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Chapter 9
Control of the Media(Continued)
Dallas Newspapers
The two newspapers in Dallas, "The Times Herald" and "The Morning News," became accessories after the fact. They suppressed evidence of conspiracy and evidence concerning the Dallas police role in framing Lee Harvey Oswald. It was not immediately established that the management policy of both papers supported the official positions taken by the Dallas police and district attorney, the FBI and the Warren Commission. During the first few days immediately following the assassination, both newspapers printed anything that came along. The editions on November 22 through 25 make very interesting reading for the researcher because the stories were printed before anyone had any idea what to suppress. (For example, there are stories about other people being arrested, about other rifles being found near Dealey Plaza, and about Oswald's rifle being a Mauser and a British 303 model.)
Editorial and management policy took over within a couple of weeks and the lone assassin story received all the attention from then on. The two papers have not since made any independent inquiries, have not been interested in any conspiratorial discussions, and have remained completely faithful to the official governmental position.
There were some inquiring reporters around (like Ronnie Dugger, for example, or Lonnie Hudkins), but they were eventually silenced by management or the FBI and Dallas police. Photographers at the two papers left town or were frightened out of talking about the case or their photographs. Some of these photographs showed evidence of conspiracy, including pictures of three conspirators under arrest in Dealey Plaza. Other photographs proved that members of the Dallas police planted evidence in the Depository building to frame Oswald.
Between the assassination and 1967, the management and owners of the "Herald" and "News" were not completely aware of the significance of some of the evidence in their files. Nor were they attempting to control their reporters and news staff. For example, Hudkins found that Oswald had been a paid informer for the FBI. He even found what his pay number had been (S172). He took the information to Waggoner Carr, Texas Attorney General, in January of 1964. Carr brought it to the attention of the Warren Commission. Hoover denied it, and the matter died in secret executive sessions of the Warren Commission.
Several photographs taken by "Dallas Morning News" photographer Jack Beers proved that the police created the so-called "sniper's nest" from which Oswald allegedly fired the shots. The pictures show the positions of cartons in the sixth floor window before the police moved them. Beers's photographs also indicate that the police made the large paper bag found inside the Depository building.
Beers was permitted to use his photographs commercially in a book that he published jointly with R. B. Denson, called "Destiny in Dallas." If it were not for that event, researchers would probably never have seen Beers's photographs. Once the "Morning News" editor, Mr. Krueger, discovered that the photographs demonstrated both conspiracy and the complicity of some of the Dallas police force, he locked them up. The pictures remain suppressed to this date.
The "Times Herald"'s record is not much better. Through 1967 John Masiotta, the man in charge of the assassination photographs taken by William Allen, made copies available on a very limited basis. The basis in the author's case was that a total of twelve pictures out of seventythree taken by Allen could be purchased. The author was allowed to examine 35mm contact prints (about 3/4 X 1/2 inches) of the rest, and the selection decision was extremely difficult. Three of Allen's photographs showed the "tramps" under arrest who were part of the conspiracy.
In 1968 the "Times Herald" management realized the implications of some of Allen's pictures in pointing out the real assassins, and locked their files. To date they have not permitted anyone to see the photos again or to purchase copies.
One photograph taken by "Dallas Times Herald" photographer Bob Jackson was so obviously in opposition to the official police position that it was suppressed by late 1966. Jackson was riding in one of the news photographer's cars in the motorcade with "Dallas Morning News" photographer, Tom Dillard. As Jackson's car approached the Depository building and travelled north on Houston Street, between Main Street and Elm Street, Jackson snapped a picture (see map in May 1970 "Computers & Automation" article). At the time, the Kennedy car was already on Elm Street and was probably close to the position where the first shot was fired. Jackson's car was eight cars behind Kennedy's (about twenty car lengths).
Jackson can be seen taking this picture in the Robert Hughes film and in some of the TV footage taken by other photographers. He also testified that he took the picture. When the author asked Masiotta about the Jackson photo in early 1967, he became very flustered and claimed to know nothing about it. Jackson himself was finally located and, when asked about it, became very angry and denied taking a picture. That photograph has never been seen by anyone outside of the "Times Herald" staff. It's not difficult to speculate about what it probably showed, since the Hughes film, the Weaver photo, the Dillard photo and the Tom Alyea TV sequence all show the same thing. Jackson's photo, without doubt, showed "Oswald's window" in the Depository building empty when Oswald should have been in it--an embarrassing counterpoint to Jackson's testimony that he saw someone in that window with a rifle. If Jackson's photo (or anyone else's for that matter) showed Oswald in the sixth floor window, the whole world would have heard about it on November 22, 1963.
