Dr. WHITEHEAD. Mr. Chairman, because we feel very strongly that the answer to the problems of television today does not lie in the direction of more and more Government employees monitoring and correcting what goes out over the television airwaves.

Senator PASTORE. How will we ever know whether or not the licensee is living up to his responsibility? How do you ever know that? Dr. WHITEHEAD. I think we are forced to rely on the evaluations and the complaints from the community that is being served.

Senator PASTORE. But you do not. You are ignoring these complaints. I mean where does John Doe in Rhode Island go to complain if he does not like what is coming over the screen? Where does he go? Dr. WHITEHEAD. In my view, Mr. Chairman

Senator PASTORE. He comes to the Senator, does he not?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. He has several places to go.

Senator PASTORE. All right, you tell me.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I think it is important where he is supposed to First of all, he goes to the local station that broadcasts the material. Senator PASTORE. And they don't give him any satisfaction.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. All too often they are referred to the network or to Washington. He goes to the network and is very likely told that they cannot respond to each and every complaint because there are too many people watching these shows. That is that. He comes to the FCC or Congress, and he is told we do not have a remedy.

Senator PASTORE. You have it all wrong. The first people they write. to is their Congressman and their Senator. We get the mail. The only trouble with us is once we get the mail, we do not know what to do with it because the executive department apparently is not doing what it is supposed to do.

Now, as far as criticizing the networks and criticizing the broadcasters-what you ought to do is take a look at yourself in the mirror to find out how good a job you are doing. Find out if you are clearing these complaints as they come in. That is not being done.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Mr. Chairman, I cannot really speak to how efficient the FCC is in handling these complaints. It is not a matter that I havelooked into.

Senator PASTORE. Every time they come here, they say they do not have enough help.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. But I reiterate, Mr. Chairman, that it is our viewpoint that these problems are not well handled by having the FCC grow ever larger and having ever more controls over the broadcastingindustry.

Senator PASTORE. Let us stop playing cops and robbers.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. That is damaging to the first amendment. We think the first responsibility has to be exercised by the people who produce and broadcast those programs. In this country, that meansthe local station manager and that means the network that provides so much of the programing we see today.

If we cannot expect these people to make a voluntary accommodation to the concerns of the American public, if we cannot get them to accept the responsibility for what they produce and what they show the American people, then I really have to wonder what we mean by having a free enterprise broadcast system.

Senator PASTORE. The Congress gives you the tools. It is in the law. Licensees are accountable under present law to make sure that they

serve the public. They must serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. That is the requirement.

Then you have the fairness doctrine. Any time there is a violation of the fairness doctrine, it comes to the attention of the FCC, and the courts have sustained the fairness doctrine. You know that.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Yes, sir.

Senator PASTORE. You know that. And you were opposed to that. And that is the one leverage we have to make sure you get these subjects discussed.

Now you are coming along with the strong arm of the White House and saying to the networks that what they have is a lot of "ideological plugola" and "elitist gossip." You are making these charges. You are saying to the local broadcaster from now on, they are going to be responsible for those programs, now the only way they can balance these programs is through the fairness doctrine which you oppose. I am beginning to wonder if you are not meeting yourself coming down the

hill.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I really do not think so, Mr. Chairman. I have been opposed to the fairness doctrine as a way of enforcing the fairness obligation. It is critical in any discussion of these issues to differentiate between the two. The fairness doctrine has become a confusing morass of case law of who gets to say what about what issue and it is virtually incomprehensible.

That is the reason the FCC has a proceeding going on, to clarify it. Senator PASTORE. That is right. The chairman of the UNC asked for time after the President appeared, and the networks would not sell the time. Are you ready to say now that the networks were wrong?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I do not recall that case specifically.

Senator PASTORE. Of course you do not recall it, but everybody in the world knows about the case.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I remember the case; I do not remember the

Senator PASTORE. Of course you do. And the networks said we have no obligation to sell you the time. And the Democrats did not get an opportunity to answer the President. The only rule you could invoke was the fairness doctrine.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Mr. Chairman, the fairness obligation is something that I do not think is a question here. The FCC is the body that has to interpret what that means.

