Contrast

In Portland, so-called Spinster City of the West, the Oregon Journal last week handled the year's hottest story with spinsterish restraint. While witness after witness testified, before a U.S. Senate committee that Teamsters' Union bosses had plotted with city officials to monopolize Portland's rackets, the Journal (circ. 181,489) primly avoided editorial comment. Though the Journal gave wire-service reports of the hearings heavy play in its news columns, it-made no attempt to report local evidence of Teamster-racketeer relations. Reason: since its opposition daily, S.I. Newhouse's Oregonian (circ. 230,850), first uncovered the scandal (TIME, June 4), the Journal has never once admitted the existence of a Teamster plot to control law enforcement. Instead. the Journal has scoffed that the Oregonian is interested chiefly in "self-glorification,'' and therefore has exaggerated its charges of Teamster involvement in the ruckus over rackets -- which the Journal views as essentially a battle between hoodlums.

In Seattle. Teamster Boss Dave Beck's home town, the contrast in newspaper coverage was even more pronounced. The Seattle Times (circ. 208,224), though long chary of offending Baron Beck, had assigned Pulitzer Prizewinning Reporter Ed Guthman to ferret out the story as soon as it learned of the Oregonian expose last year. Last week it red-bannered the Washington hearings and played local angles to the hilt. Hearst's Post-Intelligencer (circ. 190,789), on the other hand, ran only routine service stories on the Senate investigation. still had not given the story top Page One play. The P-I diligently killed its syndicated Drew Pearson and Westbrook Pegler columns whenever they criticized Beck.

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