The Correspondent, June 1979

Foreign Correspondentc' Club of Hong Kong

pool tournament

Confrontation Between Hustlers

When each half of the world l<nows how the other ltalf úives...

COVER

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Action at the FCC's 18th Floor poolroom

The Officers: Vicky Wakefield

President:

First Vice Hugh Van Es

President:

Second Vice

Tim

PresÌdent:

Rossi

The Staff: Ed

itor:

Photographer:

Advertising: Designer:

Bruce Maxwell Hugh Van Es Nida Cranbourne Bessie Lee Pui-ling

¡ ublished monthlv as an |, org"n of the Foräign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong. Offices

at 1Sth Floor,

Sutherland House,

3

Chater

Road, Hong Kong. Tel: 5237734 and 5-233003.

Cables: CORCLUB HONG KONG. Address all correspondence

to: Editor,

Foreign

Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong, 1sth Floor, Sutherland House, 3 Chater

Road, Hong Kong. Adver-

tising: Nida Cranbourne, First Floor, 30 lce House St., Hong Kong. Tel: 5-248482.

Printed

by Yee Tin

Tong

Printing Press, Ltd., Aik

Faclory Building,

San

Ground

Floor, Block A, 14, Westlands

Road, Ouar'ry Bay, Hong Kong. Tel: 5'622271'7.

Pool champíon Peter Luffman considers a shot hopefully using the proper cue bøll, as

finalist

Vic Laniaustøs looks on.

The second annual pool tournament of the Foreign Correspondents' Club proved to be a classic

confrontation between

from

With him in the final was Peter 'Luffers' Luffman, carefully suited and tied in the snooker tradition, although lacking a vest, his only

different hemispheres and codes.

condescension

From the safari suit brigade came 'Old' Vic Laniauskas, who in

weather.

to the Hong

Kong

Having each worked their way

of

the year or so,he has been in Hong

through five rounds

Kong has earned something of

fore-play, this year's finalists agreed

a

reputation as a 'classy' pool player in the American tradition.

to play a

pre-final

best-of-seven-series

nomination pool

of

(FCC*tYle),

-t

l

final three stripes Vic found he had left himself with removing his

an awkward double on the black.

After some thought (Luffers was

hanging onto the clothes rack at stage) Vic elected for the straight double, was unlucky to miss the pocket and made aperfect triple instead, Thereby fouling and

this

to Luffers.

There are purists who might dispate the decision, but only minutes after Peter received his it

was game and match

trophy from President VickY Wake-

field later the

same week, the

finalists met again and the original decision stood.

So however the denizens of the 8th floor might argue we have a worthy champion and he will spend the next 12 months until the third annual FCC pool tournament 1

ís organised, accepting'challenges' against his new-won authority.

The standard of pool within the club has risen by leaps and bounds since the last tournament and earlier this year the Club entered

Laniøuskøs prepares to play watched by packed gallery.

rather than the earlier rounds of five games only.

true-blue Yankee style and showing is adversary no merecy, ran away with the fourth game to make it

h

With last year's

champion warming the judges chair (knocked

2-2.

As the tension mounted around out in a quarter-final by the Mad Mongolian, Kenny King) Vic and the table (and in the gallery), Vic Peter set to, with odds that neither faltered, Peter faltered, Vic faltered

too happy about

seemed i

ringing

again and once more with a chance

to win

a team in a league tournament arranged by the American Pool

the game and take an impor-

Sports Centres.

tant lead, he missed on easy pot and

With eight teams in the league, it was played on a one-game round' robin basis of seven matches and with some of the leading PlaYers

Luffers made no mistake.

Ahead 3-2, Luffers sensed

a

victory, but after a fruitless break it was Vic who showed the way.

Mid-game Luffers fouled leaving Vic with his big chance. But after

receives

the

Champions award

from FCC

Presídent Vícky

Under the captainshiP of AndY 'Mac' Sloan and with assistance from the regulars Steve 'Aussie'

n their ears.

