Before photography was a standard accompaniment to news stories, most large newspapers employed a number of artists to create a visual element for their stories. If you believe a picture is worth a thousand words, you can imagine how important their job was. Being an illustrator for a newspaper required a lot of talent and the ability to work quickly enough to capture dramatic human scenes in just a few seconds.
The San Francisco Examiner had a large team of artists. Rather than pose for a formal picture, they employed their creativity and created their own unique team portrait.
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old spirituals 
The closest position to a newspaper illustrator today is a courtroom artist. One basic ability required to be a courtroom artist is a photographic memory to be able to produce a sketch with the facial expressions needed to portray the emotion exhibited by the individual.
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A photographic memory and the ability to convey a whole scene/feeling in a single sketch can’t be a common skillset.
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