Making up for lost time

October 27, 2005

At least for the last week or so, the entire mainstream media, including television, seems to have finally recognized the significance of the Plame scandal. But as Eric Boehlert noted, it’s a long time in coming.

Based on a search of transcritps via the Nexis database, since Sept 28, 2003, here are how many episodes of “60 Minutes” and the now-defunct “60 Minutes II” aired: Approx. 180. Here’s how many “60 Minutes” and “60 Minutes II” segments examined the Plame case: 0.

Over at NBC, here’s how many episodes of “Dateline” have aired: Approx. 100. Here’s how many reported segments examined the Plame case: 0. A similar story for ABC’s “Primetime Live.” Number of episodes since Sept. 28, 2003: Approx. 100. Number of Plame reports: 0.

And for ABC’s “Nightline,” considered to be a harder news show than either “Primetime” or “Dateline” and which aired every weeknight during the two-year span of the Plame saga, here’s the number of programs broadcast: Approx. 500. Here, according to Nexis, is how many times “Nightline” addressed the criminal investigation that reached into the highest levels of the White House: 3.

I haven’t done the research (yet), but I have a hunch that 60 Minutes, Dateline, and Nightline pursued Clinton-related scandals with a little more gusto.

To their credit, the networks seem to have slowly come to their senses. I took a look at the major network’s evening newscasts (ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News) a couple of weeks ago and found, despite the fact that the political establishment had already become obsessed with the story, that the “Big Three” broadcasts were blowing off the scandal completely.

It’s clearly improved since then. On Tuesday night, for example, World News Tonight and CBS Evening News each ran a segment on the controversy, towards the end of their broadcasts. NBC Nightly News, to its credit, ran two items, including one on Fitzgerald. Last night, World News Tonight did a segment in the middle, while CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News did two each. CBS Evening News even made the scandal its lead story of the night.

It’s about time.

I haven’t done the research (yet)

I can’t wait; should be a great comparison. Of course the problem with Plame is that, so far as we know, there’s no sex involved. No sex, no story (until the bloggers forced it on them).

  • LOL Ed Stephan…

    Yeah, if only there were a penis angle to Plamegate…then the press wouldn’t be obliged to do all that tiresome research…gotta have the “fun” factor (as Margaret Carlson of Time magazine so aptly put it on the Imus show when she explained why the press piled on Gore during the 2000 campaign)…

  • I have to say that if you don’t understand why they blew off the story up until now and they are all over it “all of a sudden”, then you don’t understand how our media works. Or doesn’t work, as the case may be.

    The media is driven by DRAMA, CONFLICT, TENSION, EMOTIONAL CHURN, and SENSATIONALISM. That’s what sells newspapers and gets people glued to the TV. That’s what raises advertising revenues. That is all they care about: selling soap. It’s a fucking entertainment medium, don’t you understand? Come on people.

    Think like a novelist or a screenwriter for a blockbuster movie. If your story has those elements of human drama, the media will jump all over it like crazed dingos.

    This is why they were gung-ho about the war: war is DRAMATIC! It’s exciting, and it has conflict, tension, emotional maudliinism, and sensationalism. Bombs exploding! Heroic soldiers! Grieving families! Evil enemies! It’s brilliant TV; it makes great newspaper copy.

    Same with this scandal. For the last 2 years, the Plame story has been boring as fuck. Nobody could keep their eyes open long enough to understand it except Pat Fitzgerald and Josh Marshall. Legalistic, noodly, nitpicky details, complicated matters of state and law, etc. Yawn. That’s not big, bold, or exciting. No media bites. Don’t expect any.

    But now it is! We have the great drama of Fitzmas. Is it coming, is it not coming, what’s going to happen? Fitz has done a brilliant job of whipping the media into a frenzy here; almost certainly unintentionally. This one fell out of the sky: he just wants an indictment, but by playing it so coy he’s teasing the media like a hot stripper. Nice work, thanks for the gift. Media loves it; we love it too.

    The DRAMA! Karl Rove in jail? Cheney and Rice indicted? Oh me oh my! Plenty of ambiguity to keep the talking heads nattering away, speculating. Hardly any leaks. No hints.

