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Formation of the National News Council Judicial Ethics and the National News Council
10-1973 The aN tional News Council's News Clippings, 1973 October - 1973 November The aN tional News Council, Inc.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1978 10 . Th'ose Horror Tales FrOlll Chile ...
By PABLO HUNEEUS . people, tops it with a total lack of respect for SANTIAGO, Chile - The military coup Slaughter in Santiago the truth and cooks it with imagina.tive fiction turned Mlende's comedy into Chile's tragedy. writing. It brings glory to him and disgracr to But the Newsweek article "Slaughterhouse in "Last week I slipped through a side us. . Santiago," Oct. 8, turned our tragedy into a door into the Santiago city morgue. • • • Not that I am happy with the junta. Every !horror tale. 1t caused suell a misUnderstand One hundred and My dead bodies were Chilean feels that no matter how low the ing as to the true nature at whaJt happened laid out on &he ground Door •••• Upstall"lll dea.th toll, what happened is a trag~y. We down here that ·1 decided to retrace the steps passed through a swing door and there in a are accustomed to see our presidents end dimly U& corridor lay at least 50 more bod· their constitutional term. and walk quietly I of Newsweek's correspondent Johil Barnes to double check the information that he said lese ••• Most had been shot at close range home. But the military intervention is the log ical' outcome at a Marxist regime. I am no came fro~ the Santiago morgue. under the chin. Some had been machine gunned. • • • Thelr chests had been sIlt wizard; but in a.. book I wrote a year ago I Known here as the Medical Legal Institute open and sewn together grotesquely • • • sald that Chile was heading towards a mUl it is a small, neat grey building near the Gen- . They were all young and, Judging from the tary regime. There was such hatred among eral Cemetery. It looks like iI. hospital except rouglmess of their hands, aU frc)pt the , Chileans that the only way of holding us to that all the people lying on the stretchers are wQrking class. • • • Most of their heads had gether was thfOugh force. dead. An autopsy is the only operation per been crtlllhed. I remained for perhaps two formed by Ita doctOrs. This hatred springs from a long history of minutes at most, then left the building. frustration with politicians. By 1970 we had Qver two days I interviewed a random • • • Workers at the morgue have been IIIIres:dy tried wdth poUticaJl formulas: & pop sample ot seven doctors, five clerks, three wamed tbat they will be court martIaled ulist government with IbaneZi, a conserva· typists and four porters. To each I showed or and shot If they reveal what is going on tive right wing one with Alessandrl and a llb tra.nslated Cbe Newsweek article aDd ' ques there. • • • But the morgue count alone eral Christian Democrat one with Fret .All tioned them about their reactiOllS. Here's & sets the regime's kill rate at an appalUng failed to give us the results we wanted and' so summary of what they sald: 200 Chileans a" day-jUst for the eapltaI." we tried Marxism. -CJorrespondent John Bames in News- 1. Without a single exception &1l uttered 'week, Oct. 8. It was' the great experiment. But the comments like "lies," "what an exaggera Correspondent Balmes' vivid account of guinea pigs rebelled. tion," "brllllant imagination," or "absolutely the Chilean coup has turned into one of the But intellectuals throughout the world f&ise." Dr. Vargas, an elderly experienced most effective bits ot journalism in years. doted on the Allende regime. Soon it was evi pathologist, dismissed the whole story on the Senator Kezmedy placed it in the Congres dent that under the cover of C'lever public reo grounds that the Newsweek correspondent sional Record. It is being used in adver lations, a machine aimed at taking over total suffered what is called i'perception shock." tisements by organizations opposed to the power was being bul:lt. In the first months of When exposed to a couple of bodies, he ex present Chdlean regime. Its staggering cas his term, AHende admitted to Debray that his plained, the' shock alters perception capabili ua;lty figures have been accepted as gos respect for the constitution and democratic ties. "When there are 10 bodies together pel .in many European countries. It may institutions was only a tactic to gain power. many persons can't even recognize their have been instrumental in causing the U.S. wives or fathers. '!'bat must have happened to . The country unanimously agreed on na to delay ald to Chile "untU Human Rights tionallizing copper and monopolistic corpora that correspondent," he said, "presumlDg he are restored." But was it true 1 ever got in the morgue." tions. But soon para-milltary brigades began Dissenting Is Pablo Huneeus, a Chilean roaming the countryside and seizing farms by 2. Also without exception, the staff journallst and professor of sociology &,t the torce and expelling farmers at gun point. In doubted that he was ever 1naide the morgue University of Chile, who previously has as dustries, even very sma.ll ones, were seized;' because his descrdptlons dich).'t tit. For exam sisted American correspondents, including workers who opposed were suppressed or ple. ,Newsweek describes a 'l9rr1dor with 110 those of The Wall Street Joui-naI and beaten; an oppOdlon leader was asea:saI bodies in it, bUt there isn't any corridor large Newsweek, in preparation of reports on nated; technicians were fired for ' political eJfough to hold that many bodies. The only Chile. reasons. Because of the imported doctrine ot corridor in which there are bodies to be seen class warfare, the official goepel was hate. under normal conditions is outside the au bodies received at the morgue from the begin Dr. Allende started it when he declared at the topsy rQoms, and it can .handle qnly a few in ning of the year to sept. 21. It's this figure beginning of his term that he was not the line. Mr. Barnes also claims to have.seen bod president of all Ohileans. ies upstairs, bUt the staff says none have ever , that Is being quoted all around the world as and been taken up there. Upstairs there are only the C8SIJodty rate in Santiago alone ,for the Our techriicians left the country we 'began to import slogans from China, educa· offices and laboratories. The autopsy rooms tirst l' day& of Clhe c:oup. are on the ground floor and the refrigeration tional programs from East Germany, higb storage rooms in the basement. (Kenneth Aucbincloss, executive editor of government officials from Cuba and terrorists Newsweek, . say& he has "complete confl from aU over Latin America. Our president 3;, A p1clure of & man \Wth the missfDg dence" in lIr. Barnes, ''be's covered wars be· imported guns labeled art objects. He bad a ~eg published by Newsweek with tHe caption fore." Mr. Auchincloss 8ays Mr. Barnes was guerrllla training camp in his" house and there "A dead amputee' in Santiago: The reign of given the 2,798 dead figure by a daughter of a were flnaUy enough arms in the country to terror was worse than anyone imagined," is member of the morgue staff, adding, "I think supply 20,000 irregulars. ' actually of a man who died some time earller it is conceivable that there was 8. misunder .Allende lost all legitimacy. It W88 worse in a traffic acci<\ent. He was run down by a standing. But, tha.t is pure speculation on my than Watergat!!. We were sinking and the Chevrolet pick-up truck. ' part. I haven't checked it out with Mr. . Dian at the helm was unable to govern. Even 4. By far the worst mbrepreseJllta!lllon in Barnes. There is no reason to doubt his re Marxists agreed that we \ftre sinking, the the Newsweek artic'le was the report that dur porting." ) only ·debate was over whose fault It was. ing the two week period after the coup 2,798 , This is enough to demonstrate the false I would have preferred a democratic solu bodies had borne to the morgue. Newsweek hOQda in the Newsweek story. To me U's a tion, a. plebJscite or a. new election for con· says ". . . though information lis almost non case of joU1'D8l1stic imperlalism. A rich gress and the presidency as the opposition existent for the rest of Chile, the presumption American magazine sends from London a leaders proposed. But Alolende refused to com· is tha.t the executions have foUowed 8. simila.r British correspondeDt 8. week after the coup. promise and he refused to tollow the majori pattern in other cWes." He ma.ke8 DO effort to understand what is ty's wlll. He was determined to persuade \III Every dead bOdy that arrive" fecelves 8. really going on here. He only wants to use us with guns. number that goes up on a list posted outside for a story that wm ileU. He knows the market That's wby this deadly war machine was with the name. Number one begfna on J'aDu want.. & horror story. He flavors his story unleashed. It's sad 80 many died, but it's good airY. ,arat. '!be Newsweek eIgure is for an tiIle wiCh an underlying contempt for Cblle and its 80 many survived. . • • • and a Few Loud Echoes 'From Academia
articles use their ffigures as evidence that Dr. enee, saying tbat Chile has always had eco Alrende's popularity had r eac~e d new heights nomic problems and anyhow all the diffi
ED ITO R a: PUB LIS HER for October 27, 1973
Ne,\TS Coulicil to study Fla. reIlly Ia,v case
The potE-ntial t hre:lt to a free press posed Lr incrpased dem:lnci s fo r :lcce~s to the media w ill be the slIbj"ct of the first major study by The Xation al Xew::; Coun eil. In announcing the !
The ~Ii a mi Herald's petition to the Florida ~upreme Court fo r a rf'-hearing was denied on October 11. (/:.',(- £> (Jet . _'f} ) . after whic h the Hera ld announced it would take the case to the Un!ted S~ ates Supreme Court.
