Evening star., 1961-02-19
Background Conferences Hazardous but Helpful

Speaking Of background confer
ences, as known in Washington
journalism, President Kennedy
said they can be hazardous. They
are also important, he concluded.
and he hoped they might be con-
tinued under acceptable ground
rules. Most newspapermen agree
with him.
Background conference hazards
were demonstrated by the incident
which prompted President Ken
nedy's remarks. Arthur Sylvester.
Assistant Secretary Of Defense for
Public Affairs, is experienced in
background conferences. AS the
able Washington correspondent Of
the Newark Evening News he has
participated in most of those held
in recent years A professional
newspaperman all his life, he had
accepted his unsought appoint
ment at the Pentagon from a sense
of duty and an earnest conviction
that the important communication
of Government information to
press and public can be usefully
and intelligently handled. He
found his own concepts in that
regard shared by his new boss,
Secretary of Defense McNamara.
Yet the first background con-
ference he arranged for the bene-
fit Of Pentagon reporters produced
a rather spectacular backfire,
marked by hasty White House
denials of the accuracy Of what
some Of the reporters had written.
Secretary Mcnamara. whose con-
versation with the reporters had
been held with the understanding
that his participation. was not to
be revealed. retained his ano-
nymity only briefly. He was quickly
unveiled as the spokesman by
other reporters who had not at
tended the conference.
The reasonable explanation Of
this fiasco is that it was caused
by misunderstanding. Anybody
who knows the breed would find
it difficult to sustain q charge of
deliberate bad faith on the part
Of the reporters. Granting, as
some Of the reporters who at
tended the conference do, that
there were neutrality-suspicious., it
was not what the Secretary Of
Defense may have said about the
missile gap that was hazardous.
The hazard lay in what the can
didates had said about the missile
gap during the political cam
paign. Any Interpretation tending
to contradict the campaign views
Of the winning candidate con-
tanned dynamite. Some Of it
ignited.
&&
Classic examples in Washington
journalism of successful back
ground conferences were those
conducted by General Marshall
and Admiral King during the
years of World War II.
Admiral King was a notoriously
cloSe-mouthed member Of the
high command. Yet. at rather
regular intervals, he met with a
small group Of newspapermen and
with surprising candor told them
what was going on and what
might be expected to happen. The
meetings were usually held late
In the evening at some newspaper
mans home. There were many
such meetings but never o leak.
Members Of the group who at
tended them not only protected
Admiral Kings condolences but
the fact that such conferences
were held.
Wortime Censorship
There was wartime censorship,
Of course. to back up the Admiral
and one tiny leak would have
ended the conferences. Suppressed
ing such considerations, however,
was a willing acceptance and un-
derStanding Of the self-imposed
rules. Nothing was to be writ
ten Immediately following q con-
ference, although information OBJ
tained there could be used sub
SeQuently in the Interpretation Of
events as they unfolded, without