European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 5, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday March 5, 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Itaf Page i departing news chief has been bad news at Abc Michael g. Gartner former newspaper editor and former president of Abc news he resigned tuesday has always depicted himself As a Champion of Good journalism and the first Amend ment. That a what he says. Lets see what he Means. In 1987, Gartner offered up his views the press Sydney h. Schanberg in Quot of sen. Gary Hart As an on a a Outing to adulterer. He said this example of peephole journal ism was a one of democracy a finest hours and a just a wonderful thing for no matter How one stands on the Fidelity Issue As a litmus test for Public office one knows that bed Root police reporting is hardly a a wonderful thing for but maybe Gartner just got carried away that Day. We must therefore examine his record further. In 1991, after Gartner had joined Abc As its news chief he was handed a marvelous Opportunity to distinguish himself on the first amendment. The Bush administration had gone to War with Iraq and to shackle the press so that it could not freely cover this conflict As it had Vietnam it had imposed the severest restrictions on journalists Ever seen in any modern american War. The mainstream press rolled Over for the White House. All the major networks and name newspapers tamely went along with the course the news executives to save Public face and keep up their pose of fierceness and vigor All signed group complaint letters to Washington saying it Wasny to Nice to exclude reporters from the front lines and baby sit their every move and would the Bush people please loosen the Handcuffs. The Bush people had a Good laugh Over this. Gartner was not alone in his supine Ness and some might see it As unfair to single him out. Yet when the War was Over and he had a Chance to make amends he chose not to. Fresh Eye opening War footage became available to Abc from one of its stringers but the network rejected the film. Nonetheless in that same year Gartner did choose to distinguish himself from the other networks on a different sort of National Story. He broke with the pack on the coverage of the Palm Beach woman who had accused William Kennedy Smith of raping her. Gartner did this by revealing the woman a name on National television a thus breaching the press tradition of leaving alleged rape victims unnamed in order not to add to their trauma. The Story was aired on the Abc evening news on april 16,1991. In an Copla nation that some found defensive if not bizarre Gartner said one of his reasons for going Public with the woman a name was to try to accomplish the greater Good of removing the stigma of rape. Could it be that Gartner was also interested in trying to halt the ratings slide of his evening news show there a nothing like a Little spice and controversy to draw attention to yourself. In the broadcast Abc and Gartner sought to justify naming the woman on the grounds that a London tabloid and an american supermarket Sheet had already done it. That As every grown up knows is a 5-year-old�?Ts embarrassed answer to the question of Why he had done something wrong a Well Jimmy did Gartner also uttered a lot of other hog Wash in the aftermath. Such As a a we believe in this Case As in All news events the More we Tell our viewers the better informed they will be in making up their own minds about the issues that was an interesting statement of principle considering the latest debacle Gartner was caught up in a the recent segment on dateline Sec about the safety risks posed by certain general motors pickup trucks a test collision was arranged for the show and in order to make sure that a Sample pm pickup would catch fire upon broadside Impact with another vehicle incendiary devices were added to the truck to ignite an explosion. Viewers were not told about these devices. The decision to keep silent was a conscious one. How does this fit with Garth Eros the More we Tell our viewers the better informed they will be in making up their own minds there was no Good reason for Abc to put the phony test on film except to hype the Story other parts of the report had plenty of tin doctored evidence indicating safety problems with these trucks. Some critics pointed fingers at the producer of the truck Story a Man who came to dateline from inside edition a a show Given to staged products. But does no to responsibility ultimately lie at the top pm demanded and got an on air apology. Abc got a lot of mortifying stories in the press about its failed ethics. Gartner reacted by telling his staff a we must move on. Ave cannot let ourselves be defined by 57 so this sounds Good but As we can see from the history Gartner is defined by a lot More than 57 seconds. A i. C Cwa Daymone people would offer Hope to inner cities the Silver anniversary of the Kemer report is being used to argue that there a hardly a Silver lining in the dark Cloud of despair that lies Over americans inner cities. Television shows and newspaper columns Are drumming Home the message that in the last 25 years America has moved even closer to becoming what the pessimists forecast in 1968 a two societies one Black one White separate and unequal.�?�. That was the conclusion of the National advisory commission on civil disorders created by Lyndon b. Johnson. It is More commonly known As the Kerner commission for its chairman former Illinois gov Otto Kerner. The recent spate of publicity stems from a 25th Anni a versa by report published last month by the Milton s. Eisenhower foundation it expresses a grave doubts about whether the gridlocked american Federal political process would Ever or could Ever enact informed solutions to the problems of the inner cities and the persons who live in the Clear and most recent evidence for that gloomy conclusion involves the absent Washington response to last years los Angeles riots. For a few weeks the destruction that followed the Rodney g. King jury verdict had big name politicians starting with George Bush and Bill Clinton Louring the burned out areas of South Central los Angeles and vowing action. But in the end Congress passed Little Aid and even that was vetoed right after the election by the Jame Duck president. Is the situation then As hopeless As it seems fortunately the answer is no. The Eisenhower foundation itself suggests that local experiments and a few National programs notably head Start have shown that investment in children and youth combined with investment in housing and effective drug and crime prevention can change Urban environments and the lives of people dwelling there. What is needed now the report argues is a big chunk of Money a $30 billion a year for the next 10 years for starters a to allow these local experiments to be reproduced and to finance infrastructure projects and education programs. President Clinton is proposing Only a fraction of that amount and is allocating some of it to Market oriented programs like Enterprise zones which the Eisenhower Fonda Tion dismisses As a the fools Gold of the 1980s, along with such concepts As a volunteerism self sufficiency partnerships and judgment is Likely to strike Many As it did me As a doctrinaire Way of stigmatizing a whole Range of ideas that May not be panaceas but could As Eisenhower foundation president Lynn a. Curtis concedes contribute Lothe solution of Urban problems. The second problem that i have with the report is that it minimizes what cities and their residents can do a a and Are doing a for themselves. They Are David s. Broder doing it in Large part because they have to. According to the league of cities Federal Aid fell by 50 percent Between 1982 and 1992. But they arc also doing it because they have found that it works. Cutting waste has made it possible for some cities to hold the line on taxes while encouraging neighbourhood redevelopment ventures. The april 1991 Issue of governing Magazine reported on How Many cities Are trying to sweat the fat out of their own bureaucracies. Last weeks Wall Street journal highlighted such efforts by Philadelphia a new mayor de Randell. As Jonathan Walters noted in his governing article until the commercial real estate Market collapsed at the end of the 1980s, that decade saw massive reinvestment in the downtown of Many big cities. Perhaps More significant was the rebirth Walter noted in Urban neighbourhoods from Washington s Capitol Hill to Cleveland s Buckeye Woodlands and Memphis Whitehaven. These Are being fuelled less by massive outside investment than by the sweat equity of two earner families moving into Well located and convenient parts of town and reclaiming them from the blight that had overtaken them. But notwithstanding such heartening counter trends the threat of isolation in poverty unemployment crime and drug Ridden neighbourhoods remains a real one for millions of Center City Blacks. And As Long As their frustration festers the threat of recurrent Urban violence remains As Well. Cath Washington Post
