Front Page War

Newspaper editors have been reaching for their big type in almost every edition lately. They have been worrying about Communist infiltration--into the State Department, into the Executive Branch, even into Harvard Yard. Press treatment of the present charges and countercharges, claims and counterclaims, can hurt the nation just as the infiltration would. For, while statements such as those of Senator McCarthy are "news," continual headlining of unproved, unsubstantiated charges can produce an anxiety which itself should be feared.

Last week, for example, The Boston Traveler topped its front page: "Reds Drive to Enlist Boston Youth; Labor Youth League Invades BU, Harvard Yard." Under this banner, the story mentioned the John Reed Club as spearhead of Red Infiltration here. But it did not go into details on how many Harvard youths had been enlisted by the Drive. Readers acquainted with the John Reed Club would already have known: 1.) that the John Reed Club, a chartered College organization, voted in an open meeting to join the Labor Youth League last month; 2.) that the John Reed Club has existed for over a year, and never made a secret of its existence. But most of the readers must have acquired a vague apprehension rather than the facts of what is going on at Harvard.

Although most of the "charge Communists infiltrate" stories consist merely of unsubstantiated discourse, they can produce a state of mind which accepts this kind of editorial thinking from the Philadelphia Inquirer: "As the task of probing for the truth of charges of Communist infiltration and influence in the State Department proceeds, it becomes increasingly apparent that strict legal technicalities cannot be allowed unduly to limit this vitally important inquiry . . . We hope that neither he (Lattimore) nor his counsel will fall back upon mere objection to (Budenz's charges) as hearsay evidence."

Thus, in the atmosphere of anxiety which has been created, the mere unconfirmed charges have become an excuse for suggesting the abridgment of rights of citizens. The more this atmosphere of suspicion and fear is built up by newspapers overplaying irresponsible charges, the greater will be the readiness of people to do away with "technicalities" and rights of law.