
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 14, 1994                   TAG: 9404140341
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

IS PRESS GOING OVERBOARD?

When he was mayor of New York, Ed Koch used to go around the city taking his political temperature. He'd ask voters, ``How'm I doing?''

The press has been doing much the same about its coverage of Whitewater, a term encompassing anything from Vincent Foster's apparent suicide to Hillary Rodham Clinton's margin calls from her broker.

While Whitewater is getting intense attention these days, there's also been a spate of stories about whether all that attention is warranted.

The New York Times took editorial-page notice Sunday of what it said was the press' questioning whether all the coverage ``could lead to the ritualistic destruction of yet another presidency.''

Stick with it, was the Times' advice: ``Experience suggests that every time the press lays off a story, for whatever reason - official pressure, public dismay, professional angst - it has been the wrong thing to do.''

by CNB