Reader's Digest drew first blood after an exciting game and it looked as though a re-vitalised Vic was heading for the cup.

But a fatal mistake - he used

Eddy, Simon Holbeche, and addi-

tional help from Peter Luffman, Vic Laniauskas, Mike Winslow, Kenny King and David GilhoolY, the Club won six of their seven matches and narrowlY lost the

an unfamiliar snooker cue instead of the normal 'fat-head' pool cue

-

saw him jump the white straight

i

into a pocket in the second encounter when he had the game

I

literally 'by the balls'.

So instead

of

leaping

to a

seventh.

But their record through this short season was enough to keeP, them ahead of their nearest challengers, and win the handsome trophy donated bY the American

2-0

lead he was only even as Luffers made no mistake with the chance

Pool Sports Centres.

offered.

ln the third frame it

The troPhY was Presented to the

was touch

club by Mr Norman Oei,

and go and another bad error let .

Undaunted, 4

Vic came back

in

Umpire Andy Sloan adiudicates in a tricky situation.

FCC team captain Andy Sloan accepts. Hong Kong's frrst Pool Trophy from Council for Recreation and Sports Secretøry Mr Norman OeL

SecretarY

for

Recreation and Sports, in conjunction with the Club individual champion's trophy.

of the Council

Luffers in for his second victory to lead 2-1

in Hong Kong represented, the Club emerged clear winners.

5

-]

with helpful girl

Round up

librarians. Pho-

Closest contender was "The Sudo

tostat facilities are available, and behind the complex is a soundproofed workroom with a battery

News" (sudo means "capilal city"

of typewriters.

Social activities appear to be proceding apaçe - the FCC of

Japan has consistently pulled more important world leaders and entertainers than the Hong Kong FCC and from the notice board we read

with interest that the

Al at the Wall

FCCJ

has

even formed a yachting branch for

weekend cruises

out on

Sagami

Bay.

When correspondents Paul, to

From its pages we glean that former Hong Kong resident Ron. Richardson, of the Far Eastern Economic Review, who was sent to Seoul to slarL a bureau, has finally had his telephone installed.

As "The Seoul Source" puts it -

"May

22 may

have been just

another day in the capital city for most of us, but Norman Thorpe

(Asian Wall Street Journal) and Ron Richardson may remember it fondly for some time, "Thatafternoon, a helpful fellow from the Ministry of Communications arrived at their shared office

Pringle and Chanda journeyed to Peking

in Korean).

ínterview Prince Sihanouk

recently, Paul took time out to have a look at the Great Wall.

Seoul Correspondents' Club

He was somewhat surprised and amused to come across the rebuilt

in the i

A new newsletter has appeared under the banner of the above

part of the wall shown here. ln the centre is a block clearly in-

establishment, dubbed "The Seoul Source". lt seems the committee selected the title after a name-thisnewsletter competition failed to

be rt K. 1 97 4.6.22".

Now it so happens that in 1974 the FCC's President was one Al Kaff, of UPl, who was later transferred from Hong Kong but has

cribed "Al

produce anything more inspiring.

Hapdong Building

and

nstalled their telephone".

An intriguing innovation of

the club (108-4, Susong-dong, Seoul) is

that they have a monthly competition to see who runs up the

bottle of Gilbert Royal or Valley 9 Gold, runners-up receive Ma.iuang wine, and third place is awarded a cold mug of draft beer. lnteresting to see what would happen if the FCC in Hong Kong introduced such a system.

The Blooper of the

of Senegal. lt identified the distinguished lady as "Mrs Senghor, extreme might. . ."

Said "The SoLrrce" - "Perhaps

visiting President

the Times really has the

So Paul, rhe 18179 Deqr

A close second went to last month's winner, Stars and Stripes, for its April 26 headline which announced, somewhat prematurely - "ITTF . . . OKs Unified Korea".

Commented "The Source" - "We hadn't realised even that a proposal was ready for approval, much

that the lnternational Table Tennis

categories - regular, associate and special. Those in first place get a

it".

