MediaWatch: May 1993
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: May 1993
- CBS Stands Apart from Other Networks In Promoting Clinton Stimulus
- NewsBites: Eleanor and Evidence
- Revolving Door: Stern Justice
- Networks Ignore Protest Platform, Explicit Sex Talk, and Hate Speech
- Today's Double Standard
- Eye on School Choice
- Save Papers by Making Them Liberal
- Janet Cooke Award: CNN's Ken Bode Throws Allegations At GOP Without Airing Response
Today's Double Standard
Brock Book Bias
Last July 5, NBC Sunday Today co-host Mary Alice Williams interviewed Newsday reporter Timothy Phelps, one of two reporters who outed Anita Hill's unproven allegations against Clarence Thomas, about his new book on the hearings, Capitol Games.
Williams did not challenge Phelps, but asked him to explain how Thomas was unqualified for the Supreme Court: "Everyone remembers the sexual harassment charges, the racism charges. Were any of Clarence Thomas's real qualifications ever examined?" And: "In your book, you say that the White House organized women's groups to support Thomas and that that was somehow manufactured. Can you tell us about that?"
On May 3, 1993, Today co-host Katie Couric interviewed David Brock, who has picked Hill's case apart in a new book, The Real Anita Hill. But instead of having him on alone like Phelps, Today forced Brock to share the ten-minute segment with Hill defender Charles Ogletree, who trashed the book: "It's a great piece of fiction, but he doesn't deal with fact. He makes countless errors of fact, he tells outright lies, he refers to statements that have been proven false. And it's a dupe. I think the most important thing is that journalists should take a look at David Brock's book and find out about the real David Brock."
Today co-host Katie Couric also questioned Brock's bias: "You do, though, Mr. Brock, have some innate biases, don't you? I mean The American Spectator [where Brock's revelations first appeared] is an ultraconservative magazine, and it seems as if you are an advocate for Justice Thomas in the book. Is it really fair to call yourself an objective journalist?"
Mary Alice Williams never asked Phelps that question, even though his book Capitol Games used terms like "far right," "radical right," and "ultraconservative" to describe Thomas and his supporters on 82 occasions.
Phelps also appeared with fellow leak beneficiary Nina Totenberg on Today's two-hour Hill-Thomas special last October 6, but Brock was not invited. In fact, Today interviewed no defender of Clarence Thomas in the studio during the program.
