MediaWatch: October 1991
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: October 1991
- Censoring the Case for "Censorship"
- Study Bites
- NewsBites: Mad Moldavians
- Revolving Door: Advocating Adams
- Networks Ignore Two Congressional Embarassments
- More Statistical Games
- Moyers' Boy Alter
- Janet Cooke Award: CBS: Threlked Flunks Economics
Networks Ignore Two Congressional Embarassments
CAPITOL HILL SCANDAL? NAAH
Washington's press corps continues to apply differing standards in political reporting: a tough one for the White House, and a lax one for Congress. As ABC's Brit Hume explained in the July 9 Washington Times: "Compared to the adversarial posturing reporters do when they're covering the President, the atmosphere is incredibly chummy and cozy....The idea that you would seriously challenge any member of Congress to defend his or her position on any issue, and then follow up on the questions, is almost unheard of."
The network evening news shows proved that assumption in failing to do even one story on the congressional check-bouncing scandal until October 3, two entire weeks after it broke in Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper. Three newspapers network producers see -- The Washington Post, The New York Times and USA Today -- each did several stories, but the network reporters on Capitol Hill blithely focused on other subjects (like unemployment benefits) without a word on check bouncing.
Compare this to the networks' response to the John Sununu story. The Washington Post released its investigation of Sununu on April 21. NBC did a story that night, ABC and CBS the next day. Over the following two weeks, the networks ran a combined total of 15 stories on Sununu. Amazingly, this isn't the first hint of check bouncing without much interest shown by the networks. In February 1990, the GAO released a report which found the bank had cashed $232,000 in bad checks during the previous twelve months.
Another blatant double standard arose in coverage of the "Managua Surprise," revelations that Democratic members of Congress may have passed U.S. secrets to the Sandinistas and advised the Managua regime on how to block Contra aid legislation. The New York Times ran the first story on September 15. Most other newspapers mentioned it on only two occasions: on September 20, after former CIA official Alan Fiers' testimony about the disclosure, and on October 4, after Senator David Boren announced he saw no wrongdoing.
But the networks, which have aired at least 27 evening news stories on the "October Surprise," have done absolutely nothing on this revelation. The CBS Evening News, which devotes more time to Iran-Contra than the other networks, did find time on October 1 for a story on Noriega running guns to the Contras. The Washington Post's laxity is fascinating given its nearly encyclopedic coverage of the Iran-Contra affair. Now that it's clear why Reagan officials were reluctant to tell all to Congress, the media have dropped the ball.
