THE TRUTH THAT MAKES MEN FREE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67-00318R000100790022-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2013
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: May 15, 1961
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

?
o
ELID D-e-Clfie"cl and Approved For Release 2013/05/29 : CIA-RDP67-00318R000100790022-8
JOURNAL MAY 1 D IM
Circ.: . 51,961
Front
Page
E it Other
ge Page
MAY 15 1951
nntp,
The Truth That Makes Men Free
Preiclent j(ennedy:s HAL.tat,f;gettiozkip
by nsmp- apers coupled with -tlie-gfer-niaths oT the
Cuban irWagion and Cmdr. Shepard's adventure in
space puts new emphasis on theitroblem of news
dissemination in a e
-7
'
Just how ttle is a democratic
'
people entitled tb 4k.oy? about operations of the
government it elects?
In any formal self-censOrship government guid-
ance would play a decisive role; but are the poli-
tician and his appointees the best judges of what
is news and what are data helpful to the enemy?
Is the press to become merely an instrument of
national policy, abandoning or severely curtailing--
its probing for off-limits information needed to
shape balanced public opinion,1:: _ ?
The performance, of . Ormation officials
inthiMr"rn_eli a?Th the more recent Cub
fiasco gives, 1t,kley can be re ia e
giird'et"The newsrilie-yr-Wii0printed isn't neces-
sarily the news.
Evens the spaceman's piss conference pro-
duced misgivings. It was an impressive and good-
humored performance by the star but,, apparently
by design, it produced almost no information.
And the conduct of space agency officials had
overtones of the arrogance of an 'elite corps' im-
patient with the queries of laymen.
The latter aspect, almost overlooked in a mo-
ment of national elation, illustrates a trend that
could threaten the layman's control over his society
in a space age that concentrates ever-widening
special knowledge in the hands of a few.
' What appears to be needed now ? more than
censorship is a greater sense of 'responsibility in
the government's handling of information. The
"right to know" is vital.
Secrecy must shroud many phases of our role
itt the cold war as a counter to the subversive
attack of the other side. Newspapers do not chal-
, letrre this.
?
'But the, government must remember it has a
responsibility not to misinform the public delib-
erately, nor to become overzealous in withholding
the facts. When this occurs the press must trust
its own judgment.
In 1960 when the U2 plane was shot down
over Russia, our government hastily and flatly de-
nied any attempt to violate Russian air space and
indicated the plane might have strayed on a rou-
tine weather charting mission. That was ?false.
'This led to tk,.spectacle of the girgaot of the
West's great de*racy admitting_hisigbvernment
had d. he excuse wartliar?WrThttio-tover up
unTENVe-knew the fate of the plane. Silence would ,
have been wiser. The goverment did not mislead'.
the Russians; it misled the American public.
Before the Cuban invasion it was a well-pub-
licized fact that anti-Castro partisans were being
recruited in 'this country and in some instances
being trained in camps in the South. As the in-
vasion beganwthe4tate,Repartment decikr d there
wyals1,,be?rno,k1.S,. interverit:797Peti. c h.
CentEgialigp,,ce,,Ag,ency,liact finance traine
ancraitanVaders.
Initially American reporters were told that
5,000 men were involved, propaganda to encotir-
age an uprising in Cuba. Later as the attack floun-
dered Washington moved to play down the failure '
and soothe American opinion by describing the
'landing as merely an attempt to take supplies to
guerrillas.
The press, handicapped by the initial confu-
sion and by official restrictions, became a tool of
government agencies pursuing a disastrous adven-
ture and issuing false information.
Again it was the American people, not Khru-
.shchev or' Castro, Who were deceived. Our testi-
inony was discredited while the Communists were
allowed to pose with the truth.,
This censorship by communique quickly was ;
rejected and: eporters began digging out the real
story, fragments of which are still being uncovered.
But the damage already had been done, damage
by officials of the United States to the confidence
of Americans (and their allies) in their government. ,
This confidence developed from an informed
public opinion is a keystone of our democracy. It
must be repaired and preserved. But it cannot
survive unless the government believes that the
truth will advance, not harm, our cause in the cold
war.
npriacsified and Approved For Release 2013/05/29 : CIA-RDP67-00318R000100790022-8