Television
Terzian, Philip
where Biko allegedly sustained his fatal injuries. In the face of mounting political repression in South Africa the Congress and the Carter administration have struggled to respond. Last fall the...
...It is practically a commonplace to say local shows shouldn't be confused with news, and that local anchormen are nothing more than pretty boys (or girls) who can read wire service copy...
...employer in South Africa, announced an $8 million expansion program...
...Powerful U.S...
...a woman with an entourage but no public...
...This year a flurry of bills have been introduced in the Congress which are designed to reduce or eliminate U.S.- South African political and economic ties until the Nationalist racial policies are reformed...
...The most important legislative initiative of the recent Congress is a measure to prohibit U.S...
...For the average South African the message of Ford's visit and the subsequent expansion was clear...
...Programs to train black South Africans for these posi- tions are grossly inadequate...
...In reply to questions about their hiring and employment practices in South Africa, U.S...
...corpora- tions in South Africa...
...paid a personal visit to inspect his large plants there...
...But, many critics of apartheid argue that these and other initiatives are only a band-aid approach to the problem...
...Shortly after the visit Ford, the largest U.S...
...Sadly, U.S...
...Export-Import Bank loan guarantees to South African gov- ernment corporations...
...companies often explain that they are a moderating racial force...
...Given the intransigence of the current South African government, further U.S...
...In 1977 this country was South Africa's second biggest market for its goods and the U.S...
...Last fall the United States Ambassador to South Africa was momentarily withdrawn in protest of the October arrests...
...In many instances they are pretty boys (or girls) who can't read wire service copy...
...In this poor, sweltering, tropical city she stood, painted, dusted, coiffed, surrounded by a swarm of acolytes...
...The Ford visit came on the heels of widespread foreign criticism of the mass political arrest just a few months before...
...business interests are solidly behind the ruling government...
...The Congress and the administration must be willing tO face this dilemma if we are seriously interested in avoiding a violent racial confronta- tion in South Africa...
...American executives say that they are eliminating discriminatory wage scales and train- ing blacks for management positions...
...The United States is in no position to prescribe the solution to South Africa's racial problems...
...companies to begin to end economic and racial discrimination in their South African plants...
...The white...
...Moves to reduce or eliminate U.S...
...In this I am confining myself to network news, as opposed to local programming...
...Immediately following the November 30, 1977 South Afri- can elections, American industrialist Henry Ford, Jr...
...investment in South Africa only serves to prop up the white minority...
...The figures say otherwise...
...II I Television I ANCHORS AWAY JOURNALISM UPSIDE DOWN HAPPENED to be in Havana not long ago, and as I came down to the lobby of my hotel one morning I found myself looking at --Barbara Walters...
...Ford prQnounced his company's investments in good hands and commented to the world press on the excellent business climate in South Africa...
...The largest financial employer in South Africa is Citibank with about 200 people on its payroll...
...Step-by-step economic and political pressure on South Africa would represent a reasonable coun- terpoint to the current do-nothing attitude which prevails among top U.S...
...Apartheid is enforced by repression on a massive scale, condoned or directed by the Nationalists...
...Approximately one-third of the U.S...
...Over 300 U.S...
...corporations have over $1.6 billion invested in South Africa...
...They bring to their produc- tions vast engines of effort, both the human and mechanical, vast budgets and an old-fashioned spirit of enterprise...
...corporations in South Africa have signed the so-called Sullivan Principles...
...The fact is I was in Havana on assignment myself, and gawking at a Yan- kee celebrity made me realize the difference between news and television news, that essential ingredient of show business which, disclaimers to the contrary, television news is about...
...Signing the code pledges U.S...
...The prin- ciples were drawn up by the Rev...
...The Ford Motor Corporation employs 4,800 workers in South Africa...
...But, we are under no obligation to expand and strengthen ties with South Africa under the present circumstances...
...foreign policy and American businesses have not been a force for change in South Africa...
...Naturally in a city of Cubans and Russians no one knew who she was, or cared, and I half expected an agent to sidle over to me with a hot tip...
...In reality, U.S corporations can in good faith hold jobs open to both blacks and whites based on ability knowing full well that few, if any, blacks will qualify for highly skilled and highly paid jobs...
...Their very vastness is what brings them close to entertainment, as Commonweal: 722...
...Leon Sullivan...
...investment, they argue, will only negate their efforts and hurt the 80,000 blacks working for U.S...
...O UR economic investment in South Africa is huge...
...We have at- tempted to gently modify the Nationalists' repugnant racial programs while failing to address the main issue...
...political and economic policymakers...
...Nationalist government is a part of the problem in South Africa, not part of the solution...
...ranked first in the world in exports to South Africa...
...Citibank has one black management employee...
...Of course, in a life filled with glamour and intrigue one grows accustomed to famous faces, but there was something about the sight of this million- dollar broadcast journalist that seemed somehow out of place, and I Soon realized what it was~ In fact, she simply was out of place...
...The net- works, however, demand respect...
...Our banks have extended $2.2 billion in credit to South Africa over the past few years...
...Their management staff of about 280 is exclu- sively white and of more than 1,500 other white-collar posi- tions only 20 blacks hold positions...
Vol. 105 • November 1978 • No. 22
