Hard Times for Rocky

Reflecting on Nelson Rockefeller's new problems, the New York Times editorial page was duly sympathetic. The Times was unhappy about the unnecessary delay in the confirmation hearings, pointing out that during the hiatus "dribs and drabs of information about Mr. Rockefeller and the Rockefeller family--much of it distorted--will keep filtering into newspapers."

True enough. What the editorial did not mention was that the Times, more than any other influential paper, has been spreading these dribs and drabs across Page One with an unusually broad brush. It disclosed rather breathlessly, for instance, Brother Laurance's routine lobbying for Government approval of an airline acquisition, linking the effort to the Rockefeller family's political campaign contributions. After the basic facts of the anti-Goldberg campaign "biography" had been widely reported, the Times discovered--and front-paged--another minor link in the book's financing. Then a tax expert was found who complained, again on Page One, about one arguable aspect of Rockefeller's tax return.

The Times coverage has also been noteworthy in what it has downplayed.

On Oct. 20, Robert Byrd, the Senator who had given Rockefeller the toughest interrogation during the initial Rules Committee hearing, said that he would vote for Rockefeller's confirmation despite the adverse information that had come out. The Washington Post ran that story on Page One. The Times gave it two inches on page 23.

Rockefeller, of course, is a local as well as national personality for the Times, and his curious largesse to his associates certainly demands thorough examination. Though some individual columnists and reporters have been critical of the former Governor and his policies, the paper has generally supported him over the years. It can hardly be accused of a personal vendetta. Instead, the Times, having done poorly in the initial phases of Watergate coverage and having invested relatively little in muckraking prior to Watergate, seems now to be overcompensating for past lapses.

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