Dirty Double Standard
Page One
In late July a reporter asked Michael
Dukakis about the Pentagon scandal. The Democratic presidential
candidate shot back: "Well, there's an old Greek saying, 'the fish
rots from the head first.'" TV network reporters portrayed the
remark as a bold, decisive statement on a popular topic, not as an
improper personal attack on Reagan's integrity.
On July 30 CBS News correspondent Bruce
Morton told viewers "Dukakis sharpened his attack" since
"the Reagan Administration has been scandal plagued, and Democratic
strategists say ethics is a good issue." ABC's Joe Bergantino
reported a "big and enthusiastic" crowd made Dukakis
"feel confident and self-assured" so "he took a risk, and
pounced." On NBC Nightly News Bob Kur explained that
"at every stop the Governor's pitch on ethics is one of the most
well received."
Four days later the President responded
to a question on whether Dukakis once saw a psychiatrist by jokingly
referring to him as an "invalid." Suddenly, the same reporters
became indignant at the "dirty" turn in the campaign. An
alarmed Dan Rather warned viewers "about a nasty campaign getting
nastier." This "is a story about a rumor and how the news
media were forced to cover it," Morton complained. "Between
now and November," he concluded, "we may see a lot of
dirt."
Even though the charge first appeared in
the liberal The Boston Globe, on Good Morning America
ABC's Bergantino laid the blame on "rumors reported in this
conservative Sun Myung Moon owned newspaper, The Washington Times."
The "key question now," Bergantino asked, "is whether the
Republicans have deliberately helped keep these rumors alive, and if so,
is this just a preview of how downright dirty this campaign will
get."
With all this pious self-examination and
discussion of media ethics underway, the networks could go a step
further. They might consider issuing apologies to others they've
impugned by repeating unsubstantiated allegations, such as Ed Meese,
Oliver North, Ray Donovan, Robert Bork, etc.
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