-Caveat Lector-
MRC Study: In 92% of Levy Stories Networks Refused to Label Gary
Condit as a Democrat
Below is the text of a new Media Reality Check compiled by s
Rich Noyes, the MRC's Director of Media Analysis, and distributed
this afternoon by fax. It's headlined, "Avoiding Gary Condit's
Democratic ID; MRC Study: Networks Failed to Label California
Congressman as a Democrat in 92% of Levy Stories." To view it as
fax recipients saw it, access the Adobe Acrobat PDF version:
http://www.mediaresearch.org/news/reality/2001/pdf/fax0712.pdf
But first, a few quick examples outside the study parameters
of media outlets refusing to inform viewers or readers about
Condit's party affiliation:
-- Nightline. Last night's show was devoted entirely to
Condit and Chandra Levy, but in 22 or so minutes of air time
neither anchor Chris Bury or reporter Pierre Thomas ever
mentioned that Condit is a Democrat.
-- In their July 16 editions, neither Newsweek, in a nearly
1500 word story by Michael Isikoff with Daniel Klaidman, Eleanor
Clift and Andrew Murr, nor Time in a short up front "Notebook"
item by Margaret Carlson, identified Condit as a Democrat.
Now, to the MRC Study as outlined in today's Media Reality
Check. It is based upon an MRC review of the morning and evening
shows on ABC (Good Morning America and World News Tonight), CBS
(The Early Show and CBS Evening News) and NBC (Today and NBC
Nightly News) from May 14 to July 11. (The analysis included the
weekend Today shows as well as the weekend ABC, CBS and NBC
evening shows, which is relevant since it has been falsely
reported, such as in today's USA Today, that the CBS Evening News
has not reported on the case. While the CBS Evening News has
ignored the story on weekdays, it aired a story on Saturday July
7 and two reports on Sunday July 8, none of which identified
Condit's party.)
Overall results:
ABC: 67 stories, 3 Democratic labels (4%)
CBS: 38 stories, 2 Democratic labels (5%)
NBC: 74 stories, 9 Democratic labels (12%)
Total: 179 stories, 14 Democratic labels (8%)
The text of the July 12 Media Reality Check:
On July 9, ABC's George Stephanopoulos confidently predicted on
Good Morning America that "I don't think the rest of the
Democratic Party is going to get tarred by Gary Condit" as a
result of the California Congressman's adulterous affair with a
young woman, Chandra Levy, who has been the subject of intense
police activity since she ominously disappeared on May 1.
Probably not, and one reason may be that ABC and its broadcasting
brethren have downplayed Condit's partisan affiliation through-
out their coverage of the Levy story. Normally, a "Republican" or
"Democrat" label is presented nearly every time a member of
Congress is cited, as in "Rep. Gary Condit (D-CA)." But since
May, the three broadcast networks have practically erased the "D"
from Condit's political identity, detaching the scandal-plagued
politician from the rest of his party.
>From May 14, when Chandra's mother, Susan, appeared on Good
Morning America to plead for her daughter's safe return, through
July 11, ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news programs aired
a total of 179 stories about Gary Condit -- 121 full-length
reports or interviews, plus 58 brief anchor-read items. MRC
researchers reviewed each story, and found that Condit was
labeled a "Democrat" only 14 times, or in fewer than eight
percent of stories. Six of those labels, or almost half, came
paired with adjectives such as "conservative" or "right-wing"
which distinguished Condit from other members of his party.
"A political maverick who rides a Harley, Condit founded the Blue
Dog coalition of conservative Democrats," Stephanopoulos himself
reported on the June 25 Good Morning America, the program's first
hint that Condit was a Democrat after 26 stories on the Levy
case. Stephanopoulos then rued to host Charles Gibson: "He was
the kind of guy, when you were working for Democrats in the
House, you could never count on his vote." Two weeks later, ABC's
Brian Rooney similarly described Condit as "a Democrat who often
votes with the Republican opposition."
NBC's George Lewis shoved Condit to the furthest fringe of the
Democratic Party on July 2, branding him "a 53-year-old right-
wing Democrat." Condit's ideological ratings, however, place him
squarely in the middle of the spectrum: After 12 years in
Congress, Condit gets a 48 percent rating from the American
Conservative Union and a 52 percent score from the liberal
Americans for Democratic Action.
Six additional stories conveyed Condit's affiliation without
using a straightforward label. On the July 8 CBS Evening News,
for example, Sandra Hughes didn't quite say that Condit was a
Democrat but remarked that "the Republican Party also sees
weakness and may focus on gaining his congressional seat." But
even adding those six stories to those that plainly labeled
Condit leaves 159 network stories, or 89 percent of the total
coverage, which offered viewers no clue that he was a Democrat.
In his first mention of the story on July 6, for example, ABC's
Peter Jennings merely identified "Congressman Gary Condit of
California." In contrast, on the July 9 Nightly News, Andrea
Mitchell labeled Condit when she recalled that "when Bill Clinton
was under fire for covering up his relationship with Monica
Lewinsky, Condit was one of the first Democrats to speak out."
Before he became controversial, Condit's party label was normally
presented on those few occasions he appeared on a network news
program. But now that the Levy case has made him a household
name, you have to listen for a long time to hear a network
reporter acknowledge Gary Condit's membership in the Democratic
Party.
END Reprint of Media Reality Check
Finally, I'd note that because Condit has not spoken publicly
since this story broke, he has not generated soundbites to which
the networks would have had trouble avoiding the attachment of an
on screen name ID like "Rep. Gary Condit, (D-CA).." All viewers
see is stock footage of Condit walking to or from a car. -- Brent
Baker
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