The Press: Navy v. Tribune

The Chicago Tribune was in the hottest spot in many a year. A Federal grand jury in Chicago this week begins to investigate a Government charge that the Tribune, in a story on the Battle of Midway, published information that might be useful to the enemy.

Newsmen in Washington had known about the case for weeks (but had been requested not to report it). The Tribune's story—date-lined "Washington" and published on June 7—declared that the Navy had known about the Japanese plans for the attack on Midway. It backed up the assertion by...