European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 27, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday september 27, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 11 Russell Baker new York not in newspaper terms the Bert Lance affair was a big Story. A big Story is often just that. A big Story. Rita weds Aly. The Lance Story was better than that. At least we Learned some thing about president Carter s character. But like so Many big stories while big it was also not terribly important to Many outside Washington political society. Y press critics Are already faulting the re porters and editors for making it a Story at All. You can argue about this until the Sun rises West of san Clemente but the More interesting question is Why the press can t make a big Story out of events that Are terribly important to everybody. During the past few weeks while the press was besotted with Lance and the White House the Senate was systematically dismantling the president s Energy pro Gram and neither the press nor its Public seemed to care much. This is the same Energy program presi Dent Carter called the most important undertaking of his administration. The form it takes will affect the kind of cars we drive if any the amount of taxes we pay the Price we pay for gasoline and Home heating and in a not very Long run the prices we pay for everything else. Wealth will be redistributed one Way or the other. One would suppose that when politicians the a is and filpes 5hu Civ 664372. United kingdom Greenham common Civ 44768, military 46263 ext. 209. Go to work on a Bill of vital economic inter est to everybody everybody would want to know what the politicians Are doing whose interests they Are doing it in and what it s going to mean after they have done it. In Short you might say this is a big Story. You would be wrong. The Senate has performed Radical surgery on the Carter Bill without arousing More than a Dollop of Public interest. Here we see one of the great weaknesses of journalism. It can make a big Story out of the relatively unimportant event As in the Lance affair but it cannot turn important events into big Sto Ries until the Public is interested in the characters. The press cannot be accused of not trying to turn Energy into a big Story. It has played it heavily Ever since the Arab Oil embargo four years ago briefly showed the Public How vulnerable was the Power of its chariots. As a Story it has never sold. Not surprisingly editors seem to have lost Faith in their ability to sell it with the result that now when the Money pie is being Cut in the Senate they consider duty done with a daily Journeyman s account of the Day s surgery. Is this entirely a Case of the press Defeated by a Public determined to stay bored about its own welfare not entirely. It also results from the press s failure to find effective ways to cover the Congress for a modern readership with a taste for hearing about big stars. Washington press coverage heavily affected by the television Competition has become increasingly entered on the pres ident Over the past 30 years and on the big men who have the president s ear. People like to hear about stars. The question is whether a mass descent of reporters on Capitol Hill would improve matters. If the battalions who now concen trate on presidents and their Bert lances were to move into the Senate with the aggressive attitudes developed since water Gate could they make people care about members of the Senate finance commit tee could they penetrate the labyrinth of congressional politics to find out who is re writing a High stakes Bill and How and Why and who is going to get Richer be cause of the rewrite and who poorer it is hard to say but pessimism is Justi fied by Long experience of Washington. Good reporters report Many important events but few succeed in seeing them Bloom into big stories. Despite Woodward and Bernstein even watergate did not become a big Story until Long after it might have affected the 1972 election. This might be because most people faced with the Choice Between an important Story and a big Story will choose the big Story every time and As the water Gate history illustrated even grumble if it becomes too important. So we consume Lance stories like fodder and browse at mention of that raid being prepared on our pocket books. Letters to the editor positive attitude urged for wives i came to Europe As a new army wife not knowing what to expect from the life style i was about to Lead. My husband and i were separated for five months at the beginning of his pcs be cause no housing was available our House hold goods were two months late there was no Job for me and we lived in a Small isolated Village 10 Kilometres from our Post. I could have sat around in our third floor cubicle and wasted away or looked for the nearest willing ear and complained about the inconveniences and bureaucratic non sense we be been subjected to. Instead i became involved in our Community. And instead of adding to the gossip which is All i Ever heard from the other wives i refused to let their attitudes on army life and the wife Dampen my optimism. This is a message to army wives who should recognize themselves your attitudes Are sad. For those of you who make your lives miserable because things Don t always run smoothly try to keep your Dis Content from spreading to those wives who arrive with a positive attitude. A bad attitude is like Poison that slowly destroys the morale. A Good army wife learns to tolerate the Field exercises the Lack of Lysol the crowded clinics Etc she greets her husband with a quiet Confidence and accepts the fact that the Job he chose is and always will be a demanding one. Please Don t be haughty and insulted. Be reasonable and acknowledge where you stand. A positive attitude is not that difficult to cultivate. It s just As contagious As a Nega Tive attitude but much More Healing. Name withheld Ansbach Germany anti Union Bill is criticized during the last few months Many Arti cles concerning the unionization of the armed forces have been appearing in the , these articles do not Deal or. Preas Dent below is a letter written by my nine year old son which he left in a stack to be mailed. I thought your readers might be inter ested to know what children find important and to what lengths they la go to remedy what is to them an intolerable situation. Dear or. Preas Dent i would like you to shorten the Peter Marshell Verity show. I want this letter to go Strait to the Preas Dent. Carey Lee Shepherd Cassandra c. Shepherd we Brucken a Germany reminder All letters to the editor must contain full name and address of the writer and must be signed. Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication. Because of the Large volume of mail this column receives letters that Are Brief and to the Point have a much better Chance of being published. With the views of the lower ranking enlisted. The Senate armed services committee has approved a Bill indicating that it would be a felony for persons like ourselves to assume Active roles in any military Union for the military s Sake we believe that the full Senate should drop the Bill. The newspapers have brought out the bad Points of a military Union but we feel that the True issues of our grievances have been avoided. The Chain of command system is a slow process which rarely brings about the de sired end results. It is evident that 1950 decisions rules and regulations Are ineffective when Deal ing with problems from a new Era. This is 1977, a time for old rules and regulations to be revised for new times a few of our grievances for example Are the haircut policy for men living conditions for enlisted persons As compared with officers deterioration of benefits pay and allowances and particularly proper utilization of mos training. These grievances May seem Petty to people sitting in comfortable places but to us the people experiencing the prob lems they Are very important. Mary c. Crain Bonita Hatfield Jay Reyes Graham Davis Susi Bragg Augsburg Germany with Home delivery take advantage of the stars & stripes Home delivery service in most government housing areas. Delivered to your Mailbox every morning for $4.50 a month. Accept my subscription to stars & stripes name please print. Street ehg no Telephone no 1 will pay the Home delivery c Larhier when he comes to collect City Apt no housing area please Complete this form and mail to. Stars & stripes Apo 09175 attn sales promotion
