MediaWatch: November 1991
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: November 1991
- Hard and Soft on Clarence Thomas
- NewsBites: Please Tax Us
- Revolving Door: Adding from Harvard Yard
- Nightline and Frontline Caught in Hoax
- The Court's Future
- Reporter or Campaign Strategist?
- Media Money Leans Left
- Once in Love with Nina
- Print Reporters Too
- Janet Cooke Award: L.A. Times: Savage Attack on Rehnquist
Once in Love with Nina
ONCE IN LOVE WITH NINA. Nina Totenberg's media groupies continue to celebrate The Leak. On ABC's Prime Time Live November 7, Diane Sawyer jawed that Totenberg "inspire[s] respect." After reviewing Nina's feud with Alan Simpson, Sawyer ended with a flourish: "Senator Simpson sent word to us for this broadcast that he thinks Nina Totenberg is a fine journalist who was just doing her job." Sawyer didn't mention that Totenberg was charged with plagiarism by The Wall Street Journal.
Journal Washington Bureau Chief Al Hunt responded to a loving October 10 profile by Washington Post reporter Howard Kurtz. Instead of investigating her story, Kurtz simply forwarded Totenberg's tale of leaving the National Observer in the 1970s because of sexual harassment. A week later, Hunt claimed that Totenberg did not leave, but was fired for plagiarizing the Post in 1972. Totenberg's response: "What I did or didn't do almost 20 years ago isn't the issue." Kurtz has yet to report these charges, despite his regular reporting on other incidents of plagiarism.
For those who wonder how Totenberg's prodding of Anita Hill affected her PBS commentary during the hearings, we present the Totenberg Tote Board. Number of times Nina defended herself over the leak: four. Number of times Nina wondered whether liberal interest groups would get a fair hearing from Thomas: three. Number of times Nina downplayed or audibly giggled at John Doggett's testimony: three. Number of times Nina promoted Hill's panel of witnesses as important or damaging to Thomas: eight. Totenberg ended her Sunday hearing analysis by saying: "By and large, I'd say the big news of today was the very first panel of the day, those who were corroborative witnesses for Anita Hill."
