The Press: Missing the Big One

The nation's second astronaut soared into orbit, landed all over the front pages of the U.S. press and, after a parade or two, almost dropped from view. In Maine, the Portland Press-Herald paid fond front-page homage to a resident who had celebrated his 100th birthday; in San Francisco, the Examiner hoisted one of its favorite banner headlines: S.F. MERCHANT SLAYS BRIDE IN LOVE NEST. In New York, the World-Telegram & Sun bannered an example of typical Communist behavior (REDS SPY ON U.S. A-TESTS), and the Post reported a typical episode in the life of a movie star (ROZ RUSSELL ROBBED OF 100G IN GEMS).

Allowing for regional tastes, few could fault such Page One coverage—as far as it went. The trouble was that it did not go far enough. Something was missing, and last week the nation's press finally discovered what that something was. Suddenly, the headlines began to howl: in the Dallas News (MARKET TUMBLES IN ITS WORST DAY SINCE '29 CRASH), in the Providence, R.I., Journal (NEW YORK STOCK MARKET COLLAPSES), in the San Francisco Chronicle (STOCKS PLUNGE).

In New York, scene of the disaster, Manhattan papers scrambled to make up for lost time. The Times crammed 14 stories and 250 column inches on the slump into a single issue. With less space to play with, the Herald Tribune still broke out in a rash of eight stories, as well as a Page One editorial blaming the decline on President Kennedy ("Unease about Mr. Kennedy's course is undeniably a major factor"). Hearst's Journal-American waved one streamer after another, in appropriate red ink. But behind all this breathless coverage lay a fact in which few U.S. papers could take pride. By a country mile, they had missed the biggest financial story of the year.

Foresight Was Rare. All during the wild skid that led to last week's "Black Monday," the U.S. press maintained what amounted to an unintentional conspiracy of silence. There were clues to be found back in the financial pages—but, even by the oddest journalistic judgment, that was hardly where the story belonged. And sometimes even the financial-page footprints were obscure. "The stock market acted yesterday like a diver going off a springboard," reported the New York Times in a heavy-handed attempt at cuteness. "It went up, down, up, and then plunged." The New York Post ran straight-faced an optimistic handout from a brokerage firm ("Chemical stocks should resist further market weakness"). In Birmingham. Ala., the News managed to get through the whole week without carrying a single line about the market.

Here and there, a paper sensed the significance of the market's movement and pushed the story briefly onto Page One. The Tulsa World kept the story on Page One three days running (STOCKS SKID TO NEW LOW ON SELLOFF). In the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, the market story surfaced twice. But such foresight was rare.