Robertson Attacks Conservative Bias

Protesting against the conservative slant of the American press, Nathan Robertson, Washington correspondent of PM, told a joint meeting of the Harvard Liberal Union, Post War Council and Radcliffe League for Democracy last night that economic and political decisions made in the next few months would be critical, and that "unless we can face these issues better than most of our American papers have, we're in for a lot of trouble."

In discussing the topic, "The Power of the Press for Good and Evil," Robertson told the gathering: "The power of the press is a pretty significant power at this particular time, and it can shape our lives to a large extent. I'm afraid that the press is going to use that power as it has in the past to misinform the people on vital issues."

The newspaperman cited numerous instances of slanting stories by organs of information such as the New York Times and the Associated Press which are "usually considered pretty impartial." He pointed to the conservative slant given to stories on war profits, strikes, renegotiation of war contracts, and the recent removal of Jesse Jones as Secretary of Commerce in favor of ex-Vice President Henry A. Wallace.