Michael Cassidy runs ''The Evening Guardian'' newspaper. However, publisher Matt Cooper sends Cassidy a telegram on its 75th birthday, informing him that he is shutting it down that very night. Cooper also owns ''The Record'', a more lurid, scandal-filled paper, and he bought ''The Guardian'' solely to get rid of the competition. Cooper offers him any job he wants on ''The Record'', but Cassidy turns him down. He abhors ''The Record'', citing its shameful treatment of schoolteacher Ellen Frazier, a witness in a current kidnapping case.