Federation had juisdiction to act on

President,

of the picture and

Al

make his mark, . , But, Al, on the Great llall of ChÌno? One of the world's great wonders, AI? Kaff's response will doubtless be forthcoming.

of Japan

Your editor, making one of

infrequent trips

his

to )apan last

month, was astonished that from Narita to Tokyo City Air Terminal took a mere 65 minutes, while the reverse journey was accomplished

in 80 minutes

including the ten

minute search operation

at

the

airport perimeter.

Apparently more serious delays are still experienced, but the bit6

over-an-hour routine is considerably

better than we had been led to bel ieve.

Another heartening feature was that the relatively new premises of the FCC of Japan turned out to

be literally across the road from Cathay Pacific's offices, forstalling further encounters with the Tokyo tube system.

U nfortu nately reci p rocal arrange-

ments between the Hong Kong and Tokyo FCCs cover only journa-

list and correspondent members, but for those who can use the

place, its restaurant and bar offer panoramic views of the city, and food and drink prices are remarkbly atlractive by Tokyo standards.

The lunchtime lot ot the FCC's 15th Floor bor ore not notural poseurs, but on intrepid cameramzn decided to record the scene for posterity

But perhaps ¡ts greatest asset is the library, whose rows and rows

onywly. From left qre Totler editor Neville Chesney, Brigid Snow, Vicky

of

KÌtoin ond Bill Mallett.

reference tomes come complete

less

largest bar chit. There are three

I realise every mon wonts to

FCC

inside

scoop on Senegal's politics".

since returned.

sent him a copy a note.

Month

Award went to the Korean Times for its April 25 caption under a photo featuring the wife of the

Swinging

Manhatten Club Member Michael Pope, of

The Creative Workshop, launches his latest project on July 12 - a new cafe and discoteque called The Manhatten.

It's a slice of nostalgic fantasy, recapturing the New York nightlife of the 1930s and early 40s. lncluded in the decor are a replica of a 1929 elevator and a 60-foot New York skyline mural.

It is located in Elisabeth House the new business and residential complex in Causeway Bay. Say the backers

-

"The Manhat-

ten will recreale the elegance and atmosphere of New York's once great watering holes of the rich, famous and frivolous. Places that con jure images of Bogart and Bacall. Places like the Stork Club,

The

Mr. Sylvio Wong ftight) qnd Mr. Roymon Tong (left), co'owners of the soon to open CofelDiscotheque, the Mqnhqttqn, confer with Mr. Michqel Pope (centre) of the Creative Workshop Ltd. the 21 Club,

Places

and the Copacabana,

where

fantasy became

reality".

Pope, an American now living in Hong Kong and a veteran of several disco projects in Asia, was retained

thebiggamefishing We hear more tall stories about the lb black marlin that got away last time but wont this time, about the 40 lb ba:ramundi that fight to get on to the hook, and some of it's even true. It's just that when you fly to the world's two most famous reefs, estuary and big seem to carry

\W

businessmen

over'on their way to or from SYdneY or

If youd care to unwind a bit on your next trþ to Australia, fly our big %ird

of paradise" jet on Sunday evening.

We'll take you to Port Moresby, or C-airns, or Brisbane, or Sydney, and heþ you ¿urange a couple of days off to do battle with the big ones on your way.

See your travel agent. Or Jardine Airways, G/F., Alexandra House, Hong Kong or Peninsula Hotel Arcade, Kowloon. TÞlephone 5 -77 5023

Brisbane or wherever.

(Delicatessen ltaliano) Hc¡,. P'is¿n! real - ForottaLtP [o tastc rl[' ltaly come Vini e Salunri high up on D'Aguilar Street iu the he¿rrt o[ Hong Kong's tittle ttaly.

Hearty ltalian wlnes, tangy cheeses. parma harn. salami ¿tnd assorted past¿ts we've got it all!

Vini eSalumi

--fhe

Delicatessen witl'r a diffèrence ... because we're It¿rlian.

