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editorial
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Bad questions get bad replies
The answers were bad, but the
questions were worse at President
Ford's press conference in Phoenix
last week.
Along with journalists' post
Watergate demands for an "open"
presidency must come relevant, sub
stantive questioning of the chief
executive. Recently, American audi
ences have had to endure queries
about what the President had for
breakfast or whether he went swim
ming that morning.
In Phoenix, Ford fielded questions
from the White House Press corps,
the Arizona media and members of
Sigma Delta Chi, a society of
professional journalists. 'Not one
group probed enough.
Instead, reporters posed vague,
often unanswerable questions. For
example, one reporter asked whether
unemployment in the United States
would rise to seven per cent. If he had
reconsidered, the reporter might have
realized that not even the nation's top
economists can answer that question.
Another reporter asked Ford
whether he supported the rumored
movement in the House of Repre
sentatives to remove John Rhodes as
minority leader. It so happens that
Rhodes is from Arizona and was in
the audience that night.
Even if Ford did support the action,
could he have said so? At best, the
situation would have been an
awkward one.
A third questioner asked whether
Ford's appearance at the journalism
gathering pointed to a new openness
between the chief executive and the
press. Since taking office, Ford has
maintained a relatively open relation
ship with the press. It's doubtful
whether this press conference meant
anything different.
Other questions involved Nelson
Rockefeller's monetary gifts to
friends.
No one asked about Rockefeller's
public record as governor of New
York. His deeds and misdeeds in that
role seem more significant than how
much money a wealthy man has
bestowed on his friends.
Why, for instance, were the
average state taxes for a family of
four increased from $360 to $1,840
during Rockefeller's stint as
governor?
If Rockefeller is confirmed as vice
president, will his stock holdings in
corporations such as CBS, the New
York Times, ABC and Time, Inc.
unduly influence his actions?
Why are questions such as these
asked so seldom?
Another area suffering from lack of
attention at the. press conference was
the nation's economy. Only one or
two imprecise questions were asked
on the subject. The same held true for
the topic of world food shortages.
It might be that Ford's answers to
questions of real substance would be
as vague as the questions now being
asked. Regardless, the public should
nave the chance to judge that for
themselves.
Members of the press need to do
their homework before press con
ferences. They need to ask useful
questions.
... , If they, don't, perhaps the predic
tion made by Washington Post
columnist Nicholas voh Hoffman will
prove true. ,..
Von Hoffman contends that, if
reporters continue asking self
righteous questions, without facts to
back them up, if they continue to
speak in vagaries at White House
press conferences, "... Ford will be
justified in abolishing the press
conference as an institution that has
not only grown to be archaic, but as
an obnoxious intrusion on the tele
vision quiz shows, where at least they
give away money."
Recently, one has wasted almost as
much time as the other.
Jane Owens
Ghost of Spiro T. Marley
warns Ebenezer Rocky
Once upon a time there was a rich old employer
named Ebenezer Rocky. He was just about the oiliest,
kindest, most generous employer in the whole wide
W Among his thousands of employers was young Bob
Cratchit, who had a little crippled son named Tiny Tim.
"Merry Christmas, fella," Rocky would say every
day to Cratchit. (Every day was Christmas as far as
Rocky was concerned.) "Kindly accept, as a token of
my appreciation, this basket of filet mignons, pate de
fois gras and thousand-dollar bills."
But then one night, Rocky was aroused from slumber
by the clanking of chains. And there before him stood
the wan ghost of old Spiro T. Marley.
"I, too, used to be a kindly, tender-hearted man,
said old Spiro T. Marley in sepulchral tones. "There
was hardly a needy contractor in all of Maryland who
didn't benefit from my generosity. ,
orthurhoppe
innocfil bystander
Hardly had Rocky'recovered from the shock when the
Ghost of Christmas Past appeared before him. It led
him to the happy scenes of his childhood when he didn't
have a nickel to his name that wasn't in a trust.
There was his grandfather, old John D. Rocky, giving
away dimes. "Happiness, grandson" warned old John
D., "is never giving anyone more than a dime."
Next came the Ghost of Christmas Present. It
whisked him across town to the palatial home of Bob
Cratchit where the family was feasting on filet mignon
and reading the stock ticker.
