SPECTATOR COMPETITION No. 1 43

Report by C. MacMaster-Fulton

The Manchester Guardian has been advertising widely to attract new readers, holding out as inducement its wisdom, wit and" flavour." The Daily Mirror, with charming candour as to the character of its appeal, has advertised in the Manchester Guardian, offering its large circulation as an attraction to advertisers wishing to reach the" mass market." Readers were invited to compose an appropriate advertise- ment for either journal in any one of the following pairs, this to appear in the partner indicated : Observer/News of the World ; Scrutiny/ Radio Times ; Financial Times/Daily Worker ; Economist/ Tribune ; Daily Telegraph/Daily Express.

Most entrants went for a more " popular " paper advertising in a less, with the News of the World an easy favourite, followed by the Daily Worker and the Daily Express. Only with Scrutiny and the Radio Times was this reversed, and here entrants addressed them- selves to the Third Programme audience, fighting shy of the problem of commending themselves to listeners to the Home or the Light.

In the selection of the prize-winners, the first considerations were of course wit and originality, but it must obviously be an article of any copy-writer's code never to offend the susceptibilities of those he is wooing. Neglect of this principle spoiled many entries. The difficulty was to introduce the desired element of satire without sacrificing plausibility. (In this connection Marxist amorality was an advant- age to those who attempted the Daily Worker.) An effective adver- tisement also needs something of the unity of conception and con- sistency of working-out of a work of art. This too eluded many competitors. Among several good ideas buried in entries which had to be rejected on one or more of these counts I liked John Adams' "Read the Observer, the parer with the Peeping Tom name," and his " ' Disgusting thug ! ' Do you sometimes wonder about the life of the magistrates who say these words ? Statistics show that the Observer is read by more magistrates than any other Sunday paper," P.M: 's " Take the Observer and see how it feels to be not only an onlooker but a referee in the World Game," Ian West- brook's" Are you misled by verbatim reports ? Change to Express Special Expurgateds for Train Talking Points," and the Rev. A. Whigham Price's "applying disciplined standards of 'criticism to the material discussed in programmes such as The Critics'." (Scrutiny).

I award £.2 10s. to Sheila Knowles, whose entry came nearest to satisfying all the requirements ; £1 10s. to Kenneth Lane for an outstandingly witty, if not completely plausible attempt, and LI to Lakon whose othenvise excellent entry was marred by a touch of the wrong sort of snobbish snob appeal in the second para- graph. Honourable mention : M. Jordan, S. Shirley, J. R. Towns- end, R. E. Longrigg, the Rev. A. Whigham Price and P. Purser.

PRIZES (Snui.A. KNowus)

"No man's light is good to any of his fellows."

The B.B.C. fully realises this judgement's validity. Its organisation doesn't necessarily endorse the values it disseminates ; it assumes the listener's vigilance.

Should you ask pertinent questions about the irresponsibility the Light's emotional inadequacy implies, abctut the sophisticated common- place and cliche establishing the Third's academic respectability, about the quasi-critical speculation modifying Sunday's pseudo-religiosity on the Home, you justify the Corporation's assumption. You may justify ours too : not for nothing do you deserve our focussed attention. That doesn't mean, incidentally, that we're satisfied with the range of our scrutiny.

But we'd better in closing be quite explicit.

Ability to sustain the intention to formulate the pertinent question is less extensive than the mere intention : and, from a local point of view, we consider the concrete correlative of meaning well is a subscription to Scrutiny, Downing College, Cambridge. *Conrad.

(KENNETH LANE)

A Word to the Wise

Those whose business interests render the Financial Times obligatory reading might consider whether those interests might be furthered by regularly reading the Daily Worker.

No other journal has quite the viewpoint of the Daily Worker, which has no axe to grind but does claim to reflect the outlook of the more responsible element among the workers by hand and brain.

There must be many instances where shareholders or directors pause before making decisions, to reflect on the possible reactions of such decisions on their labour force. Surely, to have a mirror of the thoughts and feelings of the moderates among the masses, brought daily to the board-room, would be of inestimable value in framing and presenting policies so as to ensure willing.co-operation on the floor of the factory, and thus greater efficiency with its corollary of greater profits. Instruct your secretary to place an order today.

(14KoN) What would YOU do if you won £75,000?

Just think ! The penny points or treble chance, might put you in the upper income-bracket any, day. now. How would you invest your capital ? A town house or a small place in the country ? Whore would you look ? A life of ease and cultured leisure ? How would you find your way about books, music, the theatre, the art-galleries ? The best places to eat and stay ? Sober politics and world affairs ? Public schools or universities for the family ?

Are you a crossword fan ? Interested in a puzzle with no tiresome alternatives ? Fashions with no compulsion to select ? Tired of scanning the missing relatives and unclaimed money columns ? Our personal ads have human interest too. Why not prepare for gracious living now ?

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