MediaWatch: February 1990
Table of Contents:
Conventional Wisdom: Newsweek (Down) Bias (Up)
Newsweek's "Conventional Wisdom" (CW) feature just celebrated its second birthday, and only liberals enjoyed the party. Since the election of George Bush, this 'wisdom' has specialized in bashing Bush, Republicans, and their policies while Democrats and liberalism have escaped largely unscathed. Almost every time the CW dealt with politicians, Newsweek has presented its readers with toe-the-line liberalism in the guise of enlightened political analysis.
In a conversation with MediaWatch, Senior Editor Jonathan Alter, a former Ralph Nader worker who authors the CW, claimed innocence for the disparity. He said he was merely reporting what he saw as the CW, "the Beltway thinking" of the "elites, pundits, bureaucrats, observers, hacks, etc." After reading the CW, the question arises: is Newsweek capable of detecting any conservative opinions to use in its appraisal of the CW? The facts say no.
A MediaWatch study found substantial evidence of a liberal slant in the 39 political CW's from the 1988 election until the recent February 5 issue. Republicans from the Bush Administration, Congress, and elsewhere made 68 appearances but a paltry 14 were positive, as opposed to 43 "Down" arrows and 11 "Even" ratings. Although the CW included Democrats only 38 times, about half as often, they received the same 14 "Up" grades, with only 15 negative and 9 ambivalent ratings. Nearly all of these criticisms came at the expense of 'leaders' embroiled in ethics disasters, whereas Republicans rated poorly simply for conservative policies.
Amazingly, as Americans judged Bush more and more successful, Newsweek went 17 ratings in a row without a single positive CW from January 30, 1989 until January 22, 1990. When told how his appraisal of the CW repeatedly bashed the President, Newsweek's Alter said, "I'm really surprised by that," and noted that the string was recently broken. True, but the reason was Bush's "goofy good luck" (1/22/90). Among the many gems of CW partisanship in the President's 22 appearances: March 20: "Down: Holds press conference to deny he is Jimmy Carter"; April 17: "Down: Huge Ollie spill spreads Iran-contra goo toward Kennebunkport"; July 24: "Even: Still on a lucky streak but missed chances in Europe. He's no JFK in Berlin." And the abortive Panama coup inspired a CW box comment, "It was Dukakis who was said to be vulnerable to foreign-policy fiascos" (10/16/89).
Called "Pin-striped retreads" (1/16/89), Bush's Cabinet and staff have fared no better in the CW, with only 5 "Up" arrows out of 24 ratings. Dick Cheney's three positive showings were offset by a "Down" arrow apiece for Richard Thornburgh, C. Boyden Gray, Brent Scowcroft, and William Bennett. Nicholas Brady and James Baker were each twice a victim, as was John Sununu, savaged in a off- base CW introduction: "...Those CW meisters who predicted he'd last only six months believe they're right on schedule" (3/6/89). Combative Republicans always raise the ire of the liberal establishment: Lee Atwater was no exception. The Republican National Committee memo on Tom Foley caused the CW to get downright partisan: "Atwater: Down:...New CW: adolescent Joe McCarthy"..."Bush: Down: Refusal to fire Atwater confirms 'kinder, gentler' line was a hoax" (6/19/89). And predictably, Dan Quayle hit the CW chart seven times without a single "Up" arrow.
Meanwhile, Democrats were garnering a nearly even distribution of ratings. Somehow, the CW found space to praise suspects like Mario Cuomo, Tony Coelho -- "Up:...New CW: martyr to the cause of decency" (6/12/89) -- and Jimmy Carter: "Even: If only he could have been as good a President as he is ex-President" (11/6/89). After the RNC memo, Newsweek deified Foley: "Up: Deft handling of GOP slurs confirms he'll be the greatest Speaker since Sam Rayburn" (6/19/89). Since many prominent targets such as Ted Kennedy never faced CW analysis, Alter felt obliged to explain the dearth of Democratic appearances: "The CW doesn't care about the Democrats. They're not important."
Of course, a trio of discredited leaders, Jim Wright, Marion Barry, and Barney Frank, accounted for almost all of the Democratic criticism. Pressed to name Democrats the CW criticized who weren't stained by ethics violations, Alter pointed to Richard Gephardt's 1988 campaign, saying, "he got his share of down arrows." Wrong: Gephardt was the CW favorite son then, with eight "Up" arrows in 11 tries during his campaign.
The foreign policy of the CW could have been written by Jesse Jackson. Note the matter-of-fact adjective in this snippet: "John Tower was not rejected for his central role in a flawed military build-up" (3/20/89). Anti-peacenik leaders Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl felt the CW wrath, as did Reagan's peace through strength commitment: "Rambo: Down: Hang up your rocket launchers, tough guy. We won the Cold War without them" (12/25/89). The October 2 CW knocked Bush diplomacy toward the Soviet Union: "Down:...'Watch and wait' is too little, too late." And Panama provided some insipid analysis, as Pres-ident Endara's election victory didn't matter in a post-invasion appearance: "Down: This is the face of Panama's democratic future? Where's his support?" (1/1/90).
Not surprisingly, Mikhail Gorbachev was idolized while Ronald Reagan headed to the CW dustbin of history. Reagan's CW after the Bush Inaugural wondered, "...will history's arrows always point up?" But not even his 1989 arrows did: "Down:...HUD scandal. Thank God for the 22nd Amendment" (7/24/89). Meanwhile, Gorbachev basked in the CW sun, "Down" only once since the birth of the CW. It had "another Gorbasm" (12/19/88), and noted on the Berlin Wall collapse that, "Up: Mr. Bold doesn't try to take credit. The CW believes he deserves it" (11/20/89). The outlandish comparisions culminated in the 1980's finale: "Reagan: Down: Great politician, great guy-- just like Warren G. Harding"..."Gorbachev: Up:... ain't no arrow high enough. A true 20th-century hero" (12/25/89).
It appears the Conventional Wisdom isn't changing, as the February 5 issue took CW potshots at Bush's son, his plane, his drug policy, his carpet, and his abortion stance. As Alter admitted, Newsweek has found it fun to present the liberal CW that specializes in criticizing Republicans. But since the CW judgments could have hardly been more wrong, perhaps Newsweek's readership would be better served if occasionally they branched out with a CW that examined other opinions, instead of repeatedly trotting out the tired formula of inside-the-Beltway liberalism.