Fort Worth "Star Telegram"
The Fort Worth "Star Telegram" shines like a light in the Texas darkness. It made photographic evidence from five of their photographers, Joe McAulay, Harry Cabluck, Jerrold Cabluck, George Smith and William Davis available to everyone. Even though the "Telegram"'s editorial stance was eventually pro-Warren Commission, the photographers, editors and the woman who ran the photo files were all cooperative.
George Smith's photos showed the three members of the assassination team under arrest. Jerrold Cabluck's aerial photos were instrumental in establishing Dealey Plaza landmarks and topography. Joe McAulay's photos of a man arrested in Ft. Worth in connection with the shooting might yet become valuable.
TV Station WFAA
The second shining light in Texas was TV station WFAA, an ABC affiliate. WFAA was very cooperative (albeit expensive) in providing copies of all their photographic evidence. TV sequences by Tom Alyea, Malcolm Couch, A. J. L'Hoste and Ron Reiland were made easily viewable and the copies made available. Much of this evidence demonstrating conspiracy was also sold to TV networks and newsreel companies.
WBAP -- Ft. Worth
The NBC affiliate in Ft. Worth, WBAP, was less cooperative. Even though public statements were made that viewing of Dan Owens and Jim Darnell's footage was possible, many roadblocks were thrown into the path of researchers. As mentioned in the section on NBC, Darnell's footage of the knoll and parking lot is very important. It has remained unavailable at WBAP.
KTTV -- Dallas
Independent TV station KTTV in Dallas also suppressed, or lost, valuable evidence of conspiracy. Don Cook's TV footage contained twelve important sequences. One is a sequence of a man being arrested in front of the Depository building at about 1:00 p.m. From other evidence it is possible to determine that the man may be William Sharp, participant in the assassination. Cook can be seen in a picture taken by Phil Willis pointing his 16mm TV film camera directly at the man from about ten feet away.
Willis' photo does not show the man's face. For this reason, Cook's close-up footage is very important. In 1967 the author interviewed Cook in Dallas and found that his film had been turned over to the editor at KTTV. A phone call to the station resulted in a statement being made to the author that Cook's footage had been lost "on the cutting room floor" and was not available for viewing. No further efforts have even been made to open up KTTV's evidence in the assassination.
New Orleans Newspapers
The only two publications in the United States that printed the truth about the Clay Shaw trial were the New Orleans "Times Picayune" and the New Orleans "Times Herald."
Between 1963 and 1967 both New Orleans newspapers used AP and UP stories on most of their coverage of the Kennedy assassination. Suddenly, the papers found themselves deeply involved in the middle of the sensational Garrison investigation, and in 1969 they reported on the Shaw trial.
The papers took no editorial position on Jim Garrison, the trial, the investigation, the assassination, or the guilt or innocence of Shaw until after the final verdict was delivered by the jury. Then both papers savagely attacked Garrison on the editorial page. Off the record, the reporters and others at both papers supported Garrison. This was reflected in a book published by the two "Herald" reporters, Rosemary James and Jack Wardlaw, called "Plot or Politics."
The management and editors of the newspapers evidently paid more attention to forces from Washington and New York than they did to New Orleans citizens or the testimony at the trial.
But the verbatim proceedings at the Shaw trial, as well as all of the detailed events for the two years that the Federal Government successfully delayed the trial, were faithfully printed in both the "Herald" and the "Picayune." While you and I, dear reader, were treated to a highly biased account for three years concerning events in New Orleans by "Time" magazine, "Newsweek," "U.S. News," "The New York Times," NBC, CBS, ABC, UP, AP, etc., the average New Orleans citizen was well aware that the Justice Department, under both Ramsey Clark and John Mitchell, was responsible for continually delaying the trail. (You and I were fed the impression that Garrison delayed the trial.)
Mr. New Orleans citizen, let's call him Joe, knew that Shaw's lawyers were paid by the CIA. You and I were told that Shaw paid his lawyers a lot of money and suffered financially because of it.
Joe knew that the FBI was looking for Shaw under his alias, Clay Bertrand, before lawyer Dean Andrews ever mentioned the name associated with Lee Harvey Oswald just before he was killed by Jack Ruby. You and I were told that Andrews fabricated the name Clay Bertrand out of whole cloth, and no mention was made to us of the FBI's search.
Joe knew that twelve people saw Clay Shaw together with Oswald and David Ferrie on many occasions, exchanging money on two occasions. You and I were led to believe by "Time" and "The New York Times" that only three people saw them together and that the three were not credible witnesses.
Joe knows how Garrison was hounded and framed by the Justice Department in a fake pinball rap. More importantly, he knows the government did not want Regis Kennedy, FBI agent, and Pierre Finck, Army doctor at the JFK autopsy, to testify at the trial.
