The Press: Budget Trouble

The New Republic would not soon forget the Year of Henry Wallace. In his reign as editor (TIME, Jan. 5), the weekly had more than doubled its circulation to 100,000—and reportedly lost more than $500,000.

Last week, pleased by one accomplishment but alarmed by the other, the New Republic was shaken by another surge of frantic economizing. Editor Michael Straight, whose family has footed the New Republic’s steady deficit since 1914, had given up the dream of a slick-paper product with lavish displays of half-tones, big names and special art work. Gone, in the undertow of the economy wave, was a flock of staffers. The staff was still bigger than in pre-Wallace days, but the survivors had that worried “who’s next” look. The trouble was that the magazine had been staffed and geared up for a 330,000 sale with advertising income to match, but printing problems had multiplied and advertisers had failed to queue up.

The man in charge of retrenching was hefty Edd Johnson, a veteran newsman (New York World-Telegram, Cottier’s, CBS, OWI), who returned a year ago from three years as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Sun syndicate. Last summer he was hired by the New Republic for eight weeks of editorial doctoring, stayed on as managing editor at Straight’s request. Johnson started to trim the editorial budget from $420,000 a year to $240,000. Then Straight asked that a group of lower-bracket employees (19, said Johnson) be lopped off. Johnson countered: Why not get rid of some of the more expensive help? The list came down to half a dozen, but Johnson found himself caught in a tug-of-war between Straight and the American Newspaper Guild. Last week, when the six employees left, Edd Johnson walked out too. And faithful Bruce Bliven, who had stepped aside when Wallace came in, was now back running editorial matters.

“Straight didn’t want to fire anybody he’d had lunch with,” said one staffer. Others complained that the boss kept changing his mind, kept nibbling away at his editors’ powers. Said Edd Johnson: “The place was being run like a charity tea, with me as the caterer.”