Steele & Star Sting Willey; CNN's Liberal Women; Travolta Hugs Clinton 1) Julie Steele's tale falls apart, but ABC and CNN claim she causes "more credibility problems" for Willey. Nets upset by Willey talking to the Star, but Steele made deal with another tab. 2) CNN's Century of Liberal Women. Columnist Cal Thomas dissected the bias in the series hosted by Hillary Clinton and Jane Fonda. 3) Primary Colors star John Travolta told Today that he doesn't want to know anything about Clinton's possible perjury. If your plane is crashing do you care who the pilot had sex with last... continue reading
Book & Debt Discredit Willey; Clinton's Orchestration Barely Touched 1) More hits on Willey in the guise of news stories Wednesday night as CNN and NBC skipped the revelation that Clinton is personally organizing the assault on Willey. 2) Dateline NBC declared Bill Clinton the true victim as Secret Service officers ask "who they're supposed to protect the President from -- an assassin, or a character assassination?" 1 Network producers were greeted with two Willey-related stories Wednesday morning on the front pages of Washington's newspapers. A Washington Post headline read: "Willey's Lawyer Sought Book Deal for Her." The top story... continue reading
Gumbel Whacked Willey; McCarthyite Fears; Willey's Motives 1) Bryant Gumbel launched an attack on Kathleen Willey Tuesday night and disparaged Linda Tripp as "a Clinton-basher who seems to be at every ugly turn in this controversy." 2) Charles Osgood denounced the investigation and what it has sown: "I dreamed an apparition swarthy, the unshaved ghost of Joe McCarthy." 3) Willey the top story Tuesday night as ABC and CBS led with how it has yet to impact Clinton's approval. NBC impugned Willey: "New revelations about a book deal, new questions about her motives." 4) GMA and Today bring on Anita... continue reading
Willey's Weak Credibility?; Flowers Found; Emma Thompson: Yes to Clinton 1) The White House counter-offensive worked as the networks Monday night focused on the letters and messages left by Kathleen Willey, but skipped her revelation about Clinton's 1992 come-on. 2) GMA's Lisa McRee wondered why the public didn't take Gennifer Flowers seriously. Maybe because it took GMA over six years to interview her. 3) The stars of Primary Colors enthusiastically back Clinton. Emma Thompson gushed on Letterman: "Yes!" she would have voted for Clinton, because of his views on "rights for women." 4) Bryant Gumbel has high negatives, but CBS... continue reading
Nets Led with Depositions, But Where Were They When Willey First Arose? 1) The Jones court filing led Friday night, but only one network mentioned Dolly Kyle-Browning and just one cited Miss Arkansas. CNN's Joie Chen asked if it's all part of the right-wing conspiracy; NBC's David Bloom highlighted a personal hit on Linda Tripp. 2) Kathleen Willey is big news now, but the networks avoided her story when it broke in 1997. CBS gave it a minute, NBC a few seconds and ABC followed Mike McCurry's hopes and ignored her. Correction/Clarification/Update: The March 12 CyberAlert reported that "NBC's Today... continue reading
Hubbell's Scam; Couric's McKinney Connection; Conservatives on Brock 1) All the nets Wednesday night speculated about Clinton testifying, but only FNC told what the grand jurors heard and only NBC detailed the planned Hubbell indictment -- plus, nine months after print reports, NBC got to Hubbell's LA scam. 2) Katie Couric pointed out that the Army is court-martialing Sergeant-Major McKinney for charges similar to those facing Clinton. 3) David Brock is "a disgrace," declared John Podhoretz. "Brock's problem is not conservatism, it is narcissism," asserted David Horowitz who also illustrated how the media have hypocritically accepted Brock's picture of intolerant... continue reading
Willey "Adds Up to Nothing;" Brock Makes the Morning Show Rounds 1) Kathleen Willey's appearance generated stories on all the networks. NBC concluded, though: "Said one White House official tonight, at the end of the day it all adds up to nothing." 2) Instead of letting a conservative react to Brock's mean-spirited attack, NBC's Today only allowed Newsweek to defend itself from Brock's charge it's just as awful as the American Spectator. 3) James McDougal's writing partner, the Boston Globe's Curtis Wilkie, once linked Duke to Reagan and exulted in Clinton's '92 victory. VRWC Alert. Attention members of the Vast... continue reading
Brock Bought; NBC's Widow Labeling; ABC's Shot at Limbaugh 1) Every network highlighted David Brock's "apology" to Clinton, but none noted how you make more money bashing conservatives than reporting on the President. 2) NBC's widow warp: Sonny Bono's wife got an ideological label yet not the wife of Walter Capps. But her opponent got tagged. 3) "Open your mouth and hope for the best?" Yes, quipped a character on an ABC drama, "It works for Rush Limbaugh." . Monday night every network showcased David Brock's "apology" to Clinton and how Trent Lott, responding to negative Republican reaction to his... continue reading
Crediting Clinton for Economy; Starr's Perjury; Latest NQ 1) Dan Rather declared: "President Clinton was singing his own praises, this time with the facts and figures to back him up." 2) CNN highlighted: "While Starr argues that [Lewinsky attorney] Carter is using the attorney-client privilege to conceal what would be perjury, Starr is being accused of the same thing." 3) March 9 edition of Notable Quotables: Blame GOP for Democratic illegalities, stinging Starr, Clift's blackmail threat, and "Please Spank Me." A Loss to the Conservative Journalistic Community. Eric Breindel, Senior Vice President of the News Corporation and host of FNC's... continue reading
Deposition Leak Speculation; "Darth Vader" Scaife Hit by NBC 1) All the networks led Thursday night with Jordan and speculation about who leaked Clinton's deposition, but differed on whether Jordan matched Clinton's story. Johnny Chung's guilty plea got a few seconds from all; Gandhi's arrest skipped by NBC. 2) NBC impugns Ken Starr by insidiously linking him to Richard Scaife, "the Darth Vader of the alleged right-wing conspiracy." Nazi Germany = Ken Starr's America? A fresh MRC Media Reality Check has been posted at the top of the MRC home page by MRC web manager Joe Alfonsi. It's titled: "Who... continue reading