The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-02-11
the press, am led ot believe they are a thin-skinned lot
 Scales Unbalanced

are Q thin-Skinned lot
 Scales Unbalanced
 He said that only very few newspapers, in their editorials had tried to hold the scales evenly bai- anced.
 "As for the oannett papers," he said, they reacted characteristic ally.
 "A checkup of the stories that appeared in i6 dannett papers on the first day shows that. altogether, 487 inches of space were given to Gannett and i66 to Ickes. There has been no suppression Of MT. Ickes, MT. dannett had proudly exclaimed during the debate.
 "The Denver Post. further to prove how fair the press can be, printed MT. oannett's speech in full with never c separate reference to the views of MT. dannett's oppon. cnt The Scripps- Howard chain in- dulged In m editorial outburst of such barnyard humor that mary of It's readers were moved to protest.
 Tn short, general cancan was danced around the reol issues in order to detract attention from them. There are editors who, when they cannot meet on issue, make A face ct it."
 Played Up With Fest
 "The Newspapers zestfully played up two overstatementS that made in my New York debate in order to discredit an entire position. It hap- pened that, in reply to question from the floor, I stated that, SO far aS knew, no newspaper had carried the story of the findings of e scien- tist to the effect that tobacco was c short cut to heaven. Since I am trying to build a truthful record it is my duty to admit that this was an exaggeration. I should have said that the majority of the newspapers had suppressed this story which, ac. cording to the magazine Time. was sensational enough to scare the life out of tobacco manufacturers and make tobacco users flesh creep.
 Sacred Cows to Paper
 My second overstatemen was in connection with c certain accident that occurred in Boston. 1 said that the sensational story Of the killing of two men by tho chauffeur of c department store did not appear in any Boston paper, except one. Frank iy. I should have phrased my state- fnent in different terms so aS to make tho point l wanted to bring out, namely, that department stores being heavy advertisers. arc sacred cows to newspapers.
 He said certain newspapers that carried the story did not mention that tho owner of the car was c department store and that In two or three accounts the famo of the owner of the car did not appear at all Tn another ho said, the name was buried" about two thirds Of the way down the column but with. out c reference to the fact that he was the proprietor of the depart- ment store, the display lad" of which was carried in c contiguous column.
 Admits Ills Mistakes
 "With these qualifications, I admit my mistakes. And in admitting them, do it on as prominent an as that on which the errors were uttered. admit my over. statements over c nationwide hook. up of the same National Broadcast- Ing company that carried my orig. inal words. I do not publish my re- traction, in an inconspicuous para graph buried back In the want ads as newspapers sometimes do on those rare occasions when they admit ono of their errors.
 T will Do interested to sec whether tho newspaper will Do as candid in admitting their errors Of over. statement with reference to my slip or these twj Items as 1 have been"
 He specifically attacked also the Hearst newspapers, their publisher, William Randolph Hearst, and tho Chicago Tribune.