Clinton coverage questioned

The numerous appearances of three names on nationwide media outlets have led to what some call a media frenzy, and to what others say was only to be expected.

The names President Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky and Kenneth Starr have appeared on the cover of nearly every American newspaper and magazine and have been uttered by a multitude of newscasters across the country this week.

Two University communications instructors said some of the media have created an overload of coverage about the scandal.

"Many journalists have acted like rabid dogs instead of watchdogs. There certainly is a media frenzy," said Clay Calvert, assistant professor of communications.

Daniel Pfaff, professor of journalism, agreed that the media's coverage has gone beyond the scope of good taste.

"I think they're falling all over one another. In my opinion, some (journalists) are being reckless," Pfaff said. "I've been kind of appalled at some of the things I've seen so far."

Some journalists are even using each other as sources and appear fearful of missing something another reporter gets, Pfaff said.

"My main concern is that they really don't have good places to attribute their information to," Pfaff said. "I think it is going to come back and hit some of these people later."

Some people are concerned the public is not hearing about other important stories because of the allegation coverage.

Two stories lost in the sea of scandal are Pope John Paul II's trip to Cuba and alleged Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's guilty plea, Calvert said.

"This shows the power of one individual, Monica Lewinsky, to change the entire agenda of what the media covers," he said.

Calvert compares the media's coverage of the Clinton allegations to when Richard Jewell was under media scrutiny for the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta in the summer of 1996. Many people felt as though the media convicted Jewell through bad press, Calvert said, despite the fact that he was never charged with the bombing.

"That's an interesting parallel," Pfaff said. "I don't quite see that they're convicting anyone here yet, but they are picking for shreds of evidence . . . it's so speculative at this point."

Still, serious accusations deserve serious press, Calvert said. Yet in this case, "less coverage, in a much more restrained way" is warranted, he said.

Pfaff said while he hopes media coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky allegations will simply disappear, it will surely result in analyses of how the issue was covered.

"(This) could also be a healthy thing for (the media)," Pfaff said. "It's an opportunity to step back, look at the situation and be more deliberative next time."

Whether the public is being sucked in by the story remains to be seen.

"I guess the media is doing a good job covering the allegations," said Kyle Enty (junior-special education). "But it's hard to tell if they are covering it excessively or not."

However, Pfaff said he does not think the public is nearly as interested as the press is in the allegations.

"I'm inclined to think that the public is not being misguided by (the press)," Pfaff said. "A lot of people are saying they are bored with the story."