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University Daily Kansan, October 3, 1981
Page 3
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
redesigned the typography of the paper, giving it its now-famousubined, traditional look.
The Gazette became the smallest paper to win
the Ayers Cup, the sailor's highest typography
award.
In 1974, the Gazette went to offset printing,
using the paper the bright, crisp appearance
BOSSISLAT
Journalistically, there have been other changes. Call said.
“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 than William Allen White's staff might have done.
'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
Call began working for the Gazette in 1944 under William Lindsay White. That same year, Del Brinkman, dean of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas, began his stint at the paper, working as a backup janitor and then later as a reporter.
Call said he still felt free to "blast away" on the same page that gave America some of its greatest editorsials, including "What's the Matter with Kansas?", the Pulitzer Prize-winning "To an Anxious Friend" and the legendary "Mary White."
ONE ASPECT of the paper that has not
involved much in such said, is the
importance of the editorial page.
"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," Cali 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.
"Here you can say what you damn well please
because you own the paper—the Whites own the
Papers."
After the death of William Lindsay White in 1973, his wife, Katherine White, took over as editor of the Gazette. Her son-in-law, David Walker, became publisher.
The Whites do, indeed, still own the paper
"We build little dynasties" Katherine White as she sat behind the desk of her large, menacing arm.
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
"The Gazette has had 70 years of brilliant
business," the gazette said. "Bill and my dad were
brilliant writers."
home, absorbs visitors where she uncovered, afterward, a
woman living in her house, an old, unpub-
lished jailer of the Guatemala.
THE WRITING isn't brilliant anymore, she said, but 'in many ways, the paper is much better'.
"I gave the staff grammar lessons," she said.
"That's the kind of thing I can do. They (W.A. White and W.L. White) didn't care very much in 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.
"I can't get it into the heads of these stupid women that you can say to Mrs. Katrine White "
Regardless 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 not have to do that. The writing not bad; it just is not good that way."
PERHAPS NO ONE knows better than Ted McDaniel, former managing editor of the GQ magazine.
"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 began working at the paper in 1924, "when Mr. White was at the peak of his career."
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.
He writes *sss* a stringig to the paper now.
It has *sss* a weekly column, but it isn't literature.
Sitting forward in his chair and slowly rubbing
1 "sun Write a weekly column, but it isn't literature," he said.
'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."'
—Rav Call
his hands together, the small, quiet man re-
takes in the history of the Gazette and William
Allen White.
"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 think these days that a million dollars would buy
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 get along with the kids anymore. They think everything is trivial unless it's bringing down somebody in government.
"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 save the medium because more important than
"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 numbers of veteran Gazette workers.
"The group is getting kind of thin," he said slowly, looking toward the floor. "They begin—on their own."
He stopped and thought for a moment
"I'm not feeling so well myself, me at 77," he said quietly.
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 say.
David Walker, publisher of the Gazette,
Wilson Alts, and the tradition of
Wilson Alts White pages.
"The passage of time is dulling that tradition", he said. "Times change and if his father has been wronged he will have to look."
Even William Allen White, Walker said, thought his fame would ultimately rest on his "Mary White" editorial and not on the Emporia Gazette.
"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."
Katherine White, editor of the Gazette, said she attempts to preserve the paper's traditional style: "The Gazette has had 70 years of brilliant writers."
THE·EMPORIA·GAZETTE
Reagan Outlines Budget Program
Ray Call, managing editor and editorial writer of the Gazette, works at a video display terminal in the paper's newroom.
Photos by EARL RICHARDSON