Senator PASTORE. Subject to appeal to the courts.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Subject to appeal to the courts.

Senator PASTORE. Are you going to eliminate the courts?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Of course not, Mr. Chairman.

Senator PASTORE. You make a speech about the fact that the FCC should be given the right not to hold a comparative hearing. There is some merit to that suggestion, but the fact remains that you are leaving it to their discretion to order one when they desire to do so.

So if you have a Democratic body and a Republican comes along, they say there will be a comparative hearing; if you have a Republican body and a Democratic challenger comes along, they say you will have a hearing.

You are leaving a door open wide enough for a truck to go through. Now, we are getting all this razzmatazz, and all this dazzle and dramatics of how we will improve license renewals, and we are improving

nothing. We are only making speeches and getting a lot of people excited.

It is in the law, if you want to endorse it. It is in the law.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I think the question, Mr. Chairman, is how it should be enforced. That is the issue we have been trying to come to grips with.

Senator PASTORE. Well, I hope you have that in your legislation when it comes up here, Mr. Whitehead. I hope when we ask you to come up, you would not exercise your executive privilege.

Senator BAKER. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I must say that in the course of first reading your Indianapolis speech, Dr. Whitehead, there was one thought that emerged, and I believe is little understood.

You might corroborate or disabuse me of a misinterpretation, as the case may be. In the Indianapolis speech you called on the newscasting staff of the several networks, and ultimately the local stations to decide whether or not there was fairness and objectivity in news coverage.

But what, in that speech, with respect to fairness, or as the Chairman says, ideological plugola, or elitist gossip-what in that speech was proposed, different from what the law is now, which places the obligation on the local licensee to fulfill the public interest, convenience and necessity? Did you propose a change in that obligation of the local station?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Senator Baker, there was no change proposed in that regard.

Senator BAKER. Your speech simply reiterated what the law is, is that correct?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. That is correct.

Senator BAKER. That the ultimate responsibility for programs carried on the airways is the responsibility of the local licensee and not of the network?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. That is correct.

Senator BAKER. Is it true that networks are not regulated or licensed by the FCC or anyone else?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. The networks are not licensed.

Senator BAKER. I think that is a fact not generally understood by the public. The three major networks and for that matter, the public broadcasting system is not regulated, not licensed by any Federal agency as local stations are licensed, is that correct?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. That is correct.

Senator BAKER. The only indirect influence that the FCC has on the performances of network news or network programing in general, for that matter, is in two ways; one, through the responsibility of the local station to decide that it will, or will not carry a particular network program, and that is an indirect responsibility; and the second, is through the system of the five, owned, and operated stations that belong to the networks, the five company-owned stations.

This is the only way you have even indirect regulation of the networks as distinguished from local stations, is that correct?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. That is correct.

Senator BAKER. Now, Dr. Whitehead, I do not mean to put words in your mouth, and I do not mean to disagree with my distinguished chairman.

I believe, as a matter of fact, we are in substantial agreement on this point. But, is it the burden and thesis of your Indianapolis speech, and of your testimony today, that in lieu of any effort to regulate networks that we ought to reiterate that it is the responsibility of local stations, and the conscientious staffs of networks to police their own undertakings, instead of substituting Federal regulation?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. That is absolutely correct, sir.

Senator PASTORE. If you yield on that point. I will subscribe to that. That is like reciting the Ten Commandments. I will buy that. Senator BAKER. I think we are well along the way to a better understanding of the Indianapolis speech, because I agree with that, too. It would be an unfortunate thing if we amended the Communications Act, or passed generic legislation that attempted to license or regulate networks as we do local licensees.

But, after we establish that point, we move on then, to the far more comprehensive point of who monitors the performance, the fairness, the program content, the innate sense of fair play that networks do or do not have, the treatment of a particular subject, and the general quality of news coverage?

