MediaWatch: January 1993
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: January 1993
- No Liberal Labels for Redistributionists
- NewsBites: Holiday Homeless Hype
- Revolving Door: Schram's Spin
- Networks Predictably Erupt Over Iran-Contra Pardons
- 20/20 Host Slashes at GOP
- Cummins on Crime
- Not Enough Details on Iran-Contra, But "Bastards" Kept Honest on Ads
- Janet Cooke Award: Time's Lance Morrow, Margaret Carlson Promote the Clintons
Not Enough Details on Iran-Contra, But "Bastards" Kept Honest on Ads
Media Think They Did Great Job
"A substantial majority (55 percent) of the American journalists who followed the 1992 presidential campaign believe that George Bush's candidacy was damaged by the way the press covered him. Only 11 percent feel that Gov. Bill Clinton's campaign was harmed by the way the press covered his drive." So determined a December-released survey of 250 members of the media by the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press. The sample included 48 people dubbed the "powers that be," meaning news executives, Washington bureau chiefs, executive producers, anchors and political correspondents.
How did these top people rate their coverage of the 1992 campaign? Remarkably, 84 percent called it good or excellent. Of all those polled, 80 percent offered the same assessment. Despite the fact economic indicators released after the election showed negative coverage during the fall to be way off base, 73 percent overall and 75 percent of the "powers that be" called economic coverage good or excellent.
While 72 percent of those surveyed categorized coverage of Clinton's Vietnam draft status as good or excellent, reporters thought Iran-Contra didn't get enough attention, believe it or not. The Times Mirror report explained: "Coverage of Bush's relation to the Iran-Contra scandal received the harshest judgment. Over 70 percent said it was only fair (48 percent) or poor (23 percent); one-fourth (24 percent) said it was good."
Journalists were quite proud of their "ad watch" efforts: "Most applause was given to press assessments of candidates' commercials during the campaign (77 percent positive). Such propaganda debunking, said one television newsman, `is the primary reason why no Willie Horton ads or their cousins have appeared in this campaign. Our coverage is keeping the bastards honest.'"
