"NEWSWEEK" & "SALON" ON MONICA LEWINSKY SCANDAL.   Term Paper ID:25929 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Compares traditional & new (online) media outlets' coverage of first three months of scandal. Magazines' organization & structure, biases, goals, articles, editorials.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Compares traditional & new (online) media outlets' coverage of first three months of scandal. Magazines' organization & structure, biases, goals, articles, editorials. Paper Introduction: I. Introduction Although it has no constitutional function, the press has long had an important role to play in the American system of government. Often called The Fourth Estate, the press (now more often called "the media") is promoted in civics classes and in their own words as conducting a watchdog function over government. The cases of Watergate and Vietnam are often pointed to as examples of the media performing this role, and there are numerous examples of this at the state and local levels. However, this century has witnessed an evolving intimate, even symbiotic, relationship between the media and government, at least at the national level. From the Hearst newspaper chain's active promotion of the Spanish-American War through the often breathless trumpeting of the Gulf War by many Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Doris A. Graber, 139-158. (1998, January 27). Salon is a decidedly and admittedly left-leaningpublication (it should be noted that such a bias is not necessarily a badthing; indeed, for the purposes of analysis, it makes the case of Salon inmany ways more interesting than that of Newsweek). Available online athttp://www.salonmagazine.com/news/1998/ 1/23list.html Broder, J. In Media Power in Politics, ed. Like Newsweek andother traditional magazines, Salon is divided into sections; in Salon'scase, the sections include titles such as Books, Columnists, Media Circus,and Mothers. From theHearst newspaper chain's active promotion of the Spanish-American Warthrough the often breathless trumpeting of the Gulf War by many majoroutlets, the large and influential purveyors of the news have come to beseen by many as merely another arm of the Establishment, with seriousquestioning and investigation of the government in the muckraking traditioncarried out by more marginal sources. From the moment the First Lady proposed theVast Right Wing Conspiracy, this "frame" of the events has been continuallygaining purchase. Generally, abouthalf of the remaining content pages are given over to national andinternational news; however, there are usually two or more opinion columnsincluded within these sections. January 26, to April 27. (1998, March 23). Finally, conclusionswill be drawn about the coverage of the issue by each magazine.II. References Broder, J. Patterson, T.E. This conclusion also points out a flaw in this research.The two magazines analyzed in this paper, juxtaposed in this manner, findthemselves somewhat bizarre situation. Additionally, the coverage of each magazine will beanalyzed, discussing the angle, stance, possible biases, and goals of bothstories in particular and the magazines in general. (1998, March 18). The remaining half of the content pagesconsists of sections covering letters to the editor, business, medicine,society, and the like. Salon magazine (http://www.salonmagazine.com/) has no set publicationdate. Newsweek reporter Michael Issikof had been working on the Lewinskystory for weeks, and the magazine was prepared to run the story in itsJanuary 26 issue. For example, while the February 23 issue containedexcerpts from Monica Lewinsky's e-mail, which defenders of the Presidentmight consider a display of bias against him, the February 9 issuecontained a detailed explication of the reputed "Vast Right WingConspiracy" pushed by Hillary Clinton and Sidney Blumenthal, whichopponents of the President might consider a display of bias in the otherdirection. However,after that interview appeared, and roughly coinciding with the tapering offof new stories in Newsweek, Salon's journalists began submittinginvestigative pieces in ever increasing numbers. This latter story, describingalleged payoffs to key Whitewater witness David Hale, attracted nationalattention when it caused Attorney General Janet Reno to initiate anofficial investigation. (1998, March 12). Other stories might haveused the Newsweek sketch of the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" as aguideline, as they systematically detailed the alleged links among some ofthe major players in the accusations against the President ("Show Us TheMoney," and "Portrait of a Bag