Journalist of the year?
Sir: The 'Journalist of the Year' award has gone to Mr Victor Zorza of the Guardian. The BBC report of the citation says that he predicted the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia 'against the tide of informed opinion.' All credit to Mr Zorza, but I think it ought to be put on record somewhere that at that same time Mr Tibor Szamuely was explaining in some detail in the SPECTATOR how it was impossible for the Rus- sians to let the Czechs get away with their new freedoms. Many must, like me, have been dis- concerted at this perverse opinion, but it helps to explain why Mr Szamuely's contributions are the foremost of many features which now make the SPECTATOR indispensable reading for so many who want to be in touch with 'informed opinion.'
J. R. de S. Honey Visiting Fellow, University College, Cambridge
Mr Szamuely wrote, inter alia, 'What the Rus- sians demand are not reassurances, but hard guarantees. The only guarantees that could satisfy them are either a far-reaching change in the composition of the Czechoslovak party membership or the permanent stationing of Soviet troops in the country. . . . The only alternative, if the Czech leaders refuse to budge, is a military invasion. . . . Within a few days, perhaps even a few hours, we shall know the answer.' ('Kremlin on Tisa,' 2 August 1968.)— Editor, SPECTATOR.
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