Suchergebnisse

Factors in the growth of a vigorous minority press are analyzed by the dean of the School of Journalism at Lincoln University, who predicts that Negro newspapers will continue in the United States for a long time to come. This article is based upon a chapter in Dr. Pride's Ph.D. dissertation at Northwestern.

The director of the Lincoln University (Mo.) School of Journalism—the only Negro institution offering a full professional curriculum—describes a research project which he has been guiding under sponsorship of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Political and economic threats to press freedom constituted the most significant development in the third quarter of 1951. The farcical Czech conviction of AP Correspondent William Oatis stirred official Washington action in retaliation but by the end of the quarter had not resulted in Oatis' release. In the United States a Louisiana newspaper's efforts to expose gambling and official laxness in prosecuting it resulted in a brazen indictment of the journalists for "defaming" the officials. Amid these threats to free expression, however, a committee of Washington newsmen set an example of adherence to the principle of freedom by turning down an editors' suggestion that Tass representatives be barred from the press galleries as spies. … On the economic side, the International Typographical Union sought to counter the trend toward newspaper monopolies by starting three competing dailies. However, the threat of still higher newsprint prices was causing many dailies to go up to 10 cents a copy and the hunt for cheap and plentiful substitute raw materials for newsprint production continued.—W. F. S.

The formation of a special newspaper exchange for news on crime, particularly gambling, as a means of coping with a story which had long since outgrown local coverage facilities, was the most significant development of recent months. Many observers were urging newspapers to consider extending the exchange idea to handle other types of news, as a means of supplementing the wire services and syndicates. In the field of press law, the historic anti-trust suit against an Ohio newspaper on charges of conspiring to effect an advertising monopoly was turned over to the court, after testimony and arguments on both sides, with a decision expected sometime within the year. In radio, the future of television, especially color TV, continued to be the chief topic of speculation and debate. —W. F. S.

In an unprecedented legal action, the U. S. government filed a suit against the Lorain (Ohio) Journal on charges of conspiracy to effect a monopoly. As this historic case began, the question which might ultimately be answered by the courts was whether the inevitable economic trend toward non-competitive facilities may, if aggravated by the owners' deliberate moves to discourage renewed competition, be actionable in the interest of public welfare. The government's ability to prove any ground for prosecution, however, had not been demonstrated in the Lorain case as the fall quarter of the year ended. In another important economic field, the prolonged strike of Chicago typographical unions suddenly ended in a compromise, and with it came the end of a significant and successful experiment in publication of metropolitan newspapers without benefit of compositors. In the radio and television field, two developments highlighted the late summer and early autumn—the order of the Federal Communications Commission curtailing the give-away programs which had become a virtual craze and an added bit of Americana for observers foreign and domestic to wonder at; and the marked "plateau" which the television industry reached after its meteoric postwar rise—a pause which was blamed on various ineptitudes in both industrial and governmental policy controlling "video." —W. F. S.

The increasing international tension in the last quarter of the year put additional emphasis on publicity and propaganda in the battle for men's minds. The Voice of America was considerably strengthened, with promises of still more support to come. In domestic radio, the Columbia Broadcasting System's method of color television was approved by the FCC, only to precipitate a louder debate and a succession of court actions… . In the field of advertising, Dr. George Gallup announced a new evaluation technique which some thought might be as revolutionary as his readership principles have been in the past twenty years… . In the field of news writing and press responsibility several writers were still concerned with what they considered to be a qualitative weakening of journalistic standards. These appeared to be the leading professional problems as the second half of the twentieth century began. —W. F. S.

Economic pressures constituted an ever greater threat to domestic and world press freedom in mid-1951. This was dramatized by the suspension of the St. Louis Star-Times and the transition of that community into the growing column of non-competitive newspaper territories. Rising labor and newsprint costs were cited as a basic cause of the suspension. Newsprint, already at all-time high prices, was the subject of several congressional and administrative discussions—not only in the interest of American newspapers but of publications throughout the free world which were faced with the imminent prospect of starving for paper. … Political attacks on press freedom continued abroad with passage of a highly restrictive statute in India, while in the United States a partisan effort to "investigate" certain Florida dailies was eventually snuffed out. —W. F. S.

