The Press: Promise Kept

Attorney General Herbert Brownell, who announced three weeks ago that the Justice Department intended to file antitrust charges against most of the U.S. publishing and advertising industry (TIME, May 9), last week kept his promise. In the Manhattan U.S. District Court the Department of Justice filed a civil complaint charging the industry with “conspiracy” to 1) fix all advertising agency commissions at 15%, 2) deny credit to “nonrecognized” ad agencies that are not members of the trade associations. Defendants named: American Newspaper Publishers Association (801 member newspapers), Periodical Publishers’ Association of America (Crowell-Collier, Hearst, Curtis, McCall), Publishers’ Association of New York City (all New York dailies except the Herald Tribune), American Association-of Advertising Agencies (311 agencies), Associated Business Publications, Inc. (159 business and trade papers), and Agricultural Publishers Association (35 members, including Farm Journal, Progressive Farmer, Capper’s Farmer). If the Government wins its case in court, the trade associations will be forced to let each publisher decide how much commission an agency will get and to accept ads from any agency, whether it is “accredited” or not.