necessary for newspaper work. Not at all! On the contrary, in some cases,
a high-class education is a hindrance, not a help in this direction. The
general newspaper does not want learned disquisitions nor philosophical
theses; as its name implies, it wants news, current news, interesting
news, something to appeal to its readers, to arouse them and rivet their
attention. In this respect very often a boy can write a better article
than a college professor. The professor would be apt to use words beyond
the capacity of most of the readers, while the boy, not knowing such
words, would probably simply tell what he saw, how great the damage was,
who were killed or injured, etc., and use language which all would
understand.

Of course, there are some brilliant scholars, deeply-read men and women
in the newspaper realm, but, on the whole, those who have made the
greatest names commenced ignorant enough and most of them graduated by
way of the country paper. Some of the leading writers of England and
America at the present time started their literary careers by contributing
to the rural press. They perfected and polished themselves as they went
along until they were able to make names for themselves in universal
literature.

If you want to contribute to newspapers or enter the newspaper field as a
means of livelihood, don't let lack of a college or university education
stand in your way. As has been said elsewhere in this book, some of the
greatest masters of English literature were men who had but little
advantage in the way of book learning. Shakespeare, Bunyan, Burns, and
scores of others, who have left their names indelibly inscribed on the
tablets of fame, had little to boast of in the way of book education, but
they had what is popularly known as "horse" sense and a good working
knowledge of the world; in other words, they understood human nature, and