British writer

Chapter 176 Is journalism a science?

The waiter left.

Wodehouse looked at his back and asked curiously: "How did this Mr. Pulitzer know that we came to New York?"

At the beginning of the 20th century, sea voyages could never predict the specific time;

Pulitzer should have received the news after they landed.

Lu Shi said: "Sir, you should make up for your lessons. Mr. Pulitzer is an iconic figure in American popular newspapers. When we discussed the "Jane Eyre" comic before, we talked about "The Yellow Child". Then Mr. Pulitzer’s masterpiece.”

Wodehouse suddenly realized,

"Is that the yellow news?"

This sounds strange,

Pulitzer's yellow is not yellow in that sense, but true yellow.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"Anyone in the journalism industry has their own sources of information. Even we have informants inside the Palace of Westminster. Mr. Pulitzer should have heard something."

Wodehouse said to himself,

Isn't the inside informant himself?

He didn't bother to complain, so he ate the fries with the sauce.

On the other side, Goodman said: "Professor Lu, if you have any questions, you can consult me."

This guy is really attentive.

Lu Shi chuckled,

"I think Mr. Pulitzer meant no harm."

The three of them waited quietly.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door outside.

Goodman opened the door and welcomed two white men.

Both of them were around fifty,

The person walking in front wore glasses with a pure gold chain on the temples that extended to the chest pocket.

He also has a mustache,

Lu Shi looked at it from a distance, thinking it was the German art student who failed the exam for the second time;

The person walking behind had a bare forehead and a shiny forehead that looked like he was of British descent.

The people in front come forward;

"Professor Lu!"

He ran for Goodman.

Lu Shi was embarrassed,

"Mr. Pulitzer, I'm here."

He knew that Pulitzer's eyesight began to decline severely at the age of 40, and he even became blind for a time.

Moreover, Pulitzer was so mentally weak that he could not even tolerate any noise, so he had to live in a top-notch soundproof yacht and wander around on the sea.

Pulitzer coughed slightly,

"Feel sorry."

He shook hands with Lu Shi warmly and introduced: "My dear Joseph Pulitzer, the person accompanying me is Nicholas Murray Butler, who is currently working at Columbia University and is about to become the president of Columbia University."

Pulitzer's accent is a little strange. He pronounces "r" as a uvular or velar sound, and the "d" at the end of some words is pronounced as a "t" sound.

This is very similar to German or Eastern European immigrants.

Butler next to him frowned,

"Just acting, acting principal."

Afterwards, he also stretched out his hand to shake Lu Shi's hand, and apologized: "Ms. Teixeira, the dean of our school, has caused trouble to both His Majesty the King and you."

This is about Columbia's rejection of global university rankings.

Lu Shi chuckled,

"Yes, Ms. Shetra rejected us very ruthlessly~"

Pulitzer and Butler were both stunned.

Then they laughed.

Obviously, neither of them expected that Lu Shi, a Chinese, could be so humorous, and the relationship between the two parties was instantly brought closer.

Lu Shi said, "Please sit down."

Everyone took their seats one by one.

Lu Shi was very impressed by the reputation of the two Americans.

Needless to say, Pulitzer, later generations of news media practitioners have won the Pulitzer Prize as the highest honor;

Butler was also a fierce man. He became the acting president of Columbia University in 1901 and was awarded the full position in 1902. He served for 43 years, making him the longest-serving person in the history of Columbia University.

He undertook a major expansion of the campus, adding many new colleges and departments.

Lu Shi also introduced Wodehouse and Goodman.

Butler joked: "Professor Lu, Sir, you guys really do as the Romans do. The first thing you do when you come to New York is hire a lawyer. If you go north to Harvard in Massachusetts, will you hire five strong bodyguards?"

The crime rate in Massachusetts is high. Even "Monopoly" has a prison setting.

That's why Butler was joking like this.

Lu Shi chuckled,

"Hire bodyguards? Jazz and I are planning to do this~"

Butler and Pulitzer laughed again,

They all felt that socializing with Lu Shi was very comfortable, and it was not at all as rigid as the British upper class.

Pulitzer spreads his hands,

"Nicholas, don't look down on lawyers so much. You know, I've also been a lawyer. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to set up a law firm at the time, and because I was young and spoke only broken English, there were very few people who wanted to litigate with me. There are so few, and the business never improves.”

As he spoke, Pulitzer raised a smile on his lips.

“Lawyers have to be well-spoken, right?”