H-256132 Ncxt to lJolsalino Jr. I)'Aguilal St..

.'r¡

Monday to Saturday Sundays

AIßlllilEt

THE NATIONALAIRLINE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

-

- 9:00 a.m.

8:30 p,rn. - l:00 p.m.

-

7:00 p.m.

A division of mauriello (H.K.) L'l'D.

for creative and

marketing

consultancy.

The Manhatten itself is owned Honolulu businessman Sylvio Wang and his partner Rayman

by

Tong.

All you ever wanted to know

Say if with flowers!!!

a,

about covering an American Delegation in China And never could find anybody to ask

By Bill Stubbs

Sav Thank You. a nice friend,)

..

(for a nice dinner, for being

They come in swarms. Senators, congressmen, cabinet members, special representatives

Say. . , HAPPY BIRTHDAY Happy Mother's

Some come with an

;ri

panying press party assume they will be covered resident media

open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

CL

(o N

o

dents who assumed they would accompany the SecretarY of Commerce on her visit in May were

N

I

rsg

qEË

How does the sYstem work?

What assures access? So far as I

æ æ

r r I

)U f-

z

o Y

z

o I

#EË ËEg

refused visas.

N N

l,

o

Thomas, Mike Keats and Michael Stettenson.

È

Ê,

ã

Beijing, Hong

learn that they would not be permitted to loin the official party covering the visit of a delegation led by Senators Church and Javits.

Numerous Hong Kong correspon-

to celebrate the birthdays on May 17 of Bert Okuley and Nick Demuth (left are to right) Bill Stubbs, Bert Okuley Nick Demuth, Johan Mítchell, Kevin Sinclair, Ted

@

B

U

)

Okuley's Move

was the overwhelming sentiment of

Bert Okuley, former FCC President and UPI staffer, is the latest

monthly dues was the most sensible

newshound to set up an independent freelance business in Hong Kong.

So far assignments seem to be keeping him away from Hong Kong - he spent much of the past month in Malaysia and the Philippines.

CN

both Boards that an

\ ,

increase in

approach to this very serious (deficit) problem", said incoming President Vicky Wakefield.

At our deadline it

was perhaps

a trifle early to guage membershiP reaction. lndications were that, despite the odd resignation, most opted for a resigned shrug.

O

ô

Club Dues Up

z

We predicted last issue thal it was going to happen - and sure enough, through the letterbox last

É

o t'-

I (, U J

r

O)

month came a note saying that club dues will rise to $150 a month from August 1.

"After lengthy deliberations it

Home from Home

Alexi, the Club Stewardess, is looking for a share flat from

JulY

onwards.

lf

anybody can help, she would

be happy to hear from You s-237734.

on

can determine, nothing assures access, but a visa is much more likely

to be granted if the Pro-

cedure specified

by the PRC

is

fol lowed meticulously.

The first step ¡s the most imPortant one. Anyone wishing to cover the visit of an American delegation must request that his name be included on the official press list accredited to the delegation. That list is prepared in Washington bY

the sponsoring organization, that is, the Department of Commerce or

the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and sent by them to the Chinese Embassy. Unless Your name is on the list, You are not likely to be allowed to participaÍe

in

activities which the

in Beijing can be

Foreign Affairs

most useful at this Point.

to

ËËä

should

the lnformation the M inistrY of

others

lished their bureaus in Beijing only

Seen at a Sheraton lunch

o o

they

bY the

The resident media seek to cover them - and are often sadlY disappointed. AP and UPI estab-

tel:5-229528 P.S. lt's free delivery! for any f lower or plant ordered

rfr rI

in

accom-

Kong or Tokyo.

/

telegram to Department of

A

today.

Road

eEI

Simultaneously,

all seeking

the Ch ina chop in the passport apply for visas stating that theY which means much in the US plan to accompany,.the delegation.

Day Say. . . Congratulations!!! on the latest,arrival, promotion, etc, etc, , .

Say lT the nicest way . , . through "Ann" (Mrs. Dick Hughes).

