Outfoxed?

As publisher and columnist of the Boston Post, Financial Juggler and Amateur Journalist John Fox last year predicted a major depression in the U.S. The prediction proved spectacularly wrong for everyone but the Post. Since his forecast, his circulation has slumped. A fortnight ago he fired 58 Postmen for economy. Morale has been further damaged by the fact that many a staffer had invested in Fox's Keta Gas & Oil Corp. In the last year the stock has dropped from 15 to 3 1/2. Even Fox himself shows signs of depression about his first erratic excursion into journalism. Last week he announced he will no longer write his daily financial column (signed "Washington Waters"). But the real depths of his troubles were spread in the record last week at a Federal Communications Commission hearing in Washington.

Fox appeared to argue for a Boston TV license. Competing with him for the license was his bitter newspaper rival, the Boston Herald-Traveler. Charged the Herald-Traveler's lawyers: "The Post Publishing Co. under Mr. Fox has no credit, its word is useless and its commitments cannot be relied on." The lawyers even suggested that Fox does not own the Post because he has not been able to meet the payments on the $4,000,000 he contracted to pay for it two years ago. It was also charged that Fox had an unpaid paper bill with the Great Northern Paper Co. for $800,000, is being sued for $25,000 by a Boston wrecking company, owes three years in back state taxes on the Post, and had issued checks that bounced. In answer, Fox said that he does own the Post, although he is behind in his payments. The Grozier estate, which sold him the paper, can foreclose on him if it wants to, but has started no proceedings to do so. He said he had paid his paper bill. As for his other unpaid bills, Fox explained: "For 25 years I have paid my bills in batches."

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