Reporters in large groups are ill at ease, and they try to make up for it by acting too easy. Each is preoccupied with his own time situation - his paper's deadlines and the accessibility of telephones. Each, before a public conference, shapes in his mind what would make a good story if the principal said it, and how he can trap him into saying it. If the principal delays his appearance, the reporter begins to wonder whether he will have time to write the story, Then, with further delay, he begins to wonder if he will have time to telephone. Next he gets angry, He resents his subjection to the whims of his inferiors, and he vents his resentment by a show of elaborate contempt.
- A.J. Liebling, The Earl of Louisiana, p.315 in The Sweet Science and Other Writings
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