Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-23
Comics Listed
AS Sick Chicks

day as the sick chicks" Of the
newspaper business, but conf
dence was expressed they would
survive the competition of tele-
vision and big-screen movies.
The strips were one of the
problems of newspaper produc-
ton taken up at a discussion
session of the American Society
of Newspaper Editors today.
Lee Hills, executive editor OF
the Detroit Free Press, told the
editors there has been some de-
cline in interest in comics. But
he predicted their survival.
Comics are still extremely
popular and I predict that they
and other entertainment fea-
lures will continue to be an i'm
portant part of the newspapers,
he said.
Walter Lister, managing edi-
tor of the Philadelphia Bulletin
described the strips in a recent
issue of the ASNE bulletin as
1.-THE sick chicks of the news
paper business"
Mr.. Hills said today, however,
that ito be frank much of the
complaint about comics comes
from the advertising depart
ment" because advertising has
dropped off in Sunday comic
sections. He ascribed this less
to TV than to the wider use of
color advertisements in other
sections of the paper.
Comics Reduced in Size
And editors must take some
of the blame for discouraging
funny paper reads, Mr.. Hills
said, because, lat a time when
everything is going wide-screen
and big screen, we've been
cramping and squeezing and re-
ducing" the size of the comics.
Many papers. he reported, are
now restoring the comics to five
column width.
Harold P. Mccall of the New
Orleans Times-Picayune pre-
dicted a new species of newsmen.
Call him a background writer
or a postscript writer if you
want" Mr.. Mccall said. This
writer would write on the signifi-
canoe of the top news"
Letters Column Popular
The audience was particularly
interested in the description by
Reed Sarratt of the Winston
Salem IN. CO. Journal and Sen
tinel OF how his paper gets in
teresting contributions to its COL
umns of letters. He said people
competent to discuss particular
event or policy were invited to
contribute letters. This applies
to cabinet members and others.
One pleasing result, he said,
was that these letters crowded
out letters discussing the reality
of hell-fire and the size of
Noah's ark.
Sevellon Brown, III, editor of
the Providence Journal and Bull
letin, said a policy Of his paper
is set in the final analysis by the
editor. He said the editor should
be the one to do that. not the
publisher or owner, because the
editor is relatively uncluttered
by business details, is closer to
the daily stream of news and is
relatively disinterested.
Scripps Howard Policy
Jack Foster, editor of the
Scripps Howard Rocky Mountain
News of Denver. explained that
the guiding principle of that
group of papers was established
more than IS years ago by E. w.
Scripps. He said the papers
have no politics other than to
support good men and condemn
bad ones and to support good
measures and condemn bad ones.
The editors devoted this con-
Guiding day of their meeting also
to problems Of personnel re-
cruiting and training, the sports
pages, and the editorial page.
The luncheon speaker was
William McChesney Martin, jr.,
chairman Of the Federal Reserve
Board.