Threats to freedom of the press on the international scene constituted one of the most significant developments in the first quarter of 1951. In Argentina, the Peron government succeeded in closing down La Prensa, famed daily of Buenos Aires and one of the government's most virulent critics, in an action reminiscent of the Nazi appropriation of Frankfurter Zeitung two decades ago. In the United Nations, American and other western delegates criticized the proposed draft convention on freedom of information as a subtle, serious threat to actual freedom by reason of its clauses on security and restraint upon publications tending to offend foreign powers… . On the domestic scene, television occupied the spotlight; color processes were involved in a court battle, the televising of the New York hearings of the Senate crime investigation produced what social scientists believed was an unprecedented impact upon the public, and the FCC plans to distribute almost 2,000 "very high frequency" and "ultra high frequency" franchises made the prospect of local video very much greater. —W. F. S.

The literature concerned with communications in American magazines during the last quarter of 1952 was overwhelmingly dominated by the subject of the relationship of radio and the press to the presidential campaign. While the election itself was resolved definitely in favor of Eisenhower, it became more and more evident that press institutions themselves in the United States may soon face a virtual decision at the bar of public opinion in regard to their ideal role in national life. Marking the main skirmish line for the three months in question was the phrase "one-party press" which bounded from a political speech by defeated-candidate Stevenson in early September into almost every written or spoken discussion of the press since that time. Means of disproving or proving this characterization of U. S. newspapers has been the main topic of discussion at many conventions and conferences of such diversified groups as publishers, editors, union leaders, educators, congressmen, women's clubs and politicians as evidenced by following bibliography entries. Also numerous have been outright attempts at proof and disclaimer by various speakers and writers. Also of note during the quarter were the number of articles by pollsters defining their exact position in regard to pre-election opinion figures. Most managed to be both safe and sorry, since the growing corps of polling critics contributed a great number of articles following the election pointing out ignored evidence on Eisenhower's strength with great statistical accuracy.

Presidential political campaigning inevitably made itself felt in the literature of journalism during the third quarter both in the field of pure technique and in the traditional controversy over the balance of newspaper support given to the major parties. The impact of national television coverage of the political conventions inspired many estimates of the effect of this innovation on both the public and on the political parties themselves, the diversity of theories being the outstanding noticeable result. In addition the pure mechanics of television coverage at press conferences and other small gatherings produced a clash with representatives of older news media. This fight gives every evidence of becoming a long-standing problem. As the campaign moved into the final major stage Democratic candidate Stevenson opened an old debate by asserting that the United States "has a one-party press in a two-party country." The inevitable rejoinders followed with the September Editor & Publisher poll indicating that 75% of the daily press which had taken its stand had endorsed Eisenhower. With national attention focused forward toward the final month of campaigning there were few other developments of major importance on the newspaper horizon.

Ethical problems played a greater prominence in newspaper activities during the spring and early summer of 1949 than had been the case for many years. The question of newsmen on state payrolls, in Florida, Illinois and New York, caused the American Society of Newspaper Editors to make an official investigation. The question of medical society advertising against "socialized medicine" touched off charges of bribery and collusion in California. Overseas the British Royal Commission of Inquiry completed its study of the press and rendered a much milder verdict than had generally been expected. In both countries, however, the press was receiving increasing warnings from laymen and from its own practitioners to be more fully conscious of its public service responsibilities.–W. F. S.

A concerted congressional effort to raise second-class postage rates was the chief problem facing the press in the spring of 1949. Another legislative question affecting the newspaper industry was the possibility of repeal or comprehensive revision of the Taft-Hartley Act and its effect upon the strategy of both management and labor. In other branches of communications, the commercial success of television manifestly was assured, thus providing press and radio with a permanent new competitor. The general business pause in the spring of 1949, between recession and further inflation, had its effect on advertising also. On the international scene, the long-awaited United Nations draft convention on freedom of information was submitted for debate at Lake Success, with both Britain and the United States expressing fear that the convention would be modified too drastically for them to accept. —W. F. S.

New mechanical devices for newspaper production continued to be top news during 1948, although the Florida publisher using the famed "cold type" process issued a sober warning against over-optimism. The union struggle against the Taft-Hartley law which motivated the primary interest in printerless production continued as well. The ban of the magazine the Nation from New York City public school lists became the hot-weather cause célébre of early autumn. In the field of radio, television was at last recognized as a practical competitive factor in communications and advertising. —W. F. S.