The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, March 21, 1978-Page 5

Journalist claims newspaper
'supermarketing' molds lives

By HENRY ENGELHARDT
Wake up, America! Saul Friedman is
ticked off, disgusted, rather angry, and
he cannot understand why America is
sleeping through the 70s.
A Washington reporter for Knight-
Ridder newspapers, a chain that in-
cludes the Detroit Free Press, Fried-
man said newspapers today are "super-
marketing" the news.
"NEWS TODAY is pre-packaged,"
he remarked to journalism students in
the Rackham Building yesterday. "You
get a section on how to be a woman, a
section on what to do on the weeken-
ends ... it's Farah-Fawcett journalism.
"They think that's what you are, cool,
fast, pre-packaged - television in
print. It's this kind of journalism that's
giving fits to serious reporters. Super-
marketing journalism twists and per-
verts the newspaper industry," he con-
tinued.
"I have in my office, besides plants
and papers, a gas mask, to remind me
that politics and decisions were not
always made in the halls of Congress,'
added Friedman, who has been a
Washington reporter since 1966. He
worked first for the Free Press and has
spent the last three years writing for
the entire Knight-Ridder chain.
."I GREW UP in journalism with a
whole new group of journalists who did

not just take the authoritarian view of
things, but went further," he said.
Friedman is mad at everybody -
publishers, editors, reporters and
readers - for allowing journalism to
corrode and lose its impact.
To Friedman, journalists' efforts in
Watergate and Koreagate are not
enough. "It's an open secret that Bert
Lance was the victim of an otherwise
dull summer," the 48-year-old reporter
explained.
FRIEIDMAN IS also worried.
Worried about falling newspaper sales
and the fact that 18-to-30-year-olds are
not reading newspapers like their
parents did. Part of the problem, he
said, stems from television.
"Is TV making people lazy, benign?"
he asked. "All that pretty color and
pretty music and all you have to do is
just take it in."
"You have to work to read a
newspaper. Is TV numbing the mind of
this generation?"
"IF YOU DON'T read a newspaper
because it doesn't speak to you and
have a pretty picture - if that's true
then all my arguments die. And so does
intellectualism."
His argument is almost an appeal. He
said he would like the American public
not to believe this is the apathetic

decade.
"My fear," Friedman explained, "is
that newspapers will continue to pander
to what they perceive is an ignorant and
lazy populus, and that prophecy will be
fulfilled even further."
FRIEDMAN said much of the blame
must fall on the shoulders of the public
for believing this is a time to be passive.
He compared today's situation with
that of the early 50s, after World War II
- about the time McCarthy stepped on
1N!
Birth Defects
are forever.
Unless you
HELP
MARCH OF DIMES
THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY THE PUBLISHER

civil liberties.
"Who is to say the country wants a
rest? I was one of that generation and I
didn't want to rest," he exclaimed.
"THERE ARE problems in this coun-
try that are going to face the hell out of
you. The 60s followed the 50s, what's to
follow the 70s. Who's to say there has to
be a lull? Editors feel for this kind of
cyclical mood.
"To say there is a mood that the coun-
try is ready to go to sleep ought to be
questioned by you," he expounded.
"Why are you ready for the grave?"
Friedman asked.
Lou Gehrig of the Yankees drove in
150 or more runs for three straight
years, 1930, 1931, 1932.
THE
WORLDWA TCH
PAPER'
SERIES
- Published by the Worldwatch Institute; a
non-prof itresearch organization, each
paper presents a critical analysis af a
particular global problem.
* All papers are available at $2.00 each.
" Discounts available for classroom use.
" Paper 17 is: local Responses to Global
Problems: A Key to Meeting Basic
Human Needs by Bruce Stokes.
A PERIODICAL
RETREAT
316 S. State
663-0215

Doily Photo by BRAD BENJAMIN,

Friedman


COLLEGIATE UNITED NATIONS:
ock Israeli deleg
By MARK PARRENT
While the real United Nations . to-day activities turned out
ecurity Council was in hurried tic negotiating session for
eliberations over the Mideast delegation as the picture in
roblem, a group of eight University changed almost hourly.
tudents was in New York last week The problem being con
imulating the Israeli UN delegation at both Security Councils was
he collegiate National Model United last week's Palestinian gue
ations. into Israel and Israel's sut
"Here we were, trying to simulate vasion into Lebanon.
xactly what was happening two miles The simulated Securi
own the road," said Rick David, one of passed a resolution near th
he University representatives to the conference Sunday that
onference. "immediate cessation of
Israeli activity in Lebanon
WHAT WAS expected to be a calm mediate withdrawal of Isra
imulation of the United Nations' day- Lebanon," according to Da'

ation confronts real crisis

all campus
SINGLES
BOWLING
TOURNAMENT
FOR WOMEN AND MEN
SIGN UP NOW
at the IM building

to be a hec-
the Israeli
the Mideast
nsidered by
s, of course,
rrilla attack
bsequent in-
ty Council
e end of the
called for
all armed
n" and "im-
eli troops in
vid. The real

Security Council passed a similar
resolution shortly afterward condem-
ning Israeli presence in Lebanon and
calling for the presence of
peacekeeping troops.
THE STUDENT delegation, which
won an award as one of the most effec-
tive at the 120 college conference, con-

sisted of David, Sarah Coats, Jeffrey
Colman, James Demb, Carolyn Rosen-
berg, Michael Rudzinski, Debbie
Salinger and David Schreier.
The six-day trip was financed by the
University, the Michigan Student
Assembly, and various private sources.
"And I'm actually Lebanese," reflec-
ted delegation-leader David.


Union strike Possible
(Continued from Page 1) ning."
itrators presented their cases concer- Concerning the charges of employe
ing the Unit Custodian classification harassment he said, "Our intention is to
February 14 and March 17 to neutral change things substantially in Mott
arbitrators. A decision will be reached Children's Hospital (part of the Medical
within the next few weeks. Center) by the end of March."
One hospital spokesman said, "I Striking is not a tactic AFSCME
believe the people have been doing a members are unfamiliar with, for last
good job. I don't believe it's a perfor- year members held a month-long walk-
mance problem - it's the general out when initial attempts at a new con-
problems we anticipated in the begin- tract failed.
John Wayne, Honorary Crusade Chairman.
N ;
.l'
May be we'l
cure cancer
without your help,
but don't bet
your life onit.
The way it stands today, one American out of four will
someday have cancer. That means it will strike some member in
two out of three American families.
To change those statistics we have to bring the promise of
rnc ar- t ,yrimi rt-a.lti AndA ti 'vrnan oiilr A he'tivn nrofy'rrnm

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March 223-4 p. m.
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All interested persons attend.

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Would
you
help
this kid?

When the dam broke at Buffalo Creek, West Virginia, a lot of
people weren't as lucky as this little guy.
Jamie and the rest of the Mosley family made it up the hill
just in the nick of time. Seconds later, a wall of water swept all
their earthly possessions away.
Here you see Jamie in the Red Cross shelter, thinking it
all over.
One look at that face, and we're awfully glad we were there
to help.
Every year, you know, Red Cross touches the lives of mil-
lions upon millions of Americans. Rich. Poor. Average. Black.
White. Christian and Jew. With support. With comfort. With
a helping hand when they need it.
So when you open your heart, with your time or your money,
you can be certain it's in the right place.
A Public Service of This Newspaper & The Advertising Council


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