THE LOCAL WEEKLY
Sm,—Mr. L. C. Lloyd's article is most interesting. In the R.A.F. in the Middle East between 1942 and 1944, and-particularly in the Western Desert where reading matter of any kind was very scarce, I found all ranks, read their local weeklies from and to end, including the classified advertisements. A majority of those who lived outside London received them regularly. The London borough newspapers are in a different category; many of than suggest the News of the World under training. No matter how ominous the state of the war men liked to hear all tl*p local gossip. A paragraph like: " Correction. We are informed that the seed cake given by Mrs. Brown as a prize at the village fete was not a seed cake but a plum cake," showed more clearly- than anything else that there were no cracks on the home front. But is Mr. Lloyd right in saying that "many a country household takes in no other paper "?1 In remote country places L find our most sensational Sunday papers
(and only those) penetrate or are obtained everywhere. Mr. Lloyd further seems to imply that local papers are secure in the independence of their -ownership. I wonder. As owner-editor businesses come on the market, I think newspaper groups or printing combines may see their opportuni- ties for mass reprinted features through ownership. Many provincial dailies were once considered quite safe in their independence.—Yours
faithfully, FRANK J. WARD.
35 Springfield Road, St. J'ohn's Wood, N.W.8.
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