·t The study, he pointed out, w ill a lso examine the im pact of the fairness doc trine on the electronic media. In his announcement, Traynor s:lid the Council study will consider to \\"hat ex tent, if any, there should be government rules on access to the news media. "What the pr oblem comes do wn to is this," Traynor said. " If you don't allow go\'ernment intrusion, what kind of relief is an injured person going to get?" • 32 )
.....! .....~.. . . . (KICAGO Fri., Oct: ...... ",, ?:'.:,.:- '. ,54 . Sut~·TI""ES , J.? .J?~3 }~ ..."~ , _~, ' ~ ' , S u y n nd NEW YORK (U PT) - The ~ oing to ge t?" the so-ca ll ed fai rness doctrine National Ne ws Council said The study, expected to be on radio and television. That Thursday that it will conduct a pu blished ea rl y next year, Wt ll ruling req ui res network or major study of a growing de be directed by Be n n 0 C. local station to a·.l equatcly cov ~c hl11ir1t .f r., profes or of con- er controversial is'ues and mand to force the news medi n . stilu tional law at Columbia give the ri ght of reply to an : to glve private organ.izatIons University. indi vid ual or organi zation I or individuals equal time. Travn or said the council also where p ~ rsol1a l attack can be I Announcing the study, Roger would" examine the impac~~1 proved . II J. Traynor, council chairman and form er chief justice of the California Supreme Court, cited the July decision 01 th e Floti da Supreme Court upholding the right of a pOli tical fi gu re to equal space to reply to an edi tOrial bl the Miami Herald. • • 0 n c e the government moves in to tell a medium what it must publish," TraY- I nor said, . "there is a basic question whether such a com mand is an abridgmeat of free dom of the press," But, he said, "if you dun't allow gov ernment intrusion, what kind 01 relief Is an injured person TIlE ARI ZO;{ AR EPuBLIC PHOEN IX, f,RI Z, D. 159,400 SU N. 237,568
OCT 7 1973 \ Council g ets news coverage grzp• es
By THOMAS COLLl;\S proceeding with ca ution in magazines - and the rest are tele vision networks and public broa d c asti ng. Newsday News Srn'ice thi s area whe r e wis e m e n har all )< ut's from \J eo ple whu pre \'ious ly have fe are d tu just like to write letters. Complaints abnu a local Do you have a complaint newspapl'r or radio station do tread, T he co uncil' s immediate about the press ? Chances are not come under it s j ur i 'dic I\ed Schnurman, who used goal. Schnurman said, is to iI you don't, you're in the tion unlrss the story has gone to hand out news asslg l1l nrnlS "prucpss on e s e rious minority. II you do, there's a at We BS -TV in J\(' w York, is out nationally. place where you can go, co mpl a in t a nd g et it associate directur of the publicize d , It is absoiut€' ly although you mig ht have to Also, the com plaint should council and is prl)cl'ssing essential that we show s tOctober 1 of havin/! d iscrim hint that. they mig ht be stuck. In still anot hl'r casp, the Better iIrar inatory I. elp-wanted ads by the Twin Cit Headers of the column also were among ing Institute':; H elpl.ine go>t fleltone to ies Chapter of the :\ational O.ganizat.ull the first to lea rn about the demi se of J . g i\'e one (·Ide rly \\'oman a $.) 00 credit af for Women. Carlton's, another big ma il-order house ter ~he complained about the value of a Sex discrimination com plaints ~ . ~ainst which went bankrupt, in this case leaving r econditioned hear ;ng aid jlurchased for the ne\\'spapers were filed with the )! in · some 2;:;,000 people holdillg the bag-. S606.DO. nesota De pa rtment of Human H ight". Lani Stacks, now employment commit Mail order prohlems No pu~sy(ooting tee chairperson, said ads called for ,,·;ait Nicholas :'Ilottern, \\'Titer of the HELP "Brand names have been no problem," resses, salesmen and otTire g irls. S t~ck.; MATE column a nd former reporter for he adds. "In fact, they are an advantage, said t hree papers, the lJ I'a illcrr/ 1)(1 illl the Proridcllce JUIlT1WI, estimates' that for they add a cr edibility with r eaders Dispatch, Fargo ()I.D.) J!ooriteaa mail-order complaints comprise a iJprox that is si mply not p o~,-;ible in columns that (:\linn.) F 0 1'l(1IL have separated help imately 30 per cent of all letters receiyed duck such essential information. wanted ads for males and females. through subscribing papers which for "What good." he a sks. "is an item that Stacks said that is a v io lation of a C.S. ward them to the \\' a shington address for says action was or was not obtained for Supreme Court decision which determined processing. an unnamed product at a n unnamed that it was unconstitutionai for a Pitts In one case, he says. more than 500 store? I think papers that employ such bur gh, Pa. newspaper to run separate people wrote to Lih,>y :'Il c:\eil from all tactics must be hurt by such obvious pus columns. over the country a:, er seeing an item in syfooting." HELP-:'IIATE tell ing how they could ob But what about local advertisers who • tain a dollar bill which had heen offer ed in may feel hurt by a n item in the column a coupon promotion. Cnfortunately, not from another community? all requests were legitimate, but :'Il ottern "That can be a prohlem," Rowse admits. Donrey buys outdoor adds: But he says h e knows of only one such As further indication of the column's case. involving a high-pressure sa lesman advertising company "multiplier effect," :'I1 ottern cites an item who refused to take back or adj ust an Donrey )ledia Group has bought Knapp telling that S teed Industries, a multi-l evel apparently ineffective hearing aid. The .-\dver tising Co. of W ichita, Ka n., ac sales firm, agreed to buy back $,,00 worth 10 1':.1 1 dealer fo. the same brand in a dis cording to a September 20 announcement of unsold automotive products after a tant city complained. by Thomas J. I~napp , S r ., Vernon L. youn'g r eader complained a bout an inabili But he was
:\O:\·l'OLl.LTL\G ,,,,. .. ----- .... I" HOW WILL A"', .. The Sa n /:cnwn/ i/!fJ 81/1I - Td"grrrl/! has "l3ut we al s,> likC' to th ink \\'e :Ire doi ng " SUBSC RIPTIO N TO \. con\'erted its nect of ) 7 dr li\'Cf\' vans to our part to hclp the ecolngy by usi ng the liqueticd petroleum g-;1 S. . low-pollution veh id;,;;. Slll n ~ i:, :I very 1'(,;1 1 • E&P HElP 1M GET I' ...... , "The trucks arc clean burning :lnd the probl em in this area and if we ('an r cduce \"A BETTER JOB ?,,' /' THAT'S '\ 0p':'r;l: io nal sa\'i n;:;s arc g- re:lt." sa id J ohn our sh:lre. it has to hel p." ...... ____ ...... : CLASSIFIED , J ol ley, ci rculat io n trans por tation manag- The Sun-Telegram's PU!ll ic Service !Je : "INFOR MATION ~ cr. pa r tmcnt produccd a s(' r i('~ of ads tr·lling "It's a lso ~ood for thc newsp:lper 's r e:l df'rs about the f1e cl. and it s contriuu : ',~ # *, # . ,...... ima.:e to h:lve our trucks us ing the low tion to r educing the area 's srrious air ,, , pol lution vehiclcs." pollution. , . Cost of the prO!lane is ahout ·10 prr cC' nt The ads al so c:lrried :l footnote th:lt the less than convcnt io nal r.':ls oli ne. But the two newsl,apers arc print '
Key Part o'f Campaign Law Upset
Washington A federal court struck down as 1!nconstitutional yesterday a key section in (h e campaign spendi}2g law that had the effect of lim! mg polibcal adverbs f!lg m newspapers,. I?~a z~ and on... televIslOn. > The section of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 made the news media, in essence, the governmen tal censorship agents of the tal c ens 0 r s hip agents on public questions and on federal political campaigns. The case before the court in volved an ad the ACLU tried to place in the New York Times in September, 1972. The ad criticized President ixon's support of anti busing legisl"ation. The opinion was delivered by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the although not the law itself, Distrlict of Columbia. Be imp 0 sed "impermissible cause it is a three-person pa nrior restraints- and that nel, the government can ap their enf(}fcement i s en peal its decision directly to joined. " the Supreme Court. The doc t r i n e of prior In the ruling, the court de restraint, which has been · clared unconstitutional that previously declared unconsti section of the law designed t uti 0 n a I under the first :to implement the lJimitail:ions amendment, w 0 u 1 d mean .placed on advertiSing spend that in certain circumstances ing in the media by candi newspapers or other printed dates for federal electrive media could be stopped from office. publishing certain articles The ruling said that the or advertisements. implementation of the law, New) ark Time3 L+ THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1J, 1973 I \Court to Act o~ Political Ads in City Buses
