Reporting: Missing on Friday

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In one of its lighter stories about the business community, the Wall Street Journal gently chided those executives who take off for long weekends early Friday afternoon and leave instructions with secretaries to cover up for them. "The empty executive suites irk a lot of people," reported the paper. "An increasing number of businessmen are complaining that so many executives disappear on Friday afternoons that it is impossible to conduct any business."

The day the story appeared—which happened to be a Friday—the Westchester Business Journal conducted a similar survey. It phoned the top six executives at the Wall Street Journal to see if they took their own paper's advice. Executive Vice President Buren H. McCormack answered the phone. The result of five other calls, made a few minutes after 4 p.m.: "William F. Kerby, president, was 'gone for the day' an assistant said. Robert Bottorff, vice president, was 'on vacation.' Vermont Royster, the editor, was 'gone for the day,' his secretary said. Warren H. Phillips, executive editor, was not in; 'You just missed him,' said his secretary. Finally, Donald A. Macdonald, director of advertising was 'in a meeting.' "