Finck's testimony, however, was printed in the "Times Picayune" but not in "Time" magazine. He said that an Army general gave orders during the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital. The unidentified general told Finck and the other doctors not to probe the President's neck wound. We did not read about this or hear about it.
The "Times Picayune" record of the Shaw trial was especially accurate. The "Herald"'s record was reasonably accurate, but because the paper was printed by 3:00 p.m., the paper missed some of the longer sessions.[9]
WDSU-TV -- New Orleans
As mentioned in the section on NBC, WDSU became directly involved in the JFK assassination aftermath because of Rick Townley and Walter Sheridan. Both were under indictment by Garrison for bribing witnesses and tampering with evidence. Townley, on the staff of WDSU, was close to the action with Garrison, Shaw, Andrews, Ferrie, Perry Russo, Layton Martens, Gordon Novel, Sergio Arcacha Smith, David Lewis, David Llewelyn, Guy Banister, and many other participants in the drama.
According to accounts in the New Orleans papers and repeated in Paris Flammonde's book "The Kennedy Conspiracy," Townley tried to get Perry Russo, Garrison's prime witness at the Shaw trial, to change his testimony at the upcoming trial to make it seem that Garrison had hypnotized him and then asked leading questions to get Russo to testify against Shaw.
Townley went to Russo's house twice, threatened to discredit him and perhaps have him fired from his job, and offered him a chance to work closely with NBC in their efforts to "destroy Garrison and his case". Townley told Russo he could get Shaw's lawyer, F. Irving Dymond, to go easy on him if he would alter his testimony. He assured Russo that his employer, Equitable Life, had promised the president of NBC that no retaliation would be taken against Russo if he cooperated with WDSU and NBC.
Walter Sheridan told Russo that NBC and WDSU could set him up in California (where Russo always wanted to live) if he helped break the Garrison probe's back. NBC would pay his expenses there, protect his job, obtain a lawyer for Russo and guarantee that Garrison would never extradite him to Louisiana. Sheridan told Russo that NBC had flown Gordon Novel out of Louisiana to McLean, Virginia (home of the CIA) and had given Novel (an important witness for Garrison's case) a lie detector test. Sheridan said NBC would make sure Novel would never be extradited to Louisiana to testify. (Novel never was extradited.)
Townley also tried to influence Marlene Mancuso, former wife of Gordon Novel, and an important Shaw trial witness. He told her that she should cooperate with WDSU and NBC because Garrison was going to be destroyed and that NBC was not merely willing to discredit the probe: he said Garrison would go to jail.
On July 10, 1967, Richard Townley was arrested and charged with attempted bribery and two counts of intimidating two witnesses. He was also accused of serving as an intermediary to influence cross-examining trial attorneys that the character and reputation of Perry Russo not be damaged.
Sheridan was arrested on July 7 on the counts of intimidating witnesses and attempted bribery. Both posted bond. Townley's statements, however, did come true. The Federal Government, aided and abetted by WDSU and NBC, did crucify Garrison.
The author's belief is that this kind of behavior in the face of all the evidence gathered by the staffs of their own organizations, on the part of 15 to 24 major news media management groups is highly suspect. It might be that each major news organization shut up about the Kennedy assassination because each was afraid of losing face or influence, FCC licenses, business or advertisers, or Government favors of one kind or another.
This theory is perhaps best exemplified by a story told by Dorothy Kilgallen, before she died, to a close friend. Kilgallen was writing several articles about the JFK assassination for the newspapers who published her column. She strongly believed there had been a conspiracy that included Jack Ruby. She interviewed Ruby alone in his jail cell in Dallas (the only person outside of the police who had this opportunity). She told her friend shortly afterward that she was planning to "blow the case wide open" in her column. She said the owner of the New York newspaper where her column appeared refused to let her print stories in opposition to the Warren Commission. When the friend asked her why, Dorothy said, "He's afraid he won't be invited to White House parties any more".
Of the three possible motives for suppression in the news media, the influence from the top and from high government places seems the most probable. When will we, as Americans, learn the truth about influence in the case of the Kennedy assassination?
Conclusions
The pattern of internal knowledge of conspiracy followed by the complete suppression of such information is too strong to ignore. Two conclusions suggest themselves as one reviews the evidence regarding suppression and secrecy.
The first is that our national news media are controlled on the subject of the assassination by some very high level group in Washington. The orders to cease, desist, and suppress came from the top in each case. To influence the very top level of all fifteen major news media organizations would have taken a great deal more than money, power, or threats. In fact, the only kind of appeal which seems likely to have had a chance of shutting everyone up is a "highly patriotic, national security," kind of appeal. It was probably just such an argument that worked with the Warren Commission. Judging by the fact that Lyndon B. Johnson told Walter Cronkite there was a conspiracy and then successfully persuaded CBS to edit this out of his remarks "on grounds of national security," this kind of an appeal obviously does work.