Spodal to The Ne" York 11m.. I Ohio's highest court upheld declining to accept two peti- WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 _ Ithe city position, saying that tions, one .by the local school The Supreme Court agreeed to- Ithe policy against accepting board, askmg f?r a review of ~ar to de~ide whether a po- Iadvertisements was a · "con- the Federal. District Court's h.tlcal ca,ndldate has a constitu- stitutionally permissible regula- order f?r busmg as a. means of tIonal right to put his cam- . . remedymg segregatIon; the paign advertisements on city tlon of a governmentally owned other by the city's Board of buses that carry advertising for and operated. tra~s~t. system." Co,!,missione,rs and its Mayor, such products as soda pop and Mr. Lehman petitIoned the asking a review of the District perfume.. 'Supreme Court to review that Court:s order that the city ap- The Court refused, however, ruling, arguing that both the /proprlate fun~s to pay for the to hear argument~ in dozens of First Amendment in its free / necessary bus mg. . . other cases, rangmg from one ' The CIty Commissioners and in which ~ Federal court or- speech guarant~, and th~ 14th the Mayor, for. their part, dered busmg of pupils to Amendment, In Its promise of argued that the city should not achieve . desegregation in Chat- equal protection, prohibited ~ forced. to pay the COlt of tanooga' schools to another in/SUCh a policy. Implementmg the court's order whi<;h a couple were trying to The school board argued -In Iwhen it. had not bee~ a de obtam the contents of an In- its petition th t de f fendant 10 the proceed 109 that ternal Revenue Service file h d b a .segr~ga Ion resulted in the order. _ compiled in connection with an a een progressing In the ======",...~.... audit of the couple's tax re- 13 years since litigation first turns. started over the Chattanooga In the c~le involving politi- schools, and that the District cal advertIsements the Ohio Court's order was unneces- I Supreme Court has ruled that . I regulations prohibiting such ad- sardy severe. • vertising are "reasonable" and. "The Cha~!anooga situation , "nonarbitrary " II desperate, the board said. The case arose In Shaker "Unless . i~tegration is. de!ined L Heights, Ohio, a suburb of and c1a!lfled as a constl~tlonal I Cleveland, when a candidate goal ":'Ith voluntary. action an for the Ohio House of Repre- essentl,:1 elem~t, Instead of sentatives sought to buy ad- for~ed Int~~ratlon , . or desegre , vertising space for his cam- gation, dISIntegration of our paign placards on Shaker public system \'I1 i1l be the Heights's public buses. result." The report of the candidate Once the state '('opens a to -Harry J. Lehman, who was ru!" ?f ~pe~ch/: Mr. Lehmlll subsequently elected but who saId In hIS petlticn to the Su faces re-election every two ~~eme Court, th/lt forum "must years-was turned down by the,uc held open to all." advertising agent for the Shako "~here the content 01 ex er: Heights Rapid Transit pressIon is legal, the state's According to the city: place- only legitimate "interest is in ment of political ads on city regulation of the time, place buses might be interpreted by and manner ufIder ordinances some riders as an endorsement. designed to protect public safety In addition, the argument went, and welfare and narrowly there was a chance that if drawn to insure no discrimina campaign material was permit· tion against speech on the basis I ted, there might be some abuse of subject matter," h. argued. suc~ . as discrimination or fa- In the Cha:ttanooga case, the I. vontism. Supreme Court was actually ~s GOP Group Urges Limiting Secrecy ~f~Ul ,.). ~ ,t")'>, ~. q Washington The society recoclmended legislation that would guar Warning that govern antee the House Al'med Ser ment secrecy is increas vices and Foreign Affairs f n g 1 y being use~ by the Committees and, the Senate White House to stIfle pub Armed Services and Foreign Hc debate over for e i g n Relations Committees "ac policy, the Ripon Society cess to all top secret infor urged Congress yesterday mation - without any ac lo 1 i mit the number of cess controls imposed by tbe presidential aides author executive branch." Those ize<1 to classify documents committees, and not the and to provide penalties White House, would control for Qverclassifying docu the release of top secret in ments. [ormation to other membel"s A "National Security In- of Congress, the society ~ug formation Acl" proposed by gested. he society, a liberal Repub lican policy and research The Ripon Society also group, would "restore a bal proposed that Congress fix ance between the need for the length of time a docu official secrecy to ensure na ment should be classified at tional security and the need each clearance level. and for official openness to en that if the White House sure adequate debate." ac wanted to extend the period cording to a paper the or "it should be forced to ac ganization issued. cept the burden of proof. " "Although government se crecy is important for na The society also urged tional security, today it's President Nixon to withdraw more significant role is a his proposl to make leak tactical, political weapon, ing ~lassified information a employed by the executive crime. regardless of Wheth branch to prevent legiti er or not the information mate, democratic challenges was properly classified. to its international policies!' the society charged. JI7 ashingtoll Po", Chalk One Up for NBC LvSJ;'~/'f How's this as a recipe for making sequence showinJ"2"lelescopic gun money? Take some film footage of the sight trained on the late President as assassination of John F. Kennedy; he rode in his motorcade in Dallas. blend it into a fictional screenplay They also would have gotten some of based on a theory that the assassina- the rudiments of triangulation as a tion was plotted by power-hungry ty- technique for zeroing in on a target. coons; cast Burt Lancaster as one of There is no easy answer to the ques the beady-eyed conspirators and bill tion of who can or should set standards the result as "probably the most con- of taste for those people who have none troversial film ,of our time." or who are greedy enough to attempt While we don't want to be unduly any affront to the public consciousness harsh, it has occurred to us that some- in the hope of making some money. thing approaching this depth of crass- But NBC deserves some credit for not ness and venality might have flitted lending itself to such an enterprise, across the minds of the people respon- even when faced with a lawsuit and sible for a new film called "Executive claims that it was practicing censor Action." Probably the thought went ship. The network h~s a set of broad away quickly and they soon convinced cast standards and is trying to live by themselves that they were producing a them in the face of the film industry's work of art. Yet it seems certain the manic search for every possible per film will attract attention-it certainly mutation on the themes of sex and vio has attracted ours-and for that rea- lence. Surely NBC has a right to set son probably will enrich the clever levels of taste for what it broadcasts. folks who thought it all up. As to the folks at National General, But as if that were not enough, Na- they complain that the way things are t·onal General Pictur going no one will be able to make a ftIm's strl u r motion picture without first clearing lipn reac -0 -contract suit against Na- _ its subject matter with television exec tl.onal wn&a"casting CO. m a ~w Y~ utives. That's a rather feeble com- ' '~ ~11t seems, refURAd to ~ plaint considering the other avenues commercia s promoting "Executi.... available for capturing attention. And Action" on groundS that they were un- considering the kinds of subject matter itutYviolent, in bad taste and instruc- motion picture producers are trying to tive in the art of assassination. Had exploit, it serves the public interest to NBC relented, TV viewers would have have somebody like NBC stand up an been treated, among other things, to a tell them they have gone too far. ~~d:.!il!!tu:I!r JJ.ouftt4tl J.4CKSC:WlllE, F.LA. D. 56,834
NOV 1 0 1973
W 0 R C EST E R, Mass. antees of a free ' press," "Certainly," he continued, henceforth 'a:; Flo goes, so ers; but it ri~ks !ot21 de CUPl) - The possibility of a Traynor said. "the new religion of 'Open goes the n3tiol1.' " struc'.io'1 wl'e,. he nwst takE t;p' " prescribed for editors is threat to freedom of the orders on the writings of hi~ It has begun a study and shoving hard against editori He quoted the opinion on prl? SS lies in a rcc~nt Flori review of President !\ixon's al freedom , the old·time re own composilivns •.• ria Supreme Court decision , Oct. 26 charge that some tel ligion of 'Shut Out.' " the decision of Y::le Profes th e chairman of the l'iational evision reporti ng was dis sor Thomas Em('rwn: "It "Whatever the measure~ I\elVs Council sajd vesLer torted. Its other major study The Herald has announced means the gOVf Inment can taken to contain a hurri· Ga 'v. The decision wa's con at present is the ,florida Su it is appealing the decision tell the newspapers that the si de red a victory b:-' ad vo preme (';ourts ruling last to the U.S. ·Supreme Court. newspapers can be forced to cane, however ranrlom or caies of nublic access to July that the Miami Herald, print material they don't rational, they are bOllnd to news media. in Traynor's '.Yords, "is Traynor SUb6esterJ calling want to prine," And th'lt of have repcrcussions ('11 the interilction of -Ijovernment, bound by Florida's right-of the decisio:1 . Hurricane Michael Gar~iler , a Wall Roger J. Traynor, the reply statute to publish the Flo," which "rolled out of Street Journal editllr: "The the p r e~s, anJ the p('ople; chairman, former chief jliS reply of a candidate for pub Florida, h:>aded in all direc government is our new man· on I"hat 2, '::C '~S~, each f,!Jolild tice of the California Su lic office to two editorials al tions - a taciturn down aging editor." have tethe others. It is lime preme COllrL, spoke before legedly attacking his person easter might have been to keep a weather eye out the ;\Cl .... England Society of al character," moved to observe that The Florida ' court, Tra vllor on that basic question 0:: I\e\l'spapcr Edit(lrs, He re u. LU.1. , V "U- ,,-.~. - said, is beaming a two:.Cold freedom, for more stOl'ms viewed both sides of debate message: "First, fhose who are on the way." on the
