Swing (Jan-Dec 1945)

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The Orend of the Times The Vice President of the United States points out weaknesses, strength, and possibilities of the press. Here is his forceful address delivered December 4, 1944, in Chicago's Palmer House, at an anniversary dinner in honor of Marshall Field and the Chicago Sun. By the HONORABLE HENRY A. WALLACE THIS dinner tonight is an occasion to gladden the hearts of all true liberals. Marshall Field's name through the Chicago Sun and PM has come to stand for as much in the world of progressive thought as does the name of the original Marshall Field in the world of business. To me it is both an honor and a pleasure to be here tonight. My purpose is to discuss one of the weaknesses of newspapers as they now exist and then indicate some of their great possibilities for future service. Time was when the little man with a big idea and not much money could launch a little newspaper and build it up as a medium of personal expression in behalf of the general welfare. Those days are largely gone. In almost every town one newspaper now exists where there were two or three before. The mechanics of news gathering and photographic transmission have been improved but the possibility of starting a new newspaper in large towns is almost non-existent except for the man of great means. The influence of little men with big ideas has been steadily dechning. Their place has been partially taken by columnists and radio commentators who for a time expressed liberal sentiments freely but who more and more find themselves hampered and censored if they cater to the liberal public. Everywhere the heavy hand of a stodgy, financial conservatism has more and more been closing down. The people sense this and most of all the working newspaper men and those in the composing room and shop. North of the Ohio River the vast majority of the publishers of the newspapers are either reactionary or Republican or both. At the same time from two-thirds to seven-eighths of the employees of the same newspapers are liberal or Democratic. The Chicago Sun is one of the few newspapers where there is just as high a percentage of liberal sentiment in the front office as there is among the working newspaper men and the employees in the shop. I have no desire to go over the old familiar story of the influence of advertisers on the editorial slant, as well as on the presentation and selection of news. There has always been a hot difference of opinion on this subject and I am convinced that most newspaper publishers, no matter how biased they may be, feel, nevertheless, that they are honest and fair in their presentation both of news and edi