The senator and the Times
John McCain and a short, seamy history of presidential sex
In flagrante delicto
• Estes Kefauver drunkenly demanded liquor and women
• The press corps looked the other way
A cultural shift
• Media didn’t ask, didn’t tell about JFK
• Revelations about Judith Exner (right) presaged a shift
• Vietnam and Watergate made press more skeptical
Gary Hart
• Leading candidate for Democratic nomination in 1988
• Affair with Donna Rice exposed by Miami Herald
• Hart dropped out, public angry with media
Gennifer Flowers• Lounge singer takes
on the gatekeepers and wins
• Sells her story to The Star, holds news conference
• Mainstream media forced to report a story they had ignored
Meet the press
• On “60 Minutes,” Bill Clinton admits having “caused pain in my marriage”
• Public shrugs it off
When is sex newsworthy?
• Washington Post, Time killed story of Dole affair
• An American hero who was going to lose anyway
• Is that an acceptable standard?
The gates fall for good
• Prosecutor Ken Starr sought to trap Clinton on perjury charges
• Starr found reporters to be a willing audience
• Then as now, highly partisan environment
Overruling the editors
• Newsweek holds story of Clinton-Lewinsky affair
• Were the editors seeking to verify it — or kill it?
• We’ll never know, because Matt Drudge broke the story
Media, politicians rebuked
• Clinton’s approval rating rose to highest of his presidency
• Republicans defeated in midterm elections
A non-sex non-story
• Drudge alleges a Kerry affair
• U.S. media are wary, ignoring story or reporting denials
• Gatekeeping role is damaged but not destroyed
Bill Keller
• “We believe in a journalism of verification rather than assertion”
Bill Keller
• “We believe in a journalism of verification rather than assertion”
• Did the Times live up to that standard?
Anonymous sources
• “The use of unidentified sources is reserved for situations in which the newspaper could not otherwise print information it considers reliable and newsworthy”
— New York Times policyon confidential sources
Anonymous sources
• “Confidential sources must have direct knowledge of the information they are giving us — or they must be the authorized representatives of an authority, known to us, who has such knowledge”
— New York Times policyon confidential sources
Anonymous sources
• “We do not grant anonymity to people who are engaged in speculation, unless the very act of speculating is newsworthy and can be clearly labeled for what it is”
— New York Times policyon confidential sources
Additional questions
• Is John McCain’s sex life the media’s business — and ours?
Additional questions
• What do you make of the Times’ decision to hold the story since December?
Additional questions
• Do you think the Washington Post story is better than the Times’? Why?
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