The Press: Handouts by Wire

One day last week, a teleprinter in the Los Angeles Mirror-News chattered excitedly with a strange bit of copy. "The following," began a story punched out 6 miles west, "is released by Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, 4614 Sunset Boulevard. Attention city desks. Advance release. 'Mistletoe is for kissing, not for eating.' " Thereafter followed 200 words, drafted by Childrens Hospital, to the effect that mistletoe is poisonous when taken internally. What was remarkable about the story was not the toxicity of mistletoe but the transmission. One of the publicity man's newer gimmicks in his tireless assault on news space...

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