MARCH 1975
BY JON SLATTERY
New technology!
Prime minister Harold Wilson was featured on the front of Press
Gazette on a visit to the offices of the Daily Record in Glasgow.
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He
was being shown the “new technology” being installed at Anderston Quay
by managing director Dugal Nisbet-Smith, who later headed the Newspaper
Society. Wilson was also shown buying a copy of the Record and puffing
on his pipe with Edward Pickering, then IPC newspaper division
chairman, Nisbet- Smith, development director Joe May and editorial
director Derek Webster.
MPs want Burnet to say sorry
Alastair Burnet, then editor of the Daily Express, was under fire
from Labour MPs for not printing a front page correction after running
a story that Prime Minister Harold Wilson had imposed a ban on arms to
China. In a Commons motion, the MPs claimed it was “unethical not to
give equal prominent publicity to the truth as to the fabrication”.
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Assault by photography
Two Scottish photographers had had been charged with “assault by
photography”. The charges against Laurance Inglis of the Daily Record
and Sunday Mail, and Angus Anderson, of the Dundee Courier, followed
claims by a solicitor that he had been photographed against his wishes.
The Law Society of Scotland described the charges as “unique”.
Guardian editor goes to the BBC
Guardian editor Alastair Hetherington had announced that he was to leave in the autumn to become controller of BBC Scotland.
Hetherington had edited the paper since 1956.
NF journalist sparks NUJ row
The NUJ magazine branch had rejected a membership application from a
journalist working for the National Front magazine Spearhead. The
decision not to allow David McCladen into the union came after one of
the longest debates in the history of the branch. It was claimed that
allowing McCladen in would conflict with the NUJ’s code of conduct and
national policies. The union’s executive, however, ruled that
“political affiliation is no bar to the membership of the NUJ”.
‘Horsewhip editor’ demand
The chief executive of Lewes District Council in Sussex had
suggested the editor of a weekly paper should be horsewhipped. David
Thompson made the attack in a letter to Peter Cooper, editor of the
Sussex Express and County Herald. The council chief accused the paper
of negative, misinformed and misleading reporting.
NPA winners announced
The Daily Mail’s Harry Longmuir was named journalist of the year in
the National Press Awards. Other winners included John Pilger of the
Daily Mirror, who was named news reporter of the year. Two other
winners are still with the same papers. The Guardian’s Michael
Billington was critic of the year and the Daily Mail’s Ian Wooldridge
was sports writer of the year. Provincial journalist of the year was
John Marquis, of the Evening Echo, Watford. He went on to edit the
Falmouth Packet and The Tribune in the Bahamas.
OK for a new title
IPC had beaten Richard Desmond to the punch by launching a magazine called OK, which was aimed at young women.
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