eChaser: June 2014/ p3

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Attorney General John Mitchell asked the Times to voluntarily cease publication. The paper said no, so bring in the lawyers. Mitchell got a federal injunction to block the Times, which by then had published three articles. Notably, the injunction was the first time since the Civil War that the government was able to restrain the publication of a major newspaper.

But just two days later, The Washington Post published an article based on the papers. The administration again requested an injunction, but this time the district court judge declined. Meanwhile, more than a dozen papers were now publishing excerpts. Ellsberg, it seemed, favored a whack-a-mole strategy.

The judge who refused the injunction shared some words that should inspire everyone involved in public relations: “A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know.” June 30, just 17 days after the first article appeared, the Supreme Court weighed in, ruling in favor of the Times and the Post, and publication resumed. Ah, those were the days.

Stymied by the courts, the Nixon administration took the logical next step and began planning character assassination against Ellsberg. The administration authorized wiretapping his phone, and a team of men broke into the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, perhaps hoping to find incriminating Rorschach results.

Ellsberg would later be indicted, but the judge declared a mistrial. Besides the government actions against him, it was disclosed that Nixon considered having him beat up. Also, prior to the trial, an administration representative had met with the judge to discuss a future job opportunity. Since the Pentagon Papers did not embarrass Nixon, apparently he decided to do it on his own.

As publication of the papers resumed, the anti-war movement continued to divide the nation. But was Ellsberg a hero or a traitor? That question continues to stir debate. Certainly in his mind, the answer was clear: “I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public.”

Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind., agreed, saying, “The existence of these documents, and the fact that they said one thing and the people were led to believe something else, is a reason we have a credibility gap today, the reason people don't believe the government.”

Perhaps the most telling perspective came from H.R. Haldeman, the Nixon aide who was involved in discrediting Ellsberg. “To the ordinary guy, all this is a bunch of gobbledygook,” he told Nixon. “But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing. ... It shows that people do things the president wants to do, even though it's wrong, and the president can be wrong.”

Proof yet again that the PR pro’s work is never done — and never easy.

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Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas update: Rick Perry’s office refuses to release any information about the $40 million it’s offering Toyota to relocate to Texas, despite providing The Texas Observer with similar information last year for a $12 million grant to Chevron. The Observer and the Houston Chronicle both filed open records requests with the governor’s office after Perry announced in April the $40 million incentive grant to Toyota from the Texas Enterprise Fund. Perry promotes the Enterprise Fund as a “deal-closing” program that helps bring jobs to Texas. But in some cases evidence suggests that the fund does little but line the pockets of companies planning to move to Texas anyway. Details here. ... University of Texas officials must hand over the personnel records of Longhorn offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, a state district judge has ruled. The move is a leap forward in the $1 million discrimination lawsuit filed against the university by former track coach Bev Kearney. Kearney says the university discriminated against her and ultimately fired her for a consensual relationship she had with a student athlete in 2002. She resigned Dec. 28 2012, according to court records, instead of being fired. The suit asserts that Kearney’s former white male colleagues who also had inappropriate relationships are still working at the school. Details here. ... At the start of the 2013 school year, students at Hoover High School in California’s Glendale Unified School District were surprised to discover that the district had been paying a social media monitoring company to keep tabs on their online activity for more than a year. Increasingly, schools are turning to third parties for help monitoring students’ public social media posts. Cyberbullying researchers and First Amendment experts around the country say such services could lead to unnecessary and unconstitutional restrictions on students’ freedom of speech. Details here.

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GET A JOB

UT Dallas seeks a qualified communications specialist – periodicals. ... Application deadline is June 15 for a communications strategist position with SPJ national in Indiana. ... The Dallas Morning News seeks a reporter/team leader to head its state government and politics coverage as Austin Bureau chief. ... The Rockport (Texas) Pilot is looking for an individual who can write stories, report news, cover meetings, typeset copy and perform assorted other journalistic duties. Experience preferred. Knowledge of sports writing a plus.

Apply in person (1002 Wharf St., Rockport) or e-mail résumé to managingeditor@rockportpilot.com. ... The Duncan (Okla.) Banner has openings for two reporters who can also take pictures. News editor Steve Olafson: “We plan to focus much more attention on our web product in the coming year, which would provide a good avenue for a new graduate to make his or her mark. We also publish a quarterly magazine.” Pay is negotiable. Full health benefits after 60 days. Duncan is 75 miles south of Oklahoma City. Contact Olafson at steve.olafson@duncanbanner.com or 580-255-5354
ext. 127.

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NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS

SPJ ... Norma Garcia, KXTX Telemundo 39

PRSA ... Jessamy Brown, JPS Health Network/John Peter Smith Hospital

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Richie Escovedo, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Turn out the lights, the party's over. The 3rd annual Worthy Awards gala is in the books, and we had a great time. We were thrilled to celebrate another year with colleagues, guests, clients and friends at this wonderful event.

I'd like to thank co-chairs Holly Ellman and Joe Stout, who met the challenge of putting on an awards program and hosting a major event. Also, a special thanks to the exceptional committee members — Lisa Albert, Kyndall Burroughs, Megan Force, Liz Heck, Beth Lamb, Megan Murphey and Jahnae Stout. Muchísimas gracias!

We had fantastic entries, and the caliber of programs, campaigns and projects is something of which we should all be proud. Congratulations to all of our winners, especially the 2014 Best of Show recipient, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce marketing team, for its publication Annual Meeting Creative: Methods of Mass Instruction.

I'd also like to thank our judging partners for the 2014 Worthys, the Arkansas Chapter from Little Rock. I sincerely appreciate the time that team of professionals took to judge our entries. Let me encourage our members to volunteer when it's our chapter's turn to judge. Reviewing communication award entries is a great way to learn from other professionals' campaigns and projects while sharpening those strategic PR skills.

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OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

What happens when journalists band together to fight unjust FOI demands from the government? They produce results. SPJers last month produced an internet storm after Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens demanded SPJ Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information intern David Schick remove public documents from his personal blog. The next day, Olens rescinded his request. As always, SPJ will continue to fight for your rights. Links here and here and here and here and here. ...

SPJ is accepting applications for the Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award and the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing through June 22. The $10,000 First Amendment Award recognizes accomplishments on behalf of First Amendment freedoms by an individual, group of individuals or an organization. The $75,000 editorial writing fellowship helps an editorial writer broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world. Questions? E- awards coordinator Chad Hosier at awards@spj.org.

Closing words: "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." — poet, novelist and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, who died May 28 at the age of 86

Closing words II, fundamentalists all up in a four-foot hover: “You have to be deaf, dumb and blind to think that this Earth that we live in only has 6,000 years of existence.” — Pat Robertson on young Earth creationism ... "Pat Robertson illustrates one of the biggest problems we have today in the church — people like Robertson compromise the word of God with the pagan ideas of fallible men!" — young Earth creationist Ken Ham in response