MediaWatch: May 1994
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: May 1994
- Amount, Tone of Scandal Coverage Markedly Different Than During the Reagan Era
- NewsBites: Newsweek Loves the Times
- Revolving Door: Formative 60's
- First Lady Called "Candid" and "Responsive" After She Evades Questions
- Vanishing Liberal Bloc?
- Stossel's Scare Special
- Washington Post's America of Cliches
- Janet Cooke Award: NBC's Ann Curry Offers Dire Scenario of Overpopulation Without Citing Sources
Revolving Door: Formative 60's
A recent interview and profile have revealed that two top ABC News staffers toiled for left-wing politicians in the 1960s. On CNBC's Equal Time February 17, co-host Mary Matalin asked 20/20 correspondent Sylvia Chase why she left politics.
Chase responded: "Because I had two Kennedys sort of shot. I had been involved in both those campaigns and I, it was a very sobering experience for me, actually, the second one. And I was at the hotel, and I had organized Southern California volunteers and committees. And I felt it was time to move on and also in that time career opportunities for women had opened up finally in journalism."
Chase rejoined 20/20 in 1990 after a four-year stint as an anchor with KRON-TV in San Francisco, a job she took after ABC refused to air a segment she reported which romantically linked John and Robert Kennedy to Marilyn Monroe. She reported for CBS News from 1971 until jumping to ABC in 1977.
In 1968, an April 12 Washington Post profile revealed, World News Tonight Executive Producer Richard Kaplan worked as "an advance man" for Democratic presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. During that campaign he met Susan Thomases and in 1980 she introduced him to Bill Clinton. Kaplan soon became a FOB.
While Executive Producer of Prime Time Live in 1992, he advised Clinton on how to control damage from the Gennifer Flowers story. In February, Knight Ridder's Marc Gunther reported that in 1992 "Kaplan and Clinton stayed up late playing cards and talking about how to deal with" an upcoming talk show appearance. Last year, Gunther noted, Kaplan played golf with the President and stayed overnight in the Lincoln bedroom.
Bringing Helms to Baer
Last month MediaWatch reported the move of U.S. News & World Report Assistant Managing Editor Donald Baer to the White House as Director of Speechwriting. An April 9 National Journal profile divulged that this wasn't Baer's first spin through the revolving door. "In 1972," James Barnes wrote, "he attended the Democratic National Convention in Miami as a junior aide to ex-Gov. Terry Sanford's token presidential bid." By 1981 Baer had became a lawyer in New York City. When North Carolina Governor James Hunt, a Democrat, opposed Senator Jesse Helms in 1984, Baer "organized a $75,000 Manhattan fundraiser for Hunt." Three years later, he joined U.S. News.
Rockefeller Revolver
James Cannon, a Time and Newsweek reporter in the 1950s and 1960s, has written a new book titled Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History. Cannon can offer some first-hand observations: He served as domestic policy adviser to President Ford.
Following the Korean War, Cannon spent two years with Time before switching to Newsweek. By the time he jumped into politics in 1969 as an adviser to New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, The Washington Times noted April 19, he had risen to the position of Chief Political Correspondent for Newsweek. When the liberal Republican became Vice President, Cannon moved with him to Washington, later joining Ford's staff. Following Ford's loss he became Chief of Staff to Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker, Jr.
