Shadowing the Press

...Early m December I was asked by CBS News to investigate a tip that the President's Commission on Federal Statistics had completed its report, and that this report criticized the FBI's system of keeping crime statistics Within CBS News it was generally agreed that for me to steer clear of a story involving the FBI, simply because my name had been linked with the FBI, would depart from the "normalcy" we were determined to maintain On December 9, I reported the story on the CBS Evening News...

...Then, amid the mysterious silence about the investigation, the criticism was renewed On November 4, Charles Colson, special counsel to the President, telephoned Dr Frank Stanton, vice-chairman of CBS, Inc , to object to a report I had made the previous day about conflict within the Pay Board As I understand it, Stanton referred Colson to Aslant My knowledge of the telephone call is sketchy because neither Stanton nor Aslant has discussed it with me, presumably seeking to insulate me from Administration pressures Gordon Manning, vice-president of CBS News, did ask me for factual material to be in a position to reply to Colson's objections...

...expressed misgivings about the Safeguard ABM system White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler had criticized me at briefings in printable language, and other White House officials had made their feelings known privately in less printable terms On August 19, the day before the start of the FBI investigation, I was milted by the White House to a meeting with officials to hear objections to my report on the CBS Evening News the previous night raising doubts about the concrete effects of President Nixon's promise to assist the Catholic parochial schools in their financial plight To me it seemed highly doubtful that the Administration would beef to me one day and set the FBI on me the next—if only because this would set some kind of bureaucratic speed record But my belief that a job offer would surface began to weaken with the passage of time My informal inquiries of friends in government produced no enlightenment On October 8, on a social occasion, I asked Frederick V Male, White House specialist m recruiting, if he knew what kind of job the FBI had been investigating me for He professed ignorance and surprise, promised to check and call me the next day He never called...

...THE 'SCHORR-FBI' STORY Shadowing the Press BY DANIEL SCHORR On Friday, August 20, 1971, at about 10 AM, an agent of the FBI appeared without prior appointment at the Washington offices of CBS News He said he wished to interview me and my bureau chief, William Small, and to consult personnel files on me as part of an investigation undertaken because I was being considered for "a high government position " Small declined to cooperate unless advised of the nature of the position The agent said he did not know...

...The issue acquires a special dimension when a journalist is involved I doubt that my experience would have received so much attention if I did not happen to be a television reporter in the public eye, and especially one who had previously drawn Administration fire I also do not believe it would have been as big a story as it was if it had not arisen in the context of other episodes of conflict between the government and the press—the speeches of Vice President Agnew, the controversy over the publication of the "Pentagon Papers," the public discussion of government "credibility" and news "manipulation ". Against that background, what is important to the free functioning of the press is not only what the government intends, but how its intentions are perceived by the news media and their working practitioners Most of my colleagues believe that I was subjected to harassment Perhaps that general feeling, in the face of official denials, is itself a reflection of the current climate of suspicion and skepticism between press and government But the objective fact is that most of my colleagues found the "Shirr-FBI" story chilling...

...Subsequently, Tom Bishop, assistant director of the FBI, telephoned CBS News He suggested that I bore some animus against the FBI and called attention to a letter which, he said, the chairman of the President's Commission had written to the New York Times criticizing my report as having been, among other things, prematurely released As far as I know, no such letter has appeared in the Times How Bishop knew about it, and his motive for phoning CBS News, are matters for surmisal...

...Anyone concerned about the freedom of the press must be concerned about the climate of suspicion, hostility and nervousness that the Administration has helped to create Vice President Agnew says that we are not immune from criticism, and that is right But then the Administration will have to bear its responsibility for how far it goes in criticizing, and by what means If the Administration was misunderstood about the FBI investigation of me, it was because of so much that had gone before...

...Let me say that I do not think that many reporters will be directly intimidated We are, on the whole, a pretty hardy lot We generally cannot be deterred by government, only by our employers And it is our employers who feel the real pressure particularly m the regulated broadcast industry, where networks can be subjected to pressure in many direct ways, and in indirect ways through the affiliates that give the networks existence...

...Trying to make sure that you are still covering the Administration on its news merits—nto leman backward, not leman forward Trying to put out of your mind the thought that CBS, however valiantly it seeks to protect you from intimidation, is itself under strong pressure, and you might be contributing to its woes I mention these thought processes because I think they show some of the more subtle ways government actions can affect press freedoms...

...That raised the larger question of how you conduct yourself as a reporter in these circumstances...

...The Administration and its supporters had, on several occasions, indicated displeasure over my reporting Senator Robert Dole of Kansas, chairman of the Republican National Committee, had inserted a statement in the Congressional Record criticizing my stories on nutrition matters President Nixon had accused me of telling "a little he" because of a broadcast indicating that he had privately, at one point, Daniel Shirr, a correspondent for CBS News, is a veteran contributor to these pages This article is adapted from his testimony on February 1 before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights...

...As for me, I should like to think that I have not been affected by the whole episode The insidious thing is that I do not know what subtle effects it may have on me, or on my colleagues...

...Let me cite a concrete example of the problems created for me On November 11, the story of the FBI investigation was published m the Washington Post by Ken W Claus-son, then a Post reporter The White House offered public explanations, which I shall not go into because I was not present for any of them The episode received widespread publicity, and I became somewhat better known as the guy investigated by the FBI than as a news professional It should be understood that I never considered myself as having any trouble with the FBI per se, I believed it acted quite properly, routinely and on instruction...

...Interviewed separately, I replied to initial questions, then declined further answers pending some indication of the position for which I was being investigated The agent asked if I had any objection to pursuance of the investigation elsewhere I said that I did object because such an investigation could be a source of embarrassment and, at the very least, create the impression that I was considering a change of employment The agent promised to report my observations to his superiors...

...The primary issue in the FBI investigation is not whether a possible job offer lay beamed it Job or no job, the launching of such an investigation without consent demonstrates an msensitivity to personal rights An FBI investigation is not a neutral matter It has an impact on one's hoe, on relations with employers, neighbors and friends For me, the effects, though I do not wish to exaggerate them, persist until today I am constantly asked whether my "FBI shadow" is with me, whether it is safe to talk to me on the telephone, whether I am still "in trouble with the FBI ". President Nixon is said to have ordered that, in the future, there are to be no such investigations without advance consent But, in a system that rheas more on laws than on men, I think most Americans would feel more comfortable if there were legal safeguards against this kind of arbitrary intrusion into their lives...

...From information volunteered to me by others approached by the FBI, it appeared that agents interviewed or telephoned previous employers, various colleagues, including an NBC correspondent who served with me m Moscow, residential neighbors, one of whom reported what appeared to be surveillance of my home, and neighbors of my brother, Professor Alvin L Shirr, dean of the School of Social Work at New York University There was naturally intense speculation within CBS about the purrpose of the investigation Perhaps more trusting than most, I inclined to the belief that there is more bungling than conspiracy in government, and that the investigation had accidentally preceded a job offer, which would eventually emerge Others in CBS leaned more to a harassment theory because of the general climate of pressure on the broadcasting industry, the history of my relations with the Administration, and especially because of the timing of the investigation...

...In fact, embarrassment for me had already begun Early that morning the FBI office in New York had telephoned the home of Richard N. Aslant, president of CBS News, apologizing for the early call by speaking of a "crash" investigation that had to be completed by the following Monday Other CBS executives were contacted during that day I had some difficulty in allaying their concern that I was planning to leave CBS They found it incredible—as did I—that a full field investigation should be in progress, connected with a possible appointment of which I had no inkling My relations with CBS News are, happily, rather stable Otherwise, they could easily have been placed under a great strain...

...By early November I was close to agreeing with the cynics in my organization that the investigation had not been benevolently intended What else could an oft-criticized reporter believe about an ostensibly job-connected investigation that, two months later, had produced not the slightest whisper of a job offer, but only avowals of ignorance from the White House talent scout7...

...In such a situation a reporter has a problem, or several problems First of all, whether to disclose the story With the concurrence of my CBS News superiors, I decided not to because I considererred it a "no-win" situation That is to say, my becoming the purveyor of news about my difficulties with the government could only cast me m the role of an interested party, tarnishing my journalistic neutrality I had to stick to the position that, no matter how emotional the Administration was about me, I must avoid becoming emotional about the Administration If the Administration could push me into the role of its open anatomist, that would serve its purpose as well, or better, than intimidating me into pulling my punches...