Blind-Sided by Brinkley by DOUGLAS BARRICKLOW January 12, 1998 DALLAS, TX Long-time viewers of ABC's Sunday morning program "This Week" were treated with a surprise visit from its former host, David Brinkley, a couple of Sunday's ago. But the manner of his appearance, as a spokesperson in a commercial for Archer Daniels Midland, caught many of us off guard. Though Mr. Brinkley assured us, from behind a make-shift anchor's desk, that he "will still speak straight and true," it was painfully evident that his new forum will be Archer Daniels' TV ads. Of course, for years now, we as viewers have held a mental association between Brinkley and Archer Daniels Midland. The company is probably the most visible sponsor of "This Week." But even though Archer Daniels has always run its television ads during the show, we assumed the usual rules of journalistic ethics applied. Among those is that a program's host and its content remain rigidly separate from outside influences -- especially those of the program's sponsors.

EXPLORE CST... Bad Poetry -- submissions welcome Toonage -- cyber toons Ask Jay Crew... -- an advice column Coffee Talk -- complete CST archive Total Linkage!!! -- perfect newsie homepage E-mail CST -- comments, complaints? .

In her January 7 NY Times Op-Ed piece, Columnist Maureen Dowd describes a moment in "This Week" history which forces viewers to wonder about the the past and current relationship between Archer Daniels and "This Week." Ms. Dowd explains that Mr. Brinkley, while a newsman at ABC, along with other Beltway professionals like Bob Dole, Howard Baker and Tip O'neill, was provided access to Florida condos at "bargain prices" by Dwayne Andreas of Archer Daniels Midland. The condos were those of the Sea View Hotel in Bal Harbour, Fla. This tale continues as Ms. Dowd writes: A hilarious Washington insider moment came in January 1994 when Senator Dole, being interviewed from his Sea View condo by Mr. Brinkley on "This Week," told his cabana neighbor to "come on down." Then Mr. Brinkley cut to an A.D.M. commercial. Of course, every reporter and anchor brings personal attitudes to any commentary or report he or she ever writes or produces. And maybe we should be thankful for every new morsel of information that better equips us to understand the influences of the endless sources of information in our society. That's not to say, though, that a shudder isn't the healthiest reaction to Ms. Dowd's story and Mr. Brinkley's appearance in this latest A.D.M. ad. Again, professional ethics need to be honored in the workplace no matter what one's views are in private life. Personal preferences and influences will always exist and that's perfectly acceptable. No one, I hope, expects journalists to exist in a world in which they can't have personal views on Republicans vs. Democrats or Coke vs. Pepsi. But we definitely don't like it when we are blind-sided by news that a network news anchor can't even muster the will-power to turn down hand-outs from his network's advertisers. Are we asking too much when we expect hamburger chain employees to wash their hands before handling our food? Is it too much to ask that the wheel rivets be properly tightened on the city buses we ride to work? And finally, do we unjustly crimp his style when we ask David Brinkley to keep his damn hands out of the cookie jar? Editor's Note: ABC News has since decided to pull all A.D.M. ads featuring David Brinkley. The decision came after the A.D.M. ads did not appear on competing networks -- especially during NBC's "Meet the Press" -- as the agribusiness giant had assured ABC they would.

Send your comments to Coffee Shop Times editor Douglas Barricklow.