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Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I think you can see by the way I had difficulty putting on this level of their hair. I haven't had as much experience in broadcasting as your chairman would lead you to believe. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Mr. Arthur cell master. Had. Been. Very anxious to be with us today. And it was with very considerable regret that he was not able. To. Work out his schedule so he could be here. He has accompanied Secretary of Defense McNamara. To Honolulu low. Where they are having some rather high level discussions with. Diplomatic and military officials. Of the Pacific Ocean area and they Southeast Asian area. On the current status of a vamp's down and out of South Vietnam.
He asked me as his military assessed and therefore. To come here. And to attempt to. Present his view on the topic at hand to you. I might add that. Dr. David Smith. Also from our office had hoped to be here today. He is a member of this organization of long standing. And. Unfortunately he became ill. And. Couldn't. Say whether it's here. He also asked me to extend his very sincere regrets to you. He's honestly heartbroken not to be here because he wanted to renew acquaintance with many of you. It seems appropriate I believe that. Any such discussion.
What your facts Defense Information. And national security. Must proceed along the lines of the fundamental principles. Of our free society. Foremost is the principle that a free press radio and television and an enlightened public. Are basic to our democratic form of government. But a free press and a free broadcasting system. To retain the confidence of the public. Let's be fair and factual. And willing to acknowledge their areas there as just as government must and like government information press radio and television news. Must rest on the truth. The American
people. Need to know as much as possible. About their governments policies and actions if they are to choose a successful way among men and issues. In 1786. Thomas Jefferson said the basis of our government being the opinion of the people. The very first object should be to keep that right. And what left me to decide whether we should have a government. Without newspapers or newspapers without a government I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. At the same time it seems to me. Our people do not want to know information. Which if made public. What assessed our adversaries. Or in any way in danger our military personnel. I think most of
you. Would question neither of these promises. It's in the air I am outside of these premises the defense information affecting our national security. Must be subjected to careful measurement by the United stack. Is this information about enough value to the public and have little enough value to the enemy or potential enemy to warrant its release. That's the necessity for enlightenment of our people. Is tempered by in the sense they to preserve and protect our government which of course is the people. This has always been a very difficult question to resolve. It was difficult for George Washington. Who complained. Of the colonial predator's continual lack of
discretion in publishing various items of military or strategic importance. It's even more difficult today as President Kennedy noted. To requirements seem almost contradictory in tone but they must be reconciled and fulle felt. The need for a far greater public information. The need for far greater official security. I might. Make the observation. That. Our communist adversaries. Too often beneficiaries. Of our free institutions. Consequently in times of crisis information which ordinarily would be made available to the people. Must be withheld temporarily in order to deny it. To our potential enemies.
And I might add that. When the information is so withheld it becomes the responsibility of the people who are withholding it to make it available to the people. Just as soon as it can possibly be made available. In the Cuban crisis of last fall a year ago. Both of these response requirements were focused on the officials such as secretary Sylvester whose responsibility it is to determine what the financial information to relay is and when the relation. The requirement recognized by the Department of Defense to increase the flow of information. To the people. And the requirement to protect. And thereby have sensitive information which might be of value. To our enemies creates problems whose resolution depends upon human judgment.
And of course. Differences in judgment in these matters. Are inevitable. But that judgment has to be made. And they can only be made by those who bear the dual responsibility of informing the public. And to. Protecting security information. Stating a government information policy. Is certainly easier than applying it in specific situations. The basic policy of the Pentagon has remained. The same over the past several years but shortly after Secretary McNamara took office in 1961 he stated what he considered to be two basic principles. And they are incorporated in a Department of Defense directive which is called principles of public information policy. They are
one. In a democratic society. The public must be kept informed of the major issues and national defense policy because the most important issue is I likely to be the most difficult ones. The arguments on both sides must be clear so that there is a consensus of confidence in the ultimate decision. We are under a special obligation to disclose mistakes and ineffective administration operations. The public has at least as much right to bad news as to good news. Two. It is essential to avoid disclosure of information that can be of material assistance to our potential adversaries and thereby weaken i defense position. It is equally important to avoid overclassification When in doubt. Under classified and no one of them should overclassification be used to avoid public
discussion of controversial matters. On the basis of these two principles sectary Sylvester. Began a program as soon as he took office in early 1961 to increase the release of Defense Information and the flow. Of information from the Department of Defense has increased tremendously in these past two and a half years. In fact if you consider only. The number of news releases which have been made regardless of content there has been a 40 percent increase. Moreover Secretary McNamara in addition to holding the usual formal press conference says. Has had quite frequent background meetings where the newsman last
