MediaWatch: December 1988
Table of Contents:
Revolving Door: Sam's Sidekick
Sam's Sidekick. For the past seven years ABC's Sam Donaldson has relied on the help of someone with solid liberal credentials: Mari Hope, his assistant at the Washington bureau correspondents desk. An October Washington Times profile of Donaldson referred to Hope as "a former legislative assistant." Asked about this, she eagerly volunteered that "the L-word" describes her views. Hope explained she carried the title of Deputy Administrative Assistant to U.S. Rep. Ron Wyden when she helped "set up his office" just after the liberal Oregon Democrat was first elected in 1982. Hope also worked for the 1980 Carter-Mondale campaign.
NPR to Capitol Hill. Keith Morrison, Legislative Assistant to U.S. Representative Thomas Foglietta since April and a former National Public Radio (NPR) staffer, has been promoted to Legislative Director for the Pennsylvania Democrat. In early 1984 NPR hired him as Los Angeles bureau researcher. He moved to Washington a few months later where he put in a stint on the assignment desk at NPR headquarters until May 1985.
A Progressive Move. Judith Miller, the Washington reporter in the mid-1970's for The Progressive, a far-left monthly magazine, will soon begin a new editing assignment for The New York Times. Since early 1987 Miller's held the number two position in the Times Washington bureau as News Editor. Just after election day, however, she went on leave to complete a book about World War II. On February 1 Miller moves to New York to oversee media company news for the "Business Day" section.
Bush Connection. MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour off-air Capitol Hill reporter Susan Morrison, Deputy Communications Director for the 1980 George Bush for President Committee, has resigned from the PBS show. She has not announced any new plans. Her decision to join the Bush campaign came as quite a surprise in 1979 given her position at the time: Director of Communications for the Democratic National Committee. In 1976 she served as Field Director for the presidential effort launched the late Senator Frank Church.
After the demise of the Bush campaign, Morrison landed an assignment editor slot with the ABC News Washington bureau. CBS News hired her away in 1984, making her Assignment Manager, replacing Anne Edwards who quit to become scheduler for Mondale-Ferraro. The Washington position allowed Morrison to work near Martin Plissner, Executive Political Editor for CBS News, and her husband.
So which side of the political spectrum holds her allegiance? In 1980 a Washington Post Magazine staffer wrote: "There are moments, however, when Morrison is clearly troubled by the ideological tenor of the Bush campaign. After a speech in Concord, N.H., in which Bush waxed particulary Reaganesque, Morrison confessed, 'I started thinking about the issues today. I got depressed.'"
