 John Mack is the city editor of "The Daily News". He wants to run a series of stories on a ship owner s disregard for safety measures on his vessels. Ship owner McCloskey, a large advertiser in the newspaper, puts pressure on the paper s managing editor, and Mack is forced to squelch the series. A local disaster later that morning proves Mack right. The disaster story affects Mr. Mack in a very personal way.