ever adopted as strong a stance against McCarthy as other newspapers. In
addition, the book did not mention the Monitor's coverage following the
initial Wheeling, West Virginia speech by McCarthy and the Tydings sub-
committee investigation of McCarthy's charges of Communists in the U.S.
State Department. Further, Bayley quoted from an interview he conducted
with Richard L. Strout of the Monitor. Strout told Bayley that the Monitor
"never did adopt a strong editorial position against McCarthy" and that
"the senator or his supporters put a lot of pressure on the paper's board." ⁶
These conflicting views concerning one of the nation's most respected
newspapers led to this book.

Covering McCarthyism: How the Christian Science Monitor Handled Joseph
R. McCarthy, 1950-1954 does for depth what Joe McCarthy and the Press did
for breadth regarding press coverage of McCarthy. Bayley's work effec-
tively gives the reader a feel for what newspapers, large and small, wrote
about McCarthy. However, in such a sweeping study, general conclusions
are confined to the press as a whole with little to be learned about the most
prestigious newspapers of the time. Conversely, this book looks in-depth at
the McCarthy coverage in the Monitor, a newspaper with considerable
power to influence that was held in high esteem by government officials,
businessmen, and readers throughout the world.

Additionally, Bayley relies on anecdotal evidence--interviews with re-
porters, editors, and the like--in recounting press activities. The interviews
were conducted a quarter of a century after the McCarthy era. Memories, as
we all know, are fraught with discrepancies over time. This book, on the
other hand, relies primarily on written documentation--intra-office
memos, letters, and the like--in identifying the effect McCarthyism had on
a top-notch newspaper

Documentation of the Monitor's handling of McCarthyism adds to the
understanding of the mass media and its coverage of this controversial
Senator The information may be used by researchers who are continuing to
piece together the puzzle of why McCarthyism flourished, and may be
used by mass communication and history instructors in helping to explain
to students what happened during the McCarthy era. The "small picture"
of the Monitor's handling of McCarthyism helps in the creation of the "big
picture" regarding the media's coverage of McCarthy. This book illumi-
nates the struggle Monitor reporters and editors went through dealing with
the newspaper's stance against Communism, and its conservative lean-
ings, and, at the same time, its opposition to McCarthy.

The term "McCarthyism" was derived from the name of Joseph R.
McCarthy, a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1946 till his death,

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