The tone was full of ridicule.

Lu Shi nodded,

"Indeed, I would not place my freedom on a man who pronounces 'good' as 'goot.'"

"Poof!"×2

The two Americans burst out laughing.

Pulitzer said: "I didn't expect that it would be so easy to communicate with Professor Lu. It seems that we will have a great time chatting later."

This is a signal to get down to business.

Lu Shi also became serious, sat upright, and got into working mode.

Pulitzer said: "Professor Lu, I have been trying to find ways to order the Mirror. I know that it is a great newspaper."

He took out a stack of newspapers from his briefcase.

"Tabloid, this is the first time I heard this concept and I couldn't help but be shocked."

Crash--

The newspaper was turned page by page.

Lu Shi looked over,

I saw that the other party had collected all the front pages of the Mirror. The last issue was two weeks ago. Each page was well preserved, with almost no sign of dog-earing.

Considering that the two countries are separated by oceans, Pulitzer's love for the "Mirror" is evident.

Lu Shi asked: "Which article do you like best?"

This question stopped Pulitzer.

He lowered his head and thought,

"There are too many epoch-making pages. Comics, interviews, gender, people's livelihood... Frankly speaking, if I were still young, my favorite would be the comic version of "Jane Eyre". As for the reason, you must know."

Pulitzer became a newspaper tycoon thanks to "The Yellow Kid".

He was optimistic about "Jane Eyre", maybe because he saw his younger self.

Lu Shi was curious,

"What about you now?"

Pulitzer answered without hesitation: "Two. The first is the obituary for Her Majesty the Queen on the day the Mirror was first published, and the second is "The 20 Greatest Britons."

He glanced at Wodehouse and added: "I like the obituary, simply because I like the article. Don't get me wrong, Sir."

Wodehouse nodded,

"clear."

Lu Shi asked: "Why does Mr. Pulitzer like those two articles the most?"

Pulitzer sighed,

"Maybe it's because I'm old, but I like the cohesiveness shown in that kind of article."

Otherwise, the United States in the early 20th century was a beacon.

Pulitzer is a Hungarian-American who smuggled himself to the United States when he was seventeen.

And this young stowaway actually became famous in the United States, becoming a rich man and the founder of the press.

This land is full of opportunities and full of vitality. As long as you have a dream, who can't achieve it?

certainly,

Swallowed by the icy waters outside Boston Harbor,

Buried by the scorching sand of the west,

Killed by Coast Guard bullets,

These are the awakening moments of most American dreams.

Lu Shi remained silent and did not speak.

Pulitzer continued: "Professor Lu, I even want to create a "Top 20 Greatest Americans" in "The World", but...at present, it is not suitable yet."

The history of the United States is still short;

After expelling 20 people, they were violently killed by a British Sir Isaac Newton. Isn't this a reverse cohesion?

Just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

Lu Shi and Wodehouse couldn't help but look at each other, both wanting to laugh.

Pulitzer said: "I think... well... I'm tired of the competition and I'm going to get rid of the most maligned pornographic part of The World."

Due to his failing eyesight, he reduced his control over Le Monde.

This caused the newspaper to change from true yellow to true yellow.

Of course, he himself is not a gentleman. He is called "Pulitzer who makes money by attacking others."

The people being attacked were all celebrities and the upper class, but Pulitzer believed that "the more enemies, the better" and even expressed that "the most successful and valuable newspapers should usually have the most enemies." position.

Lu Shi muttered in his heart,

Tired of competition now?

What have you been doing so long ago...

He said: "Are you going to cancel the most offensive pornographic part of Le Monde? Is this decision made because of your age?"

Pulitzer neither denied nor admitted,

He sighed,

"Is there a Chinese word for knowing the fate of God?"

Lu Shi corrected: "'Know destiny'."

These three characters are pronounced in Chinese,

Later, he translated it: "This is a description from ancient Chinese people. When a person reaches the age of fifty, he knows how difficult it is to realize his ideals, so he no longer pursues results in doing things. The so-called 'man makes plans, and God makes things happen'. But this is not about leaving things to chance. Nothing is done.”

Pulitzer closed his eyes and let his body sink into the armchair,

"Good words."

He seemed quite emotional.

Butler on the side sighed and said, "Professor Lu, Joseph has always wanted to donate money to Columbia University to establish a journalism school, but he was declined by the president."

Lu Shi asked: "When did it happen?"

Butler replied: "1892, the first time would be 1892."

