George Seldes -- Press Critic and Muckracker
George Seldes Thought Himself a Truth-teller, First and Foremost
Feb 27, 2009 Kathlin F. Sickel
But the long career of George Seldes, combining journalism with criticism of the press, offers lessons today for both professional journalists and their many amateur critics.
George Seldes was a child of the 19th century who grew up to provide eye-witness accounts of many of the major events of the 20th. He was born in 1890 in New Jersey, and he lived and wrote in Europe and America until the last decade of his life. Not surprisingly, he titled his autobiography, published in 1987, "Witness to a Century".
He continued to serve his profession -- as an advisor to the media watch organization, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting -- until his very last days, and, it is worth noting that he attained the age of 104. He died in Vermont in 1995.
Although virtually unknown by many in the media today, he is revered by Solomon and other contemporary critics, particularly for the arrows he aimed at the American press establishment. Solomon (who publishes a syndicated column, Media Beat) notes that Seldes was "one of the greatest press critics in the history of this country."
Seldes' Early Career: Cub Reporter to Seasoned Writer Covering the Rise of Fascism
Before he became an outspoken critic of the "lords of the press," Seldes worked for them. He started as a cub reporter for a Pittsburgh paper while still a teenager and by the time he was 26 he was on his way to London as a foreign correspondent.
In an online biography of Seldes, Randolph T. Holhut, outlines the career. Seldes covered the end of World War I, and American famine relief efforts in the Soviet Union, and the rise of Mussolini. He enjoyed a mutually agreeable relationship with his employer, by then "The Chicago Tribune", until he was assigned to Mexico and he found that his coverage of Mexican mineral rights was often at odds with official Tribune policy. He left the newspaper in 1928, becoming an independent freelance journalist from that point forward.
He married in 1932, and his wife, Helen Larkin, assisted him with all his writing endeavors from then until her death in 1979. Soon after their marriage they covered the Spanish Civil War, Franco, and the spread of fascism for the "New York Post".
As Independent Journalist, Seldes Published Books and "In Fact"
Seldes published numerous books, including press criticism ("Lords of the Press"), an investigation of the world armaments industry ("Iron, Blood, and Profits), and "Sawdust Ceasar" about the rise of Mussolini.
For Seldes and his wife, the 1940’s were always remembered as the "In Fact decade," because of the well-known weekly newsletter they published by that name. A mere four pages each week, "In Fact", was devoted to investigative reporting and criticism of the press.
Perhaps Seldes’ most legendary work is the early and relentless coverage he did on the link between cigarette smoking and cancer. Seldes took note of an important Johns Hopkins study on tobacco and health when it was published in 1938 – nearly 20 years before the office of the U.S. Surgeon General would issue its own conclusive report. As he expected, Seldes' colleagues in the mainstream press gave little coverage to that early study.
It was given attention in the May 1938 issue of "Scientific American", but only two daily papers -- the "New York Times" and the "World-Telegram" would touch it—and only with a few paragraphs each. But Seldes provfided continuing coverage and commentary. Throughout the decade of "In fact" he reported on the scientific studies themselves and also on the relationship of the tobacco companies and the press which depended on their advertising dollars.
"To Tell the Truth and Run" Is a Documentary Film about Seldes
In addition to his books and the more recent "George Seldes Reader" (Barricade Books, Incorporated, 1994, Randolph T. Holhut, editor), the curious can learn more about Seldes through a 1997 film, "To Tell The Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press". Independent filmaker Rick Goldsmith made the academy award-nominated documentary.
George Seldes, starting a lifetime in journalism
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