"Gaze upon the victims of your largess, said the
Ghost. "Observe 'the -cholesterol they are ingesting.
Listen to their cries of woe over the Dow Jones
averages. Repent!"
Finally, the trembling Rocky was visited by the Ghost
of Christmas Future. This grim specter showed him as
he would be in 1976 if he failed to mend his
ways alone but for his last Picasso and his last billion
dollars.
"I know who that is," cried Rocky in terror. "It is
.I!" And he fell to his knees before The Senate Rules
Committee.
"That's the kind of leader our country needs!"
shouted the Senators happily. And they agreed to make
him Vice President.
A reformed Rocky hurried to Cratchit's mansion,
seized the remains of the Christmas basket and told
him he was fired.
"But, sir," pleaded Cratchit, "it's Christmas."
"Bah, fella," said Rocky, "humbug!"
"God help us," sobbed Tiny Tim, "every one."
TV commercials insult intelligence
Copyright Chronicle Publishing Co.
With reform seeming to be the trend
nowadays, it is a wonder why nothing is
being done about the most brazen example of
dissimulation (next to Richard Nixon) the
American public has seen in a long time the
television ads.
From 6 a.m. until after midnight, anytime
we turn on the TV set, we run the risk of
having our intelligence insulted by the
execreble creatures of Madison Avenue Ad
Men.
Washed-up actors, cats, faded beauty
queens and money-hungry little kids, offer us
nickel and dime analyses of what we are
doing wrong with our lives, in regard to
everything from sex to dog food.
dreesen
joe
miiing grimly
If you're impotent, don't worry about it.
Just buy the right kind of toothpaste, and you
can count on instant virility.
And if your marriage is on the rocks, in all
probability it's your coffee. If you're not sure,
you might check with a senile Swedish
woman named Mrs. Olson, who seems to be
everybody's neighbor.
The panacea for ail your afflictions can be
found by using the proper laxative, which
guarantees your health. And, as we all know,
"When you have your health, you have just
about everything" except relief from
asinine television ads.
The most obviously hypocritical ad has to
be the one in which a major oil company talks
about how free enterprise needs to be
preserved in America. What little free
enterprise there was, the companies did
away with in the recent oil "crisis."
How anyone can believe some of the
chicanery seen in TV ads is beyond me. How
ahyone seriously can produce some of these
ads . . .
So what can be done?
The easiest solution would be not to watch
television. With the quality of programs
nowadays that probably isn't too bad of an
idea.
Public television is another alternative. At
times its stations offer good programs but,
due to money problems, they usually cannot
compete with the privately owned networks;
Increased public funding of ETV would help,
although the private networks would lobby
effectively against such an idea.
Perhaps the most realistic approach is to
run the advertisements in sequence before
and after a program, rather than in intervals
throughout the program.
This way, anyone who did not care for the
ads could, for example, run errands during
the program intervals, """his idea already is
being used, with apparent success, in several
other countries.
If something isn't dune soon, you might
turn on your TV someday and see George
Wallace promoting "The National Enquirer"
or, worse yet, Linda Lovelace trying to sell
Chiquita brand bananas.
Dear Editor,
I would like to compliment Amy Struthers
on an excentinnaliv uoHHma "hi-mH
- i j "xnwuiiv ui uau oiuc
column m the Nov. 15 issue of the
Nebraskan.
Daily
This University is a good example of the
ultimate in stagnation. The students do not
seem to realize that they are here to be
served. It is the students' right to be the most
forceful and influential body at UNL.
This is not Revolution, it is sense and
honesty. If you don't like the student
iHint dorVt 9et swallowed into It.
Abolish the damn thing. If you want alcohol
on campus then possess it as if no rule
against it existed.
I appreciated Amy Struther's article
because it had some sense to it. This campus
Li.?i'ranHyone ilvh0 contemplates what the
hell we redoing here.
I have worked in the student government
extensively but now have given it up. I know
it is a farce. I am tired of suck-happy students
badgering others to change the student
government. It cannot be changed until it is
dismantled entirely. No government is better
than fake government.
Jack Crabb
page 4
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, november 20, 1974
