THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 6, 1995 TAG: 9501060447
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Connie Chung should apologize to Newt Gingrich's mother.
And House Speaker Gingrich, newly lauded ad nauseum, should apologize to the first lady.
Apologies are in order all around.
In an interview taped for CBS television, Chung asked Mrs. Gingrich what Newt had told her about President Clinton.
``Nothing,'' said Mrs. Gingrich, ``and I can't tell you what he said about Hillary.''
``You can't?'' Chung asked.
``I can't,'' she replied.
``Why don't you just whisper it to me, just between you and me,'' Chung suggested.
`` `She's a bitch.' That's about the only thing he ever said about her.''
Mrs. Gingrich was a bit teasing, saying she couldn't tell what Newt had said.
That in itself was a slam. And could be deemed bait for a question. So tough-minded Chung followed it up.
CBS News President Eric Ober said that Mrs. Gingrich had ``volunteered an unsolicited view,'' so it would have been ``inappropriate for CBS to withhold the comment.''
Mrs. Gingrich was ``giggling'' and Chung ``smiling'' during ``a good-natured exchange,'' Ober said, and Mrs. Gingrich offered her son's appraisal in a ``stage whisper'' style.
``In no way did we feel we have violated her confidence,'' Ober said.
Still, there was a sense of assurance of confidentiality in Chung's ``between-you-and-me'' approach, even if it was made for consumption before umpteen million viewers.
It was couched as a request for comment on a kind of quasi off-the-record basis. Both she and Mrs. Gingrich were in a coy mode.
Quasi or not, Chung's phrasing put Mrs. Gingrich's reply off the record, and CBS editors should have stricken Newt's description.
Before Speaker Gingrich asked for an apology, he should have been on the phone to Hillary Clinton offering his respects to her.
No doubt, Mrs. Clinton would just as soon be spared the ordeal of having to parley with Newton Gingrich on a topic of a personal nature.
Gingrich seems to be as multifaceted as a fly's eye. In profiles he has been depicted as having a mean streak. Is there a touch of vulgarity as well?
In other days, the word ``bitch'' was off-limits anywhere. That ban was part of a child's rearing. Also, it and ``bastard'' were fighting words, very much so in the South.
It would be to Speaker Gingrich's advantage to appear in private as he wishes to be accepted in public. All congressmen should show to others the civility they expect for themselves.
President Clinton, ever the healer, sought during an appearance Thursday with Gingrich to smooth over the incident. He put a hand on Gingrich's arm and said, ``God knows what she could've gotten my mother to say.''
To prepare for an encounter with that unsparing newswoman, one might best bathe with piranha. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Connie Chung owes Mrs. Gingrich an apology...
... and Gringrich[sic] owes the first lady one.
by CNB