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University Dailv Kansan. October 9. 1981
Inside
A portrait of William Allen White hangs in the office of the Emporia Gazette above a typewriter used by the late editor.
Emporia
From page 1
tour, they can see how things were long ago," Call said.
The Gazette is not as it was long ago, however. Technologically, video display terminals have replaced most of the typewriters. In 1800, William H. Gayle published a book and the paper's second-most famous editor, redesigned the typography of the paper, giving it its now-famous subdued, traditional look.
The Gazette became the smallest paper to win in the Ayers Cup, the nation's highest typography award.
In 1974, the Gazette went to offset printing,
and printed on paper the bright, crisp appearance it carried.
Journalistically, there have been other changes. Call said,
'We're certainly not considered to be the prime voice of the American people, as we were in William Allen White's day. But, on the other hand, we do work hard on our editorials.'
Rav Call
"There's a change in the approach of reporting the news," he said. "In William Allen White's time, Emporia was much smaller and news was more folky.
"As the town grew and interests broadened, our news coverage has changed. We use more investigative reporting and more background material. William Allen White's staff might have done."
ONE ASPECT of the paper that has not
impacted over the years still is, the is
the important ninalite nare.
Call said he still felt free to "blast away" on the same page that gave America some of its greatest editorsors, including 'What's the Matter with Kansas?" , the Pulitzer Prize-winning "To an Anxious Friend" and the legendary "Mary White."
"We're certainly not considered to be the prime voice of the American people, as we were in William Allen White's day. But, on the other hand, we do work hard on our editorials.
"I think he would be comfortable with our editorial page, which in appearance and style hasn't changed much from his day, although the writing has deteriorated somewhat," Call said.
"Here you can say what you damn well please
because you own the paper—the Whites owr the
Paparas."
After the death of William Lindsay White in 1973, his wife, Kristine White, took over as editor of the Gazette. Her son-in-law, David Walker, became publisher.
"We build little dynasties" Katherine White
and James McNeill's desk of her large,
memorabilia-strewn office.
The Whites do, indeed, still own the paper.
Her walk is slow and her hair is white, but her eyes shine with wit and intelligence as she lovingly flips through the original copy of her father-in-law's "Mary White" editorial, or at home, shows visitors where she uncovered, after a week in hiding, an old, unpublished history of the Gazette.
The Gazette has had 70 years of brilliant writing. "Bill and my dad were brilliant writers."
THE WRITING 'imn't brilliant anymore, she
as but 'in many ways, the paper is much better
than it was'
"I gave the staff grammar lessons," she said.
"That's the kind of thing I can do. They (W.A. Wail and W.L. White) didn't care very much about our course, their own writing was a different matter."
Grammar is not the only thing she protects at the paper, however. She preserves the Gazette's traditional style, she said, although some of the female reporters might not like it.
magnificent of her style battles, the editor said that she was pleased with the Gazette.
"Wouldn't you be?" she asked.
"I think he (W.A. White) would be perfectly delighted with it, although he might wish there could be better writing. I think Bill White would be delighted with it, too. The wasn't not bad;
PERHAPS NO ONE knows that better than the Gargake, for both W_White and W_White. White
Gargake, for both W_White and W_White.
McDaniel began working at the paper in 1924, "when Mr. White was at the peak of his career."
"That was the year he ran for governor of Kansas on the anti-Ku Klux Klan ticket," McDaniel said. "He finished third but he finished off the Klan."
McDaniel retired from the paper in 1970 but was in the Gazette offices Friday to pick up a copy of last Saturday's paper, which carried his weekly article.
I still write a weekly column, but it isn't literature. "he said
He works as a stringer for the paper now
Sitting forward in his chair and slowly rubbing
I think the ghost of William Allen White is always there. We're especially reminded of it when we make mistakes or changes. People will say, "Well, William Allen White would never have allowed that to happen."
his hands together, the small, quiet man recounted his history of the Gazette and William
—Rav Call
"I was in the room when a publisher came in with a check for a million dollars, went into Mr. White's office, laid it on his desk and said, 'I want to buy your paper.'
"Mr. White picked up the check, handed it back to him and said, 'The paper's not for sale.' "
McDaniel shook his head and said, "I don't need a million dollars would buy any paper in the state."
THERE ARE OTHER changes in the Gazette today, McDaniel said, not the least of which is the absence of writers like William Allen White and William Lindsay White.
"They don't come along very often," he said.
"I don't go along with the kids anymore. They think everything is trivial unless it's bringing me joy."
"I think their investigative skills have probably improved. Mostly that's what they're taught today. They all want to investigate people instead of report on them."
The paper has changed mechanically, too, he said.
"The old-time authors wouldn't have been
'There's a change in the approach of reporting the news. In William Allen White's time, Emporia was much smaller and news was more folksy.'
—Rav Call
caught dead with a typewriter," he said. "They said the medium became more important than the writing.
"The same thing is true with these damn machines (video display terminals). I got my mind so much on hitting the right deal and watching the screen that I can't compose from my notes. They detract from writing skills and I know they detract from editing."
McDaniel said that he thought the paper had gotten too far away from its tradition.
PART OF THE problem, he said, was the dwindling number of veteran Gazette workers in Kansas.
"The group is getting kind of thin," he said slowly, looking toward the floor. "The beginning is not a big deal."
"I'm not feeling so well myself, me at 77," he said quietly.
He stopped and thought for a moment.
He talked of a Gazette without the friends of William Allen or William Lindsay White.
"It's got to weaken a bit," he said, "but whether that's good or bad, it's not for me to do."
David Walker, publisher of the Gazette,
David Walker, publisher of the Gazette,
the tradition of Walt Disney,
Alice Allen White was failing.
"The passage of time is dulling that tradition," he said. "Times change and if his father has gone astray, I will not."
Even William Allen White, Walker said, thought his fame would ultimately rest on his "Mary White" editorial and not on the Emporia Garage.
"Ultimately, I think he's right. I think he will be remembered for that," he said.
The Emporia Gazette, Walker said, would survive without the tradition.
"It's just as strong and well-directed as it was then," he said.
"I think things are holding up quite well."
Kathrine White, editor of the Gazette, said she attempts to preserve the paper's traditional style: "The Gazette has had 70 years of brilliant writers."
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Ray Call, managing editor and editorial writer of the Gazette, works at a video display terminal in the paper's newsroom.
Photos by
EARL RICHARDSON