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Watergate . . .
(Continued from Page i)
Watergate, and the vast preponderance of what they
reported-and 99 per cent of the factual statements-have
proven accurate.
Newsweek Questionable
The only questionable exercise of journalism I found
in reviewing 14 months of coverage was the advance
reports in Newsweek predicting White House counsel
John Dean III would testify to in his appearance before
the Senate Select Committee. It was a clear attempt by a
newsweeklv to "scoop” the daily press. For example,
Newsweek reported as a fact that Dean would testify
that White House officials considered murdering
Panama's head of government, Omar Torrijos. because
of his uncooperative attitude
Newsweek provided graphic details about Dean's
"story" of the planned assassination: “The contract, he
Dear)said. went to E. Howard Hunt, later a ringleader
in the Watergate break-in; Hunt, according to Dean. Mid
his team in Mexico before the mission was aborted. ”
.Although the Newsweek story was circulated in a
press release, and picked up and repeated by hundreds
of newspapers, the seasational story turned out to be
unlrue-or at least not substantiated bv Dean's
estimony.
In his appearance before the Senate committee the
next week. Dean did not mention anything about an
assassination plan He specifically testified that the
Newsweek interview had occurred in the presence of his
attorney and. as a ground rule of the interview, he had
refused to discuss any of the substance of his impending
testimony. It thus appears, if Dean and his lawyer are to
be believed on this point, that Newsweek fabricated
large parts of an interview-or made it appear that
various rumors and stories floating around Washington
had been stated in an interview by Dean.
Finally, the question of fairness cannot be assessed
without first positioning certain standards. In accusing
the press of being “unfair,” White House spokesmen
pointed to the fact that the press was publishing
“hearsay” and "innuendo." In other words, the Wthite
House applied the standards of the court to the press.
But since the courts and press have manifestly different
functions, it seems both inappropriate and unproductive
to apply judicial standards to daily journalism.
For exmaple, while most of the stories in the press
were based on “Hearsay”- or accounts from persons
other than actual witnesses to the described events
reporters do not have the power of compulsion (which
courts and prosecutors inherently have) to extract
direct statements, especially incriminating ones, from
witnesses themselves.
Thus in the case of Watergate in which almost all
the witnesses to the illegal activities were either hostile
to the press or intimidated by others in power, the
newspapers could not have reported most developments
in the case without relying on indirect, or “hearsay,”
evidence. As far as journalism is concerned, the crucial
question is not whether a charge would be admissible in
court, but whether it originates from a reliable source,
and is therefore accurately reported and labeled.
Contact With Reality
On this criterion, as has been demonstrated, all but a
few of the charges have proven valid, and the press can
hardly be deemed “unfair” for repeating them. The
accusation of “innuendo” which has been leveled
against the press also has little relevance to journalism.
While in a court there are very strict rules of evidence
which specify what may or may not be suggested in the
presence of a jury, journalists have no equivalent
restraints Whenever a fact is selected and presented it
will carry some suggestion or “innuendo.”
The question of fairness rests again not on whether
“innuendo” or tacit suggestion was used-it is
unavoidable-but on whether what is being suggested
corresponds to reality.
On this criterion, Newsweek’s story suggesting that
the White House considered assassinating its opponents
abroad would be clearly unfair because it had no contact
with reality; while the press stories tacitly suggesting
that there was more to Watergate than was being ad
mitted by the White House--and especially those reports
in the Washington Post-would have be considered fair
ones (because the suggestion turned out to be perfectly
valid.)
There has also been some criticism, most notably by
the editor of the Times of London, for prejudging a case
before a trial. But again this is applying a quasi-judicial
standard to the press Watergate was no ordinary crime.
The more appropriate question is whether the press
was “fair” in presenting both sides of the story, and
gave as prominent space to rebuttals and denials as to
charges and allegation. (This is the standard of fairness
applied to television by the Federal Communications
Commission*. According to this criterion, the press
seemed to be generally fair.
Even the Washington Post, which was most
viciously and unfairly attacked by White House and CRP
spokesmen, almost always printed the rebuttals and
denials--and often these were given almost as prominent
placement as the original charges
The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and
the Washington Evening Star often gave more
prominence to the administration’s rebuttal than to the
original charge
Dangers of McCarthyism
The charge of McCarthyism, which has been leveled
against the press (ironically by some former supporters
of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunt for subversives in
government), is far more difficult to evaluate.
McCarthyism, as it applies to the press, involves
publishing sensational charges without making a
dilligent effort to determine the veracity of the source of
the charge. (Numerous reputations in the early 1950’s
were sullied because newpapers repeated McCarthy’s
reckless charges without checking them out).
The press was quite aware of this danger in the
Watergate case. Benjamin Bradley, editor of the
Washington Post, said he required that all allegations
about Watergate be checked out by at least two in
dependent sources before they could be published.
