30 Know-lt-Alls

A few thousand of the millions of U.S. citizens who listen to radio news commentaries every day got a closer look at the men they hear. Variety published a chart (headed "Gabbers' Dun & Bradstreet"), that listed the experience and political inclinations of 30 of radio's best-known commentators. For what it was worth, Variety also undertook to rate them in merit. Some of the findings:

P: Of Variety's 30 "Know-it-alls" only one is a woman (continental-mannered Lisa Sergio, "qualified to analyze Italian affairs"), 23 are listed as having gone to college, 17 have written books.

P: Only three, by virtue of "long experience," are "pre-eminently qualified": sober, tomb-toned Raymond Swing; painstaking, calm-voiced Edward Murrow; ponderous, staccato-voiced Johannes Steel.

P: Politically, they represent all shades from "extreme reactionary" (Fulton Lewis Jr.) to "liberal" (Frank Kingdon). "Changeable" in ideology: Scooper Drew Pearson. "Old-fashioned conservative" but "well qualified as an analyst": H. V. Kaltenborn.

P: One defied classification : Gabriel Heat-ter, whose heart-plucking histrionics gross him $200,000 a year. Variety finds him politically "confused," lists his qualifications as "?".

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