The second possibility, rather remote from a probability standpoint, should nevertheless be considered. It is that all 15 to 24 news organizations reached a point of exasperation and disbelief in 1968-1969. It's possible the top managers of these 24 organizations reached this exasperation point independent of one another. Within a two to three-year period, culminating in the Shaw trial and discrediting of Jim Garrison, every one of these managers might finally have said, "Stop, cease, desist, lock the files, you're fired, shut up, I don't want to hear another word about it."
1976
How, one may ask, could all of this have happened in the world's greatest democracy? What has become of the principles of the Founding Fathers, Horace Greeley, Will Rogers and others, in which the "free" press is supposedly our best protection from the misuse of governmental power. Didn't things change with Watergate? What about the "New York Times" and the "Pentagon Papers," the "Washington Post," Bernstein and Woodward, Watergate, NBC's white paper on Vietnam, Sy Hersh and the CIA stories in the "New York Times"?
The actions taking place in November-December, 1975 and on into 1976, proved the media were still influenced and controlled by the same forces that controlled the media in 1968 and 1969. Some of the names of the players were different: Ford for Nixon, Colby for Helms, Kelley for J. Edgar Hoover. But the forces were the same. The chairmen of the boards and presidents of NBC, CBS, ABC, Time, Inc., "Newsweek"-"Washington Post," "Los Angeles Times," "Chicago Tribune," UPI, AP, and the rest, were still very much controlled and influenced by the White House and the Secret Team. Some of the influence was by infiltration, as Fletcher Prouty so aptly demonstrated.[10]
The Secret Team members were to be found everywhere at or near the top. Other influence came from the Ford administration through direct or indirect pressure. The FCC, the IRS, the Department of Commerce, the military and other government agencies had some control over the media or the personal lives of the top managers. (It must be remembered that Gerald Ford was and is one of the cover-up conspirators in the JFK case.)
What is the Evidence?
What is the evidence for this? One measures the influence by results. In an era when all who have really examined the basic evidence know there were conspiracies in the JFK and RFK assassinations, we still find the 15 organizations concluding there were lone, demented gunmen in the two cases.
For example, CBS broadcast a two-part special on November 25 and 26, 1975, once again reinforcing their stand that Oswald acted alone. Except for the substitution of Dan Rather as chief narrator in place of Walter Cronkite, the cast was the same as in the 1967 four-part series. Leslie Midgely was the producer, Bernie Birnbaum, the associate producer, and Jane Bartels, Birnbaum's girl-Friday. Eric Sevareid and Eddie Barker were missing. So was Bob Richter, another 1967 associate producer who had discovered the truth about the conspiracy and the way CBS handled it. (He now manages his own film-making company, RichterMcBride, in New York.) Richter's opinion about the 1967 CBS four-part special, as expressed in an interview with Jerry Policoff published in "New Times" magazine in October 1975,[11] barred him from becoming a consultant to Midgely on the November 25 and 26 programs.
Hard Evidence Never Mentioned
Time, Inc., in their November 17, 1975 issue supported the lone assassin myth as they have since 1964.[12] Since "Life" was no longer in existence, Time management used "Time" and "People" magazines to further the causes of the White House and the CIA in the cover-up of the coverups. The November 3, 1975 issue[13] of "People" magazine hand-picked a group of "researchers" and portrayed them as obvious maniacs who believed in and furthered the conspiracy theories being bandied about. One of the favorite tricks of the media throughout the years has been to couple the words "conspiracy" and "theory" together; never once did the major media mention any of the hard evidence pointing to conspiracy in any of the four major cases. The "Time" policy and article, according to Jerry Policoff, was commanded from the very top, above Hedley Donovan's level.[14]
The fine hand of David Belin can be traced in the "Time" article. All of the 1964 arguments against conspiracy were aired once again, as though they were brand new.
The Forces of Good vs. the Forces of Evil:
A Life and Death Struggle
David Belin: Belin shows up in several places. He constructed a new CIA-White House base on behalf of his superiors by personally writing most of Chapter 19 of the Rockefeller Report on the CIA and the FBI. That material was used by Belin and others to try and shore up the Warren Commission defenses.
The reader may ask, "Why did Belin appear on `Face the Nation' on November 23, 1975 and get himself on the front page of the `New York Times' on the same day by proposing the reopening of the JFK case?"[15] The answer lies in Belin's own explanation. He wants America to see that a new investigation will confirm the findings of the Warren Commission, thereby strengthening the country's faith in its government. Just how did Belin manage to get on "Face the Nation" and on the first page of the "New York Times?" To answer that you must analyze the life and death struggle that is going on between the forces of evil who want to continue the cover-ups, and the forces of good who want to expose the truth. Senators Richard Schweiker and Gary Hart and the Church Committee's subcommittee looking into the JFK assassination were not the push-overs that Mark Lane, Harold Weisberg and others once were. There were also Henry B. Gonzalez and Thomas Downing and their new resolutions in the House, not to mention Don Edwards' subcommittee and Bella Abzug's subcommittee.
