Wanted: A Pressagent

For 4 1/2 months--by cable, special emissary and high-level negotiation--CBS tried for the TV coup of the year. Fortnight ago, everything seemed to be set. Arriving in the U.S., Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav M. Molotov agreed by telegram to face a battery of U.S. reporters on CBS's Face the Nation. Details, the telegram said, could be ironed out at San Francisco, where the telecast would originate following the tenth commemorative meeting of the United Nations.

To face the Soviet statesman, CBS lined up three topflight Washington correspondents : Arthur Sylvester of the Newark News, James Reston of the New York Times and James Shepley of TIME. Meanwhile, Molotov laid down a condition for his appearance. Refusing to be freely questioned by the reporters, he demanded that all questions be submitted beforehand, and that the show consist of his prepared answers. Declining these terms, the newsmen insisted on the normal practice, i.e., that Molotov answer follow-up questions to clarify his answers to original questions. The reporters and the network pointed out that not even Secretary of State John Foster Dulles would be allowed to make arguments untested by follow-up questions.

About 48 hours before the show was to be broadcast on 74 TV and 96 radio stations, Molotov's appearance on it was canceled. "We regret," CBS announced, "that Mr. Molotov would not take the advantage of this opportunity to face the American public with his views . . . The right of free questioning by the press and open discussion is the cornerstone of international understanding, and we hold open our invitation for any key representative of the Soviet government to participate in such a discussion."

"What the Russians need," a CBS press-agent added, "is a pressagent."

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