At the same time, there was no let-up in pressure from the more usual sources: media owners and advertisers. Corporate media owners increasingly see using their media outlets to promote their other businesses and the perspectives they favor as simply standard business practice; and advertisers, in a time of recession, appear to feel freer than ever to demand a favorable context for their ads, which are, after all, media’s main revenue source. Further consolidation in the industry, abetted and encouraged by a deregulatory FCC, only promises more to come.
Surveys of journalists have noted such problems for years. A 2001 survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism (Columbia Journalism Review, 11-12/01), for example, found that 53 percent of local news directors "reported advertisers try to tell them what to air and not to air and they say the problem is growing." Such pressures, PEJ's report indicates, are not unusual but constant.
As we noted last year, this report is in no sense comprehensive. It is an attempt to add specificity to growing concerns about various pressures that push and pull media to serve other than the public interest. Not included here are other kinds of conflicts that doubtless also affect coverage. A number of newspaper companies refused to carry an ad critical of major advertiser Home Depot, with Massachusetts-based Community Newspaper Co. explaining, "We don’t want to upset them" (Ascribe Newswire, 11/20/01). Cable companies, including industry dominant AOL/Time Warner, refuse to run ads for potential broadband Internet rivals. Media consumers are right to question whether such policies are restricted only to the ad department or affect news decisions as well.
It’s a journalistic truism that integrity is a media outlet’s main asset; even the appearance of a conflict of interest undermines readers and viewers trust. Evidence of the creeping abandonment of such basic premises abounds. But Fear & Favor sticks to discrete cases of demonstrable influence from outside the newsroom--influence that has shaped the news.
We gladly acknowledge that there are still many journalists who, faced with pressure, vague or overt, carrot or stick, from sponsors or powerful community members or their own corporate HQ, nevertheless stand firm and produce reporting that is hard-hitting, independent and honest. It is to those journalists who work "without fear or favor" that this report is dedicated.
In Advertisers We Trust
Corporate advertising is central to U.S. mainstream media, the fuel that makes media run. Programs without sponsors quite simply do not air, and print media rely on advertising, not subscriptions, for the bulk of their income. In fact, advertisers are so comfortable flexing their muscles with regard to content, and that influence is so accepted, that sponsors now talk openly of simply creating the programming that will best meet their needs--cutting out the middleman, if you will (Los Angeles Times, 1/15/02). Meanwhile, the "traditional" relationship between sponsor and news division can be troubling enough.
Critics didn’t disagree with the definition, but took issue with its impact on journalism: Robins cited Deborah Potter of the research group NewsLab, who said that such arrangements may make news shows "even less likely than they already are to discuss a book that may cover important matters but that has less sales potential [compared with] something else."
But Dillard’s had shown it was quick to retaliate against negative coverage, pulling ads from CBS after 60 Minutes ran a segment in March 2000. Star-Telegram reporters who spoke to Fort Worth Weekly reporter Jeff Prince had little doubt that that was what was on editors’ minds when the story, described by those who read it as comprehensive and fair, was killed. They also described an over-rigorous editing process, in which Eiserer was forbidden to focus on Dillard’s and pushed to make the piece "an overall story about shoplifting." Said one outraged Star-Telegram reporter (all those who spoke with the Weekly did so on condition of anonymity): "Since when is it our job to protect advertisers? When you have to start worrying if your stories are conflicting with the ad department, you’re fucked."
According to a February 15 report in the Chicago Sun-Times, the station removed all references to the XFL from Chet Chitchat’s commentary on February 9. (Chitchat is the alter ego of local sports anchor Bruce Wolf.) The order not to mention the XFL seemed to apply to other station programming as well. Why? According to the station program director Bill Gamble, the XFL had promised to buy ads on the station then backed out. In other words, if you don’t buy ads, you don’t get covered.
As Gamble explained, