Runyon and Walter Winchell, it reallynisn’t. Second, although Broadway figuresnin the title and runs through thenbook, it is only a convenient thoroughfare.nMosedale does provide a fairnamount of information about the twonmen. Actors, actresses, gangsters, thenStork Club and other fixtures of Broadwaynare all there. But the men, thenstreet and the people are in the foregroundnof the panoramic view of NewnYork journalism, primarily in the earlynpart of this century. Papers like thenMknAmerican, Journal, Herald, News,nTimes, World, Tribune: these are thenreal story. Runyon and Winchell arenthe hooks to hang it on.nThe war that went on betweennHearst and Pulitzer for newspaperndominance, which is fairly commonnknowledge (e.g. that war being responsiblenfor the Spanish-American War),nis recounted by Mosedale. He reallynshines when he brings to light some ofnthe seamier, less well-known stories.nIt is generally accepted that the Newn”… extremely stimulating and welledited.”n-W. F. Buckleyn^HILLSDALE REVIEWnAn American MiscellanynJoin Malcolm Muggeridge, Russell Kirk, Wm. F. Buckley,nJr., George Will and a growing host of readers in subscribingnto The Hillsdale He we w, a cultural and literary quarterlynedited and written by a dynamic group of young conservatives.nIf you thought the Age of Discussion, with its livelynexchange of ideas and fine prose, died out with journalsnlike The American Mercury and The Criterion, you may benwrong. At $5.00 a year, The Hillsdale flei//ew offers the bestnof a rising generation of young conservatives. So why notnsubscribe today?nSend to: The Hillsdale Review, 225 Hillsdale Street, Hillsdale, Michigann49242.nD YES, I’d like to subscribe to The Hillsdale Review fornone year (four issues) at $5.00.nNamenAddress-nChronicles of CulturennnYork Times and the Washington Postnwere out to get Richard Nixon. Considernthis ditty written by Ambrose Bierce andnpublished by William Randolph Hearst.nThe occasion was the assassination ofnGovernor-elect William Goebel ofnKentucky:nThe bullet that pierced Goebel’s breastnCannot be found in all the West;nGood reason; it is speeding herenTo stretch McKinley on his bier.nThat was February 4, 1900. On Septembern6, 1901, President McKinleynwas shot.nINewspapers are devoting more andnmore ink and expensive newsprint ton”People in the News” features (and exceptnfor the odd natural disaster or volcano,nwhat else is there.’) and “FamilynLiving,” “Weekend” and “Fashion” sections,nwhile their reporting of currentnevents is becoming a headline service.nDepth is out; impact is in. In 1919 JosephnMedill Patterson and Robert R. Mc-nCormick decided to put out a newspaper.nIt was based on pictures and stories,nwith an emphasis on the former and annabbreviation of the latter. Mosedalenquotes a promise in the first issue of thenIllustrated Daily News: ” ‘You can readnit without eye-strain.’ ” Says Mosedale,n”Patterson had the common touch.”nVulgar is a more accurate adjective.nToday’s papers are doing the same sortnof thing, only they won’t openly makensuch promises.nWhen Damon Runyon signed on withnHearst’s American in 1911, he was assignednto the sports department. As anyoneneven slightly familiar with the sportsnpage knows, sports-writers employ extremenstylistic vagaries and license tonkill standard newspaper prose. Part ofnthe reason for this flamboyance is thatnthey must offset the dry statistics thatnare part of the games. Runyon is a typicalnexample of the best. He wrote sportsnstories in prose (” ‘Pitching with consummatencraft, Christy Mathewson, the masternworkman of baseball, held the cham-n
January 1975April 21, 2022By The Archive
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