Gripes

No Thank You, Mr. President By John Herbers Norton, 192 pp., $7.95 “Thank you, Mr. President” is the traditional sign-off phrase for presidential press conferences. John Herbers, the New York Times’ White House correspondent during the Watergate unpleasantness, feels the press has little for which to thank the President, any President. So mighty has the White House grown that it shapes news coverage, Herbers insists in this somewhat righteous but gratifyingly even-tempered book. For all that modern Presidents may suffer the press’s abuse, the

White House decidedly has the upper hand “in conveying to the public the President’s policies, motives, and intentions.” The press room is like a plantation. The newsmen-slaves are herded around by presidential overseers, told what the Administration wishes known, and left to grub out the rest on their own—often in the face of official silence or hostility.

WM

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William Murchison

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No Thank You, Mr. President By John Herbers Norton, 192 pp., $7.95 “Thank you, Mr. President” is the traditional sign-off phrase for presidential press conferences. John Herbers, the New York Times’ White House correspondent during the Watergate unpleasantness, feels the press has little for which to thank the President, any President. So mighty has the White House grown that it shapes news coverage, Herbers insists in this somewhat righteous but gratifyingly even-tempered book. For all that modern Presidents may suffer the press’s abuse, the

White House decidedly has the upper hand “in conveying to the public the President’s policies, motives, and intentions.” The press room is like a plantation. The newsmen-slaves are herded around by presidential overseers, told what the Administration wishes known, and left to grub out the rest on their own—often in the face of official silence or hostility.