MediaWatch: February 1993
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: February 1993
- Loving the Children's Defense Fund
- NewsBites: Going Nowhere Fast
- Revolving Door: Time's FOB
- Reporters Hound Clinton on Political Missteps, But....
- "Uneducated" Conservatives?
- Cheers to Sam and Diane
- "Censored" Stories
- Janet Cooke Award: Time Calls for Gas Tax Increase at least 24 Times in Four Years
Reporters Hound Clinton on Political Missteps, But....
Media Applaud Clinton Policies
Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz sounded the anti-bias charge on January 31: "What happened to the liberal media that supposedly gave Bill Clinton every break during the campaign? In the blink of a news cycle, the new President has gone from Time's Man of the Year to punching bag of the week."
Indisputably, from Zoe Baird to gays in the military, Clinton drew poor reviews for the failure of his often glorified political skills, as the press corps detailed the bungling. But unlike most reporting during the last 12 years, so far reporters have either avoided judgments on liberal policy goals, or endorsed them.
MediaWatch analysts reviewed every evening news story on gays in the military from January 21 to 30, and discovered talking heads favoring gays in the military outnumbered opponents by 70 to 42 on the three broadcast networks. ABC (27-14) and CBS (32-17) both gave nearly twice as much attention to the liberal argument. NBC (11-11) split its head count down the middle, but also aired a special promoting the gay viewpoint.
The January 26 First Person with Maria Shriver featured 42 sound- bites of gays (and one of Clinton) to seven anti-gay soundbites. Shriver explained opposition to the gay rights agenda: "In the end, it all comes down to fear."
Reporters "educated" the public about how they misunderstand gays -- from the gay perspective. On the Jan. 29 World News Tonight, ABC reporter Beth Nissen explained: "They say they see in all of the switchboards lit with anti-gay calls the crossed wires lit with intolerance and bigotry. Yet many gays are hopeful that laws and attitudes will change, that there will be less hatred."
On other policies, the pattern remained the same. A few days later, ABC suggested the President will try to do "the right thing," but may be blocked. On Feb. 3, Ned Potter explained: "Look at what has happened on the environmental front...He promises to make Detroit improve on the fuel efficiency of its automobiles. But the Big Three car companies have already come to lobby against it. He wants to stop the build-up of industrial gases that threaten global warming, but he already faces powerful opposition from coal and oil lobbyists."
Without airing any critics, he concluded: "Clinton's top staffers talk so much about energy taxes, which they say would have several benefits; reducing the debt, reducing air pollution, discouraging oil imports. The problem, they say, is when the idea comes up, it is likely to be carved up by special interests." That's nothing like the ideological hostility of the last 12 years.
