CENSORSHIP BY FEAR?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01350R000200300052-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 52
• Content Type: NEWSPAPER CLIPPING

Approved For Release 2006/09/29: CIA-RDP88-Q1450R000200300052-4
STATINTL
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.,
PRESS
E - 133,419
s Ath 88 a03?972
Censorship by Fear o
A young man named Alfred W.
McCoy has written a book, "The
Politics of Heroin in Southeast
Asia," in which he charges-as he
did in a congressional hearing in
.lime that the Central. Tr~.t l Bence
Agency has assisted in the flow. of
opi.MT). out of Southeast Asia.
When the CIA. got word that Ilar-
per & Row, one of the country's
most respected and careful publish-
ers, announced that it was publish-
ing the book, the CIA wrote the
company that. it could, not "stand
by and see baseless criticism .. .
without trying to set the record
straight."
After considerable deliberation,
Harrier & Bow sent the CIA galley
proofs of the book. A. week later
the CIA replied in a lengthy rebut-
tal that, in the words of a Harper &
Tlow lawyer, left the publisher "un-
derwheln.iod."
McCoy has regarded the actions
of the CIA in this case as an at-
tempt to suppress his book. That
may be too strong a statement;, but
it is hard to believe that the CIA
wasn't trying at least to intimidate
author and publisher and persuade
them to , tone ~I o w n McCoy's
charges.
In any event, it should be coil-
sidered an obnoxious procedure on
the part of any federal agency to
attempt to censor a book of this na-
turebefore publication.
The CIA's intervention in this in-
stance brings to mind the experi-
ence of another publisher with- a
book that recently has appeared,
Winter-Berger's "Washington Pay-
off." Grove Press was to publish
the book. It had its own legal au-
thori.tics check it thoroughly for
authenticity before deciding to take
it on. Grove Press books are dis-
tributed by Random House. That
organization decided, for reasons
it has not disclosed, to refuse to
distribute it. Lyle Stuart., who ha-
macle a fortune publishing con)
troversial books, took on "Wash-
ington Payoff" and it has been sell-
ing at a lively clip. And so far
there have been no libel suits.
The question here is whether
some kind of silent censorship or
intimidation led Random House to
back out. The possibility that fed-
eral agencies and officials inay be
attempting by either subtle or overt
means to prevent the publication
of books that show them in an un-
favorable light ought to be of deep
concern to every American. It is
through such efforts that dictator-
ships begin and perpetuate them
selves.
r1 PV! ' F
Approved For Release 2006/09/29: CIA-RDP88-01350R0002003Z 2-4