THE LIBERAL ESTABLISHMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100140008-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 18, 2006
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: January 30, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

ZrUS r'LiIGEL S TIME i
Approved For Release 200t/t2/a fij4 (I7FDP88-0131
+
`Liberal EstabllsIn
'-BY NICK B. WILLIAMS
One of the curious allegations against
the press is that there exists in its bosom
a "liberal establishment."
It is even more curious that none of
the newspapers alleged to be party-to the
"establishment" have made a noticeable ef-
fort to demonstrate that the allegation is
in fact poppycock. They seem, on the con-
trary, to be mildly proud of it, as if in-
cluding them among an "establishment"
were some kind of badge bf quality.
But the allegation is not intended by
those who make it to be an honor. The pur-
pose, Instead, is to imply a sort of elite con-
,,piracy that seeks in unison to thwart the
will of the "common people."
The concept of a "common people" is sil-
ly to begin with, but the allegation is not
silly, and its repetition is no sillier than
Goebbels' formula that.a lie repeated often
enough will be believed. The purpose of
the allegation is to weaken and if necessa-
ry to destroy the independence of the press
-to achieve by propaganda what the Con-
stitution forbids"by law.
posed of moderates-the moderate Rep
licans and the moderate Democrats.
.extremist elements of both parties are
norities, usually within each party anc
most always in the nation.
The "liberal establishment" newspal
thus tend to reflect the predominating
ter, presumably the "common people,"
always with complete accuracy and no
.ways uniformly throughout the nat
and the press as a whole- tends to re!
rather than to decide the political attiti
of the people, although it is the press
.takes the blame most often from ai
politicians and government functiona
Extremists by definition tend to a
vehemently among their kind,
moderates equally by :definition ten,
disagree within a broader spectrum. '
is the weakness of the moderate center
also its strength, permitting as it doe:
compromise of disagreements. And
this capacity for compromise that eni
the extremists of both major parties.
Political endorsements by those nevi
pers often listed in the."liberal estal
ment" are not a definitive analysis of
moderate capacity to disagree, but a
at them, from 1952 to 1968, does see
dissipate the myth of a tightly aligned
conspiracy to thwart the will of the
mon people. A workable conspiracy, e?
Those who speak of the'-"liberal estab-
lishment" now seem most often to include
in it The Los Angeles Times, the New
York Times, the Washington Post, the Bos-
ton Globe and the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
In Georgia they list the Atlanta Constitu
tion, in Florida the Miami Herald, in Ken-
tucky the Louisville Courier-Journal. In
Chicago it is the Sun-Times; in Baltimore,
the Sun; on Long Island, it's Newsday.
And there are others listed from time to
time, depending on. what they are saying
about current political issues.
Each of. these newspapers tends to reflect
the sociological and economic best interest
of the area in which it is published, and to
that extent each of them differs in details
from the editorial attitudes of the others.
But all of them do have two major char-
on-the characteristics
i
i
i
n: comm
cs
st
acter
which inspire the allegation of an "estab- Newsday was not listed. It also should be
lishment." Their editorial policies are basi- noted that in 1952, the Los Angeles Times
cally-independent and basically moderate. was not described by anyone as part of the
"liberal establishment."
Those who allege an "establishment" For Stevenson: The St. Louis Post Dis-
would find it difficult to decide which is ' patch, the Louisville Courier-Journal and
m o r e reprehensible, independence or the . Atlanta Constitution. The- Boston
moderation. But probably the latter, for.; Globe made no endorsement. In the entire-
St enson was supported
ev
h
moderation is anathema 'to extremist parti-
sans. What does not seem to matter is that,
taken as a whole, the predominating cen-
ter of the "common people" is itself com-
Williams was editor of The Times from
1958 until his retirement last year.
workable philosophy, requires more
formity than the record shows. The ob-
vious explanation is that with the single
exception of 1960, when Sen. Barry Gold-
water was the Republican nominee, the
candidates of each major party were near-
er to the center than to its extreme, near
enough in fact that newspapers with
strongly similar principles could disagree
on which candidate they endorsed.
It seems plausible, in the labeling game,
that Adlai Stevenson was more liberal
than Dwight Eisenhower, yet according to
Editor and Publisher magazine,. here is
how the "liberal establishment" newspa-
pers chose to endorse in 1952:
For Eisenhower; The Los Angeles Times,
the New York -Times, the Washington
Post, the Miami Herald, the Chicago Sunv
e press,
ty. of t
by 141,7o, Eisenhower by 67%, the rest not
endorsing.
In 1956; Stevenson's percentage of en-
dorsement by the entirety of the press
'
s
climbed only to 15%, while Eisenhower
percentage declined slightly to 621". The
"liberal establishment"_, divided this way:
1~IUUa wy 'uuv aev .,. Ea._".? -.. _. .. _
water ran against Lyndon Johnson. Then it
was a regional thing, the "Eastern liberal.
establishment." But since then the myth'
has. acquired a national connotation. Of the .
newspapers currently described as party
to the "establishment" only The Los. An-
geles Times endorsed Goldwater, who re-
ceived 356 endorsements from the press as
a whole compared to Johnson's 440, with
250 declining to endorse. The landslide re-
sult of the election showed the "liberal
establishment" to be reflective of the elec-
torate.
In 1068, Mr. Nixon won the endorsement
of 634 dailies, actually fewer endorsements
than he had in 1960 when he ran against
Kennedy, while Hubert Humphrey with
146 endorsements had fewer than support-
ed Kennedy in 1960. The "liberal establish-
ment" newspapers again divided about as
they did in 1960.
For Nixon: The Los Angeles .Times, the
Miami Herald, the Chicago Sun-Tines, the
Approved For Release 2006/12/19: CIA-RDP88-01314R000100140008-2