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Mr. President. ladies and gentlemen.
l accepted your gracious invitation to speak here with 5mm-
heuitation. bemuse for n person in mv situation upenking out on
public issues always poses something: of a problem.
Everyone who hon over served on Governor of Florida feels
a natural sympathv for the incumbent. whatever his political out-
loolt. A governor has plenty of problems. lite first renponsihllity.
of course. in to do :1 good job. His second liik in to convince u
skeptical press and public that he is doing: a good job, because in
that conviction lies the strength he must have to perform hm tank.
Some months hack 1 reed a report of a study by a former aide
of Gov. Ogilwe of Illinois. He had tulien meticulous note of how
the Governor spent his time. When he divided it up between meeting
the public. performing ceremonial duties. addressing himself to
political responsibilities. and trying to satisfy the press. he wan
left with onlv NW. of his time to spend administering the huge and
complex government of that state.
And no former governors in Florida have followed a general
policy of not speaking out on issues likolv to confront the incumbent
governor, and onlv to advice with him upon invitation. and then privately.
That rentruim me from speaking on utute lumen.
2.
! hbor. loo. under What NIH-amt. mung m unsucceufully
[or the linked Sule- 50.80. I! has accused to me good uch not to
centred the uor on: public unoc- -- at least not can! he Ma had
amph mm to tabla-h M. m [Io-luau. I my disagree with him
on a m: cl mm. but h- h mulled to 3 also! from camrnm
Wm. co "n! he an um. Mame" indllly to the tub a!
had. Tint rennin. mo (tom Ipukhg on rational tunes.
Finally. I have enjoyed tho Image from public lilo. There
an row-ran Irom jun! mlndlnu my own bultnou.
mm. tho urn! luun (1!er democracy confronbul. and demand
9hr mutton. The on. to whtoh I would Ilka to uddroh myutf today
in The Reopen-mil)! o! Pro. "
' 'i'htn ta no question in any Amrlm'u mind "In ("Odom auto!
.5? the pun u (m. norm ou- Con-mocha u. formed
-1d? 11:. 150:?!th pron u Mud mouth! to the
mm d. (m lute. And In W. UNI! "In! With!
m 'Mch no... a bu m. We: ch. rmnl Grover!!-
MI. and but through a. Nth amendment. the Stun. (tom mum;
any x:- nbndgu the tmdon at tho pron.
That rent-euro for a (no pun bu grown with yam-u. untll
:0
sometimes there seems to be no limit at all. Particularly is
that true where the subject of publication is an office holder or
office seeker. Over 50 years ago a great constitutional authority
enunciated the rule that public people, to be entitled to a remedy for
libel, "must be prepared to shoulder the almost impossible burden
of showing the defendant's 'special malice'. -- that is, establishing
a state of mind. What that means in practical effect is that a public
person is denied the ability tq recover for libel.
v A great variety of efforts have been made through the years to
restrict or restrain the press through the police power, licensing arrange~
merits, the application of the "clear and present danger" rule. judicial
assertion of "contempt of court",taxation, and for the most part they
have been ineffective. The press remains, as it should. free.
But that is not to say that the press should not be responsible.
if responsibility can be achieved without imposed restraint on free-
a
dam. The difficulty, of course. lies in setting standards which are not
the equivalent of forbidden licenses or censorship.
Let's approach the problem from another angle. What is
required of the press '9
Must they tell the truth? Obviously not! Their publications
may be grossest lies. and if they are about public persons. and
not provath malicious. there is no penalty for their conduct.
I recall the instance of a General Walker. who was involved in
racial altercations in Mississippi. and who during the heart of
those events was claimed by some reporter to be mentally unbalanced --
crazy. Apparently this was a groundless assertion. but the appellate
courts dented him judicial reliei because he was a "puhlir person".
though not an office holder nor an office seeker.
Broadly speaking it is true that for a reporter there is no
' penalty {or lying. Not surprisingly, the corollary of that proposition
ts that there is no reward (or telling the truth. The lack of standards
of responsibility for the press has resulted in the anomaly that in a
trade dedicated to discovering and publishing the truth there is
substantially no reward Ior truth and no penalty {or lying.
Several years ago I participated in a panel discussion where
representatives of the press and of politicians discussed their relation-
ship. The press admitted occasional errors, but always fell back
upon the preposition that it was, as a whole. responsible. and that
would have to be sufficient protection against their abuse of their
freedom.
2
ha! brings me to the heart of the matter. Who in rhls
responsible press ? Who
Is the pram '1 I know who public: office hnldms
are. Thgir cam
I puma literature, their speeches,
.(
their friends. the
press had their enemies tell me who they
are. They are entitled
to no seciets. and usually by the end of a campaign they havn none.
But M: is the prasa?
Thats important to know. In
h a man or a woman -- that makes a differencra. Tell me about
the author, and I can interpret the story.
A story is} written about Watergate -~ ur Chappn
qiqedick. Tell
mo abomit the author.
15 he from Boston. Mnsn. or Dyango County,
California? _Is he a Democrgc'or a Republican :1 :5 in: 3 Catholic
or 3 Quake:- -- or a Mormon.
