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We have witnessed in recent years numerous political scandals at the highest level of American government. Given the power of media, press behavior during these scandals is an increasingly relevant topic for examination. Most recently, President Bill Clinton is facing charges of scandal in relation to former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. How the press covers political scandal warrants careful research. This article examines how the press covered two scandals of the Clinton presidency.
Specifically, this article describes and tests the conclusions of Larry Sabato, who in his book, Feeding Frenzy, suggests that journalists of all varieties begin to act like sharks when they "smell the blood" of a political scandal.' This article describes Sabato's concept and examines the Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones cases against Sabato's explanation of frenzy. The Gary Hart/Donna Rice frenzy offers an occasional point of comparison in light of the research Sabato has already done.
In gathering data to describe and analyze the Flowers and Jones frenzies, only articles from the New York Times and the Washington Post were examined.2 These newspapers were chosen because they set the standard for the news media in terms of what is suitable to report.3 Therefore, any reference to "number of articles" refers to articles that mention at least twice the names of Donna Rice, Gennifer Flowers, or Paula Jones. Sabato's Description of Feeding Frenzies
Sabato offers multiple components in understanding feeding frenzies:
Watergate's watermark on the media. Sabato points to the Watergate scandal as the watershed event in creating the phenomenon of feeding frenzies. Prior to Watergate, the press lived in complicity with politicians regarding their personal lives or character. The press never mentioned Franklin D. Roosevelt's relationship with Lucy Mercer, and only 2 of 35,000 photos of Roosevelt show him in a wheelchair. The press knew of John F. Kennedy's liaisons and of Lyndon B. Johnson's hard drinking, but these were considered taboo to report. Watergate shifted the orientation of reporting from description to prescription.4 A new breed of journalist emerged who was highly investigative, idealistic, and mistrustful of authority. Hollywood helped create this new vision of journalism with the glamorous portrayals of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in All the President's Men.
Competitive pressures. The...