If we assume, as I do assume, that we should not have statutes regulating networks, you have only two things left. One is to see that we call on the professionalism of the network news staffs, and program directors, to see that there is a sense of fair play; that we have a minimum of ideological plugola; that we have a minimum of elitist gossip; that we do, in fact, have the essence of fairness in programing.

And, second, that we have a system of monitoring, that the affiliated stations as distinguished from the O&O station, do, in fact, have an input into the program content of the networks.

Are there any others except those two to assure that we do get a fair shake from network coverage which, after all, originates most of the TV time in the United States?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. The only recourse to that, that I can see, Senator, is the Federal Government itself, applying its heavy hand to say what is, and is not, legitimate programing.

Senator BAKER. Are you opposed to that?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Most definitely.

Senator BAKER. So am I.

Senator PASTORE. So am I. How do you reconcile this? You say-in your speech-who else but management should correct so-called professionals who confuse sensationalism with sense, and who dispense elitist gossip in the guise of news analysis. That is a complaint, isn't it?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. Senator

Senator PASTORE. That is an accusation, isn't it?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I do not think it is.

Senator PASTORE. Want me to read it again?

"Who confuse sensationalism with sense." That is an accusation, isn't it?

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I was saying where that occurs, somebody should correct it.

Senator PASTORE. All right. Where did it occur? Do you not think we are entitled to know where it occurred?

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Dr. WHITEHEAD. I think my personal views are relatively immatrial. Senator PASTORE. Oh, no; they are very material to this committee. Dr. WHITEHEAD. But you should not amend the law to reflect what the White House thinks is important in objectivity and coverage.

Senator PASTORE. The White House sends you out, making speeches you want the people to believe.

Dr. WHITEHEAD. That statement you read was intended to reflect the fact that, where abuses occur, the corrective process ought to take place within the profession, and within the industry.

Senator PASTORE. If you were to rewrite this phrase again, would write it the same way?

you

Dr. WHITEHEAD. I think I would.

Senator BAKER. Mr. Chairman, let me make one observation at this point. I know Dr. Whitehead has strong views about the objectivity and fairness of network newscasting. He has expressed it very dramatically in this and several other speeches in the last months.

I hope it is not ungraceful of me to say that politicians and Government officials endure and suffer a great deal of criticism at the hands of the networks, and I really do not think that network news staffs ought to be that sensitive about criticism from someone else.

I believe the dialog that we are having today that the conversation we are having in this committee in public on the record, on the question of the fairness and objectivity of network news coverage, is of substantial importance in its own right.

Even if it results in no legislation-and I suggest that it very well may result in no legislation-the fact that we have ventilated these points of view will have a significant impact on the health and vigor of broadcasting in the United States in the years to come.

I do not mean that network staffs will change their viewpoint or ideas. It means that we have now, in this hearing, introduced a way to discuss objectivity, or lack of it. We have created a public forum where it can be examined and, I believe, examination of it is a healthy thing. Senator PASTORE. You are absolutely right. But the point that remains is, where an interest or a business which is regulated by the Government, is strongly criticized by the White House, you have created fear in that industry. This is especially so in broadcasting because stations must be licensed by the Government. After Dr. Whitehead's speech, many editorials and news articles express fear at what he said and what they see happening. At this point, I would like to insert a number of such articles in the record.

Is this the strong arm of the White House? That is what we are talking about-here. Walter Cronkite does not care whether you or I criticize him. Dan Schorr does not care whether you or I criticize him. But when you begin to talk about faults that do not exist-and these people are subject to a license renewal requirement-it is only natural that you are going to scare the devil out of them. They will not get into controversial subjects, and everybody will talk about milk and honey, and nobody will discuss the issues of the day.

Senator BAKER. And whether fault exists, or does not exist, is a question open to debate. We will not debate it at great length, today. except to point out that no network need be afraid of its license being revoked because networks have no license.

Senator PASTORE. But the fact remains, they all own five broadcasting stations in the biggest communities of this country. That is where a