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Show Nixon as honest as possible' says aide can't tell the enemy, too." But he also commented that he thought U.S. newsmen were the best in the world, and Americans were the best informed people in the world. Calley Case He said that as a government official, lie could not comment on the President's intervention in the trial of Lt. William Calley. He said that Spiro Agnew's comments have not had an adverse affect on public relations in his office, and he predicted an upswing in the economy. He also noted that the Presi dent supports FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and feels he is performing a great public service, but that "the President does not know of every action taken by every federal official." He also noted the President's concern over pollution, as well as predicting that "the space program will continue con-tinue to move forward, but it is how quickly it will move that is the question." Mr. Shumway is a native of Oakley, Utah. A graduate of the University of Utah, he was United Press International bureau manager mana-ger for 16 years in Sacramento, Calif., before moving to his present White House position. BY RICHARD ROMNEY Chronicle Staff Editor's Note: The following article was the selected the first place in the RMCPA news writing ' contest held at Park City. The contest was sponsored by the Deseret News. If the American public will take the time to examine the record, they will find that the Nixon Administration has been as honest 1 as possible with the people, as well as planning for the future, according to Devan L. Shumway, assistant direcotor of White House Communications. Mr. Shumway discussed the administration's ad-ministration's policy on issues ranging from Vietnam war to domestic do-mestic issues at a Rocky Mountain Collegiate Press Association press conference at Park City, Utah, on April 16. He said that the purpose of the White House communications department de-partment is not to create a good image for the administration, but that it is "to inform the American people-to make sure that the doors that newsmen are trying to j open are open." "We don't put out press releases," re-leases," he said, "we don't put out tilings that are favorable or unfavorable, un-favorable, or that will sway opinion, we just try to inform the people... It's not really any of my business busi-ness what a reporter writes, as long as he gets the real facts before he writes it." The communications department depart-ment in no way censors stories, he noted, commenting that "reporters "re-porters have the right to be wrong as well as right." A portion of the press conference con-ference centered around discussion discus-sion of the administration's role in Southeast Asia. Mr. Shumway said that the Laotian invasion was timed for the best possible time. Asked if President Nixon was confused con-fused on what actually took place at the time, Mr. Shumway said, "I would never say the President of the U.S. is innocent" of such knowledge. Mr. Shumway said the Administration Admin-istration does not object to peaceful peace-ful demonstrations, and that veterans who oppose the war in Vietnam are entitled to gather in the nation's capital, as they plan to do in the near future. He said that Vietnamization is proceeding very well, "in fact, ahead of schedule," and thatne, along with the President, hopes that "when we get rid of 'this war, we can concentrate on proolems at home,'' diverting money spent on Vietnam back into the national economy. - Tne assistant communications direcoti also said that North Vietnam Viet-nam has never agreed to release U.S. prisoners at any time, only that they will consider releasing them when all of our forces aie removed. ' We Want prisoners sent io neutral countries-the prisoners fiom both sides-so that diey can receive Red Cross treatment. It's a tragedy that North Vietnam won't let the Red Cros in, publish lists of POWs ur disclose the presence of prisoners." He also said that as far as ue know , Ji'ere has ueen "no badgering of wives of prisoners prison-ers ot war unuer the present administration," ad-ministration," and that the U.S. has no control over the war actions ac-tions of South Vietnam. Red China He said President Nixon is in the process of establishing accords with Red China, "trade relations and ping-pong." He said that the invitation for the table tennis team to tour was well-timed, and that the President had been considering con-sidering improved relations with the People's Republic of China since the beginning of his tenure in office. But the majority of the question-and-answer session centered cen-tered around domestic issues. Mr. Shumway said that there was a gap between White House and the Press, because the press often fails to see the total scope of what is going on. "We believe in telling the American people as much as we can," he said, "but we |
