"To Convince the Editors"

Convinced by war experience that the basic character of the Newsmagazine need not be changed by a newsgathering setup, TIME now has a world-covering organization. Working under Hulburd's direction are TIME bureaus in 13 U.S. and Canadian cities, plus 85 part-time stringers in other localities. In Washington, the TIME office has 13 correspondents and 14 staff assistants. Abroad, TIME has 15 bureaus in key cities and 36 stringers elsewhere.

Whereas correspondents of nearly all other publications report directly to the readers, TIME'S correspondents report to the editors. Andre Laguerre, head of TIME'S Paris Bureau, tells how this works:

"Last spring I did a piece about a split in the French Communist Party. I needed a slab of color to make the story live [Laguerre got quite a slab, including a scene in which Communist Jacques Duclos nervously knocked over an ashtray, crawled under the table after it]; but what I chiefly needed to write were big chunks of guidance. It was an unusual story, going against the notions of TIME readers and TIME editors, who have seen so much evidence of Communist discipline and solidarity that they would find it hard to believe in the split. So I knew my main job was to convince the editors. To do this I had to explain very carefully and logically the sequence of events that caused the split. I knew most of the explanation would not be published in the magazine, but I knew that the editors would need the explanation to satisfy themselves that I was right."

Some TIME correspondents have long backgrounds of residence in the areas they cover; most have not. These, however, are expected to become thoroughly immersed in the scene on which they report. TIME'S editors usually, but not invariably, accept a correspondent's guidance. Correspondents sometimes overemphasize the importance of their own scene in the national picture or the world picture. It is up to the editors to set the perspective right, as the editors see it.

Veteran TIME editors, writers and researchers qualify as "experts" in the fields they cover. The prime requirement for a TIME staff member, however, is not special knowledge, but general curiosity. TIME'S staff stands midway between the facts and the reader. Those too deeply involved in a subject often lose the ability to tell others about it. The worlds of business, mathematics, art, music and medicine all have their own jargons. TIME writers who cover each of these must understand the patois; but they have to know another language--English.

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