Journalism in Tennessee by Mark Twain. Short summary

5 seconds

An aspiring journalist arrives in Tennessee and asks his editor what he should write. He reveals to him a world full of slander, sweeping accusations, and insults. The life of a journalist is like that of a soldier.

1 minute

The hero of the humorous story arrives in Tennessee to work for the Morning Dawn newspaper. He meets with the editor. He instructs him to do a digest of the local press, which the newcomer does. But the editor does not like what he has written. He says he needs to «spice it up.»

In order to show what kind of writing, the editor decides to correct the text of the young journalist. He focuses not so much on what the competitors write, but rather denigrates colleagues from rival publications. No sooner had the editor finished correcting the text than a brick flew into the window. But the editor treated the incident as something ordinary.

Throughout the day, angry (and often armed) people — politicians and employees of other newspapers — stormed the newsroom. There were fights and shootings. The editor hoped that the new employee would eventually get used to it. But he found the temperament of the Tennesseans too turbulent for him.