Call up Ann Hughes at ANN'S HOUSE OF F LOWERS both Local and lmported 116 Caine

¡-C)

-

insist that their Washington bureau submit their names to the aPPropriate sponsoring organization well in advance of the visit.

Chinese

plan for the delegation. Journalists based in Hong Kong should thus

The

succeeding steps

in

the

process are basically bureaucratic, The sponsoring US agencY submits its list to the Chinese EmbassY,

it to Bei.iing. There, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in con junction with the PRC who transmits

organisation which will be host for

the visiting delegation, makes a final determination as to precisely which journalists will be admitted and allowed to accompany the delegation.

Possession of a visa or presence in China at the time of a visit does not ensure permission to cover an event. You must be on the approved list, and that list is compiled in Washington bY the sponsoring organization. The host organisation in Beijing will not

include you in its activities unless the PRC Embassy in Washington notifies them that You are to be

treated as part of the official party.

The US Embassy in Beijing is unable to intervene in this process, even in the case of US journalists

resident

in

China. The

EmbassY

can and will continue to plead the case of journalists who wish to

accompany delegations, but unless names appear on the list submitted in Washington there is

their

little

chance

of

accreditations.

Accreditation is not assured bY inclusion on the list, but if you are not listed accreditation is well-nigh impossible.

30th Anniversary

Shanghai Veterans StÂĄll Swinging

It is popular on anniversaries to regale the "good old days" and the FCC's 30th Anniversary Celebration in Hong Kong (Saturday, May 19) was no exception. The talk earlier in the evening around both bars was of the days in Chungking

Sheila Dennis receites her Cheval Btanc-1949

from

and Shanghai, and the old premises on Conduit Road and Kotewall Road.

By 5 am when AP's Henry Hartzenbusch (a veteran of the club in its Shanghai day$ staggered out

to find a Chinese eatery in The Wanch,

it

was ihe consensus of the

remaining party-goers that the FCC

still

upholds

its well

deserved

reputation for parties.

President (now ex-president) Tony Paul read letters and cables from around the world from old members unable to make it to Hong Kong. Then, joined by Vicky WakefĂ­eld, the new president (it is the first time in recorded FCC history that two FCC presidents kissed in public) and of course our doyen, His Emminence Richard

Hughes of the Times of London and the Economist, they cut the mammoth birthday cake which was

to the club's "Birthday

by Philip Mermod, general

donated ParTy"

manager of the Hilton Hotel.

Elaine Goodwin takes a breather, 12

The cake was decorated with a of China showing the trek of

map

"McTavish Sisters and the Sincere Building Band."

Saul

Lockhart and Vicky Wakefield.

Shanghai FCC

at the end of the Bund and far to the right of where your illustration

-

Hartzenbusch Was Right Dear Sir, I have just read your

April

issue

page 7, you wonder if anyone knows where the Shangai

in which, on

Foreign Press Club was located from 1945-1949.

It appears to me that the picture shows what was formerly the Cathay Hotel on the Bund while the Press Club was truly located in what was then Broadway Mansions (it was on a high floor possiblY the

. Broadways Mansions was in Hongkew across the Garden Bridge at the end of the Bund which Put 14th)

it just across the creek from

the

British Consulate-General located

featured the Peace Hotel.

At the time Broadway Manions was a US Army-controlled building and thus the Press Club was offered free space and cheap booze. ln the club's early days I was a stringer for the Washington Post and briefly a member of the club, Thus, Henry

way Mansions as the latter

was

then under J apanese control, So much for history.

A.C. Pinder FCC

of

J

aPan

Dear Sir,

Henry Harlzenbusch was correct

Hartzenbusch was right but for full credits he should have supplied

when he said that the shown in the issue of The

the proper location. Your caption is wrong in saying it was "some 40 years ago" since it would have made what I am referring to as a post-war club a pre-war one. lf there was a pre-war Press Club in existence it was cetainlY not in either the Cathay Hotel or Broad-

pondent was not the FCC.

