Reporter Loses a Major Beat

A reporter for the government’s Radio Marti said Thursday that her boss banished her from the White House and threatened to fire her because Administration officials objected to a question she asked President Reagan in his televised news conference.

The reporter, Cuban-born Annette Lopez-Munoz, said in an interview that one of her editors told her: “ ‘You’re through as a White House correspondent. You are not to go to the White House. You’re really in trouble. We’re considering firing you.’ ”

The Administration established Radio Marti, an adjunct to the Voice of America, to broadcast U.S. programs to Cuba and Central America. In the past, reporters for government-run operations have been barred from asking questions at presidential news conferences because they are not considered members of the independent, free press.

Press Group Gave OK

Lopez-Munoz, a former Miami Herald staffer, challenged that unwritten rule, and the White House Correspondents Assn. allowed her to ask Reagan a question during his meeting with the press Wednesday night. She asked whether the Administration might consider changing its policy on Nicaragua, in view of its policy change on Iran.

When the answer to this was “no,” she asked, “Would you consider breaking diplomatic relations with Nicaragua to increase the pressure on the Sandinista government?” Reagan again answered in the negative.

“The National Security Council didn’t like my questions,” she told UPI, but Dan Howard, deputy White House press secretary, said he was “completely unaware” of any White House or National Security Council involvement in the matter.

In a statement later, Richard Carlson, Voice of America director, denied that Lopez-Munoz was threatened with dismissal. He said she was “removed from her position as White House correspondent for purposely ignoring a policy directive.”

Carlson said it was “longstanding policy” that VOA employees do not ask questions at televised presidential news conferences.