Man"). Available online athttp://www.salonmagazine.com/news/1998/ 1/23list.html Downie, D. A total of 127 stories on the Clinton scandal,scattered among various sections of the magazine, are archived, well overhalf of all the articles published in the relevant time frame. Therefore, if one were tocount the number of ads, the total would be quite high, the actual rationof content to advertisement is quite small. Typically, there are competing frames surrounding anissue (abortion, for example, has pro-life and pro-choice frames). Often calledThe Fourth Estate, the press (now more often called "the media") ispromoted in civics classes and in their own words as conducting a watchdogfunction over government. Television news and citizen's explanations ofnational affairs. Salon, an acknowledged journal ofthe left staffed by a number of former SDS radicals, is in the position ofdefending the Establishment (unless one can somehow make the argument thatthe Clinton Administration, with its Wall Street policies, is somehow anti-Establishment), while the reportage of the decidedly Establishment Newsweekis in the position of attacking it. (1998, March 11). Additionally, the magazineusually contains at least two columnists with thoughts on the topic,notably Margaret Carlson from the left, George Will from the right, andStuart Taylor from the center (although, Taylor's possible bias hasrecently been called into question). For the purposes of this research,coverage of a specific topic will be examined, focusing on how that topicis handled in each of the chosen publications. The method used to judge the content of Salon involved logging ontothe magazine's archive page (http://www.salonmagazine.com/archive/) andselecting all articles since January 21, 1998, the date that the Lewinskyscandal first broke. 9, 1998). Slick Willey. While the possible biases of Newsweek can be debated, such is not thecase for Salon. As Patterson points out, the Clinton teamdistinguished itself during its initial campaign in 1992 that it hadrecognized the potential for and mastered the use of the "new media"(Patterson, 1994, 26, 17 ). During the period analyzed, the magazine contained anaverage of 77 pages per issue, with a high of 8 and a low of 74. Thus, we can see attempts at agendasetting on multiple levels (Newsweek, the Independent Counsel, Drudge, andwhoever leaked the story to Drudge - knowing full well that Drudge wouldnever sit on it himself). At the center of thiscabal is Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, who is described as an out-of-control, crazed man dedicated to "get" the President at all costs. Other editorials and columnsbegan laying the groundwork for the defense of the President, tellingreaders that the issue was one of privacy ("Ain't Nobody's Business but HisOwn"), or that America should adopt a more Continental attitude towardpoliticians and infidelity ("America, Grow Up!"). Salon Magazine.Available online at http://www.salonmagazine.com/news/ 1998/ 1/23list.html A more fair and more thorough analysis of the role of themedia in this issue would have included a representative of one of theseright-wing publications. However, the mostinteresting aspect of the early Salon coverage of the scandal is that itconsisted entirely of opinion, columns, and think pieces. Additionally, Starr has been hampered by whatappears to be a complete lack of understanding of public relations, suchthat even where he can speak, he does so ineffectively and without the aidof media advisors. The traditional publication to be analyzed will beNewsweek magazine, which broke the Monica Lewinsky story (although theInternet-based Drudge Report pirated parts of their story and published it48 hours before the magazine) and continues to lead the way in the ongoingcoverage. Reporter Michael Issikof first uncovered the story, althoughit was withheld from publication long enough for Internet reporter MattDrudge to publish a sketch of it over the Internet before Newsweek set itto print (Newsweek, January 26, 1998). In January of 1998,however, the editors of Newsweek were in the position to affect the agendaby not covering a story at all. Agenda-setting research:Where has it been, where is it going? Some of these storiesexamined various individuals involved in the scandal and either impugnedtheir creditability ("The Fallwell Connection") or attacked them inarticles bordering on smears ("Slick Willey"). Out of order. For the most part, Newsweek'scoverage has been the straightforward presentation of information,generally unbiased. All in all, the Salon coverage of the story paints a picture of adedicated band of "Clinton-haters" bent on nullifying