Newspaper Page Text
Page 14
— Griffin Daily News Wednesday, June 20,1973
Mrs. Graham
The watchdog barked
By IRA BERKOW
NEA Senior Editor
WASHINGTON - (NEA) -
Publisher Katharine Graham
walked into her large, clean
lined but couchy office at The
Washington Post. She held a
single long-stemmed rose. She
had just been to the news
room, three floors down on
the fifth floor, where she is
referred to as "The Dame,’’
as in. "She's a good dame to
work for.”
The television set in her of
fice had been on and was sort
of off-color. On the screen,
James McCord was testifying
before the Senate Watergate
committee. McCord’s face
was nearly as deep-red on this
TV set as Mrs. Graham’s
rose.
It was a fitting coincidence.
For it was the 56-year-old
Mrs. Graham, or rather her
newspaper, or her reporters
— actually, all three — who
greatly were responsible for
James McCord being now in
such an embarrassing predica
ment.
“It gets deeper and deeper,
uglier and uglier, doesn’t it?”
she said, nodding toward
McCord.
She has followed the case
closely through its dark and
labyrinthian rooks and pest
holes. It was The Washington
Post, virtually alone among
the nation's media, which
initially pursued the Water
gate story.
It began on June 17, 1972,
when five men were caught
breaking into the Democratic
National Committee head
quarters. Post managing edi
tor Howard Simon called Mrs.
FREE CAR WASH
With 12 Gal. Or More Fill Up
Tues. June 19 Through Sun. June 24
NEW HOURS TO SERVE YOU BETTER
Mon.-Sat. 6 A.M.-12 midnight
Sunday 7 A.M.-11 P.M.
Everyone Welcome!
We Want New Customers!
Try Our Prices & Service
PREMIUM REGULAR
39.9° 36.9 C
AUTOMATIC CAR WASH
1141 W. Taylor St.
Griffin, Ga.
WE HAVE YOU COVERED
ijl V '. jgl
• * B* ■ 4 ■HF
“ Z •
ck«»'.yW
' Jl^.
* .v \
You worked hard to own your own home. Now let your home work hard
for you. Let us show you how a Peoples Financial second mortgage real
estate loan can provide financial coverage when you need it. You can free
any amount of equity up to Si 5,000 for those special needs such as col
lege Expenses, medical bills, a second home, a car or boat. Your home
does not have to be paid for to qualify, and our low terms can be tailored
to fit your needs.
peoples financial
we do things for people.
118 West Taylor St Griffin, Ga 30223
Call Wayne Edwards 228'2744
bpbtJL ifr : ’ll r
- ' • OHHf Jt D i
A Wig II
7; st WwMg Mme M| ' ■
Graham at home and said,
“You will not believe what is
going on.”
Although Mrs. Graham has
not been directly involved in
the decision-making of the
investigations, her influence is
omnipresent. She could have
squashed it at any time. But
then, she says, she could not
have.
“I don’t mean to be corny
or coy,” she said, “but there
was nothing really heroic
about the whole thing. I mean,
my only decision was whether
to back my editorial staff and
my reporters. Well, I have
great faith in their judgment
and ability. I knew we had to
go ahead with the story.
That’s really what our busi
ness is all about.
“Heroism is when you have
a choice. As the story unfold
ed I knew we were on sound
ground. You can't shut your
eyes to it. Besides, we had the
full backing of the corporate
group. They felt as I do that
excellence on the news side
and profits go hand-in-hand. It
was that simple. But, well,
sure, I had sleepless nights.
This is why:
Perhaps never in history
has one newspaper been so
ferociously attacked by an
administration as was The
Washington Post in the last
year.
Charges of lies, shabby and
irresponsible journalism and
routine character assassina
tions were commonplace by
the Nixonians. The newspa
per’s credibility was in jeop
ardy. (“And that’s all a
newspaper has really, is its
credibility,’’ said Mrs. Gra
ham.)
Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kans.)
said in a speech last fall that
the only reason the Post was
so insistent upon linking the
Watergate break-in to the
White House was that Mrs.
Graham "hated Nixon.”
When she happened to run
into Dole at a Washington
party, she asked him about
that statement. “Oh, you
know how those things are,”
he told her. “They put some
thing in your hands and you
read it.” She grimaced now,
as she recalled it, and said,
“No matter how outrageous
someone’s remarks might be
proved, some of that drip,
drip, drip, sticks.”
Stock of The Washington
Post Company ( which in
cludes Newsweek magazine as
well as two Florida television
stations and other media hold
ings) had reached an all-time
high on Dec. 29, 1972, but soon
plummeted from S3B a share
to 23 and one-half.
Some might have made a
connection between the fall in
price and the fact that the
administration was challeng
ing the renewal of the licenses
of the two Post TV stations.
The uncertain credibility sta
tus of the Post at the time
may also have been a factor
in the stock drop. However, it
is true that the stock market
in general had been in a down
period.
‘‘We had to be concerned
about whether we were being
used by Democrats, or even
the Republicans who wanted
to discredit us. We asked our
selves if there was some enor
mous Kafka plot,” said Mrs.
Graham. She added that this
was the most difficult period
for the paper, even tougher
than when the Post printed
the Pentagon Papers, after
the New York Times had been
forced to desist publishing by
court order.
The paper continued to root
out the apparent political espi
onage and the cynical at
tempts at obstructing justice
by the administration, despite
the disbelief, skepticism and
lack of help by much of the
nation's media.
‘‘lt was fantastic to think
about," said Mrs. Graham.
“And all of us were asking,
why was this happening when
obviously the campaign was
so unbalanced against Mc-
Govern.” She said no one
wanted to believe that Nixon’s
re-election committee would
have been so corrupt under
those circumstances.
As for the Post being alone
for so long in reporting the
Watergate case, Mrs. Graham
said, “Not many in Washing
ton are eouipped to do this
kind of police reporting. It’s
pretty grungy work and so
few have the manpower. And
when it began coming to light,
we had the sources and it was
hard for the others to catch
up.”
Mrs. Graham encouraged
the reportorial digging, and
the accuracy of facts, in two
ways. First, as Bradlee says,
there has been created an
overpowering atmosphere of
Last Times Today
Cbe Lcgcnd
of Boggy
Creeks
A TRUE STORY
Color by TECHNICOLOR Rimed in TECHNISCOPE
Last Times Today
Double Feature
(R)
"STUDENT
TEACHERS”
"STUDENT
NURSES”
job
Pi
By Lawrence E. Lamb, M.D.
Dear Dr. Lamb—After an
examination and chest X ray.
my doctor says I have “psy
chophysiological cardiovas
cular reaction with thoracic
pain.” Now just what is this?
What nature of heart prob
lem could this be?
Dear Reader—lt wouldn’t
be possible for me to verify
your doctor’s diagnosis, and
since the diagnosis is a gen
eral term, I can’t be too
specific. However, the term
implies that he doesn’t think
you have any structural
changes in your heart, such
as hardening of the arteries
or coronary artery disease
or changes in the heart valve
or other problems due to
changes in the heart itself.
Rather, he thinks whatever
problems you have are re
lated to psychological
stresses. Commonly this
means emotional stress and
tension which, in your case,
apparently causes chest
Questions from women
Criticism brings
doctor fadeout
By ELEANOR B.
RODGERSON, M.D.
Copley News Service
Q. Is it too much to ask for
the doctor to be friendly?
A. “Power to the patient!”
is the cry of sociologists and
health care experts. “Con
sumers arise!” It started with
cars and has gone on to meat,
and I’m all for it, but, before
taking off on an odd medical
tangent, be sure you know
your facts and where you
want to go. The truth is often
hidden behind emotion.
