CyberAlert -- 10/10/1997 -- Reagan Did It Too; Post Promoted Counsel's "Integrity"
Reagan Did It Too; Post Promoted Counsel's "Integrity"
1) A busy news day Thursday with plenty to tell viewers about on the fundraising front, or so you'd think. Janet Reno lashed out in anger at the White House for delaying the release of the videotapes, the Senate committee recalled Richard Sullivan to probe his knowledge of a Ron Carey Teamster-DNC money funneling plan which has already led to three guilty pleas from consultants who worked for both campaigns; and the House investigating committee welcomed its first witnesses, but the three who had been granted immunity asked that cameras not film their testimony. According to CNN's AllPolitics Web site, two "straw donors" said that "at [Charlie] Trie's request, they separately wrote $12,500 checks to the Democratic National Committee in February 1996 for a fundraiser at a Washington, D.C., hotel. Neither knew anything of the event, and were reimbursed a week later by Antonio Pan who had a Hong Kong address." ABC's lead: Democratic-provided video of Ronald Reagan supposedly encouraging donations at a 1987 White House event. NBC allocated just 24 seconds to all the days's events, ignoring everything but Reno. Only CNN viewers would even know the House held a hearing since ABC, CBS and NBC didn't mention it. But for that matter, neither CBS or NBC told viewers anything about the Senate hearing, though CBS ran a "Reality Check" suggesting that if the Senators want to find fundraising improprieties they "could easily start by setting up a great big mirror." Here's a rundown of Thursday, October 10 evening show coverage: NBC Nightly News. Here's the entirety of what Tom Brokaw, who led with Hurricane Pauline hitting Mexico, told viewers about fundraising:
Total time: 24 seconds and nothing on the House or Senate hearings. But NBC followed with a full story from David Bloom at the White House on Clinton praising gun manufacturers for agreeing to include child-proof safety locks when their guns are sold. -- ABC's World News Tonight for second day in a row led with fundraising. Peter Jennings announced:
Reporter Linda Douglass outlined Reno's anger at the tape delay, but noted that Reno maintained that the tapes don't change her opinion that coffees legal because there's no evidence of solicitation. Douglass then shifted to Reagan:
Next ABC ran a piece from Brian Ross on Democratic ties to Teamster election fraud, the subject of Thursday Senate hearing. But first it should be noted that when three consultants, who worked both for the Clinton campaign and for Ron Carey's committee, plead guilty back on September 18 the three broadcast networks ignored the development. Three weeks later, ABC is the first to get around to it. Ross explained the three guilty pleas, including one by Martin Davis, and the connection to the Clinton campaign. He reported that two top Democratic officials now under investigation for the money swap are Clinton campaign chief Terry McAulife and his finance director Laura Hardigan. Both have denied the allegation, but Ross continued:
That Ross introductory sentence and Sullivan soundbite totaling 17 seconds encompassed the entirety of Thursday night broadcast network coverage of the Senate hearing. The CBS Evening News, like NBC, started with El Nino causing Hurricane Pauline to pound Mexico. Dan Rather transitioned from that to Reno:
Several stories later, and 20 minutes into the newscast, Rather declared:
Engberg ticked off a list. Foreign influence on U.S. politics: Thompson was a lobbyist for Toyota. Riady family: Carl Levin got $715 from James Riady. (Yes, just $715, less than $1,000) Using the White House: When Quayle was VP Don Nickles signed a letter offering donors the chance to meet the VP at his house. Fundraising calls from government buildings: Bob Smith did it from his Senate office. Government employees helping with fundraising: Max Cleland, when Georgia's Secretary of State, used state workers to track his supporters. Engberg concluded with the everybody is just as guilty of just as serious violations angle:
CNN's The World Today led into a Wolf Blitzer piece on the White House fighting back by highlighting Reno's comments. Blitzer ran the same Reagan video as ABC. After a brief anchor-read item on the Senate hearing, CNN aired a full report from Bob Franken on the House hearing, making CNN the only network to acknowledge the House even held a hearing. 2) CNN and MSNBC did not offer any live coverage Thursday and in the morning on Today aired an interview segment, but the theme seemed to be "Can't we all just get along?" The cable networks resumed regular programming Thursday with neither CNN or MSNBC offering any live coverage. CNN provided hourly updates from the Senate from Brooks Jackson at just past 10am ET, 11am, 12 pm and 2pm, but MSNBC did not air an update from Joe Johns until about 12:15 pm ET. Instead, MSNBC spent much of the day showing live reports from Milan, Italy on "fashion week" in the post Versace era. Neither Jackson or Johns looked at the House hearings. Thursday's Today brought aboard Tim Russert who wasn't bothered by Ickes' memory loss and argued that it's natural for the public to say they all do the same thing. Lauer asked, as transcribed by MRC news analyst Eric Darbe:
After an exchange about Thompson retracting a charge he made about Clinton meeting with a union official, Lauer worried about the loss of bipartisanship:
Twelve hours later NBC Nightly News ignored the House hearing showcasing Democratic foreign money laundering and a Senate hearing on a money swapping plan between a union and the Clinton team. Yes, the public will think they all do it when the networks don't tell them about the illegalities of one party. 3) Tim Graham, the MRC's Director of Media Analysis, wrote up this item on a contrast between the actions of the White House counsel who handled the videotapes and how the Washington Post portrayed him a few weeks ago:
4) Thursday night ABC's 8pm ET family hour drama which is set around the life of a liberal priest at an urban Catholic church, Nothing Sacred, delivered an episode in which the priest gives a young woman money so she can have an abortion. But not all of television promotes abortion as the best option. Two weeks ago the CBS Sunday night family hour drama, Touched by an Angel, offered a pro- life message. As detailed by MRC entertainment analyst Melissa Caldwell: Touched by an Angel took on abortion in the September 28 episode, but in a departure from Hollywood's decided pro-choice bias, the show chose to support life, even in the case of severe birth defects. The episode featured a pro-choice woman, Joanne, who gets pregnant. She discovers early on that the child has down syndrome. Bill, the father of the child tells his wife "knowing early gives us other options, right?...This is a mistake and we can correct it and move on...I don't want you to [abort], but it is the only way we are going to have the family we always wanted." Joanne contemplates having the abortion, and even goes to a clinic with the intent of getting one, but at the last minute she changes her mind, deciding that it is a miracle just to be able to have a child. When her husband questions her choice saying "You were the one preaching pro-choice all these years. What happened?", she replies "I got pregnant...I'm still pro-choice, and Bill, I just made one. I'm going to have this baby." MRC analyst Adam Pogach noted, that although the word "abortion" was never used, the show's message was definitely life affirming. 5) Over hype of the day. Plugging an upcoming CBS Evening News story on the first video to capture a Killer Whale killing a Great White Shark, Dan Rather exclaimed: "And what shark watchers have learned from the battle of the century off the California coast." WWI. WWII. Vietnam. Iran-Iraq War. Rwandan massacre. Whale kills shark. -- Brent Baker
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