新闻记者十条指南
(一)
Arthur Brisbane写过十条指南,指引在职新闻记者《怎么当一名更出色的记者》(How to Be a Better Reporter)。指南第一条要求记者看得清楚,写得简明(see a thing clearly and describe it simply)。第二条要求记者记得请不起公司律师而买得起一份报纸的大众:报人忠於贫穷读者,律师忠於富裕顾客,有些报老闆忘了这一点,一富有就忘了贫穷的滋味(Keep in mind the great crowd that cannot afford to hire a corporation lawyer, but can afford a three-cent newspaper. Every newspaper man owes to his poorest reader the loyalty that a great lawyer owes to his richest client. Some newspaper owners forget that, especially after they become rich, and no longer remember how it feels to be poor).第三条提醒记者写稿要让读者读来历历如亲眼目睹(Write so that the reader will say, "I feel as though I had actually SEEN what the newspaper describes")。第四条说採访不忘拍照;一张好照片胜过写一千字,况且这是影象的时代(In reporting, don't forget to bring back PICTURES. One good picture tells more than a thousand words, and this is the picture age)。第五条劝记者写浅白简明的文字。不怕重用同一个字、同一个词:切忌忽“马”忽“骏”,忽“狗”忽“犬”,忽用“老鼠”忽用“耗子”(Don't be afraid to use the same word twice. Don't write "horse", then "equine", or "dog", then "canine", or "rat", then "rodent")。忌写花哨文章。文字越简明越有力。自然的风格是最好的风格(Avoid fancy writing. The most powerful words are simplest.)。文字最好写得读来出众听来悦耳,忌用拟声词(Make your writing striking, and musical, if you can. don't try for onomatopoeia)。
(二)
第六条鼓励记者天天养脑如养身。好报人博读群书好过暴饮暴食。职业拳师不能靠十年前吃的牛扒打赢今日的对手。报人二十年前的思想救不了近火。多读多想。吸收新知(Feed your mind as you feed your body, EVERY day. Feed your body less, and your mind more, if you want to be a good newspaper man. A prizefighter can't fight on the beefsteak he ate ten years ago. Newspaper men can't do good work on the THINKING of twenty years ago. READ AND THINK. Keep your mind open to new ideas)。呕心沥血。炼石补天。记者不热衷工作,读者反应必冷(Write with difficulty. "Work,as nature works,in fire." was Dante's advice quoted by D Annunzip. If you do not burn as you work, readers will be cold as they read)。第七条劝记者多读佳作,一生读莎翁。莎翁是太平洋,其他文学作品是五大湖(Read as much as you can of the best writers, and read Shakepeare all through life. Compared to the rest of literature, he is like the Pacific Ocean compared to the chain of Great Lakes)。第八条依然要记者多读书,读前人之信仰与事蹟。读经典名着。读古书,看古人的写作技巧。第九条说出更多必读作家的大名,然后回头重读莎翁。第十条教记者学会删改润饰自己的原稿:删掉“非常”;尽量删掉形容词。记住法国人的至理名言:“形容词是名词的敌人”(Learn to edit your copy. Strike out "very" always. Strike out most of your adjectives, remembering the wise Frenchmen's remark: "The adjective is the enemy of the noun.")。