'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
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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
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