year as the year before. He met with more than 100 news men individually. And he is continuing that and I believe even creasing that this year for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense secretary Sylvester meets with reporters on an almost daily basis at an informal type of news briefing. There he releases information and he submits himself on the record to answering questions. I think all of you who are familiar with work in this field can understand the difficult position he places himself in to take care of is to be quoted on the record as it ever requires him to be kept absolutely up to date on the vast spectrum of activities that are going on in the Defense Department all the time. Of course there are some
questions that he can't answer on the spot. And in that case they're handled later after the answers have been checked out with the most knowledgeable sources. The secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense often come down to these news briefings. As do other top civilian and military officials in the department to release the information and submit themselves to questions by the press. In addition the staff in our Office of Public Affairs is answering on an average of fifteen hundred queries from news men each week. These news men represent a national cross-section of newspapers and news services. The radio. Television networks so far. Throughout the department civilian and military officials. Have been encouraged and are available to discuss with news representatives any
subject or development. That is not. Classified. At the request of over a hundred fifty editors and editorial writers throughout the country we are furnishing them regulate with time scripts of the secretary of defense's news conferences as well as major policy statements and important speeches. Defense Information is also of course widely disseminated. Through other channels such as speeches and panel discussions. Sam and I have seen motion pictures in addition every week way in our office respond to over 500 letters from members of Congress and from officials of various national organizations and from private individuals. Asking for information. About every type
of defense activity. Actually if the information they asked for is classified we have to tell them so. And give them only the unclassified information. An annual posture briefings Secretary McNamara does not merely present Congress with a general statement. Of a few pages he offers a detailed statement of several hundred pages. Explaining exactly where our defense money is being spent why it is spam some projects and not on others. And what reasoning is behind every major decision. This. Posture statement. Is made public. For the most part. This is completely new in the history of the Department of Defense and I believe more than any other
factor. Indicates Mr. McNamara's keen interest. And his desire to keep both the Congress and the American people as fully informed as possible. About our defense plans and policies and activities. Sectarian Sylvester firmly believes as a principle that any situation of general interest should be to disclosed as promptly and fully as possible whether the situation is good or bad. In practice. As I am sure you are aware the promptness and fullness of the possible disclosure. Varies for the particular situation. The point is simply that. Such a disclosure of information. Must help the country and not harm it. Let's consider for a moment what the United States did.
Do get these Soviet attempts of missiles and bombers out of Cuba. The public affairs implications of that action. One hour after President Kennedy made his TV address to the nation to reveal the scope and the grave implications of the Cuban crisis. Secretary McNamara was briefing one of the largest groups of news reporters ever to assemble in the Pentagon. To describe to them how they. Naval and Air quarantine of Cuba would be put into effect. Before and after that date. We were confronted with the realities of not releasing information of value to a potential enemy while at the same time trying to keep the American public informed within these. Two contradictory requirements. Our office released a great deal of hired information during the crisis. After the
closest coordination at the top level of government. I'd like to cite just a few examples. One a dozen Soviet ships which were heading for Cuba. Turned back. This was promptly in the house when the Soviet tanker Bucharest. Was intercepted. This was announced and within a few hours photographs were released when the Lebanese ship was boarded. This was announced and full details of the action were made public. This was the miracle I was the only ship i actually boarded. During the Cuban quarantine operation when our reconnaissance planes were fired on over Cuba. This was probably a mouse when one of our reconnaissance planes was lost. When I watch that one we obtained photographs of attempts of missile sites and I'll 28000 Cuba.
By means of a. Low altitude reconnaissance planes. They were probably relays. On the other hand. In order to protect the national security and the lives of our military personnel. We had to be very careful about the particular nature and type of the information we relates to. When asked if our planes were going to fly reconnaissance missions on any particular day Mr. Sylvester very properly refused to reveal its information when other questions involving similar operational matters asked. He didn't answer. A number of the. Newsman were disturbed by this and suggested that he was thus attempting to control. The flow of news. As the events unfolded during the Cuban crisis. The soundness of our
information policy in my opinion was strongly vindicated. There isn't the slightest doubt that a key element in the success of our government policy. Was the fact that we were able to confront the Soviets with a well-thought out plan which they had no advance notice or no advance information. If you look at the reality of the Government Information Program in those. Rather tense days with an eye of detachment. I think it will become obvious to you that the Cuban crisis whether it was a rather special case unlike. The situation Terry ran into in World War 2 and Korea. Secretary Sylvester became the source of most government news on our information policies which were set by the Executive Committee of the National Security Council and by the president himself. They
and they alone had the full facts and the full information on what was going on at that particular time. Both military and diplomatic considerations were involved in the government's activities at that time and inevitably this was reflected in the government's information programs. All announcements as well as specific inquiries from around the country were closely coordinated by the White House press secretary Mr. Salinger. The assistant secretary of state for public affairs Mr. Bob Manning. And by his secretary a cell that starts. And ends that way. I might mention that these three gentlemen had a three way hotline telephone set up. In their offices. If any one of them picked up the phone it automatically rang in the offices of the other two. So that they could be in constant. Coordination on any subject that came up.
