MediaWatch: November 1994

Janet Cooke Award: ABC Devoted Almost Two Hours to New Book Full of Sexual Allegations Against Thomas

Another Rerun of I Believe Anita

For more than two years, the national media have insisted that the personal life of politicians, in particular Bill Clinton, have no relevance to their public careers, and have followed through on that belief by refusing to devote any substantial air time or column inches to the questions surrounding Clinton's personal life. The stories of Gennifer Flowers or the state troopers on Clinton's personal security detail have been downplayed, as have the sexual harassment claims of Paula Jones.

That is not a standard these same journalists feel compelled to uphold for conservative officials, proven most dramatically by the sexual harassment allegations against Justice Clarence Thomas. Six days before the November 8 elections, ABC News decided to promote a new book by Wall Street Journal reporters Jill Abramson and Jane Mayer, Strange Justice, that argued that Democrats did not look hard enough into the sexual proclivities of Thomas before his confirmation. For boldly demonstrating a liberal double standard without the benefit of relevant new evidence against Thomas, ABC earned the Janet Cooke Award.

ABC's World News Tonight reported only three stories on Flowers in 1992, six stories on the trooper allegations in 1993, and nine so far on the Jones story in 1994. But ABC reported 15 stories in the first five days after Hill's 1991 allegations. While Good Morning America did interview pro-Hill reporter Tim Phelps on his book Capitol Games, it failed to interview pro-Thomas reporter David Brock on his book The Real Anita Hill. At the time, Media-Watch asked GMA spokesperson Kathy Rehl why. She said Phelps got an interview because his book came first. When asked if merit was considered, Rehl replied "We don't consider things like that."

ABC devoted not only 60 minutes of Turning Point and 30 minutes of Nightline on November 2, but also another three interview segments on Good Morning America November 2 and 3. But what did it have that was "news"? Forrest Sawyer began Turning Point by suggesting that Anita Hill was "breaking her long silence." In addition to making an estimated $500,000 on the lecture circuit, she has done at least eight network interviews since the hearings, the latest earlier this year. Sawyer called it the "untold story" of the unheard testimony of Angela Wright, Rose Jourdain, and Sukari Hardnett. But U.S. News touted the same "untold story" in 1992.

The "untold story" not only lacked much of anything new, but also anything truly damaging. None of this testimony offered direct evidence of Thomas harassing Hill. None of the women claimed Thomas had sexually harassed them. ABC's only new claims came from Kaye Savage, who only claimed that she had seen Playboy centerfolds and magazines in Thomas's apartment in 1983, and Edward Jones, who suggested Hill's claims sounded like the Thomas he knew in college.

Turning Point pretended to be balanced by airing comments from former White House counsel Boyden Gray, Republican Sens. John Danforth, Alan Simpson, and Hank Brown, and former minority counsel Thomas Dadou. A few soundbites defended Thomas. But ABC focused only on evidence against Thomas; any refutation of that evidence or focus on Hill's credibility was omitted or ridiculed -- by a Republican.

McQueen asserted: "Behind the scenes, Thomas's allies were organizing an aggressive attack on Hill's credibility." Anti-Hill affidavits were described by GOP staffer Dadou: "Letters from former students of hers with outlandish and outrageous allegations...They all sounded similar. They all had allegations of pubic hairs in blue book exams. I read them and I just thought they were ridiculous and I threw them in the garbage."

Later, McQueen reported that the four women stood by while attorney John Doggett testified against Hill. McQueen again turned to Dadou: "The women staffers were just, you know, sort of howling at the idea of this nymphomaniac going around. It just seemed ridiculous." On the other hand, ABC promoted the anti-Thomas witnesses never called. David Brock mentioned all but Savage in The Real Anita Hill, especially Wright. Like Hill, Wright did not come forward voluntarily, but unlike Hill, she denied she had been sexually harassed. ABC noted Wright had been fired by Thomas, but not that she had been fired by Rep. Charlie Rose (D-N.C.), by the Republican National Committee, and the Agency for International Development (AID), where she accused supervisor Kate Semerad of racism when Semerad appeared before the Senate for confirmation. Former AID Deputy Administrator Jay Morris wrote the Judiciary Committee saying "I am struck by the startling parallels between what Ms. Wright did then and what she is doing now. She vowed vengeance on a former supervisor for dismissal on the basis of competence."

The woman who "corroborated" Wright, Rose Jourdain, was also fired. While ABC mentioned the firings, it omitted Brock's finding that "the details in Jourdain's statement...were not contained in Wright's own statement." Diane Holt, Thomas's assistant, told Brock that Jourdain "was writing a book, and she worked on her book all day. She never did any work." Jourdain told pro-Hill reporter Tim Phelps she was fired over political differences with Thomas.

Sukari Hardnett's statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee plainly declared "I am not claiming I was the victim of sexual harassment." She claimed there was a "sexual dimension" to the office, but provided no specifics. Barbara Lawrence, who shared an office with Hardnett, told Brock that Thomas "spent a lot of time trying to help her. But I know there was nothing more than that. I saw them every day." Hardnett also tried to interest the liberal group Alliance for Justice in her allegations when Thomas was nominated, according to David Savage's book Turning Right.

ABC refused to return repeated phone calls. But David Brock contacted ABC when he learned of the program, and received a letter from McQueen dated November 2 that read: "We are not doing a `survey of the literature' and thus we did not interview you; or Timothy Phelps of Newsday; or Nina Totenberg, who occasionally contributes to Nightline; or Toni Morrison, who edited a fine collection of essays from the hearings; or the authors of several academic papers....We focused on the principals, who are the Senators and some staff members, and potential witnesses."

But ABC also refused to interview pro-Thomas witnesses from the EEOC like Armstrong Williams or Phyllis Berry Myers. "They did not want to disturb their story line," Brock told MediaWatch. "It's a lot like ABC's hour on the October Surprise [on Nightline June 20, 1991]: they invested two years in it, they had nothing, but they had to air it anyway."

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