2 AUGUST 1975, Page 5

TT' journalists

Sir: I don't know where Robert Ashley swallowed the lie that Financial Times journalists are the best paid in the business (July 26), but it certainly wasn't in my pub. He's obviously got us confused with the Linotype operators. Our average wage, after the latest house agreement rises, is around £6,500, which won't set the teeth of Expressmen or Mirror journalists on edge. While some of our specialists may be better paid than on other papers, at least four out of five sub-editors are earning below the average and quite a few are still below £5,000. And, as for high staffing, Financial Times reporters fill more column inches per man than any other journalists in the Street.

Gabriel Bowman Deputy FoC, NUJ Chapel, Financial Times, Bracken House, London EC4. Sir: Whatever alias he chooses to cower behind, Walter Plinge is no better informed than his predecessor, Grundy Mark I.

came 'scurrying back' from the United States not last month, but in February, 1974. Larry Lamb Editorial Director

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