Public Afraid of Ken Starr and Should Fear Bill Gates 1) Every network led with Vernon Jordan, but only NBC detailed his Hubbell history. A CBS poll discovered, surprise, that most don't think "Republican special prosecutor" Starr is impartial. 2) Barbara Boxer and Bill Clinton convince celebrities from Danny DeVito to Cheryl Tiegs to fork over money. 3) The networks re-capped the Senate hearing on the software battle. ABC explored "whether we consumers should be afraid of Bill Gates." . Tuesday night, March 3, ABC, CBS, NBC led with Vernon Jordan's grand jury appearance, emphasizing how Jordan maintained he remains... continue reading
CBS Highlights Starr's "Police State Tactics;" Clift's Warning 1) Monday night ABC skipped Monicagate while NBC, CNN and FNC previewed Jordan. CBS denounced Starr's "ominous" grand jury in which his deputies "pelt" innocent witnesses, leading to "emotional collapse" and rage "about police state tactics." 2) Just back from Mars, GMA's team says Monicagate has "finally shifted" to Starr's conduct as "Republican" Leahy denounced him. 3) Eleanor Clift warned that if House Republicans take up Starr's case against Clinton the media will probe their private lives. 4) NBC's Matt Lauer tried to get Bill Gates to agree that "we as journalists... continue reading
Indignation About Starr Clients; North's Wife & Jones' Mother Did It Too 1) CBS focused on the "evolving" White House storyline. On Saturday ABC gave more time to fundraising for Paula Jones than to Monicagate. Sunday night: indignation over Starr's "private" clients. 2) Starr demanding testimony from Lewinsky's mother outraged reporters, but the media yawned when Clinton's lawyers hauled Paula Jones's mother in for a deposition. 3) Last week the New York Post editorialized: "None of those who currently profess shock...at Starr's efforts even said boo about Walsh's far more serious attacks on privacy and privilege." 4) Al Hunt: The... continue reading
Should Starr Go?; GOP, Not Clinton, Blamed for Sleazy Fundraising 1) Thursday night NBC said Monicagate is "beginning to resemble a schoolyard brawl" and CNN asked "Should Ken Starr resign?" 2) "Republicans kill the bill to clean up sleazy political fundraising," declared Dan Rather. He and Jennings whined about finance reform while ignoring more evidence of Trie's ties to Clinton. 3) Today's Matt Lauer spent two interview segments on how Starr has "overstepped his authority," then admitted the media eagerly complied with the White House strategy to put Starr on the defense. . In an approach that serves White House... continue reading
CBS: "Trigger-Happy" Starr & His Unethical Team; Blumenthal Bio 1) CBS launched a jihad against Ken Starr Thursday night, relaying personal attacks on his team; NBC's Brokaw worried about the "chilling effect" Starr is having on the First Amendment. 2) A network anchor denounced First Amendment attacks on Starr and insisted "Starr should find it out" if Blumenthal leaked any "nasty stuff." Obviously not an ABC, CBS, CNN or NBC anchor. 3) Tim Russert blamed Ken Starr for media focus on his tactics, as if the media couldn't avoid conforming to the White House spin. 4) Today's Katie Couric conducted... continue reading
Networks Ignored the Charge 1) Monday night the broadcast networks ignored the charge that the White House had hired investigators to probe personal lives. 2) The White House conceded a Nixonian act, using a PI, but who did the networks castigate? Starr. Tuesday night ABC declared Starr "out of bounds;" CNN wondered if he was "acting illegally." 3) The much-touted PBS profile of Reagan delivered the usual liberal nonsense: "Cuts in social programs created a homeless population that grew to exceed that of Atlanta. AIDS became an epidemic in the 1980s...Reagan largely ignored it." >>>> Some sad news. Sandy Hume,... continue reading
Most Networks Skipped Starr's Whitewater Success; Latest NQ 1) CBS, NBC and MSNBC Friday night ignored the latest Whitewater success by Starr, ABC gave it a few seconds. Only FNC spelled out the ramifications for Clinton. NBC went Monica-free for two nights. 2) February 23 edition of Notable Quotables: Saturday Night Massacre by Spin Control & Still Shilling for the Clinton Marriage. Clinton and the flight attendant now on the MRC Web page. MRC Web manager Joe Alfonsi got a "Snappy" of the video cited in the February 19 CyberAlert of Bill Clinton and a flight attendant sharing a jump... continue reading
No Jumping on Jordan's Meetings; CBS Hires a Clinton "Shill"? 1) News of more meetings than previously known between Lewinsky and Jordan skipped Thursday night by NBC and explained away on CBS. 2) "Who's thinking about Buddhist nuns when the issue is illicit sex in the White House?" Not NBC viewers since the network decided to help Al Gore by ignoring Maria Hsia. 3) On Friday's 20/20 Monica Lewinsky's father will liken Starr to Hitler. Just like Susan McDougal did last year on NBC. 4) CBS News has just hired a former Clinton operative who once described Clinton as "the... continue reading
Hsia Shunned by ABC & NBC; Bruce Lindsey's Flight Attendant Cover-Up 1) ABC and NBC ignored the indictment of the woman who organized the Buddhist Temple fundraiser; all led with the Clinton foreign policy team's town meeting "fiasco" and "debacle." 2) ABC's World News Tonight featured a glowing profile of Bruce Lindsey in which reporter John Cochran admired how he had successfully killed stories that "might erupt about Clinton and flight attendants" by silencing one and giving another a job. 3) Does Tripp's talk with Jones's lawyers, Today's Jodi Applegate wondered, prove "the whole right-wing conspiracy argument?" VRWC Alert ... continue reading
McCurry: Nothing "Innocent" About Bill & Monica but Nets Unmoved 1) Mike McCurry conceded he doesn't think there's an innocent explanation for Monica's relationship with Clinton, but to the networks the top aide's disbelief in Clinton was no big deal. 2) Prosecutors Comfortable or Appalled by Starr? Depends on the headline. Margaret Carlson complained: "In Ken Starr's America, moms do tell -- or else." 3) The Justice Dept. is probing the possible improper influence a Clinton-Gore campaign official had in a bad deal that has cost taxpayers millions, but NBC decided to leave its viewers uninformed. Best of NQ Booklet... continue reading