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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 1985)
'I have a dream' A great man would have been 56-years-old today, had it not been for the assassin’s bullet that killed him nearly 17 years ago. Martin Luther King, Jr. made giant strides in the civil rights movement in the ’60s, stressing peaceful resistance rather than violent rebellion. In his “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, he warned blacks not “to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred,” but to “conduct our struggle on the highest planes of dignity and discipline.” For his efforts to win equality for all people, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the same year Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which opened public facilities to all Americans. His dream was that black children and white children would one day grow up as brothers and sisters. Although King’s dream has yet to be fulfilled, the fight for equality continues today. We share in King’s dream that some day soon “all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protes tants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last.’” The Battalion Editorial Board Truth in the media Last month, a reporter for the newspaper in Hattiesburg, Mississippi — the Hattiesburg American — got an anonymous tip that there was a contract out on the life of Hattiesburg resi dent Oscar Black. The reporter called the police with the infor mation. The police then approached the newspaper and the local news station, WDAM, and asked them to cooperate with them in a set-up in which the police faked the death of the targeted man. The police wanted the journalists to report the faked death, so that a police officer, posing as the hit man, could collect the pay off and catch the person who ordered the contract. WDAM reported the faked death, even going so far as to show the “victim’s” truck with the “murder weapon” under the seat. The broadcaster said he felt he had to report the false in formation in order to save a man’s life. The Hattiesburg American, however, refused to print the story, arguing that the paper would lose all credibility by kno wingly printing false information. There is a significant difference between printing false in formation and withholding information. The purpose of the press — to report the news accurately and objectively — is de feated when journalists get involved with making the news rather than just reporting it. By actually participating in the set up, the broadcasters compromised journalistic ethics and the bond of trust that is essential between the public and the press. A function of the journalist is to be an objective watchdog of government and local agencies, to ensure that the interests of the public are fairly represented by those agencies. But journalists also have to be objective enough to decide when reporting certain stories would jeopardize the public well being rather than enhance it. During the Iran hostage crisis, journalists made the crucial decision not to report that Americans were hiding in the Ca nadian Embassy. If journalists hadn’t cooperated with govern ment officials, Iranians surely would have stormed the embassy and endangered the lives of many. Obviously the reporter for the Hattiesburg American was concerned about Black’s life, and the decision not to print the false story was probably a difficult one. But the dilemma she faced went beyond saving one man’s life because as a journalist she had to consider the long-term effects her decision would have on journalism’s role in society. The American public demands unbiased, objective report ing from its journalists; it demands — and rightfully so — that the news be accurate and fair. If people were never sure that what they were reading was truthful or fixed, they would never fully trust journalists and eventually would not believe anything they read in newspapers or heard on the news. And the important purpose of journalism would be destroyed. The public would have no way of ensuring its interests were being represented. The Battalion Editorial Board C supyirr.' ... - i ■■ *•••:• i ... v •* ' ' T"'. 'rrT .• • r.-.M'-.j- ;/ iiiiiiii •— -•^r—i.-: .T T; • A o.f - . • I ..Ml-X i : -* W ikk mors? i • i > -A rO-o \ !|'v , : m:%i MMl:, f ! . 'M _ \ Kt"A J: /*• v • j By MICI i The Coll- last week m ubstituting oad crossir treet whei ents were! Council pproved a horizing M | i ...AT’TvT'jn : t ! BWaiSt CU'i % 1 Bl,lj i Wi/vionj^cur / ' "1 ■ ■ ''"W vi l I { 1 V iiLvi utkmi « C ! i i^ to By ( QV h iyo,ooo kwwi' I t \ V-^A ■ ute an af J acific Ira itruct a Ho 1 The agrt pay $14,81 through S( way and $ 1 ronic sigr rossing sit Hollema not cross i plete excef easement v The ag more than ials charj dragged it: The city ings with i opers in t Cathy Loc ceive a res be taken proved by j The rai vide the Unit ATST1 lation to 1 fuel irrig; regulatory tarmers a Pentagon officials should not blame anyone but themselves natural ga recourse c “Onlv f themselve nies," A| By ART BUCHWALD Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate The administration is mad at the me dia for breaking the story on its hush- hush military space shuttle mission which will take place Jan. 23, 1985, be tween 1:15 and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Stan dard Time. How did the news people find out the military was launching a top secret “gra pefruit” from Discovery on the date in question? The Pentagon held a press conference to announce it. NASA officials couldn’t sell a story in December on the next shuttle flight if their lives depended on it. As far as the public is concerned, the program has become old hat, and when you’ve seen one shuttle flight you’ve seen them all. I am not against the Air Force se cretly launching military hardware into space. I just think there are better ways of doing it than alerting the media to their plans, and then warning them not to “speculate” what the military is up to. This is how the Defense