Mr. Townes Leaves Town

Appointed editor of the ailing Los Angeles News three months ago, William A. Townes, 43, went to work under the impression that he had a free hand. He operated on its makeup, pepped up its editorials, and tried to breathe more life into the pallid News. But Editor Townes, who had doctored other sick papers to success (TIME, Feb. 16, 1948), soon found his patient rebelling. Sacred cows got in the way of many editorial decisions, and Townes found that some stories, e.g., the banning of the movie Limelight, were not considered news. Last week, after 72 days in the editor's chair, Townes quit. Said he: "I was knocking my head against the wall. A newspaper must above all be a good product ... I soon found out that I could not make a good product out of the News."

The News has slid a long way since 1947, when Publisher Manchester Boddy's sharp editorial pen and General Manager Robert Smith's shrewd business sense pushed the paper's circulation to nearly 300,000. But in Los Angeles, where the News is the only pro-Democratic paper among the city's five dailies, the paper did not keep up with the competition, especially that of the breezy, afternoon tabloid Mirror, started in 1948 by Los Angeles Times Publisher Norman Chandler (TIME, Aug. 16, 1948). While the Mirror grew (to 212,903), the News slipped to under 200,000. Publisher Boddy, now 61, gradually wearied of the fight and his editorial chores, finally turned the paper over to Smith. He slashed the payroll, raised the price to 10-c- to try to keep up with rising costs and falling income.

Last week, with Editor Townes out, Publisher Smith readied another plan to save the News. To cut costs, he will change the News into a morning paper. To lure readers, he also planned to cut the paper's price from 10-c- to 7-c-. But many nervous News staffers were already looking for jobs on other papers.

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