The Evening News (20 page)

Sloane said sharply, "What kind of agreements
?
”

"The way I hear, the kind big entrepreneurs reach in their exclusive clubs
and private homes. For example: 'We'll tell our network not to try to hire
away your network news people, provided you agree not to go after ours. That way we won't push salaries up all around, and can work on red
ucing some of the big ones.
”

“
That's collusion, restraint of trade. It's goddamned illegal
!”

"Only if you can prove it happened
,”
Chippingham pointed out
.”
How can
you, though, if the agreement's made over drinks at the Links Club or the
Metropolitan, and no record is kept, nothing ever written down
?
”

Sloane was silent and Chippingham pressed the message home
.”
What it
amounts to, Crawf, is that this is not the best of times to push too
hard
.”

Sloane said abruptly, "You said Insen envisaged someone else in my place
.
Who
?
”

"He mentioned Harry Partridge
.”

Partridget Once more, Sloane thought, he was looming as a competitor. He
wondered if Partridge had planted the idea. As if divining the thought
,
Chippingham said, "Apparently Chuck mentioned the idea to Harry, who was
surprised but didn't think he'd be interested
.”

Chippingham added, "Oh, another thing Chuck Insen told me: If it comes
to a choice between him and you, he isn't going without a fight. He's
threatened to take it personally to the top
.”

"Meaning what
?
”

"Meaning he'll talk to Margot Lloyd-Mason
.”

Crawford Sloane exploded
.”
Go to that bitch! He wouldn't dare
!”

"I believe he would. And she may be a bitch, but Margot has the power
.”

As Leslie Chippingham well knew.

CBA had been the last of the major broadcast networks to fall victim to
what those in the business privately labeled "the invasion of the
Philistines
.”
That was the description given to the takeover of the
networks by industrial conglomerates whose insistence on constantly
enlarging profits outweighed their sense of privilege and public duty
.
This, in contrast to the past when
leaders like CBSs Paley, NBCs Sarnoff and ABCs Goldenson, while dedicated capitalists, were consistent demonstrators Of their
public obligations too
.
Nine months before, after
failed attempts to keep CBA independent, the
network had been swallowed by Globanic Industries Inc., a corporate giant
with worldwide holdings. Like General Electric, which had earlier
acquired NBC Globanic was a major defense contractor. Also like GE
,
Globanic's record included corporate criminality. On one occasion
,
following grand
jury investigations, the company was fined and top-rank
executives sentenced to prison terms for rigging bids and price-fixing
.
On another the company pleaded guilty to defrauding the US. Government
by
falsifying defense contract accounting records; a million-dollar
fine
was levied-the maximum under law, though a small amount compared with a
single contract's total value. As a commentator wrote at the time of
Globanic's takeover, "Globanic has
just too many special interestsfor CBA
not to have lost some editorial independence. Can you envisage CBA ever
again digging deeply into a sensitive area where its parent is involved
?
”

Since the takeover of CBA, there had been public assurances from the
network's new owners that the traditional independence of CBA News would
be respected. The view
from inside, though, was that such promises were
proving hollow
.
The transformation of CBA began with the arrival of Margot Lloyd-Mason
as the network's new president and chief executive officer. Known to be
efficient, ruthless and exceedingly ambitious, she was already a vice
president of Globanic Industries. It was rumored that her move to CBA was
a trial run to see whether she would demonstrate sufficient toughness to
qualify as eventual chairman of the parent company
.
Leslie Chippingham first encountered his new chieftain when she sent
for
him a few days after her arrival. Instead of the usual personal phone
call--a courtesy extended by Mrs. Lloyd-Mason's predecessor to divisional
presiden
t
is-he received a peremptory message through a secretary to
appear immediately at "Stonehenge,
“
the colloquial network name
for CBA's
Third Avenue headquarters. He went there in a chauffeur-driven limousine
.
Margot Lloyd-Mason was tall, with upswept blond hair, a high-cheekboned
,
lightly tanned face and shrewdly appraising eyes. She wore an elegant
taupe Chanel suit with a paler-toned silk blouse. Later, Chippingham
would describe her as "attractive but formidable
.”
The chief executive's manner was both friendly and cool
.”
You may use
my
first name, "she told the news president, while making it sound like
an order. Then, without wasting time, she got down to business
.”
There will be an announcement sometime today about a problem Theo
Elliott is having
.”
Theodore Elliott was chairman of Globanic Industries
.”
The announcement's already been made
,”
Chippingham
said
.”
By the IRS
in Washington, this morning. They claim our king-of-kings has underpaid
his personal taxes by some
four million dollars
.”
By chance, Chippingham had seen the story on the AP wire. The
circumstances were that Elliott had made investments in what was now
exposed as an illegal tax shelter. The creator of the tax shelter was
being criminally prosecuted. Elliott was not, but would be required to
pay back taxes plus large amounts in penalties
.”
Theo has telephoned,
“
Margot said, "assuring me he had no idea the
arrangement was illegal
.”

