The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-06-21

New oYrk, June 2l.-(UP)-More
Snan so affidavits by newspaper
publishers, editors and analysts en-
phasizing the worldwide coverage
81 the United Press were prepared
today for filing by the defendants
IN the governments antitrust suit
against the Associated Press.
The affidavits dispute the Justice
Departments contention, based on
the A. P.s own advertising, that the
A. p. Is vital to the publication OF
q successful newspaper.
Dozens Of publishers and editors
depose In the documents that they
find their papers at no competitive
disadvantage through depending
exclusively on United Press, whose
service they use as matter OF
choice.
The affidavits are in opposition
to government motion for a sum-
mary judgement in the antitrust
suit. The motion is to be heard by
a three-man federal court here on
July 8.
One Of the most comprehensive of
the defense affidavits was by Will
liam Mapel, former director OF the
Washington and Lee Journalism
school, who made an analysis OF the
A. p. record Of beats and scoops.
Maple said that in the govern
inent affidavit the terms beat and
scoop were misnomers. He then
listed many relatively unimportant
news stories which the government
had described as beats for the APP,
and pointed out that the govern
ment made no distinction in its
record between genuinely big news
stories and small items which might
be left out Of the paper altogether.
From the overall examination, J."
Mapel said, "a number Of obvious
conclusions arose. The first Of these
Is that the picture would have been
entirely different had the Up as
sembled a "log' done in the same
way as the APPS and had the gov
eminent AFFIDAVIT been based on the
UP log
MANY factors which cannot be
reduced to statistics contribute to
the value Of a news service to a
newspaper. One Of these factors
Is transmission. The forWard-look-
ing news service will chart trans
mission short cuts IN advance and
DO ready to employ these quicker
facilities when the big story breaks.
Another factor is the timely place
ment Of reportorial talent on poten-
tally important news fronts.
mo story tests the strength and
Aexibility Of a press service as Sc
verely as war. This has been espe-
cially true in the last decade when
first the ominous threats Of war
and then war itself have been the
big continuing news story for all
newspapers everywhere.
without in any way drawing in
eidious comparisons it is matter of
record that over the last ten years
up-due. to what appears to have
been q keen appreciation of the
meaning of certain world events plus
advance transmission experiments
IN remote parts of the world, the
oanny placement of seasoned re-
porters ahead Of the right time, and
the willingness of management to
underwrite such a programmes, in
fact, scored notable wartime beats
beginning with the invasion Of Eth
bpia In 1885 and running through
the many developments which have
followed in the wake Of that ag-
KresNve thrust.
I'm this connection attention is
called to an APP memorandum taken
from the material supplied by the
government with the APP comparison
records. This memorandum signed
T. H. o. and dated June Ii, 1910,
gives credit where credit is due for
superior war coverage in the follow
ing language:
"'On Monday, June 10, front pages
Of four non-Uew York evening men,
bers with plural service were nearly
all AP in dealing with Italy's entry
into the war. That Is in marked con-
trast with Russians move into Po-
land, the German grab of Scandi-