Why journalists spent decades hiding a secret phrase in their published news stories
In short: Discover the origins of the Order of the Occult Hand, a clandestine group of reporters who secretly inserted a specific, pre-agreed phrase into their articles for decades. This video explains how a casual critique between colleagues in 1965 evolved into a long-running journalistic inside joke.
The tradition began in the autumn of 1965 at the Charlotte News. While drinking, a group of reporters critiqued a story written by Joseph Flanders. Flanders had included a sentence describing an invisible, supernatural force manipulating people like pieces on a game board. His colleagues found the phrasing overly dramatic and decided to challenge one another to sneak that same sentiment into future articles.
Founding members Joseph Flanders and R.C. Smith established the informal pact, which required participants to weave the specific reference into their professional writing. The practice persisted for years, turning ordinary news reports into a private game among journalists who enjoyed the challenge of slipping the forbidden phrase past their editors.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Secret Society of Journalists Known as the Order of the Occult Hand
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