CONCENTRATING THEIR MINDS
The press:
Paul Johnson on three Fleet
Street groups in trouble
THERE is such a flood of news coming out of Fleet Street at the moment that the public is understandably a little bewil- dered. What is going on, of course, is that at long last, and in its own confused and incompetent way, Fleet Street is coming to grips with the new technology. Some heap all the praise or blame on Eddie Shah, and there is no doubt that he has precipitated the crisis. As Dr Johnson might have said, 'Sir, it concentrates a proprietor's mind wonderfully, if he knows he is to be Eddie Shah-ed in a fortnight' But the change was coming anyway: the commercial advan- tages of new technology increase all the time, its cost falls, and the wages of the labour it will reduce rise inexorably.
However, the degree of panic — and that is not too strong a word in some quarters — varies considerably. Broadly speaking, there are two prospering groups in Fleet Street and three ailing ones. Now that Rupert Murdoch has solved the basic problems of the Times, all his papers are flourishing: the Sunday Times back in profit, the Sun and the News of the World making fortunes. Each time the Mirror group papers fail to appear, the two Murdoch populars pinch their sales in huge quantities. Associated Newspapers, which has enormous resources generating big profits outside Fleet Street, is also doing well, in that the losses incurred in launch- ing the Mail on Sunday have been drasti- cally reduced, the Daily Mail has just about overtaken the Daily Express, and both papers could well be generating big profits soon.
By contrast, the Express group, the Mirror group and the Telegraph group are all in .trouble, as falling sales and revenue combine with rising costs to make the new technology seem not merely desirable but vital to survival. For the new United Press management which has taken over Fleet Newspapers, the priority problem is the Daily Express, for the Sunday Express has survived the assault of the Mail on Sunday better than might have been expected and Sir John Junor, with his noli me tangere, is still very much in command. So that is on the back burner for the time being. The Daily Express, on the other hand, after years of drift under Sir Max Aitken and its harrowing change to tabloid, lost its char- acter completely and is still trying to find it again. At the moment it has no editor either, as Sir Larry Lamb is recuperating from an illness. Tackling the editorial problem means tackling the format prob- lem too. Going back to broadsheet would be to reverse the trend of the last two decades. It may be the solution, however, for despite repeated attempts the Express cannot seem to breath in the tabloid straitjacket. But it is no use opting for broadsheet unless management find a first- rate broadsheet technician to guide the demoralised Express team in making the jump.
Then there is the Telegraph group, which for long conducted its well- mannered affairs in total silence but is now the centre of noisy criticism, much of it ill-informed. The Telegraph has always been tightly controlled by the Berry family, in trusts so discreet that only a tiny handful know about them. It has been investing heavily in new plant, both in Manchester and the Isle of Dogs, and the cost of these ventures — plus its own falling sales — proved too much for its unaided credit. So 'Isn't that Terry Waite?' it was forced to seek outside finance and go semi-public; hence all the news and rumours. The company is fundamentally sound. The Daily Telegraph still has a commanding lead in its field, selling as many copies as the other three qualities put together, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Sunday Telegraph which a new and vigorous team could not put right. The management can also fairly claim that, in building terms, they are further along the new technology road than most groups. But it is no use acquiring new plant and equipment if the deals you strike with the monopoly unions are ruinous. Telegraph management has been weak in negotiating with its print workers while taking advan- tage of the conservatism and loyalty of its journalists. This is unjust as well as a bad advertisement for the papers' Conservative philosophy. Nor is this the only criticism that can fairly be levelled at management.
The truth is Lord Hartwell, chairman and editor-in-chief of the group, is 74 and very set in his ways, many of them good ways. He is certainly Fleet Street's hardest- working boss. He is the only man left there who still has a pre-war sense of honour, and he has saved his papers from many contemptible devices to which other qual- ities have succumbed — malicious and inaccurate gossip columns, for example. He combines great courage and massive obstinacy in equal proportions and he does not want to slip into retirement before he has pulled the group through its present difficulties. There is a lot to be said for family control of newspapers, and it would be a tragedy if the Berrys lost theirs, especially to a much-criticised outsider, without giving the younger generation their chance.
Meanwhile at the Mirror group we have entered the second phase of what I pre- dicted would be a long war of attrition between Robert Maxwell and the print unions. In theory Maxwell does not hold many cards. He loses one million pounds every time the Mirror does not appear, and God knows how many readers to the voracious Murdoch. He has no alternative printing facilities as yet. The financial resources of Pergamon Press and the Brit- ish Printing Corporation are limited. But the position at the Mirror group, after 20 years of weak management and grotesque overmanning, is so bad that Maxwell is fighting with the courage of desperation. Moreover, the calibre of the union leaders he is up against is not impressive. Maxwell has ten times their brains and even fewer of their scruples. The myth of the omnipo- tence of the Fleet Street print unions has been undermined in recent months, espe- cially since signing one-union agreements with the electricians became an alternative to NGA-Sogat tyranny. Maxwell won an important battle on Monday and, though he has not yet won the war, there is now no doubt in my mind that he will do so. What is more, the union rank and file are beginning to see that they cannot win, so this truce may turn into an armistice.
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