A fact from Vern Partlow appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 6 June 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that Vern Partlow'ssatiricalsong "Old Man Atom" was a hit record in the U.S. in July 1950, but a month later it was removed from store shelves for allegedly containing pro-communistpropaganda?
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Latest comment: 14 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
There is a sentence that reads "Partlow was also active in the trade union movement early in his life, even though he was also actively working as a newspaper journalist." As both a journalist and union delegate myself I can say that, at least in Australia, it's not as an unusual occurrence as this line makes out. I don't know enough about the situation but perhaps there needs to be a qualifier like for the place and time it was unusual. --Roisterer (talk) 06:52, 6 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
I can't qualify it more than it already is. Most American journalists do not belong to labor unions (they never have). To find a source that says "almost no American journalists have belong to labor unions" doesn't really address Partlow's situation, does it? We'd need to know if his particular paper was organized. One alternative situation is that Partlow held two jobs: Reporter by day, union organizer by night. None of the sources I have seen are that explicit. Another alternative situation is that Partlow had a reporting job by day, and volunteered as a union organizer in his spare time. None of the sources I have seen are that explicit, either. It is common knowledge in the U.S. that reporters rarely have outside jobs (the practicing doctor who is also a medical reporter or practicing attorney who is a legal reporter is, today, somewhat common, but outside the specialized, skilled professions such as those it is very rare). That, however, is already said in the article. - Tim1965 (talk) 13:21, 6 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 10 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The following line is a little strange:
"Partly wishing to encourage younger songwriters like Partlow, Pete Seeger established the magazine Broadside in 1961 to promote the work of younger folk artists."
Not only was Vern Partlow a sprightly 51 in 1961, but comparing their birthdates Pete Seeger was in fact 9 years younger than Partlow, whereas this line gives an impression wholly otherwise. Zephirius (talk) 12:33, 9 June 2014 (UTC)Reply
