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Sunday, October 16, 15

THE MICHt(GAN r)AILYv

IunIlI (TetIhI I 95'r-I-- 'J" 1 L T-Paqe Eleven
Dignity nd Sensationalism achin Has
Brainpower
In The English Press Of Moth
(Continued from Page 5)
By GEOFFREY DE DENEY Daily Mirror, and the same applies TIE BEST reportng to be found the world would read the Guard- The machines ae getting more
to the Sunday Expres inits dailyT is in The Times and Manches- ian. The Sunday equivalents of
HE ENGLISH newspaper system alternative. ter Guardian. The only sensation- these are The Observer and Thecmplicated but more compact.
is peculiar in that it is centered alism in these papers is in the Sunday Times, both very fine pap- Transistors are being substituted
on London with its eight or so HERE ARE two checks on sen- sports reports, and then only of ers with larger book review and for vacuum tubes and printed cir-
morning papers and three evening sationalism in the English the lig hest literary quality. There art sections than in the daily ciits for soldered wire circuits.
papers. Apart from the Manches- press. The first is the common law is no lack of articles of serious papers.
ter Guardian, which is really a of libel1 and obscenity, whereby a interest and well-informed editor-
national paper, no provincial news- person can protect his reputition sal scmmnent. 4S FOR the rest of the English "sprouting" sense organs. They
paper, even in its own locality, has ni whereby the crown can prose- press, with the exception of the have photo cell eyes that can read
half the influence of the London cute anythiig tending to deprave Criticism of the arts and humor Daily Telegraph (thouh some punched tapes, grade and sort
dailies. the minds of the young. bThre is lso finds its place. ithe iardian would not except it), it is not parts and reject faulty material.
This gives the English p a unfoitunately a igreat deal f ihs a tendency to mae intentioal rally to be taken siriously. Like they are bring gitet larger rea-
character of its on it- each paper lashcity inchis definition. While tpuns in its headlines ("June Babies many American papers, news is soning circuits (logical structure
is forced to concern itself with ie t he News (if the World its away Flood Wards" once appeared at secreted between the interstices of of tubes and crystal diode gates)
nation as a whole and to ehompeti tth a weely cose of slacity, the head of a comment oni the the advertisements, and many are and are being given larger mem-
more violently with its conpeti i The De-amerion ' is Ianed in rising birth rate), and even The only taken for the sports pages ories (usually magnetic drums).
tors than in countries wiere aothler pies of the es y by Times once appeared wisth a laI aid to provide t barrier against Ani they are eosttts mrre The
local circulation is assured. Purita ir stra. ireport headed "Libel on Toomb- conversation it the subway in the price of the late models is up to
The competition is made sharper The other ch ta is t int'ned stone Grave Charges." morning. the half a million dollar mark.
by the fact that few families read by the P AsCmtit, which is These elements make The Times The truth of the matter is that But as for wcorld-domination by
more than one morning paper. a pioflesion al miOtt attempt- and The Guardian far 'and wa the press does not have any con- machines-that is still in the pro-
Dignifid redrsi~ i f ii 'Sithe 'Tiis inm ho to iti i th lt d f ithe fint Enlishi paias, urn s siderable influence on public opin- vince of science fiction. That ma-
look askance at equally dignified the press. But its sanctions are the fines its the world. Probably ion in England, which is just as chines could play the card game
readers of the Manchester Guard- moral only, consisting of the effect the Guardian is the best, avoidin well when the only accurate item "War" is very probable since the
ian, both of which are papers con- O htpublic opinion that its criticism a certain dullness that The Times' in some papers is the date. This game consists of simple yes-and-
taining the greatest amount of of low class journalism may have. restrained poltey resuhts i. was noticeably assarett when the to sers on the basis of cot-
comment and foreign news and It is a recent establishment, but whole London press went on strike ventional card values. That ma-
with proportionately small circi- already a step forward towardss None the less, there is plenty to for a month this year, and life chines might play real war, how-
lations. higher standards in the press. etertain and divert in both pap- ent on unchanged. The English- ever, is based only on imagination.
The middle classes divide their However, the English press is ers. The difference is perhaps that man reads his paper, but forgets It may be appropriate to let it re-
loyalties, according to political not uniquely sensational by any the intelligent Londoner would it quickly. And like many other main a fiction. A machine with the
affinities, between the Daily Tele- means. It is simply that this is read The Times while the intelli- things in England, tradition goes brainpower of a moth may also