The evil forces needed to muster the strongest counterattack possible at this stage. For them it was a matter of life and death. So they rounded up David Belin, Joseph Ball, Wesley Liebeler, John J. McCloy, Dr. John Lattimer, the old Ramsey Clark panel of doctors who secretly went into the Archives in 1968, and some of the coterie of writers who were in their camp in the 1960's.
"I've Seen No New Evidence"
Any doubts about Belin's recruitment by Ford and the White House disappeared with Gerald Ford's press conference on Wednesday, November 26, 1975. A reporter asked Ford whether he would support reopening the JFK investigation.[16] He said, "I, of course, served on the Warren Commission. And I know a good deal about the hearings and the committee report, obviously. There are some new developments--not evidence--but new developments that, according to one of our best staff members (David Belin), who's kept up to date on it more than I, that he thinks just to lay those charges (of conspiracy) aside that a new investigation ought to be undertaken. He, at the same time, said that no new evidence has come up. If those particular developments could be fully investigated without reopening the whole matter that took us 10 months to conclude, I think some responsible group or organization ought to do so. But not to reopen all of the other aspects because I think they were thoroughly covered by the Warren Commission."
Thus Ford, in one of his own inimitable paragraphs, tried to give the impression that he was following the lead of David Belin--rather than the other way around--in the continued cover-up efforts. Earl Warren was always saying, "I've seen no new evidence." Ford, Belin and the rest were forced to echo this refrain, as though all of the things that have been learned since 1964 about the real assassins of John Kennedy and their planners and backers, were false rumors or stories and theories created out of whole cloth by the researchers and later by Congress.[17]
Pure Coincidence?
One CIA-White House lackey is James Phelan, formerly a freelance writer for the old "Saturday Evening Post." Phelan was brought out of mothballs to do a pro-Warren Commission piece in the "New York Times" Sunday magazine section.[18] By pure coincidence, it happened to appear on the same day that Belin's arranged interview was found on page one. The "Times" is one of the worst, if not the worst, news media organization on the evil side of the battle.
An article in the July 1971 issue of "Computers and Automation"[19] shows that the CIA control of the "Times" had for years been directed through Harding Bancroft, the Secret Team member there. He controlled all stories and editorial positions on domestic assassinations. He undoubtedly arranged for both stories to appear on the same day.[20]
CBS. Cover-Up Broadcasting System
The Belin appearance on the CBS show, "Face the Nation", was no doubt timed to coincide with the first two parts of the new CBS whitewash series. (The new name for CBS is "Cover-Up Broadcasting System".) The men at the top made the decisions in 1967 and 1975 to support the Warren Commission, and Leslie Midgeley carried them out. In 1967 the entire program format was changed by top management from pro-conspiracy to proWarren Commission in the last ten days before the first show went on the air.[21] By 1975 there wasn't any doubt about the conclusions. Midgeley and Co. started out with the lone assassin thesis and, as the Warren Commission did, merely sought witnesses, experts and explanations that would back it up, while they totally ignored everything else.
The CIA's man at CBS who controlled this policy is not known. Personal experiences and contacts within the organization by the author have led to the conclusion that it is someone below the level of William C. Paley and above the level of Midgeley. That leaves Richard Salant and one or two other possibilities. Salant is known to have had intelligence connections through the decades since World War II.
Too Perfect Timing
CBS and the "New York Times" are sometimes simultaneously orchestrated by the evil forces. One example was the CBS show preview by the "Times" on November 24 (the show was scheduled to appear on November 25 and 26).[22] The article, written by John J. O'Connor, was a reversepsychology strategy by the top managements of both organizations and was used to reinforce their pro-Warren Commission policies. To quote O'Connor, "In bringing some facts to bear on the feverish speculation, CBS News is less sensational but more telling." This was in reference to David Susskind and Geraldo Rivera on Channel 5 in New York, and ABC, who the "Times" believed provided no facts in disputing the lone assassin conclusion.
How did O'Connor and the "New York Times" take a look at the CBS shows *two days in advance* while other publications and reviewers had to wait and watch it with the rest of us? There goes the orchestration again.