The implication is that Pulitzer has raised it many times.

Lu Shi made an estimate.

At that point in time, Pulitzer's vision should have declined sharply or even been lost.

Once people fall into darkness, they will think about what is there and what is not. Journalists like Pulitzer have done so many unconscionable things that they will inevitably feel uneasy and want to leave something behind.

Lu Shi asked again: "The reason for your refusal..."

Butler coughed slightly,

"Professor Lu, I was not at Columbia at that time. I was working as a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. After that, I went to serve on the New Jersey State Board of Education and helped form the College Entrance Examination Committee."

Lu Shi looked at the other party in surprise.

In such a hurry to clear up the relationship, could it be that Butler supports the establishment of a journalism school?

In fact, Columbia's School of Journalism was indeed established during Butler's tenure and established the Pulitzer Prize, which enjoys a high reputation in journalism and industry.

However, Pulitzer himself did not witness the establishment of the Columbia University Journalism School.

The matter was accomplished a year after his death.

Lu Shi continued: "Okay~Okay~What was the reason for the rejection at that time?"

Butler said: "There has been a discussion within Columbia about whether journalism is a subject that can be studied, or a skill that can be used to support a family. On this matter, the voices are very inconsistent, so the resistance is very strong."

I'm afraid it's not that simple.

Lu Shi glanced at Pulitzer again, as if he had a mirror in his mind.

The reason for Columbia's rejection may be that the reputation of Pulitzer and pornographic newspapers is very bad in the upper class of the United States.

Accepting Pulitzer's "dirty money" may turn into "extinction from heaven and earth."

Presumably, it was for this reason that Butler only completed the Journalism School after Pulitzer's death.

Does Pulitzer know about this?

Lu Shi looked sideways.

Pulitzer's eyes were dull, with almost no negative emotion visible.

He said: "In fact, not only within the university, many newspaper editors also laughed at my idea. They thought that raising journalism to the level of an academic profession was a fantasy."

Lu Shi thought for a while and asked the other party: "To open a college, you need courses and teachers. How to prepare the courses?"

Pulitzer had already thought about it,

“Courses emphasizing the social sciences and humanities, supplemented by journalism skills.”

It's quite different from modern times.

Lu Shi asked: "What kind of talents are we going to cultivate?"

Pulitzer replied: "Better reporters and editors, of course, so that they can run better newspapers to better serve the public."

Lu Shi gently pinched his chin and fell into deep thought.

The room fell into silence,

"..."

"..."

"..."

There was silence.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but Pulitzer couldn’t help it anymore and asked, “Professor Lu, do you have any questions?”

Lu Shi said: "I was just thinking, is news the same as newspapers?"

These words stunned everyone present.

Butler asked curiously: "Professor Lu has a new point of view?"

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"It's not my new point of view. In 1899, Italian Marconi successfully sent the first telegram. After that, weren't your American researchers experimenting with using radio waves to transmit sounds to audiences in a certain area?"

This is a radio station.

In an instant, Pulitzer was awakened,

"Professor Lu means that radio waves can not only make telegrams, but also be used as a communication tool? Yes...that's right! This is better than newspapers!"

Lu Shi gave an example: "For example, the interview section of the Mirror relies on radio waves to transmit the interview content in real time, which is far more credible than text. Therefore, the logic of the two as news media is completely different."

Pulitzer greatly agreed,

In his vision, since journalism schools want to teach courses, they cannot just focus on the present, but also have to focus on the future.

He said excitedly: "I knew I was right to find Professor Lu! You understand both practice and theory, and you even understand new technologies! Can we cooperate?"

Only then did Lu Shi understand what the other party was looking for, and he couldn't help but smile.

"What? Do you want me to advise the Vice President?"

Pulitzer is embarrassed,

"This...is nothing."

Butler on the side couldn't help laughing and said: "Professor Lu, the United States is not a feudal centralized state (?). Not to mention the vice president, even the president has no control over what colleges are opened in various universities."

Lu Shi said "Oh~\

,""I understand. Mr. Pulitzer, you want me to advise the establishment of a journalism school as the editor-in-chief of the Mirror and a visiting professor at London Political Economics. So, should I advise Harvard University or Columbia University?"

Pulitzer raised his head,

When he stared at the landing with empty eyes,

"What do Professor Lu think? Do you think it is necessary to establish a journalism school?"

Lu Shi said: "Mr. Pulitzer, is journalism science?"

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