Yet, two sources corroborating a charge might only
mean that a rumor was widely circulated. And the fact
that extremely damaging charges published in the Post
about five different individuals (Odle, Timmons, Sedan.
Colson, and Haldeman) later proved to be un
substantiated by the main source indicates that this
double checking” system does not prevent unverified
charges from being made. Other newpapers avoided this
pitfall by refraining from publishing allegations that
could not be thoroughly check out--and therefore made
fewer disclosures about Watergate
This presents a real dilemma: almost all jour
nalistic honors are awarded for making exclusive
disclosures, not for resisting publishing unproven
allegations. It was thus the Washington Postjiot the New
York Times, that won the Pulitizer Prize for Watergate.
And in the two proceeding years Pulitzer Prizes went to
the New York Times and to columnist Jack Anderson for
publishing what were essentially stolen government
documents.
Do journalists make disclosures even though the
secret nature of the material makes it impossible to
evaluate allegations in them'’ If the charges prove
groundless the credibility of the newspaper will be
diminished in the eyes of their readers and an innocent
reputation may be tainted. If, on the other hand, the
story is not published, the guilty might escape public
scrutiny.
In the case of Watergate, the coverup might have
been more effective if it had not been for the Washington
Post’s willingness to take some risks on stories, and
perhaps it is impossible to draw in advance the line
between such risk taking and McCarthyism except by
looking at the final disposition of the charges. Almost ail
of McCarthy's charges proved goundless, while most of
the allegations about Watergae proved to be valid
In summation, on almost any reasonable criteria,
the press showed a consistent-and unexpected-degree
of fairness.
As Mickey Mouse grins
Motels run from boom to bust
ORLANDO, Fla. (UPI) — Orlando’s motel
boom has dissolved in gloom.
Although Mickey Mouse is still as popular as he
ever was, two out of every three motel rooms are
standing empty each night in this tourist center
which was transformed in two years by a frenzy of
building unmatched anywhere in the world.
The Orlando area Chamber of Commerce called
it the “eighth wonder of the world,” when the area's
5.000 motel rooms in 1971 became 24,000 this sum
mer.
Dazzling high-rise motels with gourmet kit
chens and bands in their bars had risen where only
oranges once grew.
The entrepreneurs, of course, hoped to bed
down visitors to Walt Disney World, which will
mark the end of its second year of operaton Oct. 1
with a total of about 22 million paying customers.
Disney correctly guessed how many visitors to
expect and the two large motels inside the park-the
Contemporary, and the Polynesian Village, with a
total of 1,500 rooms — have been virtually full every
night.
But too many others tried to cash in.
Almost prophetically, Blaine Mallard of the
Orlando Area Inkeepers Association said recently.
“To tell the truth. I’m scared to death. I’m scared
out of my wits.”
Mallard, who is also president of a corporation
which will open 600 rooms by the end of the year,
added, “I think you’re going to see a lot of hotels
change hands, a lot of bankruptcies and probably
some that will close up.”
True to Mallard’s prediction, the Park Plaza
Hotel, a lakeside landmark in downtown Orlando,
was ordered closed last week.
The 400-room hotel, pictured on many a post
card behind the mists of Lake Eola's fountain, has
been losing $60,000 a month. A federal judge in
Miami ordered it closed after the Park Plaza’s
owner. First Baptist Church Inc. of Margate, filed
for a reorganization and “restructuring of debts.”
On the same day. the Greater Orlando Inn
keepers Association — a rival to Mallard’s group —
was meeting to try to raise advertising money,
claiming motels were “not overbuilt” but “un
dersold ”
The meeting came as the Chamber Commerce
reported that occupancy rates had dropped to a 28
per cent average
Hugh Snow, manager of the Kahler Plaza, the
fanciest of Orlando’s downtown hotels, says he
averaged 32 per cent occupancy in August as
compared with 78 per cent a year ago.
The “break-even” point in the industry is
considered about 50 per cent occupancy.
Snow, who is also director of the innkeepers
associaton. feels one answer lies in advertising and
promotion, and that costs money.
The association is considering charging each
motel and hotel 5 cents per room on a weekly or
monthly basis for promotion.
‘‘The real problem is that people don’t know we
have rooms available,” Snow said. “We have to get
the word out.”
When Disney first opened there was a shortage
of rooms in central Florida, and many out-of-state
tourists found themselves driving 50 miles or more
to find a place to spend the night. The word was
spread that rooms were scarce.
As a counteroffensive, the Chamber of Com
merce a few months ago ballyhooed a promotion
offering $100 to anyone who couldn’t find a room.
“Any hotel owner in the area would be delighted
to pay it now,” Snow said.
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