Lately, the medical profes
sion has crane in for a lot of
adverse criticism and ques
tioning, like your “Why isn’t
my doctor friendlier?” Some
where someone once wrote an
anti - medical - establishment
article that caught on. Per
haps it was a new idea, per
haps a new way of stating an
old idea. Perhaps it was sim
ply shocking. However, it
caught on and other writers
jumped into print, hoping to
give the public what it would
read and to please editors
wanting to sell magazines.
Pornography was getting old
hat, I guess. So what if the
truth was bent a little?
Any age-old institution re
quires change as the years
pass and we like the change to
be orderly, especially in med
icine. But we are impatient
and a faster way is first to
create a public outcry. A citi
zens’ committee can be set
up.
If you have ever been on one
you know what I mean. The
citizens’ committee meets
week after week. There are
reports and arguments and
minutes for publication. Con
sumer interest is whipped up
and soon the consumer is cry
ing for the change. Then the
community fathers who set up
the committee say thank you,
money is appropriated, and
the new program is instituted.
In a similar way, medical
care in the United States is
being worked over and you,
the consumer-patient, can get
exactly what you want, if you
professionalism” at the paper.
So all facts were checked two
and three times. Secondly,
there was the personal sense
of outrage Mrs. Graham felt
toward the apparent criminal
acts of the administration.
"People thought it was all
right to do wrong things for a
cause,” said Mrs. Graham.
“The atmosphere of the ad
ministration was one of help
ing to corrupt the judicial
process — the structure of the
nation.”
Needless to say, Mrs. Gra
ham derived satisfaction —
not to mention a kind of peace
of mind — when the Post
proved right and the adminis
tration wrong. In effect, it
meant that she and the Post
were also correct in this case
about the integrity and re
sponsibility of American jour
nalism.
The exposure of the Water
gate scandal, which probably
could not have been accom
plished unless sources knew
their identities would be kept
confidential by reporters, il
lustrates a point which Mrs.
Graham believes is essential
for the public to understand.
MILLER'S
AMBULANCE
SERVICE
State Trained Personnel
PHONE 227-1585
24 Hour Service
Dr. Lawrence E. Lamb
No physical problems
Mental stress and the heart
pains since that’s what thor
acic pain means.
Not every chest pain is
heart pain, and even certain
irregularities of the heart
can be caused by psycholog
ical stress. The medicines
that you mentioned your phy
sician has prescribed are
those which are commonly
used to help individuals with
these types of problems, as
opposed to structural
changes in the heart. You
should also realize that the
diagnosis means that your
doctor doesn’t think that you
have the kind of heart dis
ease that would ordinarily
cause a heart attack, heart
failure, or other such prob
lems.
Your question is an im
portant one, and I’m per
sonally convinced one of the
aspects of treating a person
with chest pain or disturbed
function of the heart and
circulatory system related to
psychological stress is to re
assure him that nothing is
know what you want. The doc
tor is a reflection of his public
and he can be molded by it. In
fact, your doctor may not be
friendly because of you!
Think on it.
At first, adverse criticism
flabbergasted the physician.
The headlines read, “What is
wrong with American medi
cine?” “Doctors charge too
much!” “Too many needless
operations!” “Doctors make
too much money!" “Thou
sands are without medical
care!” And this silly accusa
tion from a group of Women
Libbers made the front page,
“Doctors keep us from know
ing about our bodies!”
The physician was the
whipping boy and he moved to
defend himself, but the at
tacks became personal and no
one listened to what he said.
Now he is taking a receding
action. It is quiet, but it is go
ing to be effective and, if you,
the consumer, ignore it, you
may be facing an unpleasant
future in your doctor’s office.
The kind of doctor you have
known is fading away. He is
losing his friendliness. He is
switching to other endeavors.
He is retiring from practice
early. Can you blame him? He
spent half his life developing
his competence and he cannot
endure this branding of in
competence and dishonesty. A
knife has been stuck in his
back.
Doctors are people and
there are all kinds. You can’t
lump them together and casti
gate them and expect them to
come up friendly. They are
leaving the country, or en
closing themselves behind in
stitutional walls, growing re
served and even hostile. No
one can be hit where it hurts
and not react. Sociologists ex
ploit their sociology theories
and lawyers perform the jobs
for which they were trained in
the courts, but both profes
sions frequently do their work
at the expense of the doctor,
making the performance of
his work more difficult and
more costly.
SWINGS Hedstrom
* a—. „ a i'
/ / ALL METAL \\
// 2 PASSENGER \"lj| OR . U
// ADULT SWING T </| VV “
U 4 FT. WIDE Delivered
JIM PRIDGEN HDWE.
110 South sth Street Griffin, Ga.
wrong with his heart. This
helps him focus on the true
problem, and helps to elim
inate undue concern about
the possibilities or other dis
astrous events which are
most unlikely to occur in
this setting.
Dear Dr. Lamb—Can you
please define the word costo
chondritis and explain what
it is?
Dear Reader—Costo refers
to the ribs. The spaces be
tween the ribs are the inter
costal spaces. The arteries
along each rib are called the
intercostal arteries. Chondro
refers to cartilage, whether
it’s located in the knee or in
the chest. The connections
between the bony ribs and
sternum are made of carti
lage. The area where they
join is called costochondral
junctions. Whenever “itis” is
used in medicine, it means
inflammation.
So, simply expressed, cos
tochondritis means inflam-
Someday your
family will need
the answers
to these questions
VETERANS BENEFITS?
SOCIAL SECURITY
BENEFITS?
(How do you claim thorn)
DO YOU REALLY NEED A WILL?
THIS PRACTICAL FAMILY GUIDE MAKES
SURE YOUR FAMILY WILL HAVE THE NEC
ESSARY ANSWERS. YOURS FOR THE ASKING.
Bereaved families too often are confronted by estate tan
gles. missing papers, and questions that should have been
answered ahead of time—but weren’t.
A new guide written by a lawyer and an estate-planning
expert tells you how simply these problems can be avoid
ed or minimized by planning now. This easy-to-read guide
tells you:
( ) what four phone calls must be made when death
occurs
( ) how to claim life insurance benefits — and how you can
protect these benefits now
( ) how to claim veteran's, company, fraternal and Social
Security benefits
( ) why you need a will — and what to do about it
( ) how to buy cemetery property.
( ) how to make sure the information your family will
need is available when it's needed.
A special section at the back of this guide provides a
place to record vital family data. You will want to keep
this guide among your important papers—as a sort of
stand-by family counselor that will answer you questions
in, time of need. These are not questions that may arise.
They will arise, sooner or later, in every household.
This guide is about you and your family. We think every
family man should read it. Return the coupon and we’ll
be glad to send you a copy. This is part of a Nation wide
program to distribute information supplied to us by the
National Association of Cemeterys.
MAIL THIS COUPON NOW
Please send my free Family Emergency Guide —
I Now, together with full information on single and
family estate planning.
Mail to: P.O. Box 329, Griffin, Ga.
■Name
Address
City I
s »” e
Phone
mation where the bony ribs
join the cartilage at the front
of the chest along the rib
cage. It can cause localized f
tenderness and pain. The
cause for the inflammation
is usually not understood and
probably occurs for a variety
of reasons. One of the most *
important points about it is
to recognize that when these
areas of the rib cage are
involved over the front of the »
chest that it does not mean
heart disease. Sometimes
the difficulty goes away on
its own and other times the ,
area is injected with nova
caine or other medicines to
help relieve pain and the in
flammatory reaction, if the
condition is severe enough to *
warrant that.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)
Send your questions to Dr. Lamb, »
in care of this newspaper, P.O. Box
1551, Radio City Station, New York,
N.Y. 10019. For a copy of Dr. Lamb's
booklet on cholesterol, send 50 cents
to the same address and ask for *
"Cholesterol" booklet.