In New Orleans, the warfare is bitter between Publisher David ("Tommy") Stern's evening Item (circ. 103,153) and its well-entrenched competitors, the morning Times-Picayune and afternoon States (combined circ. 274,000). Two months ago in the heat of their running battle, the Times-Picayune scored a spectacular beat over the Item. The T-P broke a story that New Orleans detectives had collected $300,000 in a series of safe robberies. After the T-P story broke, the sheriff dragged the canals and bayous, found three stolen safes, including one taken from a local finance company.
The evidence resulted...