The lunchtime Freethought Society meeting in the Philosophy Room at Sydney University was proceeding as usual. Professor John Anderson was summing up his views on the “New Journalism”, the subject of the meeting. The door banged open and a tall figure appeared behind the small audience. Anderson paused. “Ah, Mr Sayle.” The glance was baleful. The audience stirred. Anderson would face opposition from “Sidney Man”, the Daily Mirror’s front page, man-about-town columnist. In the late 1940s Anderson was frequently attacked in the daily press: often on smaller issues, such as not standing for “God Save the King”, opposition to war…