T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History Collection

ABSTRACT

INTERVIEWEE NAME: Elmer Lowrer #4700.0037

IDENTIFICATION: [1913- ], President of ABC News Department, 1963-1974, and ABC Corporate Vice President, 1974-1978

INTERVIEWER: LSU History Professor David Culbert and Graduate Student John Hilbert

DATE: September 11, 1980 FOCUS DATES: 1952-1978

ABSTRACT:

Tape 46

Relationship with David Douglas Duncan; Duncan goes to Vietnam for Life and ABC in 1968; "Scope," ABC's weekly program about the Vietnam war; ABC's small viewing audience in 1968; Duncan covers the Republican National Convention in 1968; coverage of General Loan's execution of a Viet Cong sympathizer; the issue of showing blood on the news; debates between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960; coverage of debates as public service by the networks; says first debate gave Kennedy momentum; Kennedy's handling of the concern about his Catholicism and how he attracted the black vote; Pete Edson breaks the story that lead to the "Checkers" speech; campaign commercials in 1952 election; retires in 1978; Nixon administration's attack on news media; Agnew accuses ABC of being unfair in 1969, bringing ABC forty-thousand letters, most of them unfavorable to ABC, and how ABC dealt with the disapproval; past presidential administrations' use of television; believes Watergate restores public faith in television news; building ABC into a professional news-gathering organization

TAPES: T 46 TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 1 hr 10 min # PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 22

RESTRICTIONS: copyright retained by the interviewee and/or his heirs