Exhibit JC42 - The Leveson Inquiry

For Distribution to CPsHacks and Dons -Teaching at the London University Journalism School 1919-1939: Its origin,development and influence.that no reporter should ever go to see anybody without first finding out allabout them, because even the subject’s hobbies might raise an issue worthreporting. It was the same for sub-editing: getting things correct. Whileadmonishing students to use them he warned that they soon dated andideally they should all start their reference books of lists of contacts,addresses and telephone numbers. While admitting that it had taken himyears to learn how to use reference books, Clarke set them writingparagraphs based on information taken from reference books: with theadded task of giving news reasons for writing about them. So, a DowagerMarchioness was one subject chosen because her daughter, a CrownPrincess of Sweden, was visiting her; Lord Cecil appeared in the listbecause he was organising a peace ballot; Gracie Fields because she hadrecently been awarded an honour.Out of 30 attempts 12 were labelled ’scanty’ by Miss Skipsey, 4 weregood and 3 only, very good. 33 students completed this assignment but 24handed in no work for marking.More Reporting AssignmentsGood relations with the House of Commons must have persistedthroughout the years as 26 students attended a debate on Australia insteadof reporting one of Clarke’s simulations on March 1st 1938.The next day G. Pinnington went with four others to cover the BrazilianAmbassador’s talk, while others covered a left Book Club protest (see p.213) for Skipsey’s comments on Leila Berg’s reporting of this event). Suchactivities must have taxed the ingenuity of the budding reporters especiallyas they had, ringing in their ears, Clarke’s remarks about speech reporting,that they should start with an arresting sentence especially where thespeaker was not well-known. Alternatively, Clarke suggested a quotationfrom the speech as being a good starting point and, failing that, a questionsentence was always a good way of breaking a dull routine. Just asvaluable was always to be ready to grasp any new phrases invented by thespeaker: Churchill’s ’terminological inexactitude’ or Eden’s ’uneasypartnership’. Life and reality were what were needed, not dull third personpast tense where ’the speaker continued’ or ’he then proceeded to say.’Shorthand here was essential, more for the ability to catch those raremoments of rhetorical indiscretions than pages of dull reading.Vacation Attachments on Provincial NewspapersPrior to their departure from the College for their first venture (for most)in provincial newspapers, Clarke underlined the responsibility of writing forpublication, advising them that some newspapers might be nervous oftrusting them at first and, if so, they must not mope around the office. Ifanyone looked particularly busy, offer to help: ’If you see something whichmight be reported by you at a certain angle, offer yourself. The editor willprobably turn it down; or send someone else, but never mind. You will havemade a tactful little dent.’125MOD100051296