June 27, 1969

Dr. Carl-Glran Hedén

STPRI

Internation Institute For Peace and Conflict Research
166 Sveavilgen

11346 Stockholm, Sweden

My dear Hedef,

Some weeks ago I had occasion to mention the fortheoming Novel XIV
Symposium to some of my friends eat the Washington Post. I also indicated
to them the particular plans that had been outlined in the preliminary
announcements for press coverage of the event.

In due course I recefved the enclosed comment from Mr. Alfred Friendly
who is an important executive as vell as an excellent columnist of the Post.
I think his letter does raise an important point that deserves your earnest
consideration. Plainly the useful impact of the sympoeium will depend very
much on the way in which it is dealt with in the press and I think this
aspect of your planning deserves the most earnest consideration. One of the
best things that you could do might be to communicate directly with
Mr. Friendly and get hie own opinions as to the moat effective way of
managing the press arrangements for saximun benefit. This is not to say
that you would have to follow his recommendations but I think yeu would
profit from hearing the views from someone with a great deal of experience
in such mattera and furthermore a san who would be entirely sympathetic
with the other concerns that you have in managing the symposium. You do,
of course, have an obligation to the participants to protect the privacy
of their more informal remarks so that they can speak more freely without
fear that every incautious word might be broadcast before they have the
opportunity for careful deliveration and critical dialogue.

In any case, I think it would be very useful to get a full picture
of how these arrangements do look from the point of view of the working
press whose actual coverage of the syaposium will be so important for its
ultimate success.

Sincerely yours,

Joshua Lederberg
Professor of Genetics

Enclosure
JL/rer