Picture Corres-

The picture was in fact the Cathay Hotel now renamed the Peace Hotel, The FCC was located in the Broadway Mansions of which many of us were at onetime resi dents.

Eddie Tseng

Just who ís holding whose hand? Here former Club Stewardess LÌz Eckersley is flanked by BilI Stubbs (left) and Henry Hartzen busch.

the club to Hong Kong over

the

years.

The two "first" prizes in the traditional party raffle were won by Sheila Dennis and Roger Medcalf,

who

acqu

ired rare bottles of

vintage Cheval Blanc-1949, worlh HK$1 100 each. Both Sheila and Roger were staggered when entertainment chairman Saul Lockhart, presiding over his last function of the entertainment-packed year, explained to them just how valuable the "plonk" really was and that

perhaps

they'd prefer not

¡¡

to

"chugalug" it at the party.

Alasdair Sutherland and Steve

Llewellyn, along with

the

"McTavish Sisters and the Sincere

Building Band" wowed audience with a 40 minute Two FCC Presidents - Vicky Wakefield and Tony Paul cedents by dancing the night away.

14

-

set more pre-

"collage

of

past 20 years.

the live

music" spanning the

W thc¡ havc gootl lasle, and I lhc l'acl. \ou, ¡ou can bu¡ Corncliani untl llcnorna ol' Hong Korrg alrtl Koulootr.

NE\ry \ryORl,D CENTRFI STOIIE: l.-1, 59-60 Sal¡sbur! Rr¡ad, K-696892

CtINTRAI- S-IORE: 4E-50 l)'Aguilar Slrccl, Ccnlral l)islritl, H.K., H'232141-2

l in places like Bangkok and Manila, and the lack of same in

Asia Hands With the Pope ln Warsaw

journalists

Memorable Sendoff

places like Warsaw and Bonn, Hoefle looked up glumly from his

Dear Sir,

Dear Sir,

Piwo and said "something's wrong

ln

case anyone was wondering

h

eret'.

what happens to old Asia correspondents, it turns out theY just go on to cover other stories. Among the thousand or so journalists

Barry Kalb West Berlin

have a vague recollection of pulling myself away from a heated debate

following Pope John Paul ll around

in early June were Leon Daniel of UPI (formerlY Hong Kong, now London), CBS News Cameramen Kurt Hoefle (formerlY Bangkok, now Bonn) and Mike Marriot (formerly lndochina, now Poland

London), NBC Correspondent Don

Oliver (formerly TokYo and lndo-

china, now Los Angeles), David Andelman of the New York Times (formerly Bangkok, now Belgrade),

Loren Jenkins of

Newsweek

(formerly Hong Kong and lndochina, now Rome), and Yours trulY, now covering Eastern EuroPe oÙt of West Berlin for Time.

The weather did get a bit troPical

Both Deloris and I would like express our sincerest thanks to the Club and its members for a most memorable send-off on the evening of May 4.

Since it happened to coincide with the UK General Election, I

to

Parrott with Two T's

on the merits - or otherwise - of the Thatcher victory and taking a last lingering look at the deadly

Dear Si6

oval bar at about 4 a.m.

for sending me a "l do hope the FCC in TokYo menu card for the FCC's 30th closes a little earlier," muttered anniversary dinner - very interest- Deloris ås we staggered aboard ing and original. I am sorry I was PA 002 the following morning not able to be present at what I nursing seven su itcases, two am sure was a very en joyable kids and the most nonumental occasion. No doubt a full account h angoverers. of the gathering will appear in the lan Verchere next issue of The Correspondent D irector and I will be interested to know Corporate Commu n icati ions-Asia how many attended and if anyl Bank of America many of the old hands were inMany thanks

My 'own associations with - uP to 34 degrees cluded. club actually go back further, the and the that but when it was located ín two of the presence of a couple of Xinhua men were the only similarities to top floors in Broadway Mansions, Shanghai, during the Civil War, and covering a story in Asia. prior to the necessity to retreat Warsaw has one alleged Chinese restaurant, called the Shanghaj sou th.