tV ORCE S 7=~ , ~.1~ 5 3. (AP ) Editors. _ A cow·t decision that Flori He said the decision has da newspapers must gT NOV 1 0 197~ . ~ ONEIDA, N. Y. DlSPATCli (SYRACUSE MARKET AREA) D. 9,500 PONTIAC, ILL. LEADER D. 5.500 NOV 1 0 \973 f aL€ ~fleaf:l;on'n<.tJ,jFgtf~:Jr - By THOMAS J. BRAY tising, usually the least cyclical of newspaller Newspaper stocks have been battered in 'advertising, comprises about 57% of the totI recent months, and there seems to be no lack for most newspapers. , ot bad news on the horizon. ' Mr. Dirks says his two favorites from a Newsprint prices have risen dramatiCall}lti!iuestandpoint are Knight Newspapers a and are expected to continue their upward I, among the bigg.est and ~manest, re- spiral next year. Many economists are pre- spec IV ely, of the pU'~hClY held newspaper , dicting a slowdown In the economy next year, grou~s. ~ight, he bel1eves, ~~s m~naged ~o which would seem to bode ill for advertising positlo~ Itself successfuUy in bIg citles-~hll- ' revenues. And expansion-through-acquisit4on, adelphIa and Detroit-as Willi as medlUm a favorite stratagem -of publishers in recent and smaller-sized ~arkets. It "thus has an years, is becoming increasingly expensive. abflity to show conSIstent earnings growth of Yet many analysts who follow the group 15% annua:lly over th.e next !tve year~ or so," are increasingly bullish. "My overall posture he says. eidel Which owns 11 daihe is oaution, Ibut my caution is: eroding," says Stockton !if e most Lee Dirks of Dirks Brothers a Rockville c rculations under 50,000, boasts an un Md., unit of Delafield Childs that apecialize~. usual1y high profit ~argin al15% ."that could in newspaper stocks: "I think most newspa- i~prove still more as , converslO~ to new per stocks will outperform the market in 1974 prmt technology progresses, ~r. DIrks adds. and that now is definitely the 'time to be look- Mr. Dirks a~d Mr. Gluck dIffer somewhat ing at them," he says. William D. Witter's on ~annett, whICh owns 53 papers and is ac- -Barry Gluck adds: "Newspapers should be quirmg th:ee more. Mr. Dirks thinks Ga~nett strong earnings performers, beginning in late is fu~ly pnced currently at $37.75, or 28 times 1974 The newsprint problem doesn't bother earnmgs. Mr. Gluck, who expects Gannett to me . greatly because, if pric~ controls are earn $1.45 a share this year and $1.70 next lifted, the newspapers win have a lot ot price year, up from $1.17 ~n 1972, r.ecom,~e,nds it as flexibility." / a buy despite the hIgh multIple. It s by ,far l t A ' ba h P 11 k & the best prospect for long·term 'investment," And K en No b e~, uer.c, 0 a !he asserts . • Richardson asserts: Advertismg will come Mr. Gluck also recommends Knight and through better than expected in 191'. I reco~- Tlmes.Mirror Co., which publishes the Los mend buying most of the group! but ~e insh- Angeles Times, Dallas Times.Herald and tutions are looldng for stocks Wlth ,llqUldlty so , Newsday, among other operations. Many Wall we're concentrating on ,the larger compa- Street analysts have expressed concern over nles." the Times-Mirror, 'forest products division, To be sure, dissent is heard. Malcolm Wil- whose earnings have been heavily cyclical. son~ an analyst with Provident National But Mr. Gluck thinks the division nowWill be Corp, Philadelphia, recommends a sideline a plus factor' because al potential newsprint posi on pe~ding '!a final market washout" in shortages. ,He foresees earnings growth, slow the ext few months. ing next year'with per-share net of $1.65 to Ellen SachaI;' al Mitchell Hutchins thinks $1.75, up from $1.60 this year and $1.25 in 1972. newspaper stOcks rate no better than a hold. "But the company is very well managed and "Why look at retail-related ,stocks at a time , I look for a long-term growth rate of 12% when consumer confidence seems to be weak- so," he says. enlng?" she sasks. Mr. ~oble favors Gannett, Knight and the Mr. Dirks concedes that the rate of adver- Times-Mirror'in what he caBs the Tier 1 mar Using-Image growth has slowed, and he esti- , ltet al larger chains, 'Medlo General and ~d mates that newsprint prices will rise at least der in Tier 2, and Speidel and Lee among he 14% nelcl: year. But increased advertising and smaUer groups. • circulation rates can more than offset the re- Mr. Dirks pooh, poohs notions that newspa suiting profit squeeze, he a.rg;u~s. AlSO, the per groups are running out of acquisition can continued conversion of newspaper plants to didates or that 'Congress or antitrust authori more efficient "cold-type" or offset print4ng ties may halt newspaper consolidations. The operations from the traditional hot-metal privately held Tribune Co., he notes, com plants sl10uld boost earnings substantially, he mands the largest dally circulation in the says. country-:mainly through the New York Dally Mr. Dirks and others also coiltend that the News and Chicago Tribune-but still accounts earnings cyclicality 'among newspaper chains for less than 6% of the U.S. total. Of th~' na is overrated. "Most papers are in monopoly , tlon's 1,761 dailies, 954 are c~mtrolled b 168 markets and have shown substantially more "groups" of two or more papers and ere stable growth than other industries," says are neady 150 independent papers with cu- r. Dirks. "On a compounded basis, earnings lation of over 30,000. "The simple fact is hat . ave grown an average of 11% over the past there are plenty of pawns left on the ta Ie," ~f Ive years." He notes that local retail adver- he says. J publicizing its activities. Quebec Press Council :'Iartin stressed that the council was not Newspaper fined for passing judgment on the concentration of to study ownership ownership at this time . "assassin" headline . ~ The Quebec Press Council has under A June 20 headline in Montreal Ma taken a study of the concentration of Guild pact reached calling a murder defendant an "assass newspaper o\;'nership, prompted by the cost the newspaper $200 in fines and $: possible sale of Le Soleil, in Quebec City. in court costs. Wilkes-I3ane Local 120 of the N ews Superior Court Justice Alphonse B Council president Jt tn-:'IIarie l\Iartin paper Guild and the publishers of the said last week he would urge the provin beau found both the French-language d Times-Leader, E 'vcning Neu's, Record Iv tabloid and assistant chief deskn: cial government to COTI\'ene the national reached agreement on a 14-month con assembly special committee on freedom of Bernard Gareau guilty of contempt tract which will ralse the minimum court. Gareau was tined 550. the press to deal with the issue. weekly salaries for journeymen r eporters The "phenomenon" of concentrated The defendant. Gerald Cormier. was and ad salesmen to $270.75. The new con trial for murdering the husband of press ownership is ftourishin~ in Quebec, tract calls for retroactive increases for admitted mistress in :'IIay. Cormier \' he told a news conference, and in the past the reporter s and ad salesmen of ' $16.25 few weeks has included the sale of .1/011- found guiltv of non-capital murder J ' from October 8, 1972 to August 11, 1973: 23 and se~tenced to an automatic I treal Matin to :'IIontreal businessman Paul The second phase will bring about a raise Desmarais, and sale of the Montreal Star term. The case is in appeal. of $4.75 for the period August 12 to De G:lreau said he had written the headl to FP Publications. cember I, for a total increase of $21.00. Desmarais, who also owns :'IIontreal's before the paper \\'as put to bed and W I La Prcsl' e, has made overtures to buy Le • home at 3 a.m. He realized shortly af Solei!. but Quebec Premier Robert I3ouras tha t he had made :l mistake, he said. sa recentlv ordered a three-month mora Check returned "It always goes through your m torium on 'all negotiations involving news what you've done during the day," he t paper sales. Gov. Wendell Ford has returned a the c~urt, "but it's too late at 3 a.m. 5779 ..52 check sent voluntarily by the stop the presses." If Desmarais bought Le Soleil, it would COllrier-JoI11'lInl and l.ollisrille Times to Gareau said he had no intention of im g-ive him control of nearly 70 percent of p:lY for ofi1ce space in the state capitol encing the trial. Justice I3arbeau s. the French-language daily press in the press room. The gov~rnor said in a lett er that althoug-h the error W:lS not preme province. to Robert P. Clark, ('xecutive editor, that tated, it had prejudiced Cormier's right :'IIartin said the council would take ad the people's interest is sen'ed b,' ha\'ing a fair trial. vantag-e of the three-month moratorium to the jHess corps in the Capitol. Accept:n~ "If during a trial, a newspaper draw complete its study and meet all parties rent from one news org"anization would conclusion of guilt or innocence, it ( involved in the possible Le Solei I sale. force the state to charg"e all those who cau~e prejudice to the accused, who I The council has no legal authority and use the prl' SS facil ities,' Ford s:lid, and pr('sumed innocent for the duration of is made up of Jlublic, journalists, and some smaller organizations might not be trial," the justic(' said in sentencing l media owners. Its illfluence lies solely in able to aHord it. ne\\'sparH'r :lnc! Gareau. rI ···· ,-, t i I • \ I \ I ,__ ,,_ k ' Full Color is important to us. OJr offset press gives you clear. sharp color. The careful preparation of art,l~youtand graphics gives The News-JournaJ papers the haJlmarK of VISUaJ quaJlty. / 'Unexcelled reproduction - 2,160,228 lines of color ,I advertising published in 1972 - a gain of 11 .6%. Capturing 97% of the Daytona Beach combined daily metro penetration ( - 22nd in the nation, &th in the Southeast, 1st Iil Flonda. \ \ DAYTONA BEACH MORNI~GJOURNAL The Sunday News-Journal 901 6th Street. Daytona Beach, Florida 32015 (904) 252-1511 I ....