Crusade in Philadelphia

Philadelphia's tabloid Daily News, once a shiftless tatterdemalion, has been gunning hard for circulation since Democratic Backer Matthew H. McCloskey Jr. took it over two years ago, infused it with money and ambition. Its chief rival: Publisher Walter Annenberg's Inquirer. Last week, in the climax of a month-long barrage, the News's guns pounded not only at the Inquirer's circulation, but at alleged payroll padding and loan-shark operations within the paper itself.

The latest News campaign began when Inquirer Truck Driver Henry J. Turner, 54, was beaten to death one night on the Inquirer parking lot. Turner's own paper headlined the news of the killing briefly, then dropped it. The News fastened to the story like a limpet. It charged that Turner's death resulted from his fight against loan sharks, "believed to be minor executives" of the Inquirer who were battening on circulation employees. Moreover, trumpeted the News, Philadelphia police have said, off the record, that they know who Turner's murderer is. The tabloid clamored for action.

Last week, while the Inquirer kept mum, the News front-paged an announcement that it was donating $500 to start a fund for the family of the murdered truck driver. In the same issue the News ran an interview with District Attorney Victor Blanc. The district attorney charged that the motive in Turner's murder "involves payroll padding and padding of overtime pay on the Inquirer." Added Blanc: "The loan shark was a side issue, but we will go through that also. I hope we will be able to make an arrest before too many days--an arrest for an atrocious murder."

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