HUGHES NOMINATED TO RUN VOICE OF AMERICA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000201170003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00806R000201170003-7
Hughes nominates to run
Voice of America
By George Brandon
John Hughes, President Reagan's
nominee to head the Voice of America,
expects an emphasis on journalistic "pro-
fessionalism" will allow him to weather
the political storms that brought about his
predecessor's resignation.
"I'm going to approach VOA the same
left in announcing his desire to leave gov-
ernment work.
Conkling had drawn criticism from
conservatives for not moving fast enough
to redirect the Voice's foreign news
broadcasts to portray the U.S. govern-
meet actions more positively. Yet, at the
same time, he was criticized for the steps
he did take in that direction by members
as I've approached every news orgamza . of. professional news staff who
tion I've worked for,.: .vowed Hughes in fd the Reagan Administration would.
an interview shortly after his nomination- ; stress propaganda over news.
was announced bythe;WhiteHouse"and,Hughes,:-who has been associate
that is very professionally: ' director of programs for the International
Hughes has the credentials to speak -"'Communications Agency, VOA's parent
with authority on.~ the: profession of fi ` organization, was chosen by ICA director
reporting the news. He ant his journalistic Charles Z. Wick to succeed Conkling at
teeth as a cub reporter.on a newspaperm
South Africa after his faipily moved there
::,? ' Hughes acknowledged in an interview
in 1946. He went onto report for the' :r with E&p the internal tug-of-war at VOA
London Daily Mirrorand Reuters beforebetween a news staff of career reporters
deciding in the mid- W,'-At the age of 24, . and editors and the political appointees
to come to the United States and seek a charged with changing executive policy
job at the Chnstian-Selene Monitor in.. 'to conform with Reagan Administration
Boston. ?.
. foreign policy goals.
He signed on as a copy boy at the Moni- But he said he would have "absolutely
tor and within months began editing fore-
, no problems about maintaining its
ign news. In 1961, he returned to Africa as 6btivity--fairness may be better. We
a Monitor correspondent and later went- can tell the facts as accurately, speedily
onto serve-six years inr Hong Kong as the- - and effectively as we know how." But as
Monitor's Far East correspondent. Dur- ? news professionals do in every newsroom
ins the Hong Kong tour, he won the 1967 in the country , he said, VOA reporters
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting and editors will clash at times over the
for coverage of the attempted Communist structure of a story or the play it should
coup in Indonesia, the subsequent purge get. It's all part of a "perfectly proper
of Communists and: the eventual over- professional dialogue," he said, "that
throw- of the Sukarno government. - will take place no matter who runs
He became managing editor of the; " VOA
Gannett to acquire
Hederman papers
Gannett Co.. Inc. announced an agree-
ment to acquire three daily, two Sunday
and six weekly newspapers in Mississippi
from the Hederman family.
They include the morning Jackson Clar-
ion-Ledger, afternoon Jackson Daily News
and the afternoon Hattiesburg American,
with the combined daily circulation of
132,000 and a combined Sunday circula-
tion of over 145,000.
'These newspapers will be the 86th,
87th, and 88th dailies in the group, and the
first in Mississippi, which becomes the
37th state in which Gannett has newspaper
or broadcasting operations
The agreement was announced by Allen
H. Neuharth, chairman and president of
Gannett and for-the Mississippi Publishing
Corp. by the Hederman brothers, Robert
M. Jr., Tom, Henry, and Zach.
The Hedermans said they decided to sell
their newspapers to the Gannett group be=
cause "we wanted an organization that
will best manage these newspapers in the
tradition of quality and community ser-
vice."
The weekly newspapers included in the
acquisition are the Madison County Her-
ald, the Clinton News, the Ocean Springs
Record, the Lumberton Headblock, the
Gautier Independent, and the Pearl Press
Chronicle. _
Allbritton agrees
to buy N.Y. News
Joseph Allbritton and the Tribune Co.
have reached a tentative agreement on the
sale of the New York News.
The Tribune Co. received a letter of in-
tent from Allbritton on April 1st.
The sale will include the newspaper, its
printing plant in Brooklyn, and its roto-
gravure plant in Queens.
The sale does not include the News
Building on East 42nd St., and the garage
on East 41st St. in Manhattan.
According to the agreement, Allbritton
and the II unions at the News have 30 days
to reach terms on new contracts.
Monitor in 1970 and soon was named edi- In explaining how he proposes to con-
tor.. He served as president of the Amer- tine- VOA's reputation for accurately
ican Society of Newspaper Editors in - reporting the news abroad while promot-
1978-79, perhaps, the ultimate peer ins the Administration's foreign policy
recognition among daily editors. And a- ,goals. Hughes referred to the VOA char-
year before his tenure' as ASNE president
774,
began,. he and his wife Libby became '
The first two sections require the VOA
owners of a weekly newspaper, the Cape >_ to report the news "accurately and wit-
Cod Oracle in Orleans; Mass. 'S -bout bias," Hughes said, while depicting
Since the 1977 purchase of the Orleans,; "the full spectrum" of American
weekly, -the Hughes' have bought. two
other weeklies, the. Yarmouth Sun and
the Cape Cod News; in Hyannis. They
also own, in partnership: with MPG Com-
munications of Plymouth, Mass., a share
of the Village Broadsider in Sandwich.
Glen Dwinnells, who left the Monitor
.when Hughes bought the Oracle is gener-- opposed to news."
at manager of the group of weeklies, with :.;,.
Libby. Hughes holding the title "pub- "-The U.S. government happens to
lisher.".Dwinnells says the Hughes chil- own the Voice of America," he said,
dren continue to be involved in operating and its not unreasonable" for an
the papers during the summer months.:;: administration to discuss its foreign poli-
Hughes' nomination to ?be VOA cy .. assertively as possible"
director followed :the resignation of In his position as ICA director of pro.
James Conkling, a..former.-West Coast. ,grams during the last year, Hughes said
recording industry executive, who cited he has been responsible for producing
political pressure from both the right and 1 L{or12 sign language magazines,
around the world," and preparing "about
30,000 words a day", texts of ? cabinet
.speeches and administration policy state-
ments-for dissemination to more than
200 U.S. diplomatic posts.
He also oversees film and television
operations and said he has been particu-
larly involved in transmitting television
signals by satellite. Hughes said he plans
to continue managing the television
operations, in addition to his VOA duties,
if his nomination is approved by the Sen-
ate. There appears to be no opposition to
his appointment.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00806R000201170003-7
But the third section of the charter calls
for VOA to "articulate the foreign policy
"of the United States," Hughes said, and
that part of VOA's mission should be
"clearly designated (during broadcasts to