"Newsweek" Editorial Position: Schweiker, Hart and Gonzalez Misled by Kooks
The "Washington Post"-"Newsweek" situation is a little more mystifying. It is difficult to believe that Katherine Graham, owner of both publications, is a Secret Team member. The "Newsweek" story on the JFK assassination, published in the issue of April 28, 1975[23] was not as blatantly pro-Warren Commission as the "Time" article. Yet it left the impression with the readers of "Newsweek" that editorial position regarded the researchers as kooks who misled or talked Senator Schweiker and Representatives Gonzalez and Downing into the wrong attitudes. "Oswald did fire the shots" is the "Newsweek" message. Individuals at "Newsweek" like Evert Clark did not really believe this. So where did the pressure come from? Mrs. Graham herself, or Benjamin Bradlee at the "Post," or someone else near the top of "Newsweek?" With reporters like Bernstein and Woodward, and Haynes Johnson who later moved into management, it is strange that the "Post" supported the Warren Commission. Yet that has been the "Post"'s editorial stance since 1964. It remains adamant in its continuing contention that lone madmen assassinated our three leaders and attempted to assassinate Wallace.
Eliminate Areas of Doubt
Researcher Jim Blickenstaff, disturbed by a "Newsweek" article in April of 1975, wrote to the editors. Madeline Edmundson replied for them. "It was certainly not our aim to discredit those who doubt the conclusions of the Warren Commission or to express opposition to a reopening of the investigation of John F. Kennedy's assassination."
Yet, "Newsweek" did exactly that and, in effect, took the same editorial position it had taken in May, 1967, when CIA lackey Hugh Aynesworth was doing their dirty work. (Aynesworth later did the CIA's dirty work and supported the Warren Commission for the "Dallas Times Herald.") The new position in favor of reopening the investigation was the one taken by Belin. It was expressed best by Harrison Salisbury, the man at the "New York Times" who knew better. Salisbury was quoted in "Newsweek" saying, "A new investigation is needed to answer questions of major importance. We will go over all the areas of doubt and hope to eliminate them."
UPI: Accessory After the Fact in the JFK Conspiracy Cover-Up
AP and UPI have not repeated their 1967-1968 performances recently in which they sent out the longest stories ever broadcast over their news service wires. They were so long that they were divided into installments. The stories backed up the Warren Commission and attacked the researchers, especially Jim Garrison. UPI, of course, became an accessory after the fact in the JFK conspiracy cover-up by suppressing the original 8mm color films by Marie Muchmore and Orville Nix. It went even further by employing Itek Corporation to prove there was no one on the grassy knoll.
In July of 1975 a UPI alumnus, Maurice Schonfeld, published an article in "Columbia Journalism Review"[24] that subtly contended one of the riflemen on the knoll as seen in the original Nix film was either an illusion or a man without a rifle.
"Expert" Opinions
Itek: Itek is still at work helping out their friendly employers, the U.S. government and the CIA. Itek analyzed the Zapruder film and the Hughes film on the CBS program aired in November of 1975, giving its "expert" opinion that all shots fired in Dealey Plaza came from the sixth floor window of the TSBD Building.
Maurice Schonfeld, perhaps unwittingly, did a favor for researchers in his "Columbia Journalism Review" article that revealed that two officials of Itek, Howard Sprague and Franklin T. Lindsay, were CIA Secret Team members. So when Ford, Belin and Salant or whoever at CBS needed help, all they had to do was call upon good old Itek and Howard Sprague. (Frank Lindsay has since departed.)
AP: Faithful to the White House and CIA
Associated Press has been editorially silent since 1969. They have faithfully broadcast all of the White House-CIA cover or planted stories without comment.
Keeping the Lid On
"Los Angeles Times:" "The Los Angeles Times," controlled by Norman Chandler who was strongly influenced by the Ford administration, the CIA and Evelle Younger (the Attorney General of California), produced a complete cover-up effort in the Robert Kennedy assassination conspiracy. Younger, of course, was D.A. in Los Angeles County when RFK was killed. He and Ed Davis, L.A. Police Chief, teamed up with Joseph Busch, assistant D.A., to cover up the conspiracy evidence. The "Times" for a short, unguarded period allowed reporter Dave Smith to publish the truth about the assassination. This stopped in 1974, after Al Lowenstein stirred Vincent Bugliosi, Baxter Ward, Thomas Bradley, and finally Governor Pat Brown, Jr. to take a new interest in the case.
Younger influenced Chandler to shut off the flow of information through the "Los Angeles Times." Chandler, who contributed to the Nixon campaign, undoubtedly was strong-armed by both Nixon and Ford (or the CIA) to support the position of the Los Angeles police and the D.A.'s office. Ronald Reagan and his immediate deputy at the time also helped sway Chandler and others in California to keep the lid on.
