MediaWatch: June 1996
Table of Contents:
"Moderates" Vote Left
A survey of his colleagues by a White House correspondent has confirmed that the Freedom Forum poll, showing 89 percent of Washington reporters voted for Clinton and 50 percent identify themselves as Democrats, but just four percent as Republicans, matches how they've voted since 1976.
For his new book, Feeding the Beast: The White House Versus the Press, U.S. News & World Report White House correspondent Kenneth Walsh personally polled 28 of his White House colleagues. His findings: "In 1992, nine respondents voted for Clinton, two for George Bush, and one for independent Ross Perot. Three said they had not voted for anyone, and one reporter wrote in the name of former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas. In 1988, twelve voted for Democrat Michael Dukakis, only one for Bush, and three did not vote for a presidential candidate. In 1984, ten voted for Democrat Walter Mondale, no one admitted voting for Ronald Reagan, and four said they had not voted for a presidential candidate."
In a May 10 appearance on the Fox Morning News Walsh maintained "that the overwhelming number of reporters" he polled "identify themselves as moderates." Walsh insisted reporters don't have a liberal bias, "I think it's more just an engine of anti-incumbency." But that's not what his poll found the last time a Democratic incumbent faced re-election: "In 1980, eight voted for Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter, two voted for Ronald Reagan, four voted for independent candidate John Anderson, and three did not vote. In 1976, eleven voted for Carter and two for Republican incumbent Gerald Ford."
Walsh's survey included reporters from all the major media: the four TV networks, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post; Copley, Cox, Hearst, Knight-Ridder, plus Newsweek, Time and U.S. News & World Report.
