ABC, CBS, and NBC all waited for weeks to touch the emerging
story of the adultery of John Edwards as the National
Enquirer nailed down the story. None even breathed the name
of Edwards until he decided to confess. But when the New York
Times used far weaker editorial standards than the
Enquirer, reporting on February 21 that there might be
adultery between John McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman, citing
hearsay from unnamed former McCain aides who were "convinced the
relationship had become romantic," all three networks leaped on
the story.
McCain's
outraged denials didn't stop the story from erupting on TV the very
morning it hit the Times. CBS Early Show host Harry Smith
touted "This bombshell report that Republican front-runner John McCain
may have had a romantic relationship with a lobbyist who was a visitor
to his office and traveled with him on a client's corporate jet." ABC's
George Stephanopoulos said it could be deadly. On a scale of one to ten,
with ten being fatal, he warned it was a "six or a seven...a damaging
story, there's no doubt about that." NBC's Tim Russert said the story
would "play out today in a very big way."
By
the evening newscasts, the networks began including critics of the
Times, but they still played the story up. NBC's Brian Williams
began with insinuation: "Good evening. When it hit the Internet last
night and the front page of the New York Times this morning, it
was the shot heard ‘round the political world. It's a story about a
female lobbyist in Washington and her relationship, business and perhaps
otherwise, with Senator John McCain."
The networks explained that there was no hard evidence of adultery,
just second-hand rumors, but pressed ahead anyway. On ABC, anchor
Charles Gibson asserted the lack of an evidentiary standard: "John
McCain began his day answering questions about a story in the New
York Times alleging an improper relationship eight years ago with a
female lobbyist," before cautioning: "The story had no evidence the
relationship was romantic, only unnamed sources reportedly claiming they
were convinced it might be."
The TV rules are apparently based not on evidence, but on the party
label, and a reluctance to give Democrats "a damaging story, no doubt
about that."
For details, see the
February
22 CyberAlert.