- J CHICAGO JOURNALISM REVIEW / NOVEMBER, 1973 15 • IS By A. KENT MacDOUGAll take his pick. Just two months earlier tht. Timl's had found a Supreme Court decision in a Texas paternity case tit to Some days being managing editor of the print. On the other hand, personal cases Ne.... York. Times is hardly worth the denied review by the High Court rarely glory, For A. M. Rosenthal , such a day made the paper. Rosenthal recalls he con arrived last May along with word from the ferred with several colleagues (but not the Times' Washington bureau. The word: publisher) and only one editor didn' t see it Expect Supreme Court action the his way. "I decided that if any actio n were following Tuesday on a case involving taken, we wou Id print it. And if no action Times Publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger. were taken. we wouldn't print it. I knew The case: A petition to revive a paternity we would be criticized if we didn't run it. suit against Sulzberger that he is so sen But I asked myself. if it were the publisher sitive about, his lawyers say, that even of another prominent paper, would I do while denying paternity, he settled out of the same thing') And the answer was yes." court for $41,000 to avoid publicity. could the skeleton be kept hidden any When on May 29, the Supreme Court Abe Rosenthal's predicament - how to longer, when the plaintiff had not only refused to review the case for want of a handle a story embarrassing to his boss dragged it from the company closet but substantial federal question, the and his paper - is all too familiar to made a federal case out of it ? Associated Press and United Press In many newspaper editors across the coun The plaintiff had been arou nd the ternational both sent out nine-paragraph try, It's not the house good news - repor Times even longer than the respondent. stories. The N('I\' York Post published the ter awarded prize, editor promoted, new Lillian Bellison joined the Times in 1943 AP story (eagerly passed around the Nc' II' color press ordered - that gives editors when she was 20 years old. Though her York. Times newsroom). The N('I\' York. nightmares. Puffing up such stories is to be byline appears infrequently, she has Daily Nel\'s kissed it off in one paragraph, expected, even excused. It's the house bad covered society news in recent years. omitting the litigants' names. The .vC'1\' news - editor fired, libel alleged, the Twenty years ago she married a Tim('s York. Tim('s ran nothing. The paper picketed - that puts editors and photographer, George A lexanderson. Washington Post ran nothing. And the their publishers to the test. That candor Three months after their wedding, while Washington Stll l' -N(,I<'s used four usually loses out to caution is hardly sur they were on their way to Europe on paragraphs at the end of a story wrapping prising. As A. J . Liebling observed back in vacation, he died of a heart attack aboard up Supreme Court actions that day. 1960, "Newspapers write about themselves ship. That was 1954. Mrs. Alexanderson's The WlIShing(()/1 Stllr-,vl' I\'S has an with awe, and on Iy after mature reflec son, George, was born in 1956. Her suit arrangement with the New York Times tion," This unscientific survey suggests lit followed . Under the out-of-court set News Service under which Stlll'-NI' I\'S tle has changed since then. tlement, Sulzberger agreed to provide sup stories, columns and features are feU to Abe Rosenthal knew that old hands at port for the child until his 16th birthday. Times News Service customers. So the the Times still gossiped occasionally Even before the $176.24 monthly support Star-News routinely sent its Supreme . about the publisher's alleged indiscretion checks stopped last year, Mrs. Alexan Coun wrap-up story to New York. And and its aftermath. But he also knew that derson petitioned the courts to reopen the Ol:t it went on the Times News Service no word of the suit had ever appeared in case, citing a 1962 state amendment wire - all of it. that is, except the final print, not even in Gay Talese's The providing support of children born out of four paragraphs on the Alexandc;:rson v. Kingdom and tile Power, though Talese wedlock until age 21. Sulzberger case . . devoted considerable attention to Punch If Abe Rosenthal were looking for :'!t was just normal editing," explains Sulzberger's two marriages. But how precedents to help guide him, he could Rob Roy Buckingham, editor of the Tim\.'S -~ 16 CHICAGO JOURNALISM REVIEW I NOVEMBER. 1973 News ServIce. "The fastest way for a sup nal's front page exclusive. And it was plementary news service to go out of none too soon. Three days later a $115 business is to duplicate the agencies lAP million damage suit against Burke. Chan and UPI]. Our general pol icy is to spike dler and others made Big Otis' indiscretion NEWS copy that duplicates them .. ' a matter of public record. That explanation fails to convince the About the same time the Lo. Ange/es PAPERS Slar-N<'lI"s reporter whose ~tory was cut. Times was putting its dirty linen on the "Everything I do here duplicates AP and line, its news-service partner, the UPI," Fred Barnes says. "They [the Times Washington Post. was applying bleach to WRITE News Service 1 have the right to cut out an unsightly stain. This was a protest by anything they want. but I certainly women newsroom employees against what disagree with their news judgment. I they asserted was discrimination in assign ABOUT bel ieve the Sulzberger case was news ment and promotional policies. When the worthy in the same way that any case in women submitted their grievances to THEMSELVES volving a well-known public figure is management, editors did not consider that newsworthy. The AP and UPI apparently newsworthy. But when management agreed with me."· responded with a set of proposals, a story WITH Though Buckingham's explanation was ordered. Jon Katz, the reporter seems no more than a pro forma al ibi, assigned to it , made the mistake of hand Rosenthal's cannot be dismissed out of ling the story like any other. He in AWE ... hand. After all, the Supreme Court's ac t.::rviewed not only management but half a tion in the Sulzberger case '\"(IS relativelv dozen of the wom.::n staffers as well: all insignificant. As news. it was easily skip' criticized the proposals as inadequate. pable. Its gossip value, on the other hand, Katz quoted several of the criticisms. but was considerable. Every day the Timl's' none survived the editing of his story. Notes on Peo ple column runs far less in Harry M. Rosen feld, the Po st 's teresting items about far less important metropolitan editor. says Katz' story "was persons. However much grief he thought much too long and repetitive" and he was sparing himself and his publisl;er, received only necesDry editing. Rosenfeld Rosenthal made the wrong decision. He concedes that "some of our staffers" ob should have inserted a paragraph or two jected to the deletions, but lays this to "an on the Sulzberger case near the end of the honest disagreement. I think honest paper's summary of Supreme Court ac disagreements also occur over other tions. That would have given the item a stories." Katz. who subsequently left the proper burial and covered the Til/les Washin;:to n Post for the Philadelphia against criticism. Inqllirer for other reasons. is more The Times' handling, or rather non resigned than resentful. .. It's very difficult handling. of the Sulzberger paternity case for a paper to edit a story on its own in is typical of an industry that commits even ternal problems. There's no way it can be more sins of omission than sins of Com done without the appearance or reality of mission. Newspapers are far more apt to conflict of interest." hide their own dirty linen than try to To spare themselves the sort of un wl.itewash it. Papers seldom lie about pleasantness Katz experienced, old hands themselves; they simply fail to volunteer at house stories usually play it the house the truth. way. Alden Whitman. the Nell' York Sometimes, however. the truth is so Times ' justly acclaimed obituary writer, awful that disclosure is inevitable. It·s then says he learned what the house way was that wise editors opt for publishing the when he wrote an obit on a " marvelous bad news sooner than later. That's. what old" Times copy editor named Grover editors at the Los Ange/es Times did last Cleveland Loud. "They [the desk 1 cut all year when they learned that publ is her Otis the color out," Whitman recalls. " I was Chandler was in trouble. Chandler had very upset about it. I bitched. I was told helped an old college buddy. Jack Burke, we play house obits very, very straight. I raise $30 million from unwary investors learned my lesson. Since then I have writ for oil-drilling ventures. Burke then ten them like Who's Who entries - a allegedly misappropriated much of the strJight recital of facts." money. The Wall Street jOllrn·:J1 broke the One of Whitman's house obits, though, story and the Los AnKe/es Times wasted was less factual than fuzzy . It didn' t get no time in following it up. A long piece by around to identifying the deceased until financial editor Robert E. Wood quoted the fifth pa ragraph. The corpse was the Chand ler extensively a nd added a tidbit Times ' international edition. Younger, the journal hadn't had: Chandler had thinner and weaker than its Paris com received $109.200 in " finder's fees" petitor, the New York Herald Tribun e later returned - for introducing Burke to WashinKton Post. the Times ' international wealthy investors. Wood's story ran on the edition fell victim to an overdose of red Times business page a day after the jour- ink . But Whitman's two-column story left CHICAGO JOURNALISM REVIEW / NOVEMBER, 