V. Lasky Defends McCarthy, Press

Victor Lasky used last night's Law School Forum on "The Power of the Press" to defend Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wis.) and American journalism, and to attack New York post editor James A. Wechsler.

Lasky, editor of "The American Legion Reader," and co-author of "Seeds of Treason," spoke on a panel with Hal Claney, news editor of the Boston Traveler and William E. Mullins, political editor of the Boston Herald.

Blasting the Post-an anti-McCarthy paper-as exemplary of unfair journalism, Lasky paraphrased Wechsler, "I'm out for circulation. I'll run any kind of indecent story just to get to circulation," he said in effect." Lasky added that although he considers the New York Times the world's greatest newspaper, it is wrong in its attacks on McCarthy.

Clancy spoke on the responsibility of the press to present honest opinions of the truth, and called for a reform in the language of journalism. "We have become shamefully addicted to label words...we have got to eliminate them," he said.