Evening star., 1949-07-28

Directors of the American So
ciety of Newspaper Editors today
condemned the acceptance OF pay
by newspapermen from the State
of Illinois as political rewards. fol-
lowing an investigation Of this
practice.
They said receipt of such funds
by newspapermen is unethical and
contrary to the public. RESPONSE
bilities and obligations of the press
They advised newspapers and
newspapermen elsewhere to de-
termine whether such practices
exist their own localities.
The editors investigation fol-
lowed the disclosure on April IA
by The Chicago Daily News and
The St. Louis 2ost-Dispatch that
81 newspapermen were on the
Illinois payroll between 194l and
1949. The report commended the
two newspapers.
Tardy Wire COverage PrObed.
Also looked into was the fact
that press associations were tardy
in carrying stories of the exposure
to other cities. The editors laid
this to faulty news judgment.
rather than to any intention to
suppress the news. They warned,
however, that the failure to re-
port promptly public criticisms OF
the press leads to suspicion OF the
good faith of the press.
The report was drafted by a
special committee of the, ASNE
directors, which met in Washing
ton July II. The committee con-
sisted of Virginius Dabney. Rich
mond Times-Dispatch; N. r
Howard, Cleveland News: Alexan-
der F. Jones. Washington Post;
David Lawrence. United States
News and World Report; B. M
McKelway, Washington Star
president of the ASNE. and
Hamilton Owens, Baltimore Sun.
Part of the report was based on
the results of an investigation by
a committee which consisted OF
Jenkin Lloyd Jones. Tulsa. tOkla.) }
Tribune: A. Y. Aronson, Louis
vile CKy.) Times, and John w.
Hillman, Indianapolis undD News.
Conclusions in Report.
The report stated these con-
illusions:
There is substantial evidence
Of a long standing, political GUS
tom in Republican and Demo-
cratic administrations in the State
of Illinois of rewarding some
newspaper publishers and their
employees. along with other citi-
zens working for the party. by
jobs on the State payroll involving
little or no service to the public.
We deplore this practice by
any government as an improper
use of public funds.
we condemn the acceptance OF
such funds by newspapermen as
unethical and as contrary to the
public responsibilities and obliga-
tions of the press.
In the process Of our investiga-
ton, certain facts became evil
dent which we believe place in
clear perspective the malpractice
of q few -newspapermen against
the hackareand aof political cus-.
tom IN the State.
Some 10000 names on the
State payroll during the eight
year administration of former
Gov. Dwight Green were checked
against the names of 800 news
papermen. Exactly 81 newspaper
men were found on the payrolls.
Amajority of these 81. in the
opinion of the ASNE investigating
committee. held State Jobs that
were either outright sinecures or
Jobs in which their duties were
entirely or primarily political. But
there were among them men who
held legitimate positions. widely
known to the public. performing
services to the State against which
there Is no valid criticism.
Small Minority.
"Of the 1872 newspapers in Illi-
nois. fewer than so were in any
way involved in a situation which
was widely interpreted outside the
State as rejecting on the State
press in particular and. indirectly.
on the press Of the country in
general.
For reasons that are partly
historical, conditions in Illinois
reflect the attitude of q small
minority of the newspapermen
primarily individuals whose first
allegiance is to party politics and
whose newspaper work is incl
dental to their partisan activity.
n l/ IL