    Most importantly, if you were writing a blockbuster movie, this’d make a nice screenplay. It fits into a grand narrative that is classic drama worthy of any of Homer’s epics or Shakespeare’s plays: Power Gone Bad. The fall of those who Went Too Far.

    The reason why the Democrats are all fucked up is that the Repugs *manufacture* these kinds of stories at will whenever they need to get their agenda passed (Mushroom clouds! Terri Schaivo!) but we have to wait for an act of nature (Katrina) or random bureaucratic machinisations (Fitzgerald) to do our work for us. They know how to manipulate people’s emotions; we have to wait for someone or something else to do it for us and then miss the opportunity to jump on it. That makes us helpless and at the mercy of the elements. Not the way to win. We have to learn from this, how to manufacture these kinds of dramas and sell them to the stupid fuckikng sheep-like crass commercial media. So far, nobody on the left knows how to do this except Michael Moore and maybe the founders of AAR. We all need lessons in it.

    Here’s a hint for all you Democratic strategists: if your story would sound good in a movie trailer (“In a world… full of power… one man… went too far… one woman… can save him… one world… hangs in the balance…”) then you have a story the media will give a shit about. If not, then nobody cares about your damn “important” story except us wonks and political junkies.

    It sucks, I know. I wish we lived in a rational, 18th century Enlightenment world. But we don’t. Our education systems have become so useless and our media crap-manufacturers so powerful that we are now living in prehistoric times. Forget Noam Chomsky, think like Michael Moore (or his inspiration, P.T. Barnum) and win elections.

  • Goatchowder certainly has a point, though I would disagree with the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” philosophy. Not the way to go.

    That said, I do agree that Democrats were not forceful enough in getting not only the Plame story out there, but also in making people understand WHY it was important. This story should have been all over the news over two years ago, but it wasn’t. It should have been all over the last campaign, but it wasn’t. The story, on the surface (and not even getting into the issues surrounding forged documents, etc.), should have been a HUGE wakeup call to all Americans. A presidential administration whose sole purpose in life is to fight a “war on terror” leaks the identity of an undercover CIA agent to the media…in an era when, in theory, intelligence assets are more important than ever to help root out terror cells around the globe. Do we want an administration that will “out” a CIA agent for political gain when the war on terror is deemed so important? Who would want to be an intelligence asset for a government that eats its own?

    The story should have been huge. And to goatchowder’s point, it likely would have been huge if it had happened in a Democratic administration. I guarantee that we’d have had the right wing calling for firing squads, not just resignations or indictments.

    So, let’s not stoop the their level, but let’s do a better job of communicating and focusing on issues that SHOULD matter.

  • If only Bush and Miers had gotten caught
    in a little hanky-panky. Then the whole
    House of Bush would have come
    crashing down.

    Sadly, although the media finally
    caught on to this story, probably
    because it at least had the potential
    to involve Cheney, or even Bush,
    the anti-climax of two minor players,
    that 80% of the American people
    never heard of, getting some technical
    charges thrown at them will take it
    off the MSM news just as quickly
    as it came on.

  • I hear Libby was Plame’s love log until Joe Wilson came along. They enjoyed three-somes for a time, but as these things go, Libby got jealous and Plame gave him his walking papers. Pass it on.

  • Hey everyone, don’t forget about all the other stuff the MSM has had on its plate the last two years: The Michael Jackson trial, the Martha Stewart trial, the whole Brad/Jen/Angelina triangle, Demi & Ashton, Nick & Jessica, Paula Abdul’s alleged affair with an “American Idol” contestant… throw in a couple of missing blondes and a presidential election and, well, I think we can all see why the Plame thing got ignored.

    Seriously, though, when was the last time “Dateline” did a story about real news? Any time I happen tune in (always unintentionally) they’re doing one of those “true crime” stories (with the annoying off-focus shots of a house or car or blood-stained carpet shown over and over and over again) about some evil husband killing his wife for insurance money or some greasy gigolo ripping off dozens of lonely widows. If you’re looking for real news, “Dateline” and “PrimeTime Live” are not going to give it to you.

    The Plame thing just wasn’t juicy enough. Too many words, not enough pictures. But it’s heartening to know that in spite of MSM’s indifference the investigation continued – and is hopefully about to bear fruit.

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