LETTER TO MR. JOSEPH ALSOP FROM WILLIAM H. JACKSON

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03106394
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: July 13, 2023
• Document Release Date: December 15, 2022
• Case Number: F-2022-01326
• Publication Date: January 26, 1951

Approved for Release: 2022/10/17 C03106394
26 Janu2r;7 1951
Joseph_AlSOP
2720 Dumbarton Avenue
rtohingten 7, D. C.
Dear Joe:
I have enjoyed your hospitality so much and you have been
so patient with me in discussion of our differences of opinion
that I wish I could accept the point of view expressed in your
letter of January 22nd.
I know that responsible newspapermen should be able to
secure background facts from governmental officials and I know
also that only concrete facts will have t,pact upon public
opinion. Conceding this much, it does not follow that an
official of CIP cAn give out classified infornation to anyone
not authorized to rebeive it. In n:soy cases, infomation is
classified vhen it sliould not be classified but the porer of
this kency to correct such miLAakes in classification is very
United.
Conceding a little more to your point of view, I believe
that at some hi41 level of Thvernment an official should be
authorized in his discretion to make certain classified back-
ground facts available to responsible newspaoormen. I do not
think, harever, that this authority should ever be given or
exercised by this r.ency.
FinallY, even though I agreed with you entirely, I should
not and will not violate a directive from higher authority
authorized by an Act of Congress to give ma an order. This may
sound legalistic, even stuffy, but I am sure that if you were
in py place you would to the same position that I have taken.
7ith best person.]. regards,
Very sincerely,
4/ --
VILLIEV H. JACKSON
DOCUMENT NO. _ 2- I
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�
JOSEPH AND STEWART ALSOP
2720 Dumbarton Avenue
Washington 7, D.C.
Dear Bill:
Telephone
Columbia 3781
January 22, 1951
Nothing could have been more agreeable than
to have your company at lunch, and since I respect
your opinions, I was extremely glad to hear them.
At the risk of seeming ungrateful, however,
I think I should lose no time to set the record straight
on one point. When I say that responsible newspapermen
ought to be able to secure background facts from res-
ponsible officials, I mean this absolutely literally.
Only facts, hard, concrete facts, have any impact upon
public opinion. To try to convince the American news-
paper reader of the reality of any situation by stating
mere opinion, no matter how high the source, is like
trying to nourish a man by feeding him only the gassy
part of a loaf of bread.
Inninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the
facts needed to portray any given situation are in the
public domain. That they may also be contained quite
incidentally in classified documents,does not alter their
essentially non-secret character. I only ask officials
like yourself about them, because I cannot usually be in
enough places at once to gather them myself from non-
official sources. The power to act of the American govern-
ment derives entirely from the people's knowledge of the
facts. If the people are uninformed, the government is
paralyzed. Thus it is not only the interest, it is also
the duty, of men in your position to see that vital facts
become known as rapidly as possible.
When an official rdfuses to discuss situations
of great national import in a concrete manner, I bear him
no grudge; I merely write him down as one of the very large
number whose views are too narrow, or whose experience is
too limited, to give him a clear understanding of the
machine of which he is a part. By the same token, when an
official is willing to talk about background facts sensibly
and concretely, I feel no gratitude; he is, in my opinion,
merely doing his job, as I am doing mine. At the same time,
in this latter case, I do feel a certain obligation with
regard to the use of any data that may come my way, which
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are within this official's general working purview. This
obligation, in brief, is to make sure that I do not use
these data in a manner that may be embarrassing to the
official. Whether or no the information has actually .
come from him, he may be asked, "Have you ever talked to
Alsop?" And if he must answer, "Yes", his denial of
responsibility for the particular publication of facts
that has given rise to inauiry,is likely not to prove
wholly convincing.
I put all this in writing, because I want to be
sure you understand my position. There could never in any
case be any auestion of any deal, or of any "arrangement
to cooperate", between you and me. No responsible news-
paperman with the faintest respect for his own position
would consider anything of that sort. The whole business
relationship between official and newspaperman turns upon
whether a sense of obligation is created; and this in
general depends upon the working of the rules I have set
forth above.
Sincerely,
JA: cc JOSEPH ALSOP
P.S. I drafted this Friday. Since then it was the,
greatest pleasure to see you and Mary at dinner -- how
being engaged becomes you both..
William H. Jackson, Esq.
1718 H Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
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