The Press: An Extra Nickel's Worth

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Status Cachet. In trying to overcome the problem of the Times's gray, visually intimidating makeup, Salisbury has recently brightened Op-Ed's appearance by the use of more pictures and cartoons. In Washington, particularly, an appearance on the Op-Ed page has become a status cachet. Salisbury admits that "it's become a prestige thing for bureaucrats. We have to fight them off." White House Staffers Robert Finch, Herbert Klein and William Safire have practiced what some readers regard as blatant pro-Nixon puffery in their Op-Ed contributions, but Salisbury insists that he has returned the worst such examples for rewrites and made "ruthless revisions" in others to purge them of their most obvious public relations touches. Contributions from both extremes of the political spectrum remain the most turgid in style, but overall, says Salisbury, "the quality of the writing has improved. We're much more severe now in what we accept. Interest has been aroused." With only slight exaggeration, he adds: "We have no problem tapping anyone in the world."