The National News Council (NNC) was a non-profit media watchdog organization.
[3] Compliance and cooperation with the NNC was entirely voluntary on the part of news organizations.
CBS News under president Richard Salant notably supported the Council, including Salant's serving as NNC chairman,[4] but journalists within CBS itself, including Walter Cronkite, did not.
General William Westmoreland, following the end of his protracted libel suit against CBS, called for the formation of an NNC-like body in 1985.
[1] Journalists who have since supported the reforming of the NNC have included William F. Buckley,[4] Mike Wallace and Walter Cronkite (both in reversal of earlier opposition)[5] and Murray Seeger.