The Press: Corn Cure

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Good newspaper editors constantly war —and with occasional success—against the use of clichés in writing. But Editor Frank Knight of the Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette thinks that the time has come to go to war against another tired type of journalism—the picture cliché. Thereby he has kicked off a lively argument in the November Bulletin of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

The Gazette itself, said Knight, has mounted an offensive against such cliché pictures as those showing official handshakes, proclamation signings, groundbreakings, posed shots of matrons signing checks for charity. Complained Editor Knight: "How many times, for instance, have you seen Secretary Dulles' picture always looking the same, whether entering a plane in Washington or coming out of one in Geneva? I've seen as many as 15 pictures of President Eisenhower move on U.P. Telephoto in one afternoon and evening operation." Other picture platitudes that irk Knight include the congressional hearing that always seems to be shot from the same angle, the baseball "slide" that always looks the same "except for the amount of dust being scattered."

Assistant Managing Editor William J. White of the New York Daily News agreed with Knight that quality could be improved if "editors [would] show their displeasure over these timeworn cans of corn and insist that the fotogs get something new." But, he argued, if wire-service editors were to stop sending" every picture of Secretary Dulles leaving by plane for God knows where," editors would be the first to object.

Another cure for tired pictures was suggested by Toledo Times Executive Editor Kenneth D. Tooill, who put "pretty girls in bathing suits" among the offenders. Editors, he said, should apply "some of the effort, meticulous attention, imagination and artistic talent" that go into U.S. picture magazines. Added Editor Tooill: "If you don't have a city or picture editor with imagination, get one. Fire all photographers who are in the business because they once needed a job—any kind of job —and hire genuine artists with fine appreciation of picture composition, drama, pathos and humor; men who can take a fast look at any picture chore and see instantly how this can be made different. These are likely to be expensive."