The Press: Non-Service by CBS

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Just seven days after CBS announced that it would no longer practice "instant analysis" on presidential TV speeches (TIME, June 18), the new policy had its first competitive test last week. On NBC, John Chancellor gave a summary and some mild commentary on Richard Nixon's address on the economy, as did Frank Reynolds and Tom Jarriel on ABC. The Public Broadcasting Service let Correspondent Robert MacNeil discuss the message with two experts.

All had advance access to Nixon's text and to a White House background briefing by Treasury Secretary Charles Shultz, who put the price freeze in perspective by comparing it to "shock treatment." Those who watched the President on CBS were spared such explication. The network went straight back to Sonny and Cher. Instant analysis annoys the White House when correspondents challenge presidential dicta. In this case, however, CBS simply ignored the Administration's own background information—a service to neither the President nor the public.