○  spiro theodore agnew: television news coverage  ○

ent in drawing conclusions, it is not a document to inspire confidence in the fairness of the network news. our knowledge of the impact of network news on the national mind is far from complete, but some early returns are available. again, we have enough information to raise serious questions about its effect on a democratic society.

several years ago fred friendly, one of the pioneers of network news, wrote that its missing ingredients were conviction, controversy, and a point of view. the networks have compensated with a vengeance.

and in the networks' endless pursuit of controversy, we should ask: what is the end value -- to enlighten or to profit? what is the end result -- to inform or to confuse? how does the ongoing exploration for more action, more excitement, more drama serve our national search for internal peace and stability?

gresham’s law seems to be operating in the network news. bad news drives out good news. the irrational is more controversial than the rational. concurrence can no longer compete with dissent. one minute of eldrige cleaver is worth 10 minutes of roy wilkins. the labor crisis settled at the negotiating table is nothing compared to the confrontation that results in a strike -- or better yet, violence along the picket lines. normality has become the nemesis of the network news.

now the upshot of all this controversy is that a narrow and distorted picture of america often emerges from the televised news. a single, dramatic piece of the mosaic becomes in the minds of millions the entire picture. the american who relies upon television for his news might conclude that the majority of american students are embittered radicals; that the majority of black americans feel no regard for their country; that violence and lawlessness are the rule rather than the exception on the american campus.

we know that none of these conclusions is true.

perhaps the place to start looking for a credibility gap is no

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