The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1944-04-07
White Paper
CONTINUED from Page one)

stations, WJR, WJBK and WJLB
In anticipation of the Murray broad
cast, the agency devised an ad which
said: Surprise Election Broadcast
A story you never heard before I'LL!
Tonight. WJR, WJBK and WJLB.'
The advertisement did not specificall,
refer to Murray as the speaker
The ad was submitted to The News
which promptly wanted to know
whether or not it was in reference tt
the Murray speech. When told it was
News official informed the agency
that he paper did not want anything
to do with it and rejected it.
However, The Free Press and Times
ran the ad without questioning in edi
lions of October 30.
On the Saturday before election
day, FITZGERALD made a speech expos
ing purported activities Of the Ku
Klux Khan, named notorious leaders
and charged them with distributing
throughout the city large quantities of
scurrilous, anti-negro literature urging
the election of Jeffries.
FITZGERALD charged they were being
paid thsough campaign slush fund.
EDITIONS ARE MISSED
The story did not make the first
editions of any of the three papers of
Sunday October 81. In later editions
it was buried on the inside of all three
papers, despite the fact that it was
generally regarded as the most news
worthy story of the whole election
campaign.
The same day, The News had a
Jeffries campaign story on the front
page, with a small bold-faced insert
reading: "FitzGerald accuses Khan
Page g." On the same front page
there was an editorial aimed to scare
voters against organized pressure
groops," declaring that the ballot is
secret"
At the end of the editorial, there
was referenre to a second one which
said: "Read How FitzGerald Turns to
Abuse of Jeffries, on the Editorial
Page Today"
Free Press employees regarded the
story as highly newsworthy, had it
all set for a big play when the edi-
torial director ordered it cut to few
paragraphs and placed at the end of
an old FITZGERALD campaign story
The editorial director ordered it
played down because he said there
was no time to check the facts This
was despite the fact that The Free
Press had the substantiating report of
its own reporter, who was the first to
discover Khan participation in the
Jeffries campaign and worked most of
the previous night on the story
However, The Free Press did give
it page-one play on Monday, upon the
order of the managing editor.
TIMES REJECTS AN AID
Earlier, the advertising agency de-
cided to use FitzGerald's disclosures
on the xxx as a substitute ad for
the Sunday papers just before election
day
The Times publisher refused to ac-
cept the ad on the ground that there
was too short notice for a change
from one already submitted, that the
new ones senationalism deviated from
orthodox political advertising and that
he would not permit advertising which
did not hue to the line of building
up instead of tearing JEFF
fries down.
With this, the agency gave up any
further attempts to publicize in The
News or Free Press the charges of
Khan participation in the election.
In an earlier campaign speech, Fitz-
Gerald asserted that The News had
in 1943 received a cut of 100000 in
The city tax assessment on its garage |
to the plant.
The News carried the story in Octo |
Der % editions on page IT, well at |
The bottom of one in which FitzGerald |
criticized the press, while Jeffries
story was on the front page
plus front page editorial supporting
him.
The speech on the News tax assess
nent was then devised as an ad. The
Times was asked to run the ad, but
rave flat refusal on the grounds
hat it contained an inference of dis
honesty on the part of the tax asses
or's office and they said they feared
t constituted libel.
NEWS FOLLOWS THROUGH
The News also refused because they
aid the speech ran as story the