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Praise from a Doctor. The managing editors criticized the A.P. for too much "surface reporting" of foreign news, for overwriting and overqualifying domestic stories, and for its practice of sending out confidential notes on off-the-record subjects. Tall Edward Kennedy, who got into A.P.'s doghouse for breaking the German surrender story, and is now managing editor of the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press, said: "It's absurd for the A.P. to send 'confidential' news notes to 1,200 papers. It won't add to the confidence readers have in newspapers."
On the credit side, the M.E.s found that A.P. stories are getting fresher and brighter. Readability Expert Dr. Rudolf Flesch, hired to teach clear and simple writing (TIME, Feb. 16), said that the A.P.'s output is less monotonous than a year ago, although it still needs sprucing up. Best of all, the A.P. seemed to be growing aware that the changing nature of the news is forcing it to report not only what happened, but why.