Sex, Lies and the Smoking Gun: Politics and Journalism
Whoever came up with that title for a forum at the downtown library in Buffalo has a way with headlines.
Of course, as in the National Enquirer, the headline oversold the story a bit. Still it was an interesting night, hearing former newspaper and TV reporter and current St. Bonaventure Journalism Dean Lee Coppola, Business First Publisher Jack Connors and WGRZ-TV icon Rich Kellman – and the audience – get a chance to talk about journalism and scandals.
The short synopsis? Scandals sell.
No news there, but there were plenty of observations on the news media. Among them:
Coppola quoted CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (Bonas’ commencement speaker) answering a student query on why the network keeps repeating stories, endlessly, through the 24-hour news cycle: “Because we don’t know when you’re watching.” So I guess you get what you deserve if you watch too much cable news!
Coppola also said the “responsible media find it very uncomfortable to cover stories of immorality.” Which may be why the National Enquirer broke the story on presidential candidate John Edwards’ affair with a campaign videomaker.
Kellman cast the Erie County budget debacle in a meta-story context – WGRZ getting to play the role of hero, with former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra as Darth Vaderesque villain? Was it fair? Maybe not, but Giambra did get caught totally mismanaging the county. And, as Kellman pointed out, the audience needs a STORY.
Kellman credited former WGRZ reporter Stefan Mychajliw (now unrepentant chief apologist for the Buffalo city schools) for his ability to simplify and clarify the story to draw the audience into the stories.
“We were doing our duty as journalists, but it was also good for ratings … an ideal situation,” said Kellman.
Kellman described the situation as a “black swan,” a phrase I hadn’t heard before. It’s a situation that is totally unexpected, but fortuitous – at least for the TV station and its news ratings. It apparently takes its inspiration from “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” a book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb that has sold a heck of a lot of copies.
Connors provided some reminders that most newspapers had histories as political organs. The Buffalo Courier (and later the Courier Express), for example, was once owned by waterfront boss “Fingy” Connors (damn, I forgot to ask if they were related!) as a forum for pressing his agenda.
Connors (Jack, that is, not Fingy) also drew a line between moral scandals (Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky) and misuse of public funds/abuse of power. Bill Clinton’s approval ratings, Connors said, rose during the scandal and subsequent impeachment.
So there you have it. Not too much mention of Alexander Hamilton (the forum was part of a series of events commemorating the great man – who also had an affair with a friend’s wife. Hamilton’s wife, by the way, stood by him when it was revealed).
With such great source material, there were other items that could have drawn more attention. For example, the press’ dealings with Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, the slave Jefferson apparently had an affair (and children) with. I’ve read that the criticism was so severe it made Jefferson almost rue his support of a free press (including the oft-quoted: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter”).
Mention was made of Grover Cleveland’s love-child, but not much of how it was handled in the media. According to a story in U.S. News & World Report on past presidents’ indiscretions, The Buffalo Evening Telegraph ran a story headlined, “A Terrible Tale: A Dark Chapter in a Public Man's History: The Pitiful Story of Maria Halpin and Governor Cleveland's Son." The resultant rhyme was “"Ma, Ma, where's my pa? Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"
Meanwhile, Cleveland’s opponent, James Blaine, was knee deep in corruption accusations as the 1884 election approached.
As per Jack Connors’ observation, Cleveland won.
Of course, as in the National Enquirer, the headline oversold the story a bit. Still it was an interesting night, hearing former newspaper and TV reporter and current St. Bonaventure Journalism Dean Lee Coppola, Business First Publisher Jack Connors and WGRZ-TV icon Rich Kellman – and the audience – get a chance to talk about journalism and scandals.
The short synopsis? Scandals sell.
No news there, but there were plenty of observations on the news media. Among them:
Coppola quoted CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (Bonas’ commencement speaker) answering a student query on why the network keeps repeating stories, endlessly, through the 24-hour news cycle: “Because we don’t know when you’re watching.” So I guess you get what you deserve if you watch too much cable news!
Coppola also said the “responsible media find it very uncomfortable to cover stories of immorality.” Which may be why the National Enquirer broke the story on presidential candidate John Edwards’ affair with a campaign videomaker.
Kellman cast the Erie County budget debacle in a meta-story context – WGRZ getting to play the role of hero, with former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra as Darth Vaderesque villain? Was it fair? Maybe not, but Giambra did get caught totally mismanaging the county. And, as Kellman pointed out, the audience needs a STORY.
Kellman credited former WGRZ reporter Stefan Mychajliw (now unrepentant chief apologist for the Buffalo city schools) for his ability to simplify and clarify the story to draw the audience into the stories.
“We were doing our duty as journalists, but it was also good for ratings … an ideal situation,” said Kellman.
Kellman described the situation as a “black swan,” a phrase I hadn’t heard before. It’s a situation that is totally unexpected, but fortuitous – at least for the TV station and its news ratings. It apparently takes its inspiration from “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” a book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb that has sold a heck of a lot of copies.
Connors provided some reminders that most newspapers had histories as political organs. The Buffalo Courier (and later the Courier Express), for example, was once owned by waterfront boss “Fingy” Connors (damn, I forgot to ask if they were related!) as a forum for pressing his agenda.
Connors (Jack, that is, not Fingy) also drew a line between moral scandals (Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky) and misuse of public funds/abuse of power. Bill Clinton’s approval ratings, Connors said, rose during the scandal and subsequent impeachment.
So there you have it. Not too much mention of Alexander Hamilton (the forum was part of a series of events commemorating the great man – who also had an affair with a friend’s wife. Hamilton’s wife, by the way, stood by him when it was revealed).
With such great source material, there were other items that could have drawn more attention. For example, the press’ dealings with Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, the slave Jefferson apparently had an affair (and children) with. I’ve read that the criticism was so severe it made Jefferson almost rue his support of a free press (including the oft-quoted: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter”).
Mention was made of Grover Cleveland’s love-child, but not much of how it was handled in the media. According to a story in U.S. News & World Report on past presidents’ indiscretions, The Buffalo Evening Telegraph ran a story headlined, “A Terrible Tale: A Dark Chapter in a Public Man's History: The Pitiful Story of Maria Halpin and Governor Cleveland's Son." The resultant rhyme was “"Ma, Ma, where's my pa? Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"
Meanwhile, Cleveland’s opponent, James Blaine, was knee deep in corruption accusations as the 1884 election approached.
As per Jack Connors’ observation, Cleveland won.
posted by Mister E at
8:41 PM
1 Comments:
They did sort of get off the topic, which made me wonder if the composition of the panel could have been bigger and perhaps better and more focused.
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