LETTER TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH FROM JOHN J. ZAKARIAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000300600009-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 17, 2004
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: June 2, 1976
• Content Type: LETTER

200~J'6
(202) 7851087
PRESIDENT
John J. Zakarian
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, Mo. 63101
VICE PRESIDENT
Clarke M. Thomas
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
TREASURER
Robert T. Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg, Fla. 33781
SECRETARY
Robert T. Barnard
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Ky. 40202
DIRECTORS
Reese Cleghorn
The Charlotte Observer
Charlotte, N. C. 28201
Gilbert Cranberg
Des Moines Register & Tribune
Des Moines, Iowa 50304
John G. McCullough
The Evening & Sunday Bulletin
Philadelphia, Pa. 19101
Ann L. Merriman
The Richmond News Leader
Richmond, Va. 23218
William E. Rone, Jr.
The State
Columbia, S. C. 29202
Desmond Stone
Democrat & Chronicle
Rochester, N. Y. 14614
The Honorable George Bush
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Langley, Virginia 20505
Thank you for your letter of May 18 re-
sponding to the resolution approved by the Executive
Board of the National Conference of Editorial Writers.
"From the wording of the resolution I gather the mem-
bers of the board may not have been aware at the time
of the complete text of my February 11th statement on
this matter," you wrote.
Board members were well aware of your
February 11th statement and considered it inadequate
because (1) it failed to address itself to the problem
of planting false or misleading information by the CIA
in foreign media, (2) it failed to remove a double
standard by which the CIA considers it proper to hire
foreign journalists but not proper to hire American
journalists and because (3) you refused to release
the names of journalists who are or have been in the
employ of the CIA.
Indeed, board members felt that your
February 11th statement was rendered largely inoperative
when the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activ-
ities disclosed in April that you intended to stop
hiring only correspondents "accredited" by American
publications and other news organizations. Thus, under
this curious procedure, the CIA will refrain from
hiring "accredited" correspondents but would still
hire, for instance, the supervisors of thostcorres-
pondents because, after all, the supervisors are not
"accredited."
As for Section 3 of the resolution (en-
closed), the need to release the names of journalists
who have been in the employ of the CIA was underlined
by the Soviet Union's accusations on May 26 regarding
three American correspondents in Moscow. The Soviet
Union charged that the three have had connections with
the CIA and although the Agency has denied it, it would
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The Honorable George Bush
June 2, 1976
Page 2
be much more effective if you actually name those
journalists who were paid by the CIA. As it is,
every American journalist abroad is under suspicion,
and that can only make his or her work more difficult
and affects the credibility of reports sent to home
newspapers. Section 3 addresses itself primarily
to Americans and does not ask, for instance, dis-
closure of names of foreign journalists on your
payroll who are working for East European or Russian
media.
I would like, again, to suggest a meeting
between you and a small NCEW delegation to convey
to you personally a deep concern over a very serious
matter affecting the media and to clarify any further
misunderstandings you might have about this resolution.
hn J. Zakarian
President
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, Mo. 63101)
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PRESIDENT
John J. Zakarian
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, Mo. 6,910, The National Conference of Editorial Writers
VICE PRESIDENT
Clarke M. Thomas long has been concerned about the integrity and accuracy
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222 of the information upon which editorial judgments are
TREASURER based,
Robert T. Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg, Fla. 33731
Robert P.-Barnard its members should try always to avoid even the ap-
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Ky. 40202 pearance of misleading readers in any published material
DIRECTORS on their editorial pages.
Reese Cleghorn
The Charlotte Observer
Charlotte, N. C. 2320, The main reason for both concerns is to Cranberg
Dect the integrity and credibility of both
Des Moines R Regi egistercue Tribura y journalism
Des Moines, Iowa 50304 ?, .- L - A _ - _ - -- - L
The Evening & Sunday Bulletin
Philadelphia, Pa. 19101
it also is committed to the principle that
TheRichmondNewsLeader Conference of Editorial Writers:
Richmond, Va. 23213
; Rone, Jr.
William Statatee
The S
T 1. Opposes the clandestine employment of
Columbia, S. C. 29202 American or foreign
Desmond Stone journalists by the CIA, and urges
Democrat & Chronicle that all such relationships be terminated immediately.
Rochester, N. Y. 14614
2. Recognizing that information flows across
international boundaries, opposes any planting of false
or misleading information by the CIA in the media.
3. Calls upon the Central Intelligence
Agency to release the names of journalists who are or
have been in its employ, both to protect the reputations
of those who were not and to give Americans knowledge
they need to evaluate accurately what they have read.
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