Last Updated: May 26, 1999
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The Rumor Factory
It’s a small, small world
By: Deborah Howell
Put any two people in the world of newspaper journalism together. They
will know a third person in common.
Take Joe Blitz from East Overshoe, Colo., and Betsy Boop from Mostly
Nowhere, Texas.
One went to the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 1962. The
other to the University of Colorado, graduating 20 years later. They both
knew journalism professor Bill McReynolds.
If Blitz and Boop worked at more than one newspaper, they will know
more than one person in common. If they’re in their 40s or 50s, have moved
around a fair amount, or if they’re married to another journalist, the
chances go up they will know many people in common. And keep up with most
of them.
For example. Blitz and Boop are at a bar in St. Paul, Minn., attending
a regional Society of Professional Journalists meeting.
Blitz: You know, I had an internship in East Overshoe before you got
there. Old Hard-Assed Harry was the city editor.
Boop: You know what happened to him? He’s now the M.E. in No Luck, Wis.
Blitz: No Luck? That’s where my best friend Mary Graham is working.
Blitz: I was talking to Harry the other day and he said your best friend
is really having problems with the new business editor.
Boop: Jeez, she didn’t tell me that.
