Ol' Black Eyes

Ol' Black Eyes Sinatra resumes a feud

When Frank Sinatra had a beef with newsmen, he used to settle it with a punch in the nose, a volley of obscenities or a promise to jam a camera where the sun never shines. Now Sinatra has rejoined the fray in more orthodox and, just possibly, more effective fashion. He has endorsed an article critical of the press in Policy Review, published by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, and has mailed copies of the piece to the President, Congressmen, college journalism departments, publishers and columnists.

The article, which appeared in the quarterly's fall 1978 issue, was written by Washington Lawyer Max M. Kampelman. It urges the establishment of a professional code of ethics, the use of internal ombudsmen, and passage of antitrust measures to contain the growth of media conglomerates. Perhaps most significant for Sinatra, Kampelman argues for statutory revisions that would make it easier for public figures to win libel suits.

Lee Solters, a Sinatra spokesman in Los Angeles, explained that the crooner was angered by a recent column by William Safire in the New York Times that mentioned his alleged gangland ties. "You are a goddam liar," Sinatra telegraphed Safire, who printed the singer's denial in a subsequent column but stuck by his original story. In a letter accompanying Kampelman's article, Sinatra urges his readers to join with him in "reminding the press that there is more to the Constitution ... than the First Amendment it so frequently hides behind."

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