Should television
shows be rated
like movies to
=3 monitor what
children watch?
Let us know.
editorials, letters, commentary and perspective
BY MAIL: P.O. Box 3159,
Eugene, OR 97403
BY PHOME: (541)346-5511
BY E-MAIL: ode@oregon.
uoregon. edu
IN PERSON: Suite 300, EMU
Papers forget original mission
■ OUR OPINION:
The best in media
performed the
worst of sins:
misrepresenting a
story
When it became clear last August that
CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras were
linked to the West Coast cocaine
trade, the public was appalled —and
rightfully so.
After the San Jose Mercury News proved in a
three-part series that the Contras received some
funds from a San Francisco drug ring’s profits, the
possibility of U.S. government involvement
was too much to ignore. Soon, the Justice
Department, Congress and the CIA itself be
gan their own “internal” investigations. And
the public came to its own conclusions, de
vXl
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
manaing more evidence and investigation
into the “CIA’s involvement in drug-dealing.”
While the Mercury News series never actu
ally established a direct correlation be
tween the CIA and
drug trafficking, the
public was right to
demand the truth
about the matter.
One of the places they
turned to was the me
dia. The Washington
Post, which just over
twenty years before had
uncovered the truth about
Watergate, was of course,
one of the first accosted.
Readers demanded to
know why the paper
wasn’t following the
Mercury News story. The
New York Times and
Los Angeles Times
felt the same
pressure. It
wasn’t until
October that
the three best pa
pers in the country
truly obliged.
On Oct. 4, the Post pub
lished a 5,000 word examina
tion or the Contra/drug trade rela
tionship which was largely a
refutation of the Mercury News series. Two
weeks later, the Los Angeles Times printed its
own three-part condemnation. The New York
Times soon followed with its own criticism.
This widespread reaction, however, wavered
from the public’s desire to know the truth. Instead,
it followed the papers’ own agenda to discredit the
Mercury News, wholeheartedly and mercilessly.
The Mercury News series did not deserve to stand
alone. In fact, it was harmful that it did so for nearly
two months. But the issue of whether a publicly
funded government agency knowingly took part in
selling drugs on its own soil did not deserve the bi
ased and narrow treatment it was given by the three
most respected newspapers in the nation.
The three papers’ reporting did prove the Mer
cury News’ stories to be flawed on many levels. The
amount ot mon
ey the Contras
received from
the drug dealers
is most likely
much lower
than originally
reported. And
the amount of
cocaine intro
duced to the Los
Angeles area is
also probably
lower than the
Mercury News
claimed.
But the three
papers’ sacred
reliance on CIA
sources and re
markable ability
THE MIXED MESSAGES
■ Dec. 20, 1985: The Associated
Press documents involvement by the
Nicaraguan Contras in the U.S. co
caine trade, the first major news or
ganization to do so.
■ Aug. 18-20,1996: The San Jose
Mercury News publishes a three-part
series detailing a link between the
Contras and a Bay Area drug ring.
■ Sapt. 21, 1996: The New York
Times publishes the first story of
many refuting several of the Mercury
News claims.
to reach final conclusions gave scant service to an is
sue that deserves a national newspaper’s undivided
and unbiased attention.
Indeed, no attention was given by the papers to
the subject of the Contras' involvement in the drug
trade when it was brought up in the 1980s by the
Associated Press and CBS News. The Mercury
News, while making its own mistakes, fully ex
plored an issue that had been thoroughly ignored
by other media for over a decade.
The Mercury News and the three papers still have
conflicting sources and information neither side
will back down on. And the CIA and Justice Depart
ment have yet to conclude their investigations. The
issue is far from dead. The Washington Post, New
York Times and Los Angeles Times must now focus
on what they should have done all along: finding
the truth.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board.
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday
during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer
by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of
Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emer
ald operates independently of the University with offices at Suite 300 of
the Erb Memorial Union
The Emerald is private property. The unlawful removal or use of pa
pers is prosecutable by law.
Editor-In-Chief: Steven Asbury
Managing Editor Thom Schoenborn
Night Editor Jennifer Schmitt
Community: Jennifer Schmitt, editor. Eric Collins
Entertainment: Nicole Kreuger, editor. Jesse Stephenson
Higher Education: Laura Cadiz, editor. Benjamin Kwasney
Opinion: Ashley Bach, Brian Diamond, editors.
Chris Hutchinson, illustrator
Student Activities: Angie Suchy, editor. Autumn DePoe,
Dana Williams
Sports: Mar1< McTyre, editor Andrea DeYoung, assistant editor.
Chris Hansen, Ryan Frank. Ryan Halvorsen
Copy Desk: Sarah Kickler, copy chief. Mike Schmierbach,
Kendra Smith
Presentation: Dennis Bolt, editor. Matt Garton
Photography: Mathew Stiffter, editor. Joe Bunik, Amanda Erickson.
Shannon Kilduff, Chad Patteson
Freelance: Carl Yeh, editor. On-Line: Nicholas Stiffler, director.
General Manager Judy Riedl
Advertising Becky Merchant, director Anne Amador. Lee Yen Beh.
Yujin Chi, Matt Johnson. Andrew Lakefish. Anne Miller,
Trina Shanaman, Rose Soil, Matt Solomon, Greg Walsh
Classified: Tara Sloan, manager. Natasha Lumpkin. Debbie Levy,
Heather Moye
Production: Michele Ross, manager. Ingrid White, coordinator.
Shawna Abele, Laura Daniel, Trevor Kearney.Tara Knight. Melissa
Lebahn, Molly McCanta, Ellen Milne, Mike Young
Business: Kathy Carbone, supervisor. Judy Connolly
Distribution: John Long, Jeff Johnson. Ferenc Rakoczi
Newsroom.(541)346-5511
Display Advertising .(541)346-3712
Business Office .(541)346-5512
Classified Advertising.(541) 346-4343
READER VOICES
Do you feel safe in Eugene?
“The underground
drug world and the
thieves are the biggest
problem in this town.
My skateboard got
stolen out of my car.
The major problem I
think is just thieves."
Jesse Clark
Junior
E.M.S.
“The only problem I
can see is for women
at night around the
University. I don’t
think that the lighting
is very good. I think
overall Eugene is a
pretty safe city."
Ely Jan Is
Sophomore
History
“There is always cam
pus security driving
around, and i feel like
there are places to
walk that are lit up
enough. There are al
ways a lot of people
walking around so I
feel pretty safe."
Heidi Marshall
Senior
Spanish
“I think it is pretty
safe. I'm an architect
student, so I’ve been
coming home pretty
late from studios, as
late as four in the
morning, and I have
not had any trouble or
seen any trouble.”
Joanna Schafer
Sophomore
Architecture
“It depends on how
you define safe. If you
are talking about rape
and stuff like that,
definitely not. If
you’re talking about
murder then it’s prob
ably safer than most."
James Curtis
Senior
History
“It’s safe except for
downtown because
there are a lot of scary
people down there
with all of the home
less people."
Laura Glatze
Freshman
Pre-Law