Press: Happy Birthday, London

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Editorially, the paper has shifted to the right and takes a hard line against the Soviet Union, but is not inflexible. Much of the renascence has come from Murdoch's popularizing influence: pictures are bigger and crisper, and sober news coverage is offset by lively squibs on crime, popular culture, celebrities and human interest. Murdoch has even added a circulation-boosting cash-giveaway game, patterned on bingo but given the dignified appellation Portfolio. As a result, the paper seems more up to date and less august. Journalist Anthony Sampson contends that the Times "has lost interest in international news and become more parochial, obsessed with day-to-day happenings. I find it depressing, like a stately old home that has been thrown open to the public."

Still, the Times retains much of its prestige, and the devotion of its readers, renowned for the variety, scholarliness and eccentricity of their letters to the editor. Former Labor Party Prime Minister Harold Wilson, now Lord Wilson, calls the Times "an essential newspaper. I read it with . enjoyment, although I have never really agreed with it." His old rival, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, pointed up the paper's unique status during a toast last month at the British embassy in Washington. At a dinner to honor the 200th anniversary of U.S.-British diplomatic relations, with President Reagan in attendance, Thatcher said, "I should also mention that 1985 marks the 200th anniversary of a famous British institution, the Times newspaper."