during the trip

Tokyo

Celsius one day

(pronounced Shanghai), which has a couple of alleged Chinese dishes on its menu, served with clotted rice (Prague actuallY has a PrettY good Chinese restaurant, which was

run until fairly recentlY bY

a

Chinese chef).

l, and CBS Cameraman Kurt Volkert did the town in Hoefle,

Warsaw one evening, but aside from the strip show at the Sovietdonated Palace of Kultur and the beautiful Bulgarian magician's assistant in the Victoria Hotel night

club show, there wasn't much to

Anyway, good luck with the club and may it continue to prosper. I still have hopes of another trip abroad and I plan that mY itinerary will take me through Hong Kong in which case I shall be calling at Sutherland House.

And, by the waY and in the

interests of journalistic accuracy, of course, may I have a mild crack at the compiler of that menu. lf the

Mouse in Chocolate Mousse can have two s's could the parrot in Monty Parrott please have those two t's! For the record the list of

past presidents in the see. There wasn't much to do either, except drink Polish Piwo (beer) Membership List (my copy 1975) and vodka at several US dollars has the spelling error.

All good wishes to any members a throw. The thought of the Darlingski Massage and Machine who may still recall me (there's a Tool People's CooPerative didn't bloke called Hughes, for instance).

MontY Parrott do much for us. Thinking of the d istractions that await hard-working 16

printed

New Zealand

Concerned Canadian

by William Rees-Mogg, Editor, The

a

It

is very hard for the staff of

newspaper

not to be able to

for six months. This does not only apply to the editorial publish

staff, but to

all the people involved

in the newspaper's production.

I

felt this particularly strongly a few days ago when I met on the NGA's picket line a printer whom I had worked with on the stone when I was city editor of rhe Sundoy Times in the early 1960s. I know

Dear Sir,

what a good printer he is. Although we were on opposite sides in the dispute we could both understand

Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Col in

each other's sense

I am writing this on behalf of my former boss of the Canadian Hoath, who

is now an absentee

member of the FCC, to inquire if it is possible to place an announcement in the FCC newsletter Conadian journalist trovelling through Asia with wife ond two-

yeor-old son on researchf vocotion ti¡p in September 1979 would like to contoct fomilY Ìn Hong Kong willing to occommodote them os paying house guests for 1 -2 weeks. Please write Dovid llishort, Editorial Dept,, The Province, 2250 Gronville Street, Vancouver, B,C, Cqnadq.

Thanking you for your help.

Florence Bow. Hong Kong.

of

loss

and concern for the future of the paper.

I

have tried therefore

to think

how one could explain to the members of the NGA, the union

Times

which exists in some chapels of some of the other Fleet Street unions. Yet it is the NGA claim which is the centre of the problem.

The problem for the NGA is that they have a monopoly of an old technology and are trying to

turn it into a

monopoly

of

a

new one. The NGA still lays clairn

to a total monopoly of

the

for the new technology. They want to

terminals which are used

impose the same degree of control

that they have of mechanical printing on electronic printing, though that would be a fatal limitation to the possibilities of the new

system. They want to exclude journalists and commercial staff from access to the computer bY access to the terminals. lf newspapers were published in international competition, then the

which lies at the heart of this long

excluding them from

be an

position which has already been reached on Fleet Street could

stoppage, why I cannot accept their position, and believe indeed that their position will in the end

unmitigated disaster for them. The NGA, which represents some of the traditional skills of Fleet Street, is basically a good

not conceivably be maintained, but I do not believe it can be maintained in any case. lt is cheaper to

That includes the cost of paper and freight; the strict production cost

is

fifth of the London cost.

At the present moment Fleet Street costs are still accelerating.