1973 17 the impression that the two papers were than most. I do think at times we print merging as equals into one. It wasn't until 'good news' that really isn't all t.hat the fifth paragraph that the reader got a newsworthy. I once told someone in our hint that one of the merger partners was news department, ' In our news columns AND surviving and the other going under: " The we treat Dow Jones like any other com new paper will be publi~iled at the present pany named Dow Jones.' That was meant offices of the Herald TrihUIlI' - Th(' as a gag, of course, but there's probably a ONLY Washington Post. 21 Rue de Berri, off the kernel of truth in it." Champs Elysee. The Tim('s Int('rnutiollal The lVall Street journal does deserve Edition offices at 25 Rue D'Aboukir, near credit for going out of its way a year ago AFTER the Bourse, will be closed, according to to depreciate its own Dow Jones industrial Mr. Sulzberger." average. The occasion was the stock MATURE While Whitman was sticking close to average breaking through and closing the obfuscating language of Punch Sulz above 1000 for the first time. In a front berger's statement, the Wull Street jour page article, the jourllul declared that REFLECTION nal got to the nub of the matter in the lead "the 1000 mark doesn't really mean much of its story: The New York Ti/l/('S is for the future. Nor does it tell a whole lot -Liebling merging its deficit-beset international about the past. Although the public often edition, published in Paris, into the Paris equates the Dow with the market as a based New York Heruld Trihlllle whole, it is an index of only 30 stocks aad Wushington Post." Having inserted the thus it great Iy oversimpl ifies the market. knife, the journal twisted it several Indeed, there has been growing criticism paragraphs later: "Folding an edition isn't of the Dow as a mirror of market a new experience for the New York movements in recent years. Since about Times, J n January 1964 it discontinued its 1966 it has lagged behind such broader 15-month-old Western edition, published based indicators as the New York Stock in Los Angeles, because of low advertising Exchange composite index and the Stan volume and a 'substantial deficit.' " dard & Poor's index of 425 stocks." The jouTllal is considerably less The journal might also have noted that proficient at reporting its own fai lures. another index, the N('w York TiIll('S Take the Dow Jones Open. Sponsored by average of 25 industrial and 25 railroad the journal's parent, Dow Jones & Co., stocks. was simply ignored. The Times this was billed as golfs richest tournament discontinued its stock index last June. in terms of prize money. It was to have notifying readers in a two-sentence been an annual event, but was cancelled statement that the index was being drop after the first year when low attendance ped but offering no explanation for the produced a $484,000 deficit. The New move. One had to turn to the Washington York Times ran a substantial story on the Stur-News three days later to learn that cancellation. The journul ran nothing, the Times had dropped the index after a even though it had devoted fulsome at survey showed that "nobody was using it." tention the year before to the tournament's If the Tilllt's under reports its lemons, it establishment. Says executive editor Ed sometimes does do justice to brickbats. Cony: "I think you cou Id argue that ou r "The easiest way to get in the Times is to decision not to sponsor the Dow Jones attack it." says A. H. Raskin, assistant Open a second year wasn't of much in editor of the editorial page. Thousands of terest to 999 out of 1,000 of our readers. J angry - and unpub lished - letter writers suppose, however, you could also argue would dispute .hat assessment, of course. about whether enough of our readers were But when complainants are powerful and interested in our sponsoring the 1970 their complaints reasoned, the Timt's tournament to warrant a story about that sometimes goes one better than printing event." their letter: it runs a news story. Last May Cony pleads Ilolo cOlltt'lldt'Te to the a full-column news story reported Senator journal's failure to bury another Dow George McGc." ern's denunciation of a Jones enterprise. That was a financial Times MUl McGovern but had reconstructed his ombudsman role didn't include the right sitdown in the Trihlll/e's newsroom. They remarks from memory. (After pondering to criticize Post management policies, were protesting the mo rning paper's long the issue, the Time'S Maga:.il/(' said it was wasn' t surprised, He recalled that when standing joint operating agreement with satisfied the conversations were "accurate the HOIIS/OII C/lrcllliC/(' fired its liberal the evening Dewr('/ N('II'S, and they in terms of meaning," but promised in the editor William P. Steven, the wire services, charged the Tribllll(, with sl uppy reporting future to "make certain that recon newsmagazines and most Texas dailies and news bias. The paper had 13 of the 34 structions of this kind are clearly iden carried the story. But not the ChrolliC/('. demonstrators arrested for trespassing. tified as such and not set out with The HOIIS/OII Post prepared a story but The following mo rning the Trihllll(' traditional quotation marks." So much for the top brass killed it. Never kick a com devoted most of two pages to the event. New Journalism in the Temple of the petitor when its editor is down and out; And then the day after that it editorially Old.) you never know when the roles may be apologized for "burdening its readers with - One trad ition the N('II' York Tillles reversed. the lengthy account" of the sit-in. "We breaks occasionally is keeping internal The surest way to get your name in the further regret that we were forced to play memos internal. Publisher Sulzberger's paper when yo u're fired is to round up into the hands of the group in its deter January 1973 memo to the staff decreeing your friends and political allies and stage mination to gain public exposure . . .. no cooperation with the new National a demonstration in broad daylight. That's Notice is herewith furthe r given that News Council made the paper. presumably what columnist David Deitch did when the similar groups engaged in similar demon because Sulzberger did not want to press 81lS/011 (;Io/J(' fired him last year. The strations . . . may henceforth expect the editorial page editor John B. Oakes, a firing was obstensibly for " in minimal coverage possible to report such News C ouncil advocate, to publish an subordination" and failure to clear a piece abortive actions." Arthur C . Deck, anti-News Council editorial . But when on newsmen's pol it ica l problems that .executive editor, says " we have not been Sulzberger in March 1971 told Tim('s em Deitch wrote for a Boston alternative bothered by any similar demonstrations," ployees to expect some layoffs because of week1y, the 1<('(/1 Paper. Deitch, however, but if one occurred, no matter what that rising costs and decl ining advertising claimed the Gloh(' wan ted to suppress his 1971 editorial vowed , "I am sure we revenue, the news initially made only the radical political views. If the (;Ioh(' would give it similar coverage." Willi Slr('('1 jO/lrllll/. Though scooped on management thought Deitch would go Overreporting one's own bad news is its own story, the Tilllcs recouped nicely a quietly, they changed their mind when he clearly preferable to minimizing or couple of days later. It put its own distress returned two weeks later with 120 sup ignoring it. Worst of all is to distort it. into context with a page one roundup of porters to picket the newspaper's offices. The N('II' York Daily Neil'S is easily a layoffs througt.out the periodical Though the Glohe had not reported finalist in the distortion derby for its publishing industry. Deitch's tiring, it could hardly ignore the coverage of the license challenge against When it comes to pushing employees public spectacle outside its front door, and WPIX-TV in New York. During 1971 out onto the street. few industries can ran a IO-paragraph story the nex t day. Federal Communications Commission match the newspaper industry's record of More stories followed as the protest con hearings on the license challenge, the callousness. Here today, gone tomorrow, tinued. The issue ultimately went to ar Daily Neil'S ran AP stories - but only af and with no advance notice - that's the bitration. Last June the arbitrator ruled ter deleting unfavorable phrases and all norm. When the Nell' York Mirror went that Deitch's dismissal shou Id be reduced mention that the Neil'S owns WPIX. to its well-earned reward in 1963. it gave to a 30-day suspension and that he should Although [MaNE] and the Villag(' Voic(' its 1,600 employees and 900,000 readers be reinstated with back pay. The (;Ioh(' both took the Daily News to task at the no warning. The first edition of the duly reported the ruling. Deitch rejoined time, the paper was up to its old tricks Mirror's last issue was banner-headlined the paper and resumed his column. again this August. In reporting the FCC VALACHI SINGS HERE TODAY . Only in later The /JUS/Oil (;to/J(' isn't the only daily staffs recommendation that it lose its editions was this changed to MIRROR that finds it hard to pass up picketing on license to llperate WPIX, the Daily N('lI's CEASES PUBLICATION, Similarly, the 1967 its doorstep. The Wall 5/1'('('/ jO/lmal once again failed to own up that it owns death of the Nt'1I' York World jO/lrnal recently repo rted a demonstration by a the station. Trihlllle took its 2,600 employees and group of blacks protesting an article on If the nation's biggest daily is no bigger 