Wentz mentioned
Archive.org has added a few clips on the '48 election from Bert Andrews. He showed how to discuss politics objectively and fairly, which was of course NOT UNUSUAL on radio. He apparently felt defensive about the divisive reputation of newspapers, which was VALID at that time.

I write the news straight. Everybody on the Herald Tribune writes the news straight. We try to give the readers an honest job whether we're dealing with the Republicans or the Democrats or Henry Wallace's third party or the Socialists or Communists. We figure that if we give the readers the facts ... and that's the only instruction a Herald Tribune reporter ever gets ... the readers are capable of making up their own minds. I drop that in here because I'm likely to be asked why I'm so sure that I'm right in what I report about these conversations in these smoke-filled rooms.

Well, I talk to men from New York. From Texas. From California. I talk to my old friend Lew Wentz from Oklahoma.

PING!

I've discussed Wentz often. Lew Wentz and EW Marland competed to turn Ponca into a beautiful and civilized town.

Both arrived from the East around 1920. At first both stayed in the Arcade Hotel, in a grimy part of downtown next to the railroad station.

Marland was a grandiose extrovert who built two grandiose mansions and got into politics, ending up as governor of Okla around 1940. His second mansion is still grand, now a museum.

Wentz simply stayed in the Arcade. He bought it and occupied the top floor. Instead of hiring an army of personal servants, he used the hotel's cafe and club and maids along with the paying guests. He remained close to the working class, just as reporters were also close to the working class.

This is the first time I've heard Wentz mentioned in a political or national context. He definitely didn't run for office, but he must have been a quiet kingmaker.

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Broader thought: Bert Andrews spent a lot of time telling the listeners HOW he worked. Along with the facts, he gave us the provenance and credibility. Here's how I know this, and here's why I'm sure about it. Nobody in the mainstream gives us a HOW now. Mostly it's just rosary beads. Fuck_Trump Fuck_Trump Fuck_Trump January_Sixth_Violent_Insurrection January_Sixth_Violent_Insurrection January_Sixth_Violent_Insurrection. When it departs from rosaries, it's disconnected word salad with no meaning. A random shower of toxic fact-like particles. Brain poison masquerading as food.

Some of the independent ex-mainstreamers like Saagar and Batya and Greenwald have returned to the HOW end, focusing on provenance and credibility.

HOW-style journalism is closer to serious science. Methods, equipment, data, results, discussion.   ¶ 12:21 AM