This paper describes an episode in the history of journalism that reveals a continuing tension in news reporting. Dating from the invention of the telegraph in the late nineteenth century, news reports have been increasingly patterned after either a "scientific" or a "literary" model. The scientific report is based on irreducible facts, high-speed national communication networks, the professionalization of the journalist, and an integrated social foundation for the newspaper. The literary perspective is a more conservative approach to news writing, based on the integrity of feelings, personal observations, interpretations, and opinions, with an essentially local and individualistic organization of society. Although no resolution to the conflicting perspectives has been reached, a few scholars, such as Robert Ezra Park and John Dewey, attempted to find a balance between the two perspectives. The debate continues today, in similar terms, between proponents of new journalism and precision journalism. A bibliography is included. (Author/RL)