Senator Hugh Scott, Pennsylvania Republican, this weekend noted a State Department apology to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for the barring of its Washington correspondent, Milton Feiedman, from a press briefing. He told the Senate “this should be called to the attention of the many other agencies of our Government, which make wide use of secret briefings for selected members of the press.”
Senator Scott said: “It should remind them that the American people have the right to know what their Government is doing and that arbitrary selection of reporters for briefings frequently lend themselves to abuses of this sort. ” He added: “I objected to this incident both because it was a reflection on the integrity of a fine news correspondent and because it was another instance of an attempt at news management. I am pleased that the State Department accepts the responsibility for this incident and implies it will not happen again.”
Meanwhile, the State Department sent an explanation and apology to Chairman James V. Mathis, of the Freedom of Information Committee of Sigma Delta Chi, the national journalism fraternity, which had also raised the Friedman issue with authorities. Another organization which intervened was the American Veterans Committee, it was learned.
Rep. John E. Moss, California Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Special Government Information subcommittee, had protested directly to the State Department and carried out a subcommittee investigation of the matter.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