It is certain that all the Fleet Street houses are greatly overmanned. The Times is probably one of the more tightly manned houses, if only because we have not been a very profitable newspaper for over a century. ln Frankfurt the staffproducing the paper numbered twenty-five Turks and fifteen Germans. This was a weekly, though only a few worked for more than one day on it, and was only sixteen pages, but even the 40 have to be compared with a pure production staff of 412 for a minimum 24 page paper in London. The German women compositors in Frankfurt set 1 8,500 characters an hour in their own language, and 12,500 in ours. about

a

On electronic equipment The Times

have put forward 10,000 as

a

leadership, both nationally and at

print newspapers almost anywhere in the world rather than London.

branch and house levels, and it

When we published an edition in

proposal, and the NGA has offered 7,000; on Linotype machines NGA members set about 3,500 characters an hour. A Linotype operator, who may now on Fleet Street be paid

Frankfurt we established that the Frankfurt level of costs was less than a third of the London level.

between 1250 and 0450 a week, thus has only 20 per cent. of the productivity of a German woman

trade union.

lt

is well organised;

has an intelligent and

it

capable

commands the loYaltY of a high proportion of its members. lt does not have the Problem of anarchY

operating an electronic keYboard,

or 30 per cent,

if

she is

setting

English.

o

i

ntroduce h igher productivitY.

The alternative is a gradual approach, a limited improvement in

These differences of productiv- productivity, the buying out of ity could not be maintained if the jobs, the acceptance bY both

Fleet Street newspapers were com- sides

of a

slow approach, with

peting with anyone but themselves, respect for each other's interest. I lndeed, some Fleet Street manage- believe such an approach is, in anYments survive on the incomPet- thing but the shortest term, in the ence of their competitors. Because interests of the NGA. All experiall Fleet Street newspapers operate ence shows that gross inflations

under the same conditions, ùe

tion, they are able, though with difficulty, to bear this burden of costs. Yet those cost levels are quite'out of line with the normal internatibnal standard and they put the majority of Fleet Street

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of an advertising boom. High costs inflate prices.

Given freedom to reach high efficiençy we could profitaby produce The Times at half the present price, and the rest of Fleet Street could probably do the same for even at the top

frich

themselves.

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t0

self-

Yet Street

Australasian

if I am concerned for Fleet

I

am much more concerned

for Britain. Mr Len Murray,

whom

I greatly respect, says that his first priority is to get new technology into British industry. Unless that happens, unless in the 1980s we

and if money is invested, by British companies or the Govern-

it,

ment,

nology. We are, to my mind, more justly to be criticised for being willing to move too slowly than for trying to move too fast.

The question for the NGA has been whether they should accept and

it was on mechanical equipment. The price of getting the new

than

fident about that. But a nation

which cannot adopt new methods is doomed, just as the armoured knight was doomed when guns appeared on the battlefield. When I saw a middle-aged German woman

co-operate with th is gradual in Darmstadt rippling outtheTimes approach, or whether they should on her keyboard, in a language stand fast, and risk the loss of news- foreign to her, w¡th hardly an papers and the eventual breakdown error in a column, at more than three times the speed of an efficient Obviously the easiest view for London linotype operator, it the NGA is that they should dig seemed to me to be a most in to defend their position. Yet I dangerous symbol of the condo not believe that will work. trasting attitudes of our two British newspapers will not all sur- nations. The Germans embrace vive if their costs are so inflated, efficiency; the British fight to and jobs will be lost by closures. reject it. lt is, for us, a high road We are all wide open to competi- to d isaster.

of an overloaded industry.

tion by any

s

it will be wasted. All the

signs now are lhat productivity relating to international competition will be lower on electronic

papers

says. . .

professional

cost are sooner or later

defeating.

What the board of Times News- equipment in will be a large Ltd. wanted to do was to increase in make-work and make a very slow and gradual move overmanning.

Perhaps Fleet Street can slag1er towards higher productivity and a gradual introduction of new tech- on, though I would not be con-

Schwaabe

examinations, prescribe and

of

Even the Daily Mirror with its move from mechanical to electronic huge circulation is now thought to production, British industry will be making a negligible profit, and simply slide away. No one will in general Fleet Street profit mar- invest in putting new equipment gins are as thin as a razor blade, into a country which will not use

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