Theodore M. Bernstein

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Theodore Menline Bernstein (1904-1979) was an assistant managing editor of The New York Times and from 1925 to 1950 a professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism. He wrote several books on grammar and usage, including The Careful Writer (ISBN 0-684-82632-1) and Watch Your Language (ISBN 0-689-70531-X). He was also co-author of Headlines and Deadlines (ISBN 0-231-04816-5), a manual for copy editors.

Among many other responsibilities in the 1950's and '60's, it fell to Bernstein and his colleague, Lewis Jordan, to make up the next day's front page of the Times. His colleagues often saved his drafts on particularly newsworthy days. During the run-up to the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961, the two settled on a four-column lead headline that put the invasion into dramatic perspective. However, under pressure from Presidnet John F. Kennedy, publisher Orvil Dryfoos ordered that the story be toned down, and the headline reduced to one column. Bernstein and Jordan were both infuriated, even after Dryfoos personally explained his decision to them. The story is told in detail in Without Fear or Favor by former Times editor Harrison Salisbury.

[edit] Quotes

"Now, I am a firm believer in democracy, but I also believe that there are some fields of human activity in which a count of noses does not provide the best basis for law and order." -- from The Careful Writer