The Press: Pinch

Working publishers, editors, reporters and newspaper mechanics did not need to be told that a lot of their profession had gone to war. Staffs were becoming shorthanded, worked harder to fill the gaps. Women’s chances had never been more plentiful in journalism. Mechanical staffs, thinned down to more & more oldsters, sometimes gave the appearance of having aged overnight.

Last week Editor & Publisher documented this pinch: U.S. journalism has contributed 21,000-odd employes to the war effort (the great bulk of these to the armed forces). Hardest-hit are mechanical departments (5,046 employes). And unlike editorial departments (almost as hard-hit, with 4,333 employes in service), skilled newspaper mechanics are not easy to replace with women.