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Committees rely on the press to inform the public about their proceedings & decisions; the press relies on committees, their members & staffs as sources of information. Committee members expect their committee work to further their career & to enhance their reputation. Reporters, in addition to competing for the news, feel they have a critical function to perform. What results is a complicated relationship with ambivalences on both sides. An unholy alliance between the press, committee & staff can exist, with the advantage that issues & facts are brought to light, publicized & needed action is taken. However, newsmen may be used by the staff to float an idea or they may become coopted by the committee point of view & report the story less than fairly. Similarly, committees may be seduced into going for headlines rather than doing less sensational, but equally important, work. Both committees & the press tend to take shortcuts because of the limits on their time. The system the press uses to cover Congress favors attention to subjects & issues rather than to the workings of Congress, itself; Congress, preferring that the press know only that which it wants to disclose, has instit'ized the att by closing the doors to some committee hearings. This brings about a conflict in the relationship, as does criticism from the press. In the end, the mutual interdependence of Congress & the press contributes to the good points & the failings of each. While reform would help, the relationship is ultimately based on human values of trust, fairness & responsibility--which rest with the individual. HA.

This article describes the people's voice in American politics by contrasting it to those of the nation's leaders and the working press. Based on a content analysis of all three actors (with letters to the editor serving as a stand‐in for the citizenry), we find the people situated midway between politicians and the press. Citizen‐writers show greater rhetorical optimism than media operatives but not as much as White House aspirants. Citizens also complain about politics, but it is the management of their buoyancy that makes them special. By understanding the people's voice, the roles of politicians and the press become eminently clearer.

In this study, we use new data from the Philadelphia Survey of Child Care & Work to expand on previous analyses: we include child care problems as a work obstacle, & we analyze both current welfare recipients & non-welfare "working poor" mothers. Results show that two main obstacles have a large impact on full-time work: poor mental health & child care problems. Net of other factors, mothers with severe child care problems are 22 percent less likely to work full time. Dividing the sample by welfare status, we find a child care problems effect for both groups. Among welfare recipients, the gap in full-time work between those with severe child care problems & those without is 30 percent. Among the working poor, child care problems reduce the chance of full-time work by about 18 percent. Our findings show that improving mothers' child care situation can significantly improve their ability to support their families. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document. COPIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM: HAWORTH DOCUMENT DELIVERY CENTER, The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580