I might add that the newsrooms of the radio and television stations and newspapers were. Magnificent in their. Desire and you're going to have to cooperate with the government and not disseminating information that would jeopardize the lives of military personnel or in any way of Psystar. Communist follows. We were constantly receiving telephone calls from all over the country. From editors. Who had received bits of information. They weren't sure whether or not it was classified and they called us to check before they published information. As President Kennedy has said in discussing the critical phase of the Cuban crisis that is the period after his declaration that a quarantine of Cuba was being established. But. Allowed withdrawal
of the offensive weapons from Cuba was still in doubt. There was an attempt to have the government speak with one voice. It should be understood I think. That each military move during this crucial period. Was in a sense a message from President candidate to Khrushchev. I am sure that most of you have long since concluded that the nub of the message was that the United States would use its full military power if necessary I. To get those offensive weapons out of Cuba. On the other hand however if they were withdrawn there would be no resort to armed conflict. Because each military move during this period. Involved a message of. Critical importance both to Moscow
and the United States. The moves themselves. Were and had to be controlled from the White House. Moreover if the message. Were to be heard. Loud and clear. It would follow that the disclosure of the moves to the Soviets had to be with complete accuracy and timeliness by the government. Speaking with one voice. In other words we couldn't afford. To. Have some military commander who was unaware of the overall implications of the situation. Remote from Washington. Speaking out and giving his views on the situation which might conflict. With the policy we were attempting. To follow in this case. Obviously no responsible government engaged in this type of
confrontation with another. Major power. Could have made public the secret developments which preceded. The first announcement by the president of this. Crisis. In times of crisis like the Cuban situation. Informing the people. Of such things as troop movements what amount to and I'm sure you will agree with this would amount to informing. The Enemy at the same time. Due to the speed of modern communications might have been all very well back in the days before radio and television. To. Tell our people what was going on. In an area of conflict today where every radio message can be picked up around the world. We have to deal with the situation in a different manner.
Times of crisis simply intensify the problem. Associated with the execution. Of those principles on which the information policy of the Department of Defense is based. It is sectarian Sylvester's belief that truthful. Factual information must be the basis of our government information programme in relation to the American people. The basic policy in our office remains the same to continue to resolve doubtful cases in favor of release and to go forward. With our effort to prevent any improper. Withholding of information. We're constantly reviewing our policies in an effort to give the news media. Greater access to the unclassified activities of the department. On a recent military exercise called Big left.
In which the United States strike command air lifted a full army division from the United States to Europe just last month and something less than three days. We authorized close to two hundred and fifty newsman radio and television reporters to accompany our troops on this airlift so that they could get a firsthand knowledge. Of our rapid air reinforcement capabilities. Also within the past month. We have issued a new policy directive which requires the services to give maximum cooperation to. News media representatives. At the scene of military accidents which occur. Outside of military jurisdiction. We have discovered that some of the service regulations. Permitted military police to use force against photographers and news man who are attempting to cover these accidents. The new pall of
say prevents the use of force by military personnel. Against news men and calls on the military authorities at the scene. To solicit the cooperation. Of the newsman and their superiors in protecting security information which might be exposed at the scene of these accidents. These are but. Two examples of our continuing interest. In increasing the flow of defense information to the public. One final comment. I previously stated that the problems created by the requirement to increase the flow of information to the public and the requirement to protect. Sensitive information of value to our enemies must be resolved. By human judgement. That all do not agree with this judgement. Is a sign of a healthy political
system. There are as you well know all governments where this kind of disagreement is not tolerated. But it is our form of government. In which differences of opinion are openly discussed. Which assures the development of policies which serve the people best. In closing I bring you the assurance of the secretary of defense and the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs that we will continue our policy of keeping the American people. Fully and truthfully informed. Of all. Matters concerning Department of Defense activities within the bounds of military security. Thank you.
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Program
NABE Convention "Broadcasting of Public Affairs" Hugh M. Robinson
Contributing Organization
University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/500-0g3h218t
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Description
Description
No description available
Date
1963-11-19
Topics
Environment
Public Affairs
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:29:26
Credits
AAPB Contributor Holdings
University of Maryland
Identifier: 4310 (University of Maryland)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Duration: 00:30:00?
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Citations
Chicago: “NABE Convention "Broadcasting of Public Affairs" Hugh M. Robinson,” 1963-11-19, University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 28, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-0g3h218t.
MLA: “NABE Convention "Broadcasting of Public Affairs" Hugh M. Robinson.” 1963-11-19. University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-0g3h218t>.
APA: NABE Convention "Broadcasting of Public Affairs" Hugh M. Robinson. Boston, MA: University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-0g3h218t