Book Reviews : The Press in Washington. Edited by RAY ELDON HIEBERT. (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1966. Pp. xv, 233.)

• Date: 01 December 1966
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900428
• Published date: 01 December 1966
• Subject Matter: Articles

751

lessness.

However,

the

relative

significance

of

these

factors

and

of

others

is

not

really

clarified

in

this

study.

And

the

author

ignores

the

rather

obvious

point

that,

given

the

extraordinary

narrowness

of

their

victory

in

1916,

it

would

have

been

astonishing

indeed

for

the

Democrats

to

retain

control

(especially

in

the

House)

two

years

later.

But

despite

his

failure

to

provide

an

adequate

over-all

analysis

of

the

1918

election,

Livermore

has

made

a

significant

contribution

by

setting

the

record

straight

on

the

course

of

party

politics

during

the

war

period.

University

of

Sydney

MURRAY

C.

HAVENS

The

Press

in

Washington.

Edited

by

RAY

ELDON

HIEBERT.

(New

York:

Dodd,

Mead

and

Company,

1966.

Pp.

xv,

233.)

The

Opinionmakers.

By

WILLIAM

L.

RIVERS.

(Boston:

Beacon

Press,

1965.

Pp.

207.)

The

essays

in

Hiebert’s

The

Press

in

Washington,

we are

told

in

the

preface,

&dquo;originated

as

a

series

of

lectures

in

advanced

journalism.&dquo;

The

state

may

be

in

decline

if

these

essays

are

an

example

of

the

&dquo;fourth

branch

of

government,&dquo;

as

its

practitioners

are

so

wont

to

call

it.

In

this

book

journalists,

operating

in

a

variety

of

media,

specialties,

and

en-

vironments,

describe

their

work

or

offer

commentaries

on

the

relationship

between

the

press

and

government.

The

outstanding

discussion

is

James

E.

Clayton’s

&dquo;News

from

the

Supreme

Court

and

the

Justice

Department.&dquo;

If

it

does

nothing

else,

Clayton’s

article

will

discourage

the

political

scientist

from

making

weighty

pro-

nouncements

about

Supreme

Court

decisions

on

the

basis

of

his

reading

of

the

afternoon

newspaper. Clark

R.

Mollenhoff’s

&dquo;Secrecy,

Classified

Information,

and

Executive

Privilege&dquo;

is

a

useful

reiteration

of

his

long-standing

critique

of

both

governmental

information

practices

and

the

tendency

of

some

journalists

to

&dquo;go

along

to

get

along.&dquo;

Mollenhoff

is

also

critical

of

journalists

who

rigidly

adhere

to

a

closed

view

of

the

political

system,

especially

those

who

have

an

uncritical

pro-

executive,

anti-congressional

orientation.

Most

of

the

articles

in

the

Hiebert

collection

are

unexceptional.

Although

occasionally

marked

by

detachment

and

toughmindedness,

the

dominant

tone

is

one

of

complacency.

Rivers’

The

Opinionmakers

is

a

discussion

of

the

symbiotic

relationship

be-

tween

reporters

and

government

officials

accompanied

by

a

somewhat

critical

evaluation

of

the

impact

of

the

media

on

public

affairs

and

opinion.

Among

the

opinionmakers

selected

for

treatment

by

the

author

are

Lippmann,

Reston

and

the

New

York

Times,

Brinkley,

Time,

and

Drew

Pearson.

While

the

reader

will

get

some

insights

into

their

working

behavior

and

policies,

their

influence

seems

exag-

gerated

and

the

anecdote

is

given

excessive

attention.

In

two

complementary

chapters

the

author

relates

the

means

by

which

recent

Presidents

have

attempted

to

use

the

press

for

their

own

purposes

and

evaluates

their

success.

Obviously

we

accept

the

notion

that

publics

must

possess

information

about

the

political

system

before

being

able

to

make

demands

on

or

evaluate

political