Davis, Richard Harding: The Reporter Who Made Himself King. V1. 26 Dec 2010
 

Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 — April 11, 1916) was a journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first famous American war correspondent who covered the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and the First World War. His writing greatly assisted the career of Theodore Roosevelt and he also played a major role in the evolution of the American magazine. His influence extended to the world of fashion and he is credited with making the clean-shaven look popular among men at the turn of the 20th century.

Excerpt
The Old Time Journalist will tell you that the best reporter is the one who works his way up. He holds that the only way to start is as a printer's devil or as an office boy, to learn in time to set type, to graduate from a compositor into a stenographer, and as a stenographer take down speeches at public meetings, and so finally grow into a real reporter, with a fire badge on your left suspender, and a speaking acquaintance with all the greatest men in the city, not even excepting Police Captains.