Department should have handled it. A brigadier general in full uniform told reporters the mission was so sensi tive, that if anything leaked out about it, the national security of the country would be threatened. Anyone who spec ulated as to what the Air Force was up to was giving aid, comfort and information to the Soviets. It has already been announced that an American schoolteacher would be the first “non-astronaut,” “non-scien tist” to take a ride on the shuttle. the cargo bay and kick out the satel into the sky. After the flight, while Miss Gotti rode in a ticker-tape parade down Fl Avenue, the Air Force’s $300 mil g izmo would be safely in stationary! it, listening to Chernenko snorira Moscow, measuring heat from Sibeii outhouses, and photographing Russi generals drinking vodka with theirni tresses on the Black Sea. Not one per* inside or outside the media would! any the wiser as to what Discovery's^ mission was. That’s how you conduct a secretste tie operation. If the people in the Pens gon don’t know how to do it, let’s f somebody in this country who does. I hope the Pentagon will forgive me for saying this, but it has only itself to blame for the story getting the play it did. When you’re in the business of launching a top-secret payload from a NASA shuttle you don’t call a televised press conference a month before flight time to announce that you’re not going to talk about what you’re doing, and the media better not look any further into the story. This is particularly true during the holiday season. Up until the Air Force alerted the world to its mission, most newspaper and television reporters were sucking their thumbs in Washing ton, putting out stories about who the next Democratic Party chairman would be, what Nancy Reagan was giving Ron nie for Christmas, and how much volt age it took to light the national Christmas tree on the mall. Instead of the Air Force calling a press conference, NASA should have announced they had selected a teacher for the next shuttle mission. Let’s say it was Miss Gottleib of Public School 35, in Hollis, N.Y. Miss Gottleib would be flown to Washington with her entire class. For a month the media would follow every waking moment of Miss Gottleib’s training. On January 23 the entire world would be tuned in on this historic flight. Every TV camera would follow the teacher from her dressing room to the launch pad to liftoff. Houston Control would provide us with hourly reports from Miss Gottleib on how she was enjoying her trip. Now, unbeknowst to anyone, except tne cap tain of the shuttle, the Air Force would have placed its top-secret package in the hatch. When the shuttle passed over the Soviet Union, and with all cameras fo cused on Miss Gottleib bouncing up and down in the cabin in a weightless condi tion, the captain would sneak back to Some of the best lies of 1984 remembered By ART BUCHWALD Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate A lot of people lied to all of us in 1984. Here are just a few of the whop pers I remember. “I’m from the telephone company, and I’m here to save you money.” “The rise in the price of a postage stamp from 20 to 22 cents will speed up the delivery of a first-class letter. ’ “With the new human services cuts I have recommended, no one truly in need will suffer.” “The CIA has no intention of over throwing the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.” “Geraldine Ferraro’s sex had nothing to do with my voting against her.” “The U.S. budget deficit does not af fect the nation’s economy.” “Our tobacco company found no sup porting evidence that smoking is harm ful to your health.” “The Treasury’s new tax reform will benefit every man, woman and child in this country.” “It’s impossible. Our computer never makes a mistake.” “You will make a fortune if you invest in the New Orleans World’s Fair.” “Acid rain is not a problem.” “Just leave your name with the an swering service and we’ll get back to you right away.” “This university has never offered a high school star football player anything more than room and board to recruit him.” “If you ban bullets that penetrate po liceman’s armored vests, every hunter and sportsman in America will oe penal ized.’ “This is the last diet you will ever have to go on.” “I only posed for one roll of film for Penthouse magazine.” “If you buy our product and you’re not satisfied, you may return it within 30 days and we will cheerfully refund your money.” “God wants you to vote for Ronald Reagan.” “The Soviet Union would never inter fere in the domestic affairs of Poland.” “Our latest model will give you 40 miles to the gallon.” “The FBI does not consider blowing up a Planned Parenthood clinic a teror- ist act.” “Deregulation of natural gas will lower your heating bills.” • “You can move in tomorrow and you won’t have to do one thing to fix it up.” “Our delivery man will be at your house before noon.” The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference In memoriam Bill Robinson, 1962-1984, Editor The Battalion Editorial Board Brigid Brockman, Editor Shelley Hoekstra, Managing Editor Ed Cassavoy, City Editor Kellie Dworaczyk, News Editor Michelle Powe, Editorial Page Editor Travis Tingle, Sports Editor The Battalion Staff Assistant City Editors Kari Fluegel, Rhonda Snider Assistant News Editors Tammy Bell, Cami Brown, John Ha Assistant Sports Editor Charean Williams Entertainment Editors .’ ... Shawn Behlen, Leigh-Ellen Clark Copy Writer Cathy Bennett Photo Editor Katherine Hurt Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting ncwspuftf operated as a community service to Texas A&M i ‘ Bryan-Collcge Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of Editorial Board or the author, and do not necessarily rep resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, facufa or the Board Of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography dnssei within the Department of Communications. Letters Policy Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer. 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