(2 of 2)
Mirror Reflections. Sustained by curiosity value, the paper sold out its debut issue of 3,500,000. Its look was different, if not exactly new, although some of the headlines might have been mirror reflections of the Mirror (I'M NOT PUSHED FOR MONEY SAID THE PRINCESS BUT I'M SIMPLY TIRED OF STAGNATING). In that traditional pasture for British editorials, the center fold, the Sun spread a two-page promotion for Goldfinger, the U.S. film that will have its premiere in London sponsored by Cecil King. Readers curious about the Sun's assessment of the com ing British elections had to wait until page 9, where a story by the Sun's political correspondent added up to the uninformative statement: LIBERALS HOPE TO HOLD THE BALANCE.
Whether this sort of fare could guarantee King a place for his Sun was a question for which only time—and King's millions—could find the answer. But the odds are against it. Fleet Street is contracting rather than growing. Six popular papers have vanished in the last five years, and daily readership is down 600,000 since 1954.
*The Daily Sketch was first published in 1909.