Public President

After Gerald Ford took his widely televised spill on the ski slopes at Vail, Colo., Press Secretary Ron Nessen berated reporters for neglecting the President's accomplishments in office to spotlight his unfortunate footwork outside the White House. Last week syndicated Columnist Max Lerner, a liberal, added a complaint that the press has created an undeserved "ordeal of ridicule" for Ford that "will affect not only his personal showing against Reagan, which isn't so important for the nation, but also the Administration conduct of foreign and domestic policy, which is." Americans, said Lerner, "can afford to distinguish between hard slugging on policy decisions and unfair attacks of a personal character."

Is the press being unfair to Ford?

Not according to NBC Anchor Man John Chancellor, who last week paused in his newscast to comment that the Vail wipe-out that inspired Nessen's complaint occurred during a Nessen-arranged "photo opportunity." When the President takes a header, Chancellor said, "that's news, and we're going to cover it." Indeed, the President can hardly expect journalists to do anything but report the tumbles along with the triumphs--especially this election year as Ford reaches for all the headlines and air time he can. His abundantly reported China trip last fall produced a bonanza of favorable exposure, if little news. Last weekend Ford taped an interview with Chancellor for a network documentary on foreign policy.

Later this month he will sit for a 40-min.

interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, and has agreed to appear soon on both CBS'S Face the Nation and ABC's Issues and Answers.

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