Zapruder Film Broadcast on Two Occasions
The American Broadcasting Corporation was the first of the television networks to seemingly break away from CIA-White House control. In the spring of 1975, after Robert Groden, Dick Gregory, Ralph Schoenman and Jerry Policoff decided to release and publicize a clear, enlarged, stopaction color copy of the Zapruder film, the ABC show hosted by Geraldo Rivera, "Good Night, America," showed the film on two occasions. Rivera might have made this move against the wishes of top ABC management. Rumor had it during the summer months that he was in hot water with high level people. All doubts about ABC's position disappeared when they broadcast an assassination special during the week of November 17, 1975 that supported the lone assassin theory.
"Conspiracy Fever"
"Commentary:" One surprising newcomer to the cover-up conspiracy group is "Commentary." The liberal, open-minded, non-government magazine "Commentary" broke their pattern in the October 1975 issue[25] when it published an article by Dr. Jacob Cohen from Brandeis University which attacked the researchers as paranoid conspiratorialists. Cohen has been writing these defenses for the Warren Commission for over ten years. This article was republished in several other places in November, 1975, as part of the orchestrated campaign by the CIA-White House.
A Straight News Story
"U.S. News and World Report:" "U.S. News" may be one of the few media publications to change positions. On September 15, 1975 they ran a story entitled, "Behind the Move to Reopen the JFK Case". It was a straight news story about Senator Schweiker's efforts and list of uncovered evidence raising new questions. The article closed with: "Numerous Americans who long have doubted the Warren Commission conclusions will be watching what the Senate does with his (Schweiker's) idea." That is as close as any of the fifteen organizations came to saying they believe the Warren Commission was wrong.
A Breath of Fresh Air
"Saturday Evening Post:" Like a breath of fresh air from the heartland of America in Indianapolis, Indiana, the revived "Saturday Evening Post" (Bobbs Merrill subsidiary) took an editorial stance. The "Post" not only published several strong articles on the assassinations but also called for reopening all of the cases, supported the Gonzalez-Downing resolutions, and offered a sizable reward for information leading to conviction of the murderers of John F. Kennedy.[26] Thus the "Post" joined the ranks of the "National Enquirer," "National Tattler," "National Insider," "Argosy," "Penthouse," "Gallery," "Genesis" and other publications of this type, plus nearly all the "underground newspapers" in calling for new investigations.
CIA Operatives Are Serving as Journalists For News Organizations Abroad
"Variety:" On November 12, 1975, "Variety" published an article on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees' suspicions about relationships between the CIA and broadcasting organizations.[27] "Variety" said the committees were probing the CIA's influence on the media organizations, particularly management connections, and commented, "A central issue in the investigations is reports of financial dealings with the CIA and media firms with extensive overseas staffs."
William Colby admitted that CIA operatives were currently serving as journalists for news organizations abroad, and that "detailmen" were assigned abroad to news organizations, often without the knowledge of management. Ronald Dellums, California representative asked Colby in an open session of a House hearing if the CIA had ever asked a network to kill a news story. Colby would not answer specifics in open session, so the panel went immediately behind closed doors to grill him for several hours.
Conclusions
It is to be hoped that all committees in the House and Senate will investigate the Secret Team members in the 15 media organizations and their influence and control over editorial policies on domestic assassination conspiracies. It is also to be hoped that the committees will investigate the role of then-president Gerald Ford and his working relationship to various CIA people in the original cover-up of the John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy. Certainly, David Belin's relationship to the CIA and to Ford in the media cover-up campaign needs be investigated.
Fletcher Prouty claimed in his November, 1975 article in "Gallery Magazine," "The Fourth Force,"[28] that Belin is a CIA operative. Prouty says, "The Rockefeller Commission did not look into this (the Fourth Force-CIA) because it had been penetrated on behalf of the CIA by David Belin, its chief counsel and former counsel of the Warren Commission. In fact, Belin still reports to the CIA." If this is indeed true, it explains every move Belin has made since 1964 and it also explains the mysterious way he appeared and reappeared on the front pages and editorial pages of various major newspapers, on choice television shows, and on the Rockefeller Commission.
If the Congress leaves the media-government-CIA link untouched--more serious than any of the other problems raised by the assassination conspiracies and their cover-ups--the United States might, in fact, be headed for the real 1984.
Postscript
On April 27, 1976 "The New York Times" published a story on the Senate Intelligence Committee revelation that the CIA would be keeping twentyfive journalist agents within the news media.[29] The Committee disclosed that George Bush planned to keep these people in the media positions that they had occupied for a long time.
The significant point about the story was a statement by a Committee staff member that many of the individuals were in executive positions at American news organizations. Bush had directed that the CIA stop hiring correspondents "accredited" by American publications and other news organizations. The "Times" recognized that the pivotal word in Bush's directive was "accredited." "Executives who do not work as correspondents are apparently not covered by Mr. Bush's directive, nor are freelance writers who are not affiliated with a specific employer." The article also said that in most cases the media organization was not aware of the individual's CIA connection.
This was yet the best confirmation that the CIA had its Secret Team members planted at the top of the media. Only one executive is required at the top of a media organization to control it when needed. Since the CIA had twenty-five executives planted, that figure is more than enough to control the fifteen media organizations mentioned in this chapter.
Who are they? The answer can be supplied by watching where the decisions come from to halt or change the news about domestic political assassinations.
The indications from the analysis in this chapter are that the following media executives are among the twenty-five retained by the CIA: Harding Bancroft, Jr. ("New York Times"); Richard Salant (CBS); George Love (Time, Inc./"Life"); Walter Sheridan (NBC); Lewis Powell, lawyer (ABC); and Benjamin Bradlee ("Washington Post").
[1] "Accessories After the Fact" is the title of a book by Sylvia Meagher, published by Bobbs Merrill in 1967, accusing the Warren Commission and the various government agencies of covering up the crime of the century. This book accuses the national news media of the same crimes.
[2] Black Star is a New York based organization made up of free-lance photographers, called stringers, in every major city. They do contract work for news media with Black Star acting as contracting agent.
[3] Samuel Thurston, "The Central Intelligence Agency and `The New York Times,'" "Computers and Automation," July, 1971.
[4] CBS-TV Special on the Assassination of John Kennedy -- June 25, 26, 27 and 28, 1972.
[5] "Computers and Automation," July, 1971
[6] For a more detailed analysis of the "Times"' culpability and selective bias in reporting the facts of the assassination, see Jerry Policoff's October 1972 article in "The Realist:" "How All the News About Political Assassinations In the United States Has Not Been Fit to Print in `The New York Times.'"
[7] A detailed review of NBC's performance and Walter Sheridan's and Richard Townley's involvement is given in "The Kennedy Conspiracy" by Paris Flammonde.
[8] Those interested in more detail are referred to the map in the May 1970 issue of "Computers and Automation" on the JFK assassination. The UPI definition of "the grassy knoll" was the area bounded by the picket fence, the stone wall, the top of the steps on the south, and the cupola.
[9] For a comparison of New Orleans newspapers and all other media coverage of the Shaw trial, see the author's unpublished book "The Trial of Clay Shaw -- The Truth and the Fiction."
[10] Prouty, L. Fletcher, "The Secret Team," Prentice Hall, 1973.
[11] Policoff, Jerry, "The Media and the Murder of John Kennedy", "New Times," October, 1975.
[12] "Who Killed JFK? Just One Assassin," "Time" magazine, November 24, 1975.
[13] "Up Front -- Did One Man With One Gun Kill John F, Kennedy? Eight Skeptics Who Say No," "People," November 3, 1975.
[14] Author's discussion with Jerry Policoff, November 29, 1975.
[15] "Warren Panel Aide Calls for 2nd Inquiry Into Kennedy Killing", "New York Times," November 23, 1975, p. 1.
[16] Transcript of Gerald Ford Press Conference "New York Times," November 27, 1975.
[17] For a summary of the evidence and scenario about what it shows the reader is referred to two articles in "People and the Pursuit of Truth:" "The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy the Involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Plans and the Cover-Up," May 1975, and "Who Killed JFK?," October, 1975. Both by the author.
[18] Phelan, James R., "The Assassination," "New York Times Magazine Section," November 23, 1975.
[19] Thurston, Samuel F. (psuedonym for Richard E. Sprague), "The Central Intelligence Agency and `The New York Times'" "Computers and Automation," July, 1971.
[20] Bancroft retired in early 1976. A successor has undoubtedly been groomed by the CIA. However, Bancroft still has a strong influence at the "Times" on the subject of assassinations.
[21] Based on a discussion among the author, Dan Rather, and Robert Richter at CBS in Washington, D.C., approximately ten days before the first Cronkite-CBS section of the 1967 four-part series on the JFK assassination.
[22] O'Conner, John J., "TV: CBS News is Presenting Two Hour-Long Programs on the Assassination of President Kennedy", "New York Times," November 24, 1975.
[23] "Dallas: New Questions and Answers," "Newsweek," April 28, 1975.
[24] Schonfeld, Maurice W., "The Shadow of a Gunman," "Columbia Journalism Review," July-August, 1975.
[25] Cohen, John, "Conspiracy Fever," "Commentary," October, 1975.
[26] "Saturday Evening Post," September, October, November and December, 1975 issues.
[27] "D.C. Digs Deep Into TV News Ties With CIA," "Variety," November 12, 1975.
[28] Prouty, L. Fletcher, "The Fourth Force," "Gallery," November, 1975.
[29] "CIA Will Keep More Than 25 Journalist-Agents," "New York Times," April 27, 1976, p. 26.