650,000 readers by surprise. The first, or Mozambique and another by student than that, what can be expected of the "Latest News," edition made no mention adherents of the Progressive Labor Party rest') Certainly no newspa per with preten of the paper's imminent death. protesting an article on theories that in sions (or ambitions) to greatness can fail I ndividual firings and resignations, even telligence is a genetically inherited trait. to practice the full and honest disclosure it of important editors, often go unreported. N('II' York Times drama critic Clive Bar demands of government officials and other When James L. Greenfield's appointment nes set off a demonstration when he pan news sources. Publishing house bad news as chief of the New York Times ' ned "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen" ; should be as routine as publishing co rrec Washington bureau was withdrawn the cast picketed the Times and got a tions. Both are painful but purifying. Just because of the Washington statTs ob story. Another story resulted when 200 as a 90 per cent favorab Ie story is usually jections, the WashinglOn PO SI ran a six Yippie-Ied demonstrators handed out a more of a favor to its subject than a 100 column story. The Times ignored the 37-count indictment against the paper and per cent puff piece (because it is more "coup" and Greenfield' s angry tried unsuccessfully to block Tillles believable), a newspaper that lets its warts resignation. (A year and a half lat ~ r, when delivery trucks. The Times account in show can improve its credibility with Greenfield rejoined the Times as foreign cluded the indictment's charge that the readers. Admissions against interest are editor, the story on his appointment men paper was a " racist, yellow rag · in liberal really in a newspaper's best interest. tioned his earlier departure but gave no trappings. " reason for it.) First prize for demonstration coverage (Mr. MI/cDoltgal/. a .fiJl·mer WaH Street Neither the Tillles nor the POSI reported belongs to the Sail Lake City Tribune. Journal repor/er, now leaches joltrnalislll Ben Bagdikian's resignation from the POSI Two years ago 34 peace and en at Columbia Universily and free-lances last year. Bagdikian, who quit because his vironmental-protection activists staged a in New York.) Chief of CBS News Denies Bias It f I.) I. • II. en ' 7-; 'p ' 7 . k t). \...... fV\.ffll()(l' a stan din'? .g f!'JmVl 'tat1 'on , re. on occasions when 'dthey t were Tito and Willy Brandt. New ~or . newed from time to time, to l;lOstile to the PreSl en. . Richard Salant, presI- . be interviewed on ~e CBS Salant's memorandum dis. Salant said that the specif den t of CBS ~ews, has newsc~st by Cronkite, but . puted the contention. that i c journalistic circumst rebutted the Wh1te House Mr. NIxon has qever accept· there were only three mter- ances of the interviews with suggestion that W a 1 t e r ed, Salant said. views. Since 1970 Cronkite Dean, Ellsberg and Cox had Cronkite, new s anchor- has had exclusive interviews to be taken , into account. 'man for CBS, showed par- Salant's me m 0 , dated with nine other newsmakers, The three' men were "the tiality to newsmakers who November 7, was written including, m 0 s t recentl~, chief actors in extraordinary we r e unfriendly to the two days after the disclosure Leon Jaworski, upon hIS running news stories" at the Nixon administration. by the New York Times of nomination by the President time, and in each case the . In an internal memoran· the existence of a carefuly as special prosecutor to suc· appearance with Cronkite dum, Salant pointed out that compiled list in the White, ceed Cox, Salant noted . . was the fi r s t exclusive broadcast interview "after H R Haldeman and John D. House of alleged jOl\Inalistic Other persons interviewed they burst into the news," Ehrli~hman had been invit- sins against Mr. Nixon. included such heads of state Sal ant said. ed to appear on " CB. S as Georae Pompidou, Anwar I ~ven-t ingviews News" by Cronkite for specla when ~ the er-~ againThes t WCronkitehite Hou wasse casethat _"S~ad~a~t :, ~G~o:ld:a:...::M:e'" =ir::.:,....:M=ar::.:s:.::..:..hal_ -==== _ ___Ne.tv Yark_ Time_ s were senior aides to Presl- dUling the past few years, Miami ) the Post libeled the Key Bis- based on the. sw?rn state- statements are "patently I cayne banker in an October ments of an investigator. false" and his testimony I clo~~ ~ri~~~b~t ~~~~i~~n~ 25 article that claimed Rebo- George H. Riley Jr., the "incredible and unworthy of I Nixon, has filed a zo cashed $91,500 in stolen investigator testified under belief." ' $.' _.stocks in 1968 after being oath that h~ told Rebozo on lion libel suit agai s e told they were stolen. Oct. 22, 1968, that 900 shares The Post's story included a ~hington Post. Rebozo's suit charges the of IBM stock accepted as statement by a Rebozo law Attorneys for Rebozo filed story was false and mali- . collateral for a loan by Re- yer denying that Rebozo the suit in U.S. District cious. bozo's bank were stolen. knew the stock was stolen. Court Wednesday, charging The Post article was Rebozo's suit sard Riley's Associated Pren N I Y ' ''I~ . --(~ ty ~e i ~f~ :/ '~~ il r~97 1. h nd~( The Buchanan Report that, one space to the right, "Tele To the Editor: vision Report." And under that, one I was saddened by Patrick J. Bu more space to the right, .. (Thursday chanan's response (Op-Ed Nov. 9) to newscast) ." Right, Mr. Buchanan? my earlier criticism of his media re Full copy sent on request except where porting to the President. I am sad not forbidden by certain states of mind. because I was criticized-critics should, I also had in front of me, as I wrote, expect countercriticism. I am sad the verbatim transcripts of the three dened by the slovenly and misleading network newscasts that formed the reporting in Mr. Buchanan's reply. basis of the faulty Buchanan report. These transcripts were made from Mr. Buchanan, to use his phrase, tapes of good quality without back had "the singular effrontery" to make ground noise ' or missing segments. a flat statement about the sources In the ambitiousness ot Mr. Bu of my research without ever going chanan's attack on me and my essay, through that elementary reportorial ,it should not go unnoticed that in discipline of asking me. He said: more than 1,600 words of impassioned "What other 'press critic' in Amer rejoinder he did not mention a single ica possesses the singular effrontery item I cited nor denied that I was to fob off on Tbe New York Times correct in showing that they were . 900 words of critique and analysis factually inaccurate. about a publication he has never seen I must confess that there is one nor read? . . . Mr. Bagdikian man Buchanan statement that I agree with. aged to discou rse learnedly upon the I must also confess that never be merits of this voluminous production fore in my adult life did I think I from the unique perspective of never would agree with such a radical having read a single issue." thought. But I admit here and now, I weep at such reportage. I did unashamedly and without inner reser read an original copy of Mr. Buchan vation, that I concur with the con~ an's media report to the President. eluding statement in Mr. Buchanan'S I had it in front of me when I wrote attack upon me: the Times piece. I have it in front "Calvin Coolidge, thou shouldst be of me now. The portion from which living at this hour." I cited f.actual errors is headed "News BEN H. ' BAGDlKlAN . Summary." Under that, one space to Wasi:tington, Nov. 9, 1973 .AJlT1It1K oeHS SULZBERGER, P,..tid.,tt HARDING". BANeROPT, Eleeeuti". Vie. Pr.tid..,.,t IVAN VEIT, E:t:.eutill. Vie. Pr.,id.nt • JAMES C. GOODALE, Senior Vic. Pre~i dent : SYDNEY GRUSON, S.ttior·Vie. President WALTER MATTSON, Senior Vice P""idc1tt JOHN MCCABE, Senior Vic. Pre,iden t • The New York Times CHARLES B. BRAKEFIELD, Vic. P,·esid.nt Company FRANCIS A. COX, Vice President I JOHN R- HAJ.tRISON, Vic. Prelident 229 West 43d St., N.Y. 10038· . (2U) 556-1234 JOHN MORTIMER, Vie. Pr"id.nt JOHN D. POMFRET, Vic. Pr.tid.... t FRED D. THOMPSON, Vie. Pr"id.nt • Co BAYMOND HULSART, S.er.torr KALPH BOWMAN, 7r._.,. In substantive terms, the Adminis manufactured its own fervor, arranging New White House Blast tration can cite precious few examples for bogus telegrams and letters of sup After his April 30 television address of what it sees as TV's "distorted re port to flood the White House? "That announcing the departures of H.R. Hal porting." Appearing on the Dick Cavett was different," the official replied. "That deman, John Ehrlichman, Richard Show last week, Chicago Daily News fervor was stirred up covertly; this ef Kleindienst and John Dean from his Correspondent Peter Lisagor said: fort was done on the tube, appealing di Administration, a chastened Richard "We've been trying since that Friday rectly to the people." Nixon paid a surprise visit to the White night press conference to get a bill of That distinction is astonishing on a House briefing room. There he told star particulars, specify what was distorted, number of counts. The networks could tled reporters to "continue to give me what was hysterical, what was vicious. hardly be blamed for the dearth of re hell every time you think I'm wrong. " And about the only thing that we can sponsible people eager to support the That truce flag fluttered only briefly, and come up with so far is that Walter Cron President on the Cox dismissal; even now hostilities between the Administra kite quoted Hanoi radio one time as say many Republicans were critical on that tion and the press are more intense than ing the President was out of his senses." issue. And the notion that