University of Virginia Library

An End To Hostilities

The longest war in America's
history–Richard M. Nixon's 25-year
internecine battle with the nation's
press–seems finally, or at least temporarily, to
have subsided. After six months of ignoring
all reports of administration involvement in
the bugging of Democratic National
headquarters last year, President Nixon, in
response to burgeoning proof, announced the
dismissal from his administration of a number
of his closest friends and associates, and
furthermore claimed personal responsibility for
all that had previously transpired.

In what Katherine Graham, publisher of
the Washington Post, later termed an act of
"humility and grace," the White House
apologized to The Washington Post for its
earlier denunciations of the newspaper's
disclosures in the Watergate affair. "Yes, I
apologize to the Post and I would apologize
to Mr. Bob Woodward and Mr. Carl Bernstein,"
(The Washington Post investigative team who
was the first to uncover much of the alleged
high-level involvement in the bugging of the
Watergate), said press secretary Ronald Zieglet,
the morning after Mr. Nixon himself praised
the efforts of a "vigorous free press."

It was Mr. Ziegler who had previously said on
October 16 that he would not comment on
"stories based on hearsay, character
assassination, innuendo or guilt by
association." But in Tuesday's apology,
Ziegler remarked, "I was over-enthusiastic in
my comments about the Post, particularly if
you view it in light of the events that have
taken place."

"Over-enthusiastic," however, is hardly the
proper word. "Dead-wrong" is more
appropriate here. The apology is humbly
accepted, we are sure, yet it is difficult to
accept the administration's sincerity in light of
the fact that the scandal would never have
been uncovered had the Department of
Justice been left as the only 'responsible'
medium. Through its own farcical
investigation, all charges and accusations have
been flatly denied. Furthermore, nearly all
potential sources of information have either
been made 'scapegoats' or have been
consistently intimidated or bribed into silence.
Only through those anonymous sources and
sacrificial reporters, who the courts and
grand juries of this country have made nearly
extinct, has the Watergate been exposed.

There are certainly a number of lessons to
be learned from all of this, one of which is
there are two sources through which the
public might learn of the true activities and
dealings of its government. One is, of
course, the government itself, the other the
press. Although we, as anyone, ultimately
desire to see each source as infallible as the
other, at least "in light of recent events" one
has been disappointingly dishonest. A recent
Louis Harris poll shows that only nine per
cent of the public believes the White House
has told the truth about the Watergate. It's a
sad commentary on a nation when its own
government's credibility is so severely
questioned.

"We're in a new ballgame with the media,"
said Newbold Noyes, editor of the
Washington Star-News. "The media as an issue
in this administration, is dead tactically." As
an issue, yes–but as a responsible medium of
reportage, this means it is vitally alive. As for
the real loser–the political system–does
anyone believe in rebirth? It's seems as
though Richard Nixon does. Let's hope he's
truly sincere.