الصحفي الناجح .. كتاب معلم الصحافة والإنشاء

Successful journalist

A successful journalist, as one of the journalism scholars says, “is the one who mastered the wisdom of the ancients, digested it well, was acquainted with the philosophy of the moderns and understood it clearly, knew the machines of engineers related to the art of printing, photography, and so on, and studied the history of his era as well as the history of the eras that preceded his era, and then knew The factors affecting political life, economic life, and social life, and he felt that he had to store in his chest all of these sciences and knowledge. After all of this, he also had to assess the readers’ needs for these sciences and knowledge, and to know the extent of their acceptance of these things, so he could provide them with them from time to time. To the extent that suits their minds and in the way they like. He is that person who has achieved his share of resourcefulness and erudition in the sciences and arts we mentioned, and familiarity with all new inventions and information, some through his national language and others through his mastery of a famous foreign language. Then he encompassed everything that happened in his country or the countries of other nations, and preceded others to every modern innovator. He is the person who practiced his criticism and adopted an interesting style with which he attracted even his opponents from among the people in times of prosperity, or made them into fires that were fanned by his sincere spirit and living style when he was in prosperity. He is the one who strives for honesty in his words and constantly listens to the voice of his conscience and the call of his nation and homeland, and always remembers that (every position has a question). A person must cling to a great idea, preserve it, refine it, then publish it for people to read and see with him, defying dangers in order to defend it, and always looking to the future with an eye of confidence. Such a journalist might be able to move this tormented planet, even one hair, towards intense humor in the right direction.

A successful journalist is a humanitarian doctor who recognizes the disease and prescribes the cure for it. The great and the comfort of the poor. He is the intellectual of the minds who manipulates the strings of the public’s mentality, morals, feelings, fluctuations, taste, styles, and topics he loves, so he presents to him what suits him. He combines, as some journalism scholars say, “the qualities of a politician, a writer, a modernist, a saint, a socialite, a philosopher, a man of finance, and an economist at the same time.” He mixes with all the classes of the nation, tests them through books, and follows the appropriate path with them: criticizing their mistakes and directing them to the goal that he embraced after conviction and long thought. If he writes on matters other than political matters, his writing is consistent with the spirit of the era and the desires of its people, then with his skill he creates readers for himself. If he writes about politics, then he should write for the principle alone, and this is a delicate work that requires the ability to overcome the people’s emotions and go along with their whims while maintaining the aforementioned principle at the same time, since the public is fickle and has whims. If it is not written based on a principle, it will go with the fluctuations of public opinion. As for writing as a paid editor for a newspaper, he is undoubtedly forced to limit himself to its opinions, the doctrine of those in charge of it, and the tendencies they embrace. When important incidents subside, he draws his articles from his imagination, from what comes from his thinking and reading, from his daily observations of familiar things, from his personal diaries, and from the comments he writes on the incidents he encounters every day. He appears as he did when the news was full and people are always excited about everything new.

A successful journalist is interested in the past, present, and future, and reads multiple books, different magazines, and various articles. He criticizes what he reads, scrutinizes it, comments on it, and draws from it a comprehensive summary that he collects in his imagination after analysis and synthesis, then presents it to his readers in an easy, interesting style. Such work alerts him to self-criticism, so he stays away from dry, vulgar meanings, boring repetition, and unnecessary pampering. It excites him to invent clear, dramatic expressions, and tempts him to be careful in choosing words, a charming, useful title, and an attractive beginning that reveals what he is writing. Why does he write? . He chooses for writing - from what he has read - an interesting fact, and intersperses it with something that increases the reader’s desire to continue absorbing what he is researching from the important aspects of the subject, such as new facts and wise, useful opinions, from what is his own echo, not the conversation of others. If he masters this and improves the conclusion so that the reader feels the end, he will be reassured that he has left in his hands a clear picture that gives a good idea about him and the topic.

A successful journalist is handsome in appearance, courteous in his community, with a strong, attractive personality. He covers most societies, masters the traditions of the aristocratic classes, and knows how to make friends among its men and women in order to get news from them. At the same time, he does not rise above the rest of the classes of people, but rather identifies himself as a man in the street, a village farmer, and a servant. The restaurant, and from them and from them, benefits a lot, as people of all classes are the main source of news. If circumstances require him to have a large personal conversation, he can speak to her in her own language and understand her, because he is good at the art of talking to people, as his profession requires him to contact some of them to obtain from them the facts or news that readers are eager for.

A successful journalist seeks all the means that fulfill the desires of the public, the newspaper, and his conscience so that he becomes the darling of public opinion and the bearer of the message of truth and light.