it was TV's re ever. Nixon's Oct. 26 outburst at TV's Indeed, Cronkite figures prominent porting of the act, rather than the act it "outrageous, vicious, distorted report ly in the Administration's current offen self, that caused the furor underscores a ing" was quickly echoed last week by sive. While Nixon has declined to name basic White House misconception about his staff, in-laws and friends. names, the White House Communica journalism's role. tions Director, Ken Clawson, Far Cry. Last week the White House seemed to be speaking fo r the did issue point-by-point refutations of boss when he . attacked Cron two damaging stories; that was a far cry kite's interview with deposed from the blanket bombast that charac Special Prosecutor Archibald terized its responses to earlier Watergate Cox on the Evening News. " It disclosures. But how much Nixon per was the biggest softball inter sonally knows about the real quality of view I've ever heard," Clawson the news coverage of him is uncertain. complained. "He lobbed the ball He is said to depend largely on a daily di slowly down the middle of the gest of print and TV stories prepared plate, stood there with a half by Buchanan's office. (Judging by how smile on his mustachioed face often Nixon is offended by news items, while Cox knocked every one his dependence on Buchanan's synopses over the fence. It was a case of may be a myth.) These summaries are the interviewee being ten times kept private, but some do surface. Press more intelligent than the inter Critic Ben Bagdikian recently checked viewer." Clawson also rapped one 1971 briefing against tapes and tran the anchorman's selection of in scripts of that day's news. He reported terview subjects; "Cronkite has last week that Buchanan's summary was done only three interviews this curiously free of public anti-Nixon com year-Archie Cox, John Dean mentary and that the outline was rid and Daniel Ellsberg. Some bal dled with factual errors. ance, huh?" (The Ellsberg seg Bagdikian concluded that the sum ment w~ actually aired on June mary "is filled with error for which 23, 1971; late last week Cron major news organizations would fire a kite added new Special Prosecu reporter. Yet it is precisely the practi tor Leon Jaworski to this year's tioners of this slovenly and misleading tally.) reporting who for five years have been Cronkite blames this alleged lecturing the American press on accu CBS'S CRONKITE INTERVIEWING COX imbalance squarely on the Ad racy, fairness and balance." As Bagdi Lobbing the ball slowly? ministration. "We couldn't get kian himself has often pointed out, jour anybody from the White House nalism's record for fairness and White House Speech writer Patrick to come on our program," he said in an accuracy is hardly perfect. Further, the Buchanan said that legislation is need interview with TIME. "We made numer networks do wield immense power. But ed "to.break the power of the networks." ous requests to Haldeman, Ehrlichman, the Nixon Administration has yet to Deputy Press Secretary Gerald Warren others, including the President himself. make a case that it has been systemat chided CBS and NBC for their handling They could have sat there and hit my ically abused by the press. of the latest story on the ITT antitrust marshmallows as fa r as they liked." case. On NBC'S Today, Son-in-Law Da Cronkite added that he seeks no fight vid Eisenhower said that the "irrespon with his White House critics: "They've Old White House Mood sibility" of news reporting "has been got a right to their opinions on our news It was the fall of 1969 and the White matched by the irresponsibility of the judgments, no matter how erroneous, House staff had a problem. During one people they may quote." vindictive or personal those opinions 30-day period, President Nixon had In some respects, the choice of TV are." bombarded his aides with 21 separate as a prime target was puzzling. TV news The controversy reflects the long memos on unfavorable press coverage for one thing, has lagged well behind held White House conviction that the of his Administration. His demands that newspapers and magazines in investi nation's airwaves are in enemy hands. subordinates somehow quell offending gating Watergate. Also, after the initial One White House official even blamed journalists and generate more pleasing assaults by Spiro Agnew, TV generally television for the public outcry over the reportage and commentary set off a has backed away from expose documen Cox firing: "All three networks kept put frantic scramble. In a memo to H.R. taries. What the Administration may re ting on people saying, 'The public will Haldeman, Jeb Stuart Magruder com sent is the networks' ability to serve as detest this,' blatantly calling for the pub plained that "this continual daily a giant megaphone for unfavorable sto lic to respond. It was manufactured fer attempt to get the media" was ries that originate in print. vor.'; Hadn't the Administration often " very unfruitful and wasteful of 78 TIME, NOVEMBER 12, 1973 THE PRESS A memo to Magruder from Haldeman's chief assistant, Lawrence Higby, defined the Administration'S interest in the Huntley case as a lever against all TV news broadcasting: "The point behind this whole thing is that we don't care about Huntley-he is going to leave any way. What we are trying to do is to tear down the institution." The favored means to that end was intimidation-Government, public or personal. In February 1970, Haldeman observed that the Administration had not sufficiently mobilized the Silent Ma jority "to pound the magazines and the networks." He advised Magruder: "Con centrate this on the few places that count, which would be NBC, TIME, Newsweek and LIFE, the New York Times and the Washington Post." Spe cial Counsel Charles Colson wrote a swaggering-and probably overstated -memo to Haldeman claiming that TV network chiefs were "damned nervous and scared" during meetings he had held "Now to our White House reporter for with them: "The harder I pressed them his outrageous, vicious, distorted, frantic [CBS and NBC] the more accommodat and hysterical report." ing, cordial and almost apologetic they became." Colson wanted to get the FCC our time." Magruder had a better plan. to rule, once Republicans had a major Magruder's memo was one of nine ity on the commission, that the televis White House papers divulged last week ing of presidential speeches did not give by Republican Senator Lowell Weicker, opposition spokesmen a right to free TV an anti-Administration member of the time to reply. Though the White House Watergate committee. His purpose, he tactics succeeded for a time in reducing said, was to show the depths of the White the press' credibility, most of the spe House disdain for press freedom. cific attempts to suppress criticism failed - Magruder's contribution certainly over the long run. did that (though some of the ploys, such as attempts to plant stories expressing the Administration line, are accepted Lampoon's Surrender public relations practice). Instead of The National Lampoon sjejune pen making "shotgun" responses to news etrations of the frontiers of bad taste items, Magruder advocated pointing the have earned it a devoted following (800,- "rifle" of Government agencies, as he 000) and hilarious profits. But a mock put it, at newsmen's heads. He wanted advertisement in Lampoon s 1973 En the Administration to employ "the An cyclopedia 0/ Humor brought the mag titrust Division [of the Justice Depart azine's madcap staffers some serious ment] to investigate various media re trouble. "If Ted Kennedy drove a Volks lating to antitrust violations." Just the wagen, he'd be President today," said "possible threat of antitrust violations," the realistic-looking ad copy under a Magruder added, " WOUld be effective in photo of a Beetle floating hubcap-deep changing their views." The Internal in water. The text explained that Volks Revenue Service also struck Magruder wagen's watertight construction-a sell as a useful tool for controlling press cov ing point in genuine VW ads-would erage: "Just a threat of IRS investigation have prevented the 1969 drowning of will probably turn their approach." Mary Jo Kopechne. Volkswagen of Raised Eyebrows. Other White America began receiving outraged let House memos from 1969 to 1971 reveal ters from readers who thought that VW the galvanic effect of critical items on itself was responsible for the ghoulish the President's men. In the July 17, idea ("I will be damned if I will buy an 1970, issue of LIFE, Chet Huntley, then other Volkswagen after seeing an ad like about to retire from NBC, was quoted on the attached," wrote one customer). Nixon: "The shallowness of the man VW responded with a $30 million overwhelms me; the fact that he is Pres damage suit against Lampoon. charging ident frightens me." White House aides violations of trademark and copyright were apoplectic. Magruder wrote a laws and defamation. Last week Lam memo recommending 18 separate "fol poon agreed to withdraw all unsold cop low-ups" to the Huntley remark, includ ies of the magazine by Nov. 15 (450,000 ing the planting of a column on news were printed), to destroy the plate of the objectivity, the recruitment of a journal ad, and to run Volkswagen's statement ism-school dean to speak on press fair on the incident in the magazine's Jan ness as a serious problem and the pro uary issue. It seemed only fitting that duction of a prime-time TV special the Lampoon. which has thrived on nec intending to show how commentators rological humor, would at last find it can slant news through raised eyebrows. selfforced to kill one of its own items. TIME, NOVEMBER 12. 1973 85