Gingrich not a friend of free speech

I am referring to Mr. Gingrich's un-Jeffersonian boast in the New Republic (March 13, 1995) that he personally got the Smithsonian to spike its history of the atom bombings that was to accompany the 50th anniversary exhibit of the Enola Gay at the Air and Space Museum. Explaining his text-burning, Mr. Gingrich told Fred Barnes that the curators' script was "historically inaccurate" and "anti-American" and that it represented "the enormous underlying pressure of the elite intelligentsia to despise American culture, to rewrite history, and to espouse a set of values which are essentially destructive." Actually, the Smithsonian script gently raised important historical issues surrounding the atomic massacres of more than 200,000 Japanese, mostly civilians, and twenty-three American POWs. ...

[Later,] Gingrich admitted that he had not read the Smithsonian script. Rather he said that he had heard secondhand from Texas Republican Congressman Sam Johnson that the script was anti-American because Japanese atrocities went unmentioned. But the careless Speaker had been misinformed: the curators had covered Japanese war crimes on page two of their study. ...

Before ASNE gives the Speaker a place of honor at its table, it ought to check his First Amendment credentials first.

Philip Nobile
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Media-innaccuracy statement is right on

Today on C-SPAN we watched Newt Gingrich as your speaker at the press meeting. We have felt over the last several years that the news media, be it radio, television, or newspaper, are trying to make the news - not reporting it without prejudice or slant.

Although we sometimes disagree with Mr. Gingrich, his final statement, that the press inaccurately reports policies such as decreasing the increase of Medicare as "cutting of Medicare for our senior citizens," are very true. The media should give the public the opportunity to decide for themselves how policies may influence their lives.

We believe the media are partly responsible for morale in the United States with its effects on crime, sexual conduct and ethical behavior. All too frequently freedom of speech is misused to slant the news to favor certain political parties or politicians. We believe we are not alone to be tired of negative campaigning and degrading of any move the governing or opposing party makes. One may wonder if some criminal groups act as they do, influenced by the irresponsible reporting by the media.

As editors please assure that your publications are true and not slanted so that we as Americans can be proud of our freedom of speech!

Martha Ann Karis
Joannes H. Karis
Durham, N.C.