PUBLIC TV'S C.I.A. SHOW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000200970012-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: July 19, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000200970012-0
ARTICLE APPEARED NATION
/ON FACE 19-26 JULY 1980
programs was Free; to'Choose?written` by-and
srarrin`Q=_ ontroversial`'economist Milton` :Fried-~
policy; S5
ing statio
American
$105,000
Choose (tJ
noncomm
given abq
Gift, a se
because
funds. In
most dift
for prepr
j;... _~ man; among whose previous activities was advis In addi
ing the Pinochet Government ]n Chile. :The show~examines. - of $47,50
almost every Ffacet of .the-free enteipnse system except the, public s
``source of-the_fundin or~Vlilton.Fnedrnan's series debut Oil ;grew out
public T`f: As far as the average viewer of Free to Choose of the Re
could.tell from the credits, the money was provided mainly :..-The ne
by foundations rather than corporations; once again, it support
seemed public television had- provided an independent being pr
forum for controversial programs. brochure
But did it? If a program on the energy crisis were funded tions guy
by the Mobil Oil Corporation or the Exxon Corporation, letter rev
the- conflict of interest would be-obvious,. but the ethical valved in
problems raised by foundation sponsorship of public televi- ter to look ahead and examine what role the C.I.A. might:
sion are less clear-cut. The general public regards founda- play when confronted with a crisis in the future." :._
tions, for the most part, as charitable.organizations func-- Drafts of the story and teleplays are being reviewed by,
tioning on behalf of some ill-defined publicinterest, and the. "consultants," according to the promotion brochure, who:
foundation world has worked hard to foster this image.; ~i -
include- William.- Colby, .former director of the C.I.A.;;
But it is precisely this benign public view of foundations. Samuel Halpern,-former C.I.A.; executive assistant to the
that has made them increasingly attractive "neutral",spon deputy director for plans; John Maury, former C.I.A. chief
sors for controversial public television shows. Corporations of Soviet operations, legislative counsel for Congressional.
and institutions whose images are tarnished now seek such relations ` and :A Assistant Secretary. of. Defense.. and Cord STAY
"neutral".intermediaries to convey their'views. Meyer, former chief of the C.I.A. covert action staff, chief
The Smith Richardson Foundation of Greensboro North
of, the London station and assistant to the deputy director.
Carolina, is one such ideological .middleman...This non ..-Despite the fact -that Smith-.Richardson' Foundation
profit foundation, which provided seed money (a. small but
money and other grants have not been enough to produce
crucial sum) for Freer to Choose as well as for other pro- the program as yet,: the initial biases of the project and of a
'
:grams of
similar . conservative hue,. has had close ties to the.
.'Central .Intelligence -Agency:.- and. the.Defense Department
for many-years..- Its funding of programs dealing with for-
eign:. policy c or domestic-:spending. raises. serious'ques
tions about what should: constitute a'=conflict of interest
Of equal importance is =the"`viewers' .right .to know. the
ideological, eanings of theunder writers of such programs.
so that the calf better assess the" objectivity:
Raising money for public programs is as uncertain as pan -
.runs for. gold- Advertising isn't permitted on the system,
which is partially funded by the Government. Producers of
controversial programs have'a particularly difficult task
because underwriters are reluctant to support`them..' V '
One reliable and. lucrative source of funds, however, has
been the Smith Richardson Foundation. With assets of ap
V proximately-$60 million, the- foundation has, since 1975,
Smith Richardson as a donor of such money for public TV
programs. The more one knows about 'the foundation the
more disturbing these problems become.
---In 1935,.the Smith. Richardson 'Foundation was incor-
porated in NorthCarolina under the name of the Richard-
son Foundation. It 'was established by. the late H. Smith
Richardson, the son of the".founder-of.the VickChemical
Company..The company's name was changed to Richard-
son-Merrell Inc.. in 1960 and the-foundation, which is in-
CONTINULD
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 CIA-RDP90-00806R000200970012-0