DEBATE IS FOCUSED ON RESPONSIBILITY OF NEWS MEDIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680017-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 5, 2012
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: May 31, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680017-2
`^ r- -"-_'NEW YORK TIMES
31 May 1986
Debate-Is Focused on'Responsibility ofNews
edit ,
By GERALD M. BOYD Mr. Djerejian had said Thursday
svac+e+cu The that the White House was in "full
New York Times
. agreement with the thrust of the state=
WASHINGTON, May 30 - Senior ment." He said today that the response
Reagan aides are attempting to focus had been "carefully... chosen to draw a
the debate over the news media's role 1,distinction between the White House's
in reporting national secrets on the. view and the statement.
media"s responsibilities, Administra-
^~n(i
Lion officials said today. While Mr. Casey and other senior of-
The Administration officials outlined . ficials in the Intelligence area have had
an approach similar to that taken the lead up to now in advancing the Ad
Thursday by William J. Casey, the Di. ministration's concerns about unau-
rector of Central Intelligence, and thorized disclosures, the aides said that
Lieut Gen. William E. Odom, the direc- the White House's involvement could
tor of the National Security Agency, intensify next week. .
who played down their recent warnings Senior Reagan aidesare expected to
to journalists and asked the media for consider a broad range of classified
more cooperation. recommendations prepared by a group
The Administration officials said of middle-level officials. No date has
their hope was that such a softer ap- been set for a meeting on the issue; one
proach would garner more public and set for this week was delayed because
Congressional support than one that of scheduling problems, the officials
might mire the Issue in concerns about said.
freedom'of the press. "It's been the kind of thing more ap-
In a reflection of this softer ap- propriately left to the intelligence
eliminated a phrase threatening the : "They are responsible for protecting
news media with prosecution from a sources and methods and have a right
statement issued Wednesday by Mr. to express concern whenever it seems
Casey and General Odom. That state- like they might be compromised."
ment warned journalists about publish- I But another official said that, while
ing sensitive secrets in connection with
the espionage trial 'of Ronald. W. Pel-
ton.
The statement had been prepared for
review by Donald T. Regan, the White
House chief of state, and Vice Adm.
John M. Poindexter, President Rea-
gan's national security adviser.
White House Backs Off
Today the White House went a step
further, backing away from one of the
most controversial points in that state-
ment.
It said, "Those reporting on the trial
should be cautioned against specula-
tion and reporting details beyond .the
information actually released at trial."
Edward P. Djerejian, a White House
spokesman, said today that the use of
the word "speculation" had been a
mistake. He said, however, that jour-
nalist should be cautious in reporting
on classified information that "goes be-
yond what has been introduced in the
trial."
"'Speculation' is a very loose term,
and in no way do we mean to imply by
,the use of 'speculation,' prior press
censorship or press censorship, or in
any way impinging on the freedoms of
the press to report information and
events," Mr. Djerejian said.
"So. 'speculation,' perhaps and I do
agree, I think a better word than specu-
lation could have been found," he said.
Other Reagan aides said that Mr.
Djerejian's remarks signaled the tack
the White House hopes to take in the
dispute over unauthorized disclosure.
In a Thursday interview with The As-
sociated Press, Mr. Casey and Mr.
Odom themselves backed away from
their statement. Mr. Casey said that
the press was being "hysterical" by
suggesting that the remarks amounted
to asking the media to tear up the First
Amendment and scuttle the freedom of
the Dress.
the dispute had not reached the point
'i
l
where there has to be the President's
involvement" the situation will un-
doubtably change if a decision is'
reached on the recommendations.
Mr. Reagan avoided comment on the'
dispute at two recent ceremonies in-
volving intelligence agents. Wednes-
day night he appeared before the Vet-
erans of the Office of Strategic Serv-
ices, an organization that includes Mr.
Casey. Today he awarded the Distin-
guished Service Medal posthumously
to Joseph J. Rochefort, a who is cred-
ited with breaking Japanese codes dur-
ing World War II as a Navy intelligence
officer.
The Administration officials say!
their hope is to frame the debate on the
media's role in reporting secrets in the
context of the need for. United States in-
telligence operations and the need for
secrecy to keep such operations func-
tioni
ng
Mr. Casey had taken the lead in ef-
forts to persuade The Washington Post
not to publish information related to,
11 the Pelton case and had also requested,
that the Justice Department. determine '
if NBC Television should be prosecuted
for broadcast material related to the .
case.
Administration officials said that..
while Mr. Casey has not been "free-..
lancing" in his actions, it is unclear
whether he was operating with the per,
mission of the White House or simply,;
Informing it of what he was doing.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100680017-2