MediaWatch: August 1995
Table of Contents:
Media Bridge Over Silent Waters
Networks Show Little Zeal to Cover Revelations from New Hearings on Whitewater
The weekend after Whitewater hearings began, on the July 23 World News Sunday, ABC anchor John Cochran insisted the hearings were examining charges "that have been the subject of countless television, newspaper and magazine reports." Really?
Last summer the Democrats held narrowly focused hearings on White House contacts with the Treasury Dept. Over two weeks the four network evening shows (ABC's World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, CNN's World News, and NBC Nightly News) devoted 40 reporter-based stories to the Democratic show.
On July 18 this year Whitewater hearings under Republican control of Congress began. An August 14 Washingon Post news analysis reported the hearings drew "a more comprehensible picture of the controversy than has ever been presented before in a public arena" as "they made a strong case that the first family has not told the complete story of its relationship with former business partner James McDougal." Would the networks give equal or greater weight to these revelations in areas avoided by Democrats?
MediaWatch analysts reviewed the same four evening shows from July 16 (two days before the Senate hearings began) to August 10. The time frame covered the four weeks of Senate hearings and one overlapping week of House hearings. For the three morning shows (ABC's Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and NBC's Today) MediaWatch reviewed through Aug. 4.
The study found that anyone relying on network news would have missed significant discoveries and contradictions. In the evening, the networks offered 24 reporter-based stories, almost half of what aired last year. This year they ran another 25 anchor-read briefs. In the morning, the Big Three aired only seven reporter-based stories, on six morning shows it made an anchor-read brief, and Whitewater was raised at least once in seven interview segments.
CNN and NBC barely noted the hearings, each airing just three even-ing reporter-based stories compared to ten and seven respectively last summer. CBS led with ten reporter-based segments (12 last year) and five items read by the anchor in the evening, plus another six morning reporter-based or interview segments and three anchor briefs. But CBS also appeared the most hostile to the hearings. On July 17, Dan Rather introduced a preview story: "From another offensive wave on Whitewater to a sweeping rollback of federal regulations on health, safety, and the environment, it's a political carpet-bombing attack, wall to wall, House to Senate." And nine days later: "The Republicans' all-out offensive on Whitewater today featured contradictory testimony."
ABC came in second with eight reporter-based stories (11 last year) and two anchor-read briefs on World News Tonight, as well as four reporter or interview items and two days with anchor briefs in the morning. Not until the House opened hearings on August 7 did CNN's World News air its first reporter-based story. CNN offered eleven anchor-read items. NBC Nightly News aired only three reporter-based segments and four anchor-read briefs. Today had four reporter or interview segments and anchor briefs on two other days.
NBC wins for going to any length to avoid Whitewater. On August 8 the other three networks did full stories on RTC investigator Jean Lewis telling the House that after Clinton became President officials tried to obstruct her investigation of Madison Guaranty that found McDougal involved in "rampant" fraud and check kiting to siphon money to the Whitewater project and Clinton campaign. NBC led with the O.J. trial and devoted three minutes to a convention of Elvis "scholars," but gave Lewis 13 seconds.
What revelations did evening news viewers miss?
July 19: Patsy Thomasson, a friend of the President, who did not have security clearance, sat at Vince Foster's desk hours after his death while the FBI and Park Police were denied access to his office. ABC and NBC: no story. CBS did a story on bungling the night of the death, but failed to note this news. When Dan Rather asked "what in terms of substance have they come up with?" Bob Schieffer responded: "Well, not a lot really." CNN dedicated two and a half minutes to a photo exhibit of movie kissing scenes, but just 18 seconds to Whitewater without mentioning Thomasson.
July 27: Foster's family lawyer testified, The Washington Times reported, that White House lawyer Clifford Sloan "saw torn pieces of a yellow legal pad" in Foster's briefcase "two days after the deputy counsel's July 1993 death but made no effort to retrieve them and later told FBI agents he never saw any scraps." At the time then-White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum had "declared the briefcase empty." Four days later Foster's torn suicide note on yellow paper was found. ABC, CBS and NBC: no story. CNN's 17 second anchor brief failed to note this new charge.
August 2: Former Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann charged that Nussbaum betrayed a promise to allow a joint review of documents in Vince Foster's office. CNN ignored the story, but found time for a piece on the health benefits of tofu. After two weeks without a reporter-based piece, that day NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reported an "In Depth" segment on the history and political impact of Whitewater, but NBC relayed nothing about Heymann's testimony.
August 10: A second Justice Dept. lawyer, David Margolis, backed Heymann by testifying that Nussbaum had reneged on an agreement to let investigators review documents in Foster's office before they were moved to the White House residence. CNN and NBC: no story, but CNN had time to report on Joe Namath donating to Planet Hollywood pantyhose he wore in a TV ad. NBC squeezed in video of a tie-dyed flag flown in honor of the late Jerry Garcia. CBS ignored Margolis as Rather reported "the Whitewater tag team offensive by Republicans in Congress is winding down, at least for now. In the Senate more heat but no real new light today" as Nussbaum "denied any law breaking or cover-up on his part."
