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82

FRIDAY, SEPT 18, 1987

ansas City — CBS-
TV news reporter
Mike Wallace
dismisses the suggestion that
"because of some of the pieces
that I have done, that I was a
self-hating Jew . . . That's
asinine!"
The backbone of the award-
winning 60 Minutes televi-
sion program for the past 18
years, Wallace, at age 69, is
still asking the tough and
oftentimes controversial
questions.
Wallace grew up in
Brookline, Mass., the son of
Russian-Jewish immigrants.
He was confirmed in a Reform
congregation but did not
become a bar mitzvah. Today,
Wallace describes himself as
an assimilated Jew who
seldom goes to services but
who is proud of his Jewish
heritage. "I am simply
Jewish," he said. He explain-
ed that "I suppose it means,
but it is not necessarily ex-
clusively Jewish, (that) my
religion, if you want to call it
that, is the Golden Rule — do
unto others — and I don't find
that difficult to reconcile with
my Jewishness."
The newsman said he feels
his heritage, "but when I say
that I am assimilated, my
wife is not (Jewish) . . . Most
of my friends are (Jewish),
both professional and per-
sonal, but I don't seek them
out for that reason:'
During his long career,
Wallace has interviewed and,
at times, interrogated
numerous renowned figures,
including former Israeli
Premier Menachem Begin,
Palestine Liberation
Organization chief Yassir
Arafat, controversial Knesset
member Rabbi Meir Kahane
and Austrian President Kurt
Waldheim.
Wallace has also explored
some of the more controver-
sial issues and events of our
time, including his 60
Minutes segment titled
"Soviet Jews." He did receive
some letters and a few angry
phone calls about the seg-
ment, but all in all, Wallace
said there was little audience
reaction to the controversial

piece. He attributes that light
response to the fact that the
Soviet policy of glasnost went
into effect during this time
with the number of Soviet

Ruth Baum Bigus is managing
editor of the Kansas City Jewish

Chronicle.

Jews being released hitting a
several-year high.
Wallace's trip to the Soviet
Union to tape the 60 Minutes
piece was not his first. He
said this time he found a
changed country. "You always
had a 'minder' with you in
previous trips and it was not
easy to get to talk to people
. . . On this trip, I was, on
several occasions, permitted
to go off and shoot without my
`minder'," he said.
A little over four years ago
Wallace won an Emmy for a
60 Minutes piece titled "The
Nazi Connection," detailing
the secret story of how the
United States helped Nazi
war criminals avoid prosecu-
tion and settle here. Wallace
feels the segment heightened
awareness about the war
criminal situation.
With that segment in mind,
Wallace has watched the re-
cent turn of events involving
Austrian President Kurt
Waldheim with interest. "He
lied about what he did during
World War II," remarked
Wallace. "When a man is in
a position of political and
moral authority, like Kurt
Waldheim, he is indeed fair
game . . . I don't think there
is any witch-hunting going
on."
Wallace said he does his ut-
most to see to it that his own
opinions never enter the
stories he covers, but he ad-
mits to having strong opi-
nions on certain things.
Recently, he interviewed
Anne Henderson-Pollard, the
wife of convicted spy
Jonathan Pollard and herself
serving time for assisting her
husband in his spying
activities.
While trying to present an
objective piece on her, Wallace
made no bones about how he
felt about the Pollards' ac-
tions, saying they were
wrong. "You simply do not spy
. . . you surely don't spy on
your own country for what
you perceive as your politics,"
he said.
While appearing at times to
attack his interviewees,
Wallace finds himself coming
under attack himself from
time to time for his controver-

sial pieces. It is something the
veteran broadcaster has
learned to live with.
"When they (audiences) are
very deeply involved with an
issue — one that gores their
particular ox — they ascribe
motives, understandings, pre-
judices to the reporter that
simply do not exist:'

Copyright 1987, JTA, Inc.

