Breaking Up the Act

Of all William Randolph Hearst's trained seals, none were quicker on their flippers than the correspondents in his Washington bureau. When The Chief snapped, they did verbal, handstands for MacArthur, steadily honked that Dean Acheson was being fired any minute, tugged in pet Congressmen to sound off on any Hearstian cause.

But last week the seal act was broken up. It was the first big shake-up since W. R. Hearst Jr. moved into the empire's top editorial spot. Washington Bureau Chief Edward C. Lapping was moved to Chicago as executive editor of the Hearst Herald-American, and four other staffers were either shifted or discharged. Only two of the office staff were left: Dave Sentner, who now will boss the bureau, and Bill Flythe. Newsmen wondered whether the shake-up might mean a change in Hearst policies. A likelier reason was that the ailing Hearst empire was starting to pare costs.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.