ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605200070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
The suicide of Adm. Jeremy M. ``Mike'' Boorda has cast the media spotlight on a little-known Washington research outfit that fed damaging documents about the Navy's top officer to Newsweek and ABC News.
The National Security News Service, a two-reporter office here, was besieged by interview requests Friday from news outlets ranging from CNBC to French television. The nonprofit group, whose $360,000 budget is underwritten by a number of foundations, has set itself up as a research arm for news organizations on military and intelligence matters.
Boorda shot himself Thursday before an interview with Newsweek reporters Evan Thomas and John Barry, who had asked to question him about whether he had improperly worn decorations that he had not won in combat.
The allegation was based on documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Roger Charles, a former Marine lieutenant colonel who had no journalistic experience before joining the 6-year-old news service. Charles spent 31/2 hours briefing the Newsweek reporters before the planned interview.
Charles expressed sympathy for Boorda's family but said ``my conscience is clear. I believe in free will.'' He also dismissed the notion that the two bronze ``V'' pins worn by Boorda were a minor matter, saying: ``It was unprecedented in my experience that an officer of his senior rank would wear insignia that he did not merit.''
Joseph Trento, the group's bureau chief and a former CNN reporter, called the suicide ``tragic and sad. But it's the kind of story we do.''
This is not the first time a journalistic inquiry has ended in suicide. When White House aide Vincent Foster killed himself in 1993, he left a note accusing Wall Street Journal editorialists of lying about him. In 1988, Tom Pappas, chief of staff to Rep. Roy P. Dyson, D-Md., plunged to his death the day after a Washington Post article described unorthodox social demands he made on male staff members in the office.
- The Washington Post
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB