The Press: Righting the Rewrite

The United Press committed the common journalistic sin of hopping up a story —and raised an uncommon fuss. Reported the U.P. under a Lorain, Ohio dateline: "The first bread line since the Depression days of the 1930s formed today at City Hall in this recession-hit steel town where one of every nine residents is receiving unemployment checks." The "news" sped across the U.S. Cried the Lorain evening Journal (circ. 26,517): "A vicious false report ... a case study in mass hysteria." Rewriting the U.P. rewriteman, a Journal editorial pointed out that Lorain (pop. 59,219) has a total of only 175 relief...