Presses of ‘The Times’ have fallen silent

Press, 1 December 1978, Page 7

Presses of ‘The Times’ have fallen silent

NZPA-Reuter London; i The presses of “The ( Times,” of London. “The . Thunderer,” have fallen si- ; lent for what may be a long ’ tune. Tired of constant dis- : ruptions by militant printers, the owners are suspending publication of “TheTimes” and the “Sunday Times” until they are assur-i, ed of a new deal with the trade unions. Yesterday was a traumatic;, day not only for Fleet; Street, Britain’s troubled , press centre, but for the 1 ' nation whose imperial rise i and fall the 193-year-old newspaper has charted. Lord Thomson of Fleet, ’ the Toronto-based president, of Times Newspapers, ;

moved to allay Britons’ fears; that the newspapers may I disappear, saying: “There is; absolutely no intention of [ permanent closure or their sale.” In a front-page report in yesterday’s edition a[ “Times” reporter writes that management sources private- ; ly estimate that the news-| papers may be off the! streets for two or three months. Parliament planned to hold a virtually unprece-i dented emergency debate on; I the issue in a bid to avertl • suspension. But the powerful National, 'Graphical Association,; whose 700 “Times” printers; 'fear the loss of jobs if'com-; 1 puter-based printing methods, 'are introduced, is refusing I 'even to talk to the manage-; [ ment unless the suspension; I is lifted. The management is deter-; I mined not to print again ; until all the unions have ' agreed to measures to ; ensure unbroken production, i They also want to reduce ' overmanning and open the door to the new printing ; technology — all of which j the management sees as i vital to a secure future fori ■the two newspapers. i

“The Times,” perhaps the i world’s most famous journal, I is Britain’s oldest daily. It ,was first published in 1785. It is almost as much a nat-; ; ionai institution as the Bank of England. ; The two papers iost 13; [ million copies this year through unofficial disputes, (and the management warned; [the unions on April 26 of I yesterday’s suspension. The 250 “Times” journalists worked in a sad but : businesslike mood to produce what may be the last 'edition for a long time. They planned to join, ■“Sunday Times” colleagues; !to mark the occasion, having; booked a Piccadilly restau- ■ rant. It can hardly be a cele-[ ; bration, yet it cannot be a ;I wake. “We are confident that the; , papers will resume publica-; Ition,” one said. “The Times” led its front! page with straight reports; on its own turbulent events.! Also on the front page were . a picture of the former . United States President, Mr : Richard Nixon, and a report , of the court case at Minei head, where a former male i model had alleged in the ■; witness box that he once ihad a homosexual affair

! with the former Liberal iParty leader, Jeremy Thorpe.! The famous “Times”; crossword, which has daily! tested the brains of Britain’si top lawyers, academics, and I politicians, came complete, with the answers. The main letter-page com-’ munication was from Chief, Jeremiah Chirau of the Rho-; desia interim Government. In another letter, a reader! !said he would wear a red! rose in his buttonhole on the! iday “The Times” reappeared ! One reader has said he; would grow a beard until; i'“The Times” was printed! ! again. ' ; “Life will cease to be I ! civilised without 'The; !Times’,” he wrote, echoing; i ; the views of many at the I top of British life for whom; nreading “The Times” is al I morning exercise of ritual; I significance. I Lord Thomson, son of the] I Canadian magnate who; 'bought “The Times” and; ; poured millions of dollars ’ into it, said in Toronto, | headquarters of the Thomson I ' Organisation, that the sus-; ■ pension was a drastic step. ; “One cannot, however, j j allow the papers to be slow-;' ■ly bled to death,” he said. ;