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One Reporter's Opinion: The LA Times' 'Front Page Patriot' George Putnam It is this reporter's opinion that the recent passing of Dorothy Healey — Marxist, communist, atheist and former secretary of the Communist Party — calls to mind one of this reporter's highlight achievements in 72 years of reporting and commentary. With this report, I received a landmark decision against Healey and the Communist Party USA.
Here's how it came about.
On Sunday, Feb. 16, 1969, the Los Angeles Times featured a profile of Healey entitled "Patriot-Marxist — No. 1 Red Finds That U.S. Isn't All Bad." The profile stated that "Dorothy Healey should be considered an exemplary American and a good member of our society, that she owns her home, pays her taxes, cares for her aging mother, dotes on her scholarly son . . ."
We all noted that on that very day, the Times didn't even mention Abraham Lincoln's birthday, but rather devoted more words to its "Patriot-Marxist" heroine in the Sunday edition. It was more voluminous than any other item or topic of the day, i.e., the Tet New Year's observance, the Berlin crisis, the tinderbox in the Middle East, or any other top news story.
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Upon reading the article, I flew into a rage and the next day devoted six minutes of my 4:30 and 10:00 p.m. reports covering the Los Angeles Times' story. Mind you, I was employed by KTTV Channel 11, which was owned by the Los Angeles Times. But that didn't stop me. I had waged a battle with the Communists for years and knew Healey well.
I proceeded to recall that Dorothy Healey joined the Young Communist League on Dec. 1, 1928, when she was 15 and was peddling The Daily Worker, a Communist rag. In 1940 her Communist activities and associations were brought forth by California's State Committee on Un-American Activities, and the governor called for her resignation.
Healey became West Coast director and executive secretary for the Communist Party in 1945. However, she lost her position when Russia invaded Czechoslovakia and fell out with the national leadership by opposing the Russian move. In 1949 she was sentenced to 18 months in jail for refusing to answer questions before a U.S. grand jury. In 1952 Healey and several Communist Party leaders were sentenced to five years in prison and were fined $10,000 each for conspiracy to teach the overthrow of the government by violence.
Healey, from day one to the day she died, was a dedicated Marxist Communist, although she later attempted to reform the party. She told about the night she heard the report, released by Nikita Khrushchev, of the horrors of Joseph Stalin. Healey related that when she heard the sordid story, she sobbed all night long; she said she never believed this of her hero, Joseph Stalin.
I recited this and oh, so much more in answer to the Los Angeles Times' praise of a "front page patriot." In conclusion, I stated: "One can only ask about the reasoning behind it. What brought this on? What inspired this? Is the Los Angeles Times now building up the Marxist Communist atheist Dorothy Healey for one of the LA Times "Women of the Year" awards to be presented, of course, by that other Dorothy? Healey may be the Los Angeles Times' kind of patriot, but she sure as hell is not mine! And my fellow Americans, I trust she is not yours. And if you are as shocked as I am by this insult to American patriotism, I urge you to let the Los Angeles Times hear your voice — loud and clear!"
Healey and the Communists flew into a rage and appealed to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) for equal time to answer my charges. After several deliberations, the FCC agreed that there was no controversy of public importance over Healey's role as a Communist and that news commentary is exempt from personal-attack provisions of the Fairness Doctrine — and that further action was not warranted. Thus did I achieve what amounted to a landmark decision against Healey and the Communist Party.
I should note that my commentaries were always made separate and apart from the body of the news. At the midway point in an hour-long report, I would break with a commercial going into and coming out of "One Reporter's Opinion."
Dorothy and I had a very strange relationship. Though we were 180 degrees opposite when it came to Marxist Communism, we were able to discuss her ideology without losing our own basic bearings and she allowed me to attend many Communist meetings because she said I was the one reporter she could trust to report exactly what had occurred without misquoting. She was sharp, well put together and organized . . . I just wish she would've been on our side.
I should mention that the Los Angeles Times and its publisher, Norman Chandler, never ever constrained my reports in any sense, never told me what I could and could not say, should or should not say. I wonder how many reporters can say that about the "man at the top."
Related Links:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/FCCOps/1970/24F2_487.htm http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003195386_healeyobit13.html?syndication=rss
Editor's note:
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