the results of thelast two elections in what amounts to a coup d'etat. However, thiscentury has witnessed an evolving intimate, even symbiotic, relationshipbetween the media and government, at least at the national level. The Falwell connection. WhatSalon does not point out, however, is that if but half of these allegationsare true, then it is incumbent on (and within the powers of) the Presidentand Attorney General to exercise their sworn duty to uphold and defend theConstitution and remove this "dangerous zealot" from office. Organization and Structure Newsweek, along with Time, is one of the two most popular, if notinfluential, news magazines on the market. SalonMagazine. It was not untilFebruary 5 that an investigative piece was published, and that a rehash ofold stories dating to the Governorship ("The Roots of the Clinton Smear");there was no real news until a February 27 interview with Sidney Blumenthalappeared ("Blumenthal Blasts Starr as He Exits Grand Jury Room"). Ain't nobody's business but his own.Salon Magazine. During the first weeks of the Lewinsky scandal, thenational news section took up the bulk of the content pages, peaking duringthe third week when 29 of 51 pages dealt entirely with the scandal andinvestigation, and several of the smaller sections included brief blurbs onthe affair (Newsweek, Feb. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. First, an examinationof the organization and structure of each magazine will be conducted, witha focus on the amount of space devoted by each to hard news coverage.Second, the relevant articles published by each magazine will be surveyedand described. Doris A.Graber, 77-95. Inthe first weeks of the scandal, the editorials considered questions such aswhether the President would survive or whether he would take the DemocraticParty down with him in the 1998 elections. Content Analysis As mentioned above, Newsweek is generally credited with breaking theLewinsky story and has been the lead source for investigative reporting onthe scandal. SalonMagazine. Available online athttp://www.salonmagazine.com/archives/ Shapiro, B. Published weekly, Newsweekprovides timely, in depth coverage of major stories on the national andinternational scene. Introduction Although it has no constitutional function, the press has long had animportant role to play in the American system of government. It is the intent of this paper tocompare and contrast the coverage of one of these new media outlets to thatof a traditional, established source. Finally, this analysis leads one to another interesting politicalconclusion, though one not entirely in the realm of politicalcommunication. By law, Mr. Starr is unable to discuss the case except in broad,amorphous generalities. Traditionally, agendasetting research has been concerned with the ability of policy makers,public interest groups, or the media itself to determine what the primaryissues of discussion will be by the amount of coverage that a given topicis given by the news media (Rogers and Dearing, 1988). The cases of Watergate and Vietnam are oftenpointed to as examples of the media performing this role, and there arenumerous examples of this at the state and local levels. America, grow up! The roots of the Clinton smear. However, upon contacting the Independent Prosecutor forcomment before putting the story to bed, Issikof and his editors wereinformed that Starr's office was preparing to place a body wire on Lewinskyin an effort to gain incriminating evidence from the President himself.Newsweek agreed to hold the story back until this operation could becompleted, thus in a sense insinuating itself into the plan at a basiclevel. Rogers, E.M. Web-based magazines often archive their past articles, so thateach issue is actually a new layer on a growing compendium of stories.Also, the advertising to content ration is difficult to compare. Blumenthal blasts Starr as he exitsgrand jury room. Salon Magazine.Available online at http://www.salonmagazine.com/news/ 1998/ 1/23list.html Iyengar, S. Media Power in Politics, ed. I. In thiscase, however, the "other" side is primarily represented by the IndependentCounsel. Since then, Issikof and fellowNewsweek staffers Evan Thomas and Howard Fineman have regularly contributedongoing stories in the pure reporting vein. The analysis will consist of three sections. Salon Magazine.Available online at http://www.salonmagazine.com/news/ 1998/ 1/23list.html Wass, M. Unlike thecoverage in Newsweek, which peaked in early February, the coverage in Salonhas been increasing steadily, especially over the last month and a half, asits investigative pieces began appearing. (1998 February 27). Since that issue, coverage has beengradually tapering off, with the April 27 edition containing just a single,one-page story on the affair. Portrait of a bag man.Salon Magazine. However,typically half of these pages consist of advertisements. New York: Vintage Books. (1988). Newsweek only appears to be on the attack when comparedwith a biased source such as Salon, which in itself is no more biased onits side than such conservative publications as The American Spectator areon the right. Unlike traditional magazines, the concept of page numbers isof no use. Show us the money! Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. (1998, February 5). Salon Magazine. As areader opens each story, the first few paragraphs are bordered by small adsthat must be clicked on to see the full text. Prior to this, the vast majorityof Clinton stories consisted of opinion, columns, and think pieces.III. Archives. At the time he wrote of this ability,Patterson was discussing the tactic of going over the heads of thetraditional media outlets by using talk shows. Generally, however, the site is updated daily,with a fresh "front page" look and headline each day. (1998, January 29). Given this earlyunderstanding of the changes that the media industry was undergoing, it isnot surprising that the Administration should so effectively use outletslike Salon. Salon Magazine. (1994). and Wass, M. Available online athttp://www.salonmagazine.com/news/1998/ 1/23list.html Newsweek Magazine. These stories are increasingly adding to thedominant frame of the issue as "out-of-control, Clinton-hating, sex-crazed, thuggish zealot out to destroy our beleaguered President." TheStarr camp, and the anti-Clinton forces supposedly allied with it, havebeen unable to put forth a counter-frame (which in itself makes theexistence of an organized conspiracy questionable). The new media publication to be analyzed will be Salon magazine,an on-line magazine published and available for free on the World Wide Web,which has covered the scandal extensively and has broken new stories inrecent weeks. (1987). Volume CXXXI,Numbers 4 through 16. In recent years, with the explosion of new communication technologiesfrom the fax machine to the Internet, there are increasing numbers ofmarginal, or samizdat, news and information sources, as well as increasedaccess to them by the general public. One of the new breed of Web-based publications, it can print a storywhenever it is finished. Had Matt Drudge, ironically a hero to many Clinton opponents, notpirated and disseminated the story, it is conceivable that PresidentClinton would be out of office today. and Dearing, J.W. Available online athttp://www.salonmagazine.com/news/1998/ 1/23list.html Broder, J. The Clinton administration has consistently found the cutting edge ofpolitical communication. (1998). Emmett Tyrell - Asshole, or Just aPlain Dick?" Nonetheless, Salon did take awhile to make its forceful defense. Although, like many onthe left, the writers and editors at Salon are not entirely comfortablewith President Clinton, they have leapt to his defense on this issue.Indeed, Salon has leapt more forcefully than most, as evidenced by some oftheir article titles, such as "Linda Tripp, Nazi Agent," or (conservativepublisher and avowed Clinton enemy) "R. Available online athttp://www.salonmagazine.com/news/1998/ 1/23list.html Lyons, G. The topic will be theongoing sex, perjury, and obstruction of justice scandal surroundingPresident Clinton. The fact thatStarr has not been removed, and probably will not be, leads one to theconclusion that the Salon articles are probably only fractionally true, anddesigned with another purpose in mind.IV. Kamiya, G. Conclusions The entire Lewinsky affair, and especially the role of the media init, is probably best understood from the perspective of agenda setting.Indeed, Newsweek's role in the early stages of the scandal provide aninteresting development in this area of research. Another interesting theoretical perspective at work here is a subsetof agenda setting, framing effects, which "refers to changes in judgmentengendered by subtle alterations in the definition of judgment or choiceproblems (Iyengar, 1987, 14 ). It is in this area that Salon has been influencing the agenda.Almost daily, for the last six weeks at least, Salon has been publishingstories attacking the credibility and ethics of the IndependentProsecutor's investigation. Such a comparison, however, is notentirely fair. The analysis will cover the time frame from late January,when the story first broke, to late April, or a total of 14 weeks. and Wass, M. 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