Plot

With his newspaper about to be sold, crusading editor Ed Hutcheson tries to complete an exposé on gangster Rienzi.

Ed Hutcheson, tough editor of the New York Day, finds that the late owner's heirs are selling the crusading paper to a strictly commercial rival. At first he sees impending unemployment as an opportunity to win back his estranged wife Nora. But when a reporter, pursuing a lead on racketeer Rienzi, is badly beaten, Hutcheson is stung into a full-fledged crusade against the gangster, hoping Rienzi can be tied to a woman's murder...in the 3 issues before the end of The Day.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Ed Hutcheson is the Managing Editor of The Day, one of the most respected newspapers not only in New York City but in the US. Like Ed, the newspaper's staff is dedicated to it, but that dedication has taken its toll on one's personal life as seen by Ed's own now ex-wife, Nora Hutcheson. Nora used to work for the paper herself, but divorced Ed two years ago, realizing she was his second priority, although she would not have had any other way as she respected him for it and for what the newspaper means to the public. Conversely, Ed, who realizes what drove her way, still turns to her for support and still loves her, despite the fact that she is on the cusp of marriage to another man. The newspaper was founded by John Garrison, who deeded the paper to his wife Margaret and their two daughters, Alice and Katherine, upon his death eleven years ago. Spurred by their respective husbands in viewing the newspaper solely as a financial asset, Alice and Katherine, having a two-thirds controlling interest, have convinced their mother to sell it to Lawrence White, who publishes the rival Standard newspaper. He probably will roll whatever he wants of The Day into The Standard and then shut down The Day. While The Standard has three times the circulation of The Day in focusing on news as entertainment, it does not have the respect that The Day has from people who read newspapers for news. While Ed encourages the staff to do what they have to do for their own personal situations, he is committed to saving at least what the newspaper means. How he believes he can achieve such is to pursue the story of Tomas Rienzi, a so-called legitimate businessman, that front masking that he is a gangster using his money for graft and other crimes of moral suasion, his cement company which he probably uses to make boots for those who cross him. With other newspapers not even remotely touching the more public aspects of Rienzi's story, Ed doing so places the newspaper's staff, including himself, at risk.—Huggo