Tell me about the author.
15 he a union member, m- a frPo-Ianno
Writer ? In he well paid. 01* poorly paid? Is he a cnllegn graduate,
What do you have t
0 do to became a. reporrer? [know what you hnve
6.
to do to becoou- .1 plumber. or e tan-driver, or a doctor, or :n
building contractor. list what do you have to do to become a
reporter? You have to be hired -- that' s all. What in vou have
to do to keep your yob. Please the boss -- that's all.
The public does not heve I right to say who shall be a reporter.
nor what he shall report. Eat it does have the right to know who
reports the news. Every organization which gathers the news for
publication ought to inform their public as to who writes the news.
When an editorial appears in my news paper. I want to know who
wrote the editorial -- hie salary. his education. his ago. his reli-
gion. his political party. hie marital status. and his experience --
to list a tew items. If you write a letter to the editor he makes
you sign it to identify yoursel! -~ why shouldn't he do the same.
This is not an impossible task. Brief. small type profiles
of a newspaper's reporters could follow the stories they write --
probably no more than an inch in type. Or the paper cautd
periodically print an insert whteh carried a protile or its writers --
and then a reference to the author by name or number could lead
you to data shout him. Or. periodically, stories about reporters
could be included. 0r combtnstions of these and other devires
7.
which pernone more familier then I with the mechanics of the
prose could devim' would serve the purpose.
Televieion pose a dilierent end perhepe more difficult problem.
liut in those periods of a news report when reporters nit before the
camera shuffling their papers. at the beginning or end of the broad-
ceete. biographical profiles of one or more reporters could be
fleshed on the screen. telling the viewers thrmgh whose eyes they
have witnessed the passing ecene.
The preee no longer ieele en obligation to objective reporting.
Todey it muet be interpretetive. Fine: But we have a right to know
whet eort of person to interpreting our newe -- hie capebilitiee end
hie bieeee.
ln Florida we believe in government in the sunshine. The
preee. free end unreetreined. ought to operate in the eunehine. too.
Then, in the great merltet piece of ideee. every etory will be labeled
honeetly. eo theten informed public can ehop intelligently, and than
(ind the truth.
PAGE 1
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1. I Iab.. l ), ude .ldher M fnllT M.Uab. at .h, -.al,,lmd .11me d confr1, th. 9-1s~ 1--bl aus -a es o etit a a ln aallumer haa rse. b e a ya td l taaaIon, rllaf from1am,. pre111,e s hate c. aa aldr,., hIme ,nd.oydoalanys o l ,aska:d At. h tbnIon. Th. fta Wa liCh I -ld 1ika t.aAddraa .y f tdy I. "Th. Ilapa..alblIy atb P-n..." Th.. a ga quaallaa In aa Ameaican. aind .hal IrIcd. aanl aal aol...s lhe paaa. Ia fran. llalaraaa CanglItln a. lnrmed Mlachal.,.. ,'l "T1e lIany at ah. prea. I. indaad aa,.nhaI n lI'a nalarcof aa fran sa.' Andl -h Ia. A,.,ndmeral. with Ihat IatIflI flanlaelaaa. .bact noasga a g arn. prblblhad lb. FaelnraI lG..r.Aft, a atc.111 r ha l.haag n4l lb.den, hewag.,. rm akn TIhaI.raaaranca In.r a.e pre,.. hag acroanamt year, ..aIO
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A grm e thr effto b e b t -ada h tIlha yI.I -th tru her te sbf "0pl -cadpin dag 1,e ,11-1 hafce hseek e v 50 c y r go eat ccntittoa uhrt Tat h rl ythat c pe e e tledd pt a d r atbee, '' tust e p et cabd d th e a d alm t i t l butcen if -hwn t he d -enan 'dell ai -Idta -i, -abIshn da. TIcmttfar-lty, eecrte lae b n II det. trou ac hl y I-g LtIc eat r Ite prII ea r g e ahOW pweri Mentd thee tppllcton the "clOeatti anpest ldtt e tel lejdc
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I real he ntnc f .--n.ra WAlkr, al.. -,1-n1ve --eeet wscamd by -erp.-, obemnal tilne though no nofc odrnra ffl-efekr Bl,.dly sp..k-n, It 1,, 1r thatfr epre th-r sn p ... ty lbr lyin''-tsuP-Ia gly, th oolr f 1,tha rpst bi ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -. 1ht1.1 sn ewr o tligth rh. The 1-ck o t ad p-rosblt o hepeshsrsle n h n ml hti
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Wjr is Plus .rhn rnablir uri-ia 11.-1cle their frimods, 11e r-L._ .. .... .... a .t .., Lat |-Irit145 me PO tile 000 re Df t|10 ma he 10EJEINILJWR.S'? Who rei t]te j'.t.es.=il' t 1;rii Their campafgrt Jitershtt-e, their speec S & d ti-s ir an-culiuS itU Trati Who tht:y 11rr A Ur ....be .. i ... ......i ...n........ Tell frie about r12 mit.'ior, Tr; he a unien rrmathir, r-r a or se11-educated ? Fi-je 3-rom the urth, er the South
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