What does the government want in return? Is an ethical journalist obligated to politely decline?
The issue comes up more frequently in the United Kingdom, where the Government has the power to make a journalist a Knight or Dame, as discussed in a recent issue of British Journalism Review.
PKL, I do appreciate the global perspectie you bring to our table, but that doesn't apply here.
Bill Plante is in no position to reward anyone anything other than a twice weekly column.
Ironically, if you want to point to community contributions he's probably contributed more to Newburyport than he has Newbury. When he led the Daily News he wasn't afraid to advocate for the urban development that took place downtown.
In fact, he did more than advocate, he was one of the major drivers behind what happened here. (Editors today wouldn't be comfortable with such a level of involvement, but I admire it.)
While these contributes clearly added to Plante's stature, Newbury's honor seems to be tied more directly to his devotion to and writings of the march where the bridge rests.
I don't see any issues here at all.
Post a Comment