Last Updated: August 02, 2001
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A note from the president
Government relations, past and present
By Richard A. Oppel
Government-press relations are usually tense.
And sometimes smarmy.
In an recent article David Krajicek of APBnews.com wrote that the late J. Edgar
Hoover, director of the FBI, had a complex relationship from the 1930s into
the 1970s with ASNE.
According to documents Krajicek obtained under the Freedom of Information
Act, Hoover sent FBI agents to ASNE conventions as moles. He cut off contact
with some editors, curried favor with others and had his aides “compile vast
files of news clippings and dossiers to help him rank papers as friend or foe.”
The files reveal Hoover’s infamous paranoia as well as a little bootlicking
by editors. Much of us this was between the world wars, when fawning coverage
of agencies such as the FBI was sometimes mistaken for patriotism.
It wouldn’t shock me to learn that some groveling continues. In fact, if I
read back over my letters as 1995 Convention Program Committee chair, seeking
to persuade some high federal official to speak to ASNE’s convention, I might
want to do a little rewriting if I felt they’d ever be FOIA-ed, if you know
what I mean.
We certainly can attest to the government-press tension. In late October,
we were involved in a couple such instances:
- Pressing the two major presidential candidates, Al Gore and George Bush,
to respond to ASNE’s request that they outline their stances on access to
government information, the public’s right to know, privacy rights and plans
for press conferences if elected president. Neither have as much as acknowledged
our requests. In years past, the presidential nominees traditionally did so.
- Working with a coalition of other news organizations in lobbying the president
to veto the proposed Intelligence Authorization Act. Clinton did reject on
Nov. 4 the “anti-leak” bill, which would have subjected a government official
convicted of disclosing any classified information to three years in prison.
The Krajicek account covers old events. But it has the virtues of providing
humor, insights into the frailities of editors and a cold splash of humility
for members of ASNE. More seriously, it illustrates the dangers when government
shrouds itself in secrecy, and when the press gets cozy with power.
Humor: In 1930, Arthur Rabb of the magazine Editor & Publisher wrote Hoover,
“It is probably no surprise to you that my 10-year-old son is somewhat a hero
among his peers because his father has shaken the hand of Mr. Hoover, nor that
most of the kids hope to grow up to be G-men.”
Frailities: In 1948, a Hoover aide wrote in a memo: “The average editor is
stuck to his desk ... He is profoundly impressed by a personal contact. I don’t
believe the editors have the intimate contact with our field offices and even
if they did there can be no satisfactory substitute, for the Director symbolizes
the spirit of the Bureau.”
Humility: Krajicek writes: “Although slightly more obscure today, ASNE once
commanded great respect from those seeking to influence public opinion. The
organization offered access to more than 500 editors from across the nation
in the heyday of sthe independent daily press, before electronic journalism
diffused newspaper influence and mergers consolidated news ownership.”
I may sound whiney, but ASNE today has about 900 editors and remains a force
in such areas as press ethics, credibility, leadership, freedom of information
and newsroom diversity. Little question, though, that the recent campaign provided
evidence that Bush and Gore would rather mug in front of CNN and local TV than
wander to the back of the plane to speak with the ink-stained wretches.
Danger: When New York lawyer Harold Cross led a 1950s ASNE campaign that ended
with creation of the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI compiled a dossier.
“Would you like me to have New York get a discreet line on him?” one FBI agent
wrote.
But what of today?
We're not in very good shape. We've seen the two major presidential candidates
simply ignore us on the question of their stands on freedom of information.
We narrowly escaped, thanks to a White House veto, a bill that could have handcuffed
us in the future from getting the Pentagon Papers or documents that helped reveal
the Watergate scandal.
The First Amendment faces a clear and present danger. Every editor, and most
especially our readers, need to be aware of the consequences if we lose the
rights of access to open government. And then there’s the ASNE request to the
next president: Where do you stand on the people’s right to know?
A footnote: No ASNE committee chair works harder than Anders Gyllenhaal, executive
editor of the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. Working with our legal counsel,
Richard Schmidt and Kevin Goldberg, Anders has aggressively led our efforts
in the two areas mentioned above, as well as several others. The other projects
include fighting off growing credentialing restrictions for reporters covering
professional and collegiate sports, and protesting FBI agents’ posing as journalists
during the trial of white supremacists at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Oppel, ASNE president, is editor of the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman.
