In the Networks We Trust? Broadcasters, Congress, and Control Over Television Journalism

In the summer of 1971, broadcasters in the United States rallied to defeat a contempt citation in the House of Representatives. Congressman Harley O. Staggers recommended holding Dr. Frank Stanton of CBS in contempt over his refusal to comply with a subpoena for unaired materials related to the production of the CBS News broadcast The Selling of the Pentagon. This moment is often remembered as a landmark victory for the freedom of the press. Yet behind the success were conservative local broadcasters across the country who defended neither CBS News nor journalistic principles but rather their own business interests. Revisiting the confrontation makes clear that attempts to regulate and control television constitute a political process rife with competing, and at times contradictory, interests, highlighting tension between the local and national and between business and journalism as central themes in television history.