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45 Minutes With Mike Wallace

CBS's Tough Questioner Gives a Few Answers

You're confident then, that if Gen. Westmoreland chose to proceed, the jury could have ruled for CBS.

Not only am I confident. I think Gen. Westmoreland was satisfied that we were wrong to win not only on malice, but on truth as well.

I think he knew that the jury was going to decide against him, so he got out. Mind you, I have compassion for the man and understanding of the man now. The two of us became partners in misery in that courtroom. For the first two and one-half months. I was taking all the hits, day after day, without the opportunity to answer, and that's very difficult to handle. The for the second two and a half months, he was taking all the hits, day after day.

To sit there, chained to your chair, in effect, in that cold and drafty courtroom listening to your integrity being questioned and a reporter's integrity is all in the world that he's got--was very draining process.

How has the court of public opinion ruled in the case?

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From what I've seen, both in editorials and in editorial cartoons, and in the comments immediately after the Westmoreland withdrawal, the impression I got was that everybody understood that Westie decided that discretion was the better part of valor and he decided to cut his losses.

Aside from the integrity of the broadcast, do you have any regrets in light of the ordeal that it precipitated?

I would not get involved with another broadcast of that nature unless I were able to give it my full attention. To some degree that is a regret about my participation in the broadcast. Certain of the production practices were found wanting and I'm inclined to agree with some of those.

Would you specify?

Yes. If there are guidelines there, abide by the guidelines. Mind you. I don't think there should be guidelines. The sole guideline should be accuracy and fairness.

It seems to be a documented fact that the press is something of an unpopular institution. A lot of people think that it's too powerful and that it's too insensitive.

You're certainly one of the most visible journalists around. Do you think your distinctive style, which some would call hard-hitting, others might call bullying, contributes to that public perception of the media?

First of all, I don't accept your premise. There is skepticism about the press just as there is skepticism about lawyers, politicians, even some members of the clergy. We are a better educated people today. We have the benefit of all manner of muckraking available to us. We are as partisan today as we have been in recent history, but at the same time, what's the most popular broadcast on the air? The evening news.

If you put together Rather, Brokaw, and Jennings, you'll find that two out of every three television sets that that are on are tuned to the evening news. If they're that skeptical about what we're bringing them on the air, why are they watching in such huge numbers?

I think we overstate the skepticism of the American people about television journalism.

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