ustxtxb_obs_1976_01_30_50_00007-00000_000.pdf

Political Intelligence enter stories in \he Headliners, the Associated Press, the UPI, or the various special interest contests for Texas journalists. Don Pickels, the Chronicle’s managing editor, told the Observer, “It’s just getting to be too much of a rat race, going through-the contest entries and trying to keep up with the various articles to submit. It got to be too much of a hassle and, frankly, I don’t think too much of the contents away.” Pickels said he told his reporters they may go ahead and compete for the national professional awards, like the Pulitzer and the Sigma Delta Chi honors, but the state contests are out. No more cash prizes from the medical or legal groups or the fire fighters, etc. The Chronicle m.e. said he thinks the judging is “inexact.” Speaking specifically of the Headlin ers contests, which are sponsored by the Austin Headliners Club with a great deal of help from The Austin American-Statesman, Pickels said, “The thing that really soured us was when the judges said the [Houston] Post and Chronicle had tied on coverage of the multiple slayings a couple years ago. \(That was the incident where a number of runaways and young boys from the Heights section of Houston were torour disenchantment,” Pickels said. He said that reporters from both Houston papers conceded at the time that the Chronicle had aced the Post on the story. \(Indeed, among journalists, the Chronicle does have a reputation for being the more aggressive paper on hard news, especially the blood and guts type stories. Pickels said that the Chronicle has won its fair share of reporting awards in the past and that its decision to pull out of the contests could not be considered “sour grapes.” The decision was made, he said, in consultation with all of the Chronicle’s editors and department heads. Reporters generally like to enter the contests because of the cash prizes. But, Pickels said, the paper’s new contest policy has aroused little comment from the staff. “Only two people questioned it,” he said. And, speaking of the press, The Cor pus Christi Caller-Times has its own capitol correspondent now, Scott Carpenter, the son of Liz Carpenter, Lady Bird Johnson’s former press secretary. Carpenter is working out of a downtown office building rather than in the capitol press offices because the Caller’s new editor, Gregory Favre, has a very strict policy on freebies. In a recent column in his paper, Favre boasted that Carpenter is the “only newspaper representative that I know of not being housed free by the state in the capitol building.” Favre added: “I sure wish our colleagues would see the built-in conflict in taking free rent from the state and either make the state take their money or move out. . . .” After they’ve seen D.C. You just can’t keep Texans down on the ranch. The Washington connec tion \(“Texas, D.C.,” Dave Broder once most prominent ambassador, George Bush in Peking, to the CIA, but gaining Anne Armstrong in Great Britain. Armstrong is a very bright lady of consid erable style and charm. She is of the civilized school of Texas Republicanism, meaning right-wing, but not crazy. Perhaps the biggest blot on her escutcheon is her long association with the defense of Richard Nixon. Unlike her predecessor as ambassador to Great Britain Elliot Richardson, Armstrong did not resign over Watergate: she continued to defend Nixon. She joined the Nixon White House as counselor to the president in December, 1972, after years of faithful party work in Texas. She stayed on during and after Watergate, finally resigning for “personal reasons” in December, 1974. H. Ross Perot, the Dallas billionaire, gave a memorable “welcome home” party for her and most of the big money in Texas turned out. President Faux Pas made a call during that bash that was broadcast to the assembled throng. He congratulated the Texans for their tribute “to a real lady who has given unwittingly of her philosophy to the nation.” The President, according to The New York Times, is insisting that political appointees be given preference for ambassadorships over State Department career diplomats. That may not be the best way to run a foreign policy, but those who know her are convinced that Armstrong is bright enough to carry out whatever policies the real experts want her to. Schnabel’ s supporters Former Rep. Jake Johnson of San An tonio, who has never been considered mealy-mouthed, was disgusted by the senators who voted to oust indicted Senate Secretary Charles Schnabel. He told two Upper Housers, “Y’all remind me of a bunch of whores in a whorehouse gettin’ together and votin’ to fire the madam because you’ve found out she’s been screwin’.” Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby was reportedly behind the move to oust Schnabel. “The vote was 18-13 against, that shows you how much stroke Hobby has,” said one senator. No one could figure out why Hobby was so goosey about the matter \(after all, they weren’t his curtains Schnabel was supposed to be paying for with phony payroll sidered a goosey politician and he was as January 30, 1976 7 The Houston Chronicle will no longer