graph, the Daily Mail, and News the element which first strikes gent man from anywhere else in a long way. have an aflinity for fdame,
Chronicle. one and is most disturbing. Other-
Finally there is ' the popular, wise there are many excellent
sometimes called the gutter, press, features, and some peculiarly Eng-
This consists of the Daily Mirror, lish. Thus the front page of The
the Daily Sketch, and the Daily Times is filled only with small
Express, the first two being Labour advertisements, and the headlines,
in sympathy and the third con- such as they are, are in the center
servative, much to the embarrass- pages.
ment of that party. These two Then the largest English paper,
papers enjoy the largest circula- again The Times, never contains
tions by complete dependence on more than 16 pages. Comic strips
sensationahism are limited to one or two in all
ENSATIONALISM in the Eng- except for the adult comics, the The for eastern influence
S EMirror and the Sketch. Most
lish press is probably much the
sepapers have their own cartoonist, has spread to your
tame as it is elsewthere. The primesonofwmarexlet-
someofw marexeet-
elements consist of playing up th others pedestrian, leisure hours, Look
sex interest (Englisimen can't talk olitil ans are the cx-
about it to each other so they read Pltclcron r h x
outitintoeacheot shere ception rather than the rule. Poli- fresh and exotic in our
about i i hers sppes
sboutniton teirneaismad r-tic, generally, probably enter into
relying on emotionlism, and con- the English press as much as in gold occented fashion
-picuouly displaying an absence the American, but there is less
of values. This is one of the chief personal attack on politicians, and designed of no-iron
faults of the English press and has more gemeral criticism of
earned it a bad name n many The Daily Mirror was geneley drip-dry cotton enriched
quarters. condemned when it endeavored to
The English press of a certain charge Churchill as a war monger with striking
category goes about its job with in 1951.,h
lustful eye and drooling jaws and Small items of local news are block and gold-colored
suggests a more than purely re- to be found in all paprs, but I
formative interest. The chief fault generally only of the man-bites- dio prints, Coro
in these papers is their lack of dog variety. Genuine local news is
perspective. I'm as happy as the only to be found to the weekly or aqu. 1O to20
next man to see daily photographs local paper, as a result of the 10.95
of Marilyn Monroe caught bending centralization of the English press.
but at times one craves for gent-
ine information, and then gets NE ITEM contained by nearly £
pictures of kittens and puppy do's. every paper is a gossip column 0fif r.
Teheadhtac ore turo unehi's Thc thn e Lonodon evening papers,
high, the print large, but the sub- The Evening News, The Star, and
stance very small. Tice the editor the Evening Standard, in fact con-
of the Daily Sirror h. s gone to sisi batr'sty of t'osip columns. 'the bru n
jail for libel, and his menmoirs ate movements of the Royal Family
entitled "Pubhihi nd Be Damned "aie closely followed as well as
This may give some idea of the the name of anyone connected with
paper's attitude. The Sketch i them, Particuhar attention is paid
its fiercest rival and copies its to the Royal children, so much so
method slavishly, that the Queen recently requested
The Express is of a different that Prince Charles should not
categery. Its accent on sex and be made the center of undue
sentimentality is less, but its opist- publicity, Princess Margaret is al-
Ions are possibly more jaundiced ways sure of a mention.
and more vicious Their policy The Evening Standard concen-
seems to be "we don't care how trates on the debutantes. It is
good you are, we can malign you possible by paying a certain sumy a
somehow." But however much one to the paper to ensure that a deb's r u
dislikes these papers, one must name is mentioned at least once a

admit that they do the job they week.
set out to do consummately well. But people of genuine interest,
The daily papers have nothing and who have some achievement
on the Sunday papers for the vice to their credit, also receive a men-
of sensationalism. News of the tion. Even The Times has the
World is the most notorious in this equivalent of a gossip column. Its
respect - 90 per cent of its copy announcement of engagements is
consists of the reports of sex closely watched and every couple
crimes and the divorce courts. who hopes to cut any sort of fig-
This paper received its greatest ure must have their engagement
blow in 1927 when publication of included in its columns.
precise details of evidence in di- Then the results of certain pub-aa
vorce proceedings were prohibited. lic examinations are made in the
But its imprecise details leave Times, along with army appont-
little to the imagination, ments, church appointments and
One or two other papers, such University affairs. Consequently,
as the Sunday Empire News, are if you happen to belong to one of
worse if anything, but with a much the groups concerned, The Times
smaller circulation. The Sunday can be one of the most gossipy4
Graphie is the equivalent of the papers there is.