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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 5, 1995                   TAG: 9501050073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Medium

NEWT'S MOM SPILLS SECRET

That was only one of the questions raised by Connie Chung's interview with Newt Gingrich's mother, who confided in a whisper that her ``Newty'' thinks Hillary Rodham Clinton is ``a bitch.''

Reports of the interview led to testy exchanges between Newt Gingrich and the White House as Congress' 104th session convened Wednesday, with Newt Gingrich sworn in as the first Republican speaker of the House in 40 years.

CBS dodged Newt Gingrich's demand for an apology and defended the interview, scheduled to air on Chung's ``Eye to Eye'' tonight.

But by Wednesday, Chung's story had become the subject of other TV stories, with CNN and all three network evening news shows reporting on it.

``It's unfortunate that what is being talked about is one five-letter word instead of a good 12-minute report,'' said CBS News President Eric Ober, adding that Kathleen Gingrich, 68, had ``volunteered an unsolicited view'' and that it would have been inappropriate for CBS to withhold the comments.

Ober described Kathleen Gingrich as ``giggling'' and Chung ``smiling'' during ``a goodhearted exchange.'' He said Kathleen Gingrich offered her son's appraisal not in a whisper but ``stage-whisper style.''

``Did she have any reason to believe this was off-the-record?'' Ober said. ``In no way did we feel we had violated her confidence.''

Lisa Caputo, press secretary to Clinton, added, ``At some point, we as adults must take responsibility and show our children that disrespect and incivility towards others are just plain wrong.''

The speaker, however, demanded an apology and said Chung had lied to his mother.

Chung, he charged, ``said, `Whisper to me,' and then she took that whisper and shared it with the country.''

Marvin Kalb, a former correspondent for CBS and NBC, blamed both parties.

Kalb, who now directs Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Press and Politics, noted that Kathleen Gingrich chose to do the interview, but he also criticized prime-time newsmagazine programs for standards of journalism he said were ``generally speaking, low and getting lower.''

``Mrs. Gingrich should have known better,'' Kalb said, ``and Connie Chung should have done better.''