MediaWatch: December 1995
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: December 1995
- Budget News Without Basic Numbers
- NewsBites: A Wee Bit Off
- Revolving Door: Crossing Into Crossfire
- Deck the Cuts with Gusts of Folly
- TV Ignores Travelgate Acquittal
- "Al Capone of Apple Juice"
- Media Mourn Moderates' Decline Pennsylvania's Problem
- Janet Cooke Award: DeParle's Drama of Destruction
TV Ignores Travelgate Acquittal
Who's Billy Dale?
Billy Dale had booked flights for the White House press corps since John F. Kennedy was President, but when the Clinton White House's effort to justify firing the travel office staff was proven groundless, the press corps was missing in action. The ousted White House travel director was acquitted of embezzlement
charges on November 16.
The acquittal failed to generate any mention on ABC, CBS or NBC nightly newscasts, nor CNN's World News. No TV magazine shows rushed to book Dale. Among the morning news shows only ABC's Good
Morning America had a brief mention of the acquittal on the 17th. PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer also had a brief mention. The New York Times and Time ignored Dale's vindication while Newsweek and U.S. News squeezed in brief notices. The Washington Post and Washington Times highlighted the news November 17, and the next day had stories quoting Dale specifically blaming the President, but that still failed to interest the networks.
In May of 1993 Dale was fired and accused of mismanagemtent, including taking kickbacks. "An internal White House investigation later showed that Hollywood producer Harry Thomason, the President's distant cousin Catherine Cornelius and several other aides improperly schemed to take over the office for personal gain," reported the November 17 Washington Times.
Later the White House offered jobs to five dismissed Dale aides while Dale was prosecuted. According to The Washington Post the FBI "examined every check he, his wife, Blanche, and their three adult children had ever written, trying to find evidence that Dale had used $68,000 in money the news media paid to cover costs of traveling with the President."
Dale and his family were subjected to the type of persecution from the Clinton administration and the government that would usually warrant an outcry in the journalistic community. "I feel like the victims of Ruby Ridge and Waco. The only difference is they didn't use guns on us," Dale told the Post.
What's particularly puzzling about the Dale blackout by the networks was that several prominent journalists, including ABC's Sam Donaldson, actually testified on Dale's behalf.
