The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-08-27
HoWNeus Agency
Faxed Red Plot
ToBomb Churches
By SAM BAKER

anti-Soviet and anti-red news
fakery trickled through to the edi-
torial departments-if not the read
ers-of the capitalist press, recently,
through the columns of Editor and
Publisher, the trade magazine of
the newspaper business.
Exposing the taking Of story
charging a Soviet-inspired COMMIT
mist plot to bomb churches through
out the country, which was revealed
as unfounded when competing news
services investigated the SCOOP"
the article throws light on the ly-
ing character of the anti-red propa-
ganda which finds its way into the
newspapers every day.
The story was sent out on July
% by the Intercity News Service of
New York and Washington, report
ing an address by DR.. Oscar Au-
tritt, Russian clergyman and for
mer Mississippi college professor"
before the ra-fashionable First
Congregational Church of Washing
ton, D. c., which Calvin Coolidge
used to attend.
Dr. Autritt was quoted as saying
that he had seen, in a dark st.
Louis cellar, ue-print 40 feet
long" with list of churches to be
dynamited "as a lesson to capt.
talistic America" and Sin accord
ance with the soviet principle to do
away with all churches"
Newspapers throughout the Mid
die West and South were queried by
the Intercity on the Autritt story,
and a number of them printed it,
including the Suffolk (Va) News
Herald, whose charges of "misrep-
resentation" led to Editor and Pub
lisher's expose.
Discredited in the eyes of news
papers subscribing to their news
services because they were appar-
emily beaten on the story, the As
ISOLATED Press and United Press,
ranking news gathering agencies,
investigated the report of Autritt's
address.
As a result, on July 80, the Asso-
ciated Press sent out a story quot
ing Autritt to the effect that he had
named no specific churches and
that he was unable to list any of
the cities and churches allegedly OH
the blue print, although Intercity's
reports had credited him with spe-
cial mention of the Suffolk (Va.)
church and others. At the same
time, the United Press also sent out
a note to editors discrediting the
story.
The following day, the Suffolk
News-Herald sent the following tel
egram to Intercity: Kindly advise
source of church story. Doctor Au-
tritt denied same to Associated
Press"
INTERCITY'S response vouched
for the integrity of the reporter
who covered the story and charged:
Associated Press denial based on
fact that Associated press didn't
cover story" 1t admitted, however,
that Autritt was "a highly sensa-
tional speaker" and simply thought
to scare church people and did not
know reporter covered the story I'M
til afterwards"
The News-Herald was not salts
fled by this reply and again tele-
graphed to learn whether Suffolk s
church was mentioned specifically,
as the Intercity story had stated. In
reply they were told that Autritt
had mentioned leading Methodist
churches in every town so that the
plot must have included Suffolk. /"
Out of this criss-cross pattern of
denials and charges several truths
are evident. One is the truth of
Intercitys complaint that the Asso-
ciated Press showed up its lies not
in the interests of truth, but be-
cause it didn't get the story.
Also apparent is the prostituted
character of press whose news
agencies give wide circulation to
news" even when they themselves
label the source as highly sensa-
tional," and then add details of
their own to make the story still
more sensational, as did Intercity
in the Suffolk instance.
1t becomes more and more i'm
portant for the workers to under
stand the true role played by the
supposedly impartial" boss press
and to realize the necessity for a
greater workers press to combat
these lies by spreading the real
facts, instead of depending on the
rare occasions when the fascist pot
will call the reactionary kettle
black
which it springs. All active mem