Evening star., 1950-04-30

level" considering broad question,
of policy affecting all parts Of thu
world.
In each operating" Assistan
Secretary's Office is an information
officer. whose job is to search ou1
information that the public
should know and arrange for get.
ting it released. The area" in.
formation officers also are re.
sponsible for operation of the in.
ternational information program
in countries in their area.
Formal press releases are chan.
neled through the Office of MichaeI
j. McDermott, veteran "spokes-
man" of the department in deal
ing with reporters. He ranks as q
special assistant to the Secretary
theoretically, each operating
Assistant Secretary is responsible
for clearing information concern
ing his area. For example, some
newsworthy development occurs in
our relations with a country in
Europe. 1t is the job of the in
formation officer in the office of
the Assistant Secretary for Euro
pean Affairs to see that Mr.. Nc
Dermott gets the information to
give to reporters-if it is cleared
by the responsible officials in his
area.
On paper, this is an improve
ment in the system for getting
out news. 1t is working better
now for some areas than in others
1t results in more prompt clear
ance of a great bulk of routine
news.
Officials Easier to See
On major issues, complications
sometimes develop. The bulky
system may not work fast enough
to meet newspaper headlines. Ar
Assistant Secretary might want tt
hold up clearance on the story
for relatively unimportant reasons
AS special assistant, Mr.. McDer.
mott can take the problem to Mr.
Webb or Mr.. Acheson for a duicl
decision.
Aside from formal press re-
leases and news channeled through
Mr.. McDermott, much news from
the State Department is writer
on the basis of individual or grouI
background" talks with respon.
sible officials.
One of the improvements un.
dertaken by Mr.. Webb is to facili.
tate access to responsible officials
by reporters covering the depart.
ment. Reporters are encouraged
to have individual talks with AS.
sistant Secretaries and Mr.. Webt
himself. When some major prob
lem arises IN which several re-
porterS want more information
than the department is willing
to release formally. the Assistant
Secretary or other official directly
concerned will hold a general
background" conference. What
is said in these talks cannot be
attributed to the official talking or
directly to the State Department
but reporters may use the infor-
nation ION their own" In addi-
ton, sometimes there is COM
pletely "off the record" informa-
tion which cannot be printed but
does serve as useful guidance for
reporters who have to write stories
about the issue.
The value Of these "back-
ground" talks depends largely or
the attitude of the official being
interviewed. Some are frank ano
open. providing useful informa.
ton. Some talk in glittering gen.
eralties. careful not to disclose
any real news.
Part of Mr.. Webbs program
involves steps to educate" de.
partmental officers generally or
relations with the press. A regular
class in public relations has beer
started in the Foreign Service In
stitute. Delegations Of reporter:
from the State Department pres.
room have tried to explain theil
needs to groups of Office director.
and country desk" officers.
Barrett Good Influence
One factor for improvement ir
the departments attitude general.
ly in the last few months is thu
influence of Edward w. Barrett
former editorial director of News.
week Magazine, who became AS.
sistant Secretary for Public Affair.
IN January. At the top polio,
level, he participates in staff meet.
lngS held by Mr.. Acheson and Mr.
Webb, is fully informed in thu
development of all policy deci.
slons and wields a powerful influ.
ence for informing the public.
There is cooperation all alons
the line between Mr.. Barrett anc
his staff and Mr.. McDermott anc
his staff in preparing for the Sec.
retary's weekly press conferences
Mr.. Acheson decides himself. OF
course, what he shall say or no,
say in a news conference. But
the task is simplified by advance
preparation of information dis.
titled from various sources in the
department, with recommenda.
tions from the operating officer.
on what should be released.
On the days when Mr.. Achesor
does not hold a news conference
Mr.. McDermott meets reporters a
noon to give out whatever new
the department has to volunteer
and to answer questions. Thes,
sessions provide the bulk of day.
to-day news from the department
They generally are productive
But there still are many time.
when reporters feel frustrated by
a mo comment" answer to q
question.
The complaints are loudest