○  spiro theodore agnew: television news coverage  ○

ution in the great lakes and the threatened ecology of the everglades. but it was also the networks that elevated stokely carmichael and george lincoln rockwell from obscurity to national prominence.

nor is their power confined to the substantive. a raised eyebrow, an inflection of the voice, a caustic remark dropped in the middle of a broadcast can raise doubts in a million minds about the veracity of a public official or the wisdom of a government policy. one federal communications commissioner considers the powers of the networks equal to that of local, state, and federal governments all combined. certainly it represents a concentration of power over american public opinion unknown in history.

now what do americans know of the men who wield this power? of the men who produce and direct the network news, the nation knows practically nothing. of the commentators, most americans know little other than that they reflect an urbane and assured presence seemingly well-informed on every important matter. we do know that to a man these commentators and producers live and work in the geographical and intellectual confines of washington, d.c., or new york city, the latter of which james reston terms the most unrepresentative community in the entire united states.

both communities bask in their own provincialism, their own parochialism.

we can deduce that these men read the same newspapers. they draw their political and social views from the same sources. worse, they talk constantly to one another, thereby providing artificial reinforcement to their shared viewpoints. do they allow their biases to influence the selection and presentation of the news? david brinkley states objectivity is impossible to normal human behavior. rather, he says, we should strive for fairness.

another anchorman on a network news show contends, and i quote: “you can’t expunge all your private convictions just because you sit in a seat li

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