“
I suppose there are some who'll believe that,
“
Chippingham said, aware
of the army of lawyers, accountants and tax advisers which someone like
the Globanic chairman would have at his disposal
.
Margot said icily, "Don't be
flippant about this. I sent
for
you because I
want nothing about Theo and taxes to appear on our news, and I
’
d like you
to ask the other networks not to report it either
.”
Chippingham, shocked and scarcely believing what he had just heard
,
struggled to keep his voice calm
.”
Margot, if I were to call the other
networks with that request, not only would they turn it down, but they
would report on the air that CBA News
had attempted to arrange a cover-up. And
frankly, if something similar happened in reverse, at CBA we'd do the same
.”
Even while speaking, he realized that the new network head had demonstrated
in a single brief exchange not only her lack of knowledge of the broadcast
business, but a total insensitivity to news-gathering ethics. But then, he
reminded himself it was public knowledge that neither of those things had
brought her here, but instead, her
financial acumen and an ability to create
profits
.”
All right,
“
she said grudgingly, "I suppose I have to accept what you say
about the other networks. But I want nothing on our own news
.”
Chippingham sighed inwardly, knowing that
from now on his job as news
president was going to be monumentally more
difficult
.”
Please believe me
,
Margot, when I tell you as a certainty that tonight the other networks will
use that piece of news about Mr. Elliott and his taxes. And if we don't use
it also, it will create more attention by
jar than if we do. That's because
everyone will be watching to see how fair and impartial we are, especially
after the statements by Globanic that the freedom of our News Division will
not be interfered with
.”
The network president's strong face was set grimly, her lips compressed
,
but her silence showed she understood the point Chippingham had made. At
length she said, "You'll keep it short
?
”

"That will happen automatically. It's not something that's worth a long
report
.”

“
And I don't want some smart-ass reporter implying that Theo knew about the
illegality when he says he didn't
.”

“
The one thing I'll
promise you,
“
Chippingham said, "is that whatever we
do will be fair. I'll see to it myself
.”
Margot made no comment and instead picked up a slip of paper on her desk
"You came here in a chauffeured limo
.”
Chippingham was startled
.”
Yes, I did
.”
The car and driver were one of the
perks of his
job, but the experience of being spied on-which had obviously
happened-was new and unsettling
.”
Injuture, use a taxi. Ido. So can you. And something else. She
fixed him with a steely glance
.”
The News Division's budget
is to be cut by twenty
percent immediately. You'll receive a memo from me tomorrow and 'immediately' means just that. I shall expect a report within a week on how economies have been made
.”
Chippingham was too dazed for more than a polite, formal leave-taking
.
The item about Theodore Elliott and income taxes appeared on the CRA
National Evening News and the Globanic chairman's statement about his
innocence was left unchallenged. As a Horseshoe producer observed a week
later, "If it had been a politician, we'd have
poured skepticism on him
,
then pe
eled away his skin like an onion
As it is, we haven't even done
a follow-up
. -
In fact, a follow-up was considered; there was sufficient new material
.
But during a discussion at the Horseshoe in which the news president
participated, it was decided that other news that day was more important
,
so the follow-up didn't run. The decision was subtle; few, even to
themselves, conceded it to be a copout
.
The matter of budget cutting was something else. It was an area where all
networks were vulnerable to their conquerors and everyone knew it
,
including Leslie Chippingham. The News Divisions in particular had
become
fat, overstaffed and ripe
for
pruning
.
When it happened at CBA News-the result of the demanded cost
economies-the process was painful, mainly because more than two hundred
lost their
jobs
.
The firings produced cries of outrage from those left jobless, and their
friends. The print press had a bonanza, with newspapers running human
interest stories slanted sympathetically toward the economy wave's
victims--even though, quite
frequently, print publishers exercised the
same kind o
f economies themselves
.
A group within CBA News, all of whose members were on long-term
contracts, sent a letter of protest to the New York Times. The
signatories included Crawford Sloane, four senior correspondents and
several producers. Their letter lamented that among those abruptly
unemployed were veteran correspondents
who had served CBA News
for most of their working lives. It also pointed out that CBA overall was in no financial difficulty and that the network's profits comparedfavorably with those of major industrial companies. The published letter was discussed and quoted nationwide
.
The letter and the attention accorded it infuriated Margot Lloyd-Mason
.
Once more she sent for Leslie Chippingham
.
With the Times open in front of her she railed, "Those overpaid, conceited
bastards are part of management. They should be supporting management
decisions, not undermining us by public bellyaching
.”
The news president ventured, "I doubt if they consider themselves
management. They're news people first and are unhappy about their
colleagues. And I may a
s well tell you, Margot, so am I