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Show Hucksters Getting Out of Hand, Distorting Facts and Politics yf)r k Times Servi( e i,kwilN(iniN The ,Arnertean So4 lety if Newspaper Editors met this week Aril( h tempts nit. to butt in with an obst Ration and a sugr,iion about politics and the press The observation is that from Roosevelt to Reagan the arts of public hrr relations and political advertising have not only tended increasingly to dominate our politics. but also to diminish the influence of the printed word and distort the facts of our national life In short. the hucksters are getting out of hand Managing the news. of course. is the oldest game in town, Franklin Roosevelt was a master at it The leaders of all institutions try to manage the news in the sense Of emphasizing their virtues and minimizing or suppressing their failures. Even newspaper owners have been known to fiddle with the facts. What is new, however. is that in the conduct of the public's business, the power of the unelected and largely unknown "specialists" or manipulators, who write the,speeches for the executives downtown and frame the questions for the legislators on The Bill, has increased to such a point that while we know who is speaking, we don't know where the words come from. We are seeing more than ever before, or so I believe, a distortion of the theory of representative government. Increasingly, the executive branch, with its dominance of television, tends to evade the doubts of Congress by theatrical appeals to the people on the theory that what's popular is right. This is not a partisan or ideological argument. President Truman counted in advance on public support rather than on considered discussion with The Congress when he dropped the atom b9mbs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki So did President Janson, for a time, in his manipulations of public opinion on Vietnam. and President Kennedy in his covert disaster at the Bay of Pigs, not forgetting Tits efforts to pack the Supreme Court. The main difference now is that Ronald Reagan is better than any of them at reading speeches other people write, and at using television at the opening of the baseball season, my suggestion is that they might get a tip by looking at their sportb pages and their business pages Every day. editors devote two or three pages of newsprint, w hich is not cheap. to keeping the precise figures on Wall Street. who's up, who's down and who's chiseling on the side. Likewise on the sports pages. They keep the record runs. hits, errors, stolen bases. beanballs and other achievements and misdemeanors. But not on the political pages. Sure, we catch the pols off base from time to time, but in over 40 4, years in Washington I can't remember a period when so much obvious , nonsense, even so many distortions of fact, have gone by unchallenged or been dismissed with scarcely more than a whisper by the public. Roosevelt, in his cynical way. used to argue that Nicaragua and Libya are major threats to our security and to say: Just let me make the headlines on the front pages and I don't care that a permanent ban on the testing what they say on the editorial pages. of nuclear weapons, which all other Now the theme is: Give me half an presidents since Eisenhower have hour on television and I'll prove the publicly supported, is just another So"freedom fighters" of Nicaragua and viet trap. the 'Peacekeeper" missile are essenAlso, what was merely a cunning tial to the security of the nation, and P.R. talent on the part of Roosevelt that Colonel Khadafy is mastermindhas now become a Deaverish industry under Reagan. The editors can check ing the terror of the world. it for themselves: The publicity budWell, as the president says, it may get in Washington has soared and the not make sense but it makes news number of news conferences has deand it gets votes. You could say Reaclined. Publicity is not merely an ingan is the most popular president strument of government here these since the last war and that the press is more unpopular than ever for quesdays: it is government. The Founding Fathers didn't imagtioning his statements and policies. ine that the great conflicts between But there is a difference between nations, let alone the mysteries of the president and the press. He's in outer space, could be decided by pubthe popularity business and we're not, lic opinion, except at election time. and never have been since the old But that's the current trend and the pamphleteers raised hell against the question for the editors is what, if British and the abolitionist editors anything, can they do about it. fought against slavery, which was The short answcr is not much, but popular for almost a hundred years. o ,ro --- -- T-- - ,.- . .,.- t4,04k lozill iv ,' 1 IN a . si4t c''' - 4 ' i' ;:4". ,:r'-s- '6 --- -' i.' ,.1- lki ' s. Reston 1 ,) , '14.,,,,,, --- - I ,' , i'l,,,' i 11 , ' i í .- -, -- 171- ' a s i ,1)2,,,, 4 it::::: " ---y tf( Ii - -- ILi------ v r- -- I 2-- Learned Nothing ya, The Tribune reported the arrest of three students and the suspension of 40 others. While our schools have been considered bastions of our cultural heritage, it seems they are more the bastions of mediocre, mindless pulp, worried more about two plus two and problems, dotting i's than some of which may inevitably threaten the very survival of every man, woman, and child on Earth. It seems some schools would prefer to believe in the fantasy world of the red schoolhouse when kids were just kids. We have forgotten. however, that now more than ever since Vietnam, these junior high and high school students may be dying on the fields of battle. Our children ire showing at an earlier age the maturity and awareness of our harsh political reality. I am saddened and fearful, however, that for us adults the "good" education we received as kids has taught us nothd ing. TAB L. UNO 1101(1 Your Tongue Miriam B. Sayer (Forum, April 2) has a wonderful idea. but this could be taken a step further. Let's start ticketing people for swearing in public. There could be undercover cops just waiting for that slip. ForUtah could create the FBI nication Bureau of Investigations. This could open up unlimited jobs for people, especially for those skilled in photography, bugging devices, and all the people that read "1984" by George Orwell. This could return Utah to the chaste state its founders wanted it to be ED NORTON Wrong Number Telephone solicitation for donations and products should not be "''! number of organizations Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer's full name, signature and address. Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reason on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days. Preference will be given to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's true name. All letters are subject to condensation. Mail to the Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. When students at Bonneville junior High School, regardless of their motive, recently staged a sit-i- n in protest of American intervention in Lib- real-worl- Forum flutes " IRS Overkill Just a few days ago we received a letter from the IRS asking us to pay a penalty of $342.66 because we overpaid payroll tax withholdings by two cents. How can you be penalized for overpayment? Even if it was backwards, and we did owe them two cents, are we going to let them harass people and let them fine someone for a miserable discrepancy of two cents? I expect more common sense and honesty from government people. I realize they have a big work load, but that does not give them the right to harass and intimidate people. LUCETTE ALLEN Orem $342 Par for the Course It has been most interesting to watch the developments in the conhike for setroversy over the golf-fe- e nior citizens. These citizens seemed surprised that the decision against them was made by the City Council before the hearing was ever held. The Bonneville Hills Neighborhood Council suffered just such a display of unconcern on the part of our planning and zoning commission and our City Council. We, too, were kept waiting because of poor scheduling, and learned later the decision had been made against us before we ever arrived for the hearing. We underwent the same mistreatment the golfers did. The Council continues to show absolutely no interest in the citizens who elected them. I would like to advise the citizens of Salt Lake County, who are being pressed to adopt the council system. to forget it. How we wish we had kept the commission system! D.E. SMITH Why the Violence? Lately there has been an increase in the number of violent crimes in this city involving persons with hispanic surnames. I have to wonder why. I was raised in a home with parents of both Spanish and Mexican de ) ' lil 14 2 j , - kit ''' i 1 L---- ' , ,t1,,,,,, 1 ).. 11 'Fj IY - ..4r--11qi ,.... I ,..:78. a E..-....:- 1 r- -7- -...... I -- ,1100-416?-- '' - N " ANP IF YOU EVER NEED A RUERENCE PoR YOUR kESUME.... USO LONG, VIAINEINV.... -- 1- k; ' ?.- - i 11.13- - a F. 1 1'1 1 Irv. gat, i . , Pallifkli a LOWERII,6 ;, 6.7; tot dA,1 : v, ,, PIES' NIMEST A - oki 'EXIT 1HE THIRP LITTLE Pry BOLT HIS HOUSE our OF KICKS, MCD6 ADVANTfra Tribune Readers' Opinions thing to read about. The destruction of a student's apartment because he believes in the right of human beings to live like human beings. To those who did this, it must have seemed like quite a lark. I am ashamed to think we have gone back to the attitudes of the '60s when those of us who fought against the Vietnam involvement were treated with scorn and contempt. Many of us were injured by law enforcement officers and others who disagreed with our philosophies. It is easy to understand where this attitude is coming from, when we have a leader who calls the leaders of other nations names, uses schoolyard tactics to provoke war and supports terrorists and petty dictators. It is obvious why the youth of this country would resort to such cowardly tactics. I hope this action will not stop Mr. Medina from being a champion for what is right in this world. It is difficult to take a stand and to peacefully try to reach a solution when all around you are those trying to destroy not only our world, but very possibly our universe. ROBERT L. MOORE , ... s td.),) ,, 7 - ,,,,,v,:::, 0."14, , . , ti 0 'N1,Ity,,1,k7T4 1 ...N , ,.. , ,,,, .... ---' 4.. i. pootov.. ..,, 4,z,.,,, til iP4 1, t. .,..-,- - .- - l'J The Public Forum What a disturbing All ,.......--.- ,. MAAGVI-IE- S James doing this has increased lately and it has become a problem. In the past month, I have been called three times by the same charity and many times by other organizations. One of these calls call at 11 p.m., which is simply too late for a phone call and is quite annoying. The people making these calls should realize they aren't going to get very many donations when they're getting people out of bed to answer the phone. Organizations are now abusing the privilege of telephone solicitation and it must be stopped. RICIIIE PAXTON 12, 1'166 prIl Drawn and Quartered 'a Senseless Destruction dtirJ. Tritiune. ,J1t1.;11,c 170, 4 4, Ill 4701j .1 W, , , Er-P2- , I --- ettOlf toll, ,w 3 1,4 - scent. Yet, It never occurred to my brothers, my sister or myself to settle something with a gang fight, let alone with knives or guns. What makes them resort to this type of action? They've formed little gangs known as "Cho los" that go around intimidating and picking fights with the other students, without basis for this harassment. I know of two instances where students have transferred to other schools because of the constant badgering by "Cho los" (either boys or girls can be members of the gangs). Why do these things happen? Are these people raised in homes where courtesy and respect are ignored, or are they just out to prove something? or personal What type of satisfaction is gained when you're a part of a group that bullies and fights with one individual? Their actions and attitudes not only reflect the type of people they are, but also reflect on others of Hispanic origin. Put forth the effort to maintain a proud heritage. , ,, i .... ,, ,,,.. -- f ri i GONZALES-PAC- S6coN7 movr, (,efs JUST !Ai II4E MONEY AN2 NNE,. - .1, ,, 1 '., , --- ---, N Ito ''''a-- "I .., , III s I x 4 444).11i4tri. I self-estee- BARBARA ON "ib,-------- We Z ' t .,... ., , :x..,:)... , ., 9 i 14.44sa E PIN LARouCHE oN -n- PONI$cSNI, -te Everyone Sacrifices A common cry concerning the education crisis is that we're going to have to learn to live with the money that is available, even if it requires some sacrifice. Here's a couple ways we could solve the problem: 1. Pass a law requiring all public school administrators to spend at least one hour a day teaching. This would not only go a long way in solvprobing the overcrowded class-siz- e lem, it would bring some of our administrators who have lost touch back to reality. Also, if some taxpayers are correct that much waste exists at the administrative level, this action would tend to reduce it. 2. Pass a law allowing taxpayers to substitute a certain percentage of their tax load in quality volunteer time in the schools. This may not only allow a moderate tax increase (chiefly affecting those who do not wish to volunteer), but would not financially overburden the taxpayer any more than currently. It might also give taxpayers a better understanding of the complexity of today's educational system. These solutions would require all of us, and not just the teacher, to sacrifice to save our schools. GEORGE WEIGHT Spanish Fork Terrible Traps There is a new trap being sold by a large chain of stores throughout Utah called Stick Em Pest Control Glue Traps. to The sizes vary from mouse-siz- e hold a rat. to are They large enough open, and contain a strong, sticky glue. Once the victim walks on the glue, it is held fast. To release the animal, you literally have to tear him apart. The directions tell you to throw the trap, victim and all, into the garbage. What a terrible death. They are crushed, burned, buried alive, or starve. These traps guarantee a painful, often prolonged death. The larger glue traps have caught kittens, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. The creatures have to be destroyed, once caught. Many states have outlawed this trap. LEIGH ENGELBRECIIT Bountiful .4)11r . 4 , "IF YOU'RE WOW N ;f1 o , ,N , A''11 : 11 11 I W n,VT't, :,4tQ MALAY THE POOR, HOW CAN YOU 'MAW VICE LOOK ? - or 10J -- V , - ;.) L4116 A SOW S,4 COLONL ,BUT YouR NuRINCE HAS CA4Cit.51). Theo Lippman Jr. Cagney Wasn't 'a Dirty Rat' The Baltimore Sun The night Jimmy Cagney died television news showed so many film clips of him behaving violently, hit- ting women, shooting men that I half expected the National Association for the Advancement of Celtic People to protest this demeaning portrait. Actually, the reason critics make so much over Cagney as a screen actor is that he was able to make audiences like the characters he played, no matter how despicable. The character Cagney played in "The Public Enemy," the 1931 movie that made him a star, was pretty despicable. But Cagney was "irresistible," as one critic put it. (Historical footnote: He was not as despicable in Baltimore as he was elsewhere. The Maryland Board of Censors made Warner Bros. cut 15 scenes from the movie, mostly violence committed by Cagney.) That was an interesting film, historically and ethnically. It was the first of the gangster movies to explore the antecedents of hoodlumism. It linked the rise of organized crime to World War I and Prohibi 1 tion. And its mobsters were Irish and Jewish, rather than Italian. Cagney's character was based on a real-lif- e Irish gangster of the 1920s. Cagney played a lot of gangsters who said and did mean things over the years. But he did not ever say, you dirty rat." Everybody thinks he did because three generations of nightclub and television impressionists have includ- ed that in their routines. Frank Perdue made a radio commercial recently which begins with his terrible Cagney impersonation, "take that, you dirty rat." This was quickly pulled from the air when the President's Commission on Organized Crime reported that Perdue had asked Mafia figures to help him with a labor problem. Regarded as a stereotypical urban Cagney lived with a secret. lie was Norwegian. Well, Norwegian. his mother's father's name was Nelson. Jimmy Cagney didn't try to cover this up. The nation just ignored it. When entertainment columnist Sid one-quart- ney Skolsky dubbed Cagney and his select circle of Hollywood friends, which included Pat O'Brien, Frank the McHugh and Spencer Tracy, Irish Mafia," Cagney made a big point of his Norwegian heritage. (The John O'Donnell-Lawrenc- Kennedy-Kennet- h O'Brien e gang that won the White House in 1960 was dubbed "the Irish Mafia" by political journalist Stewart Alsop, and he is generally given credit for creating the phrase. But Skolsky beat him tv it by over 20 years.) In addition to criminals, Cagney played everything from George NI. Cohan to a Southern redneck politicharacter in cian, the Huey Long-lik"A Lion Is in the Streets." e Cagney's real politics were pretty left wing in the old days. Among other things he supported the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. The Catholic church was on the other side, and when Warnee Bros. picked Cagney to play a Notre Dame football hero, school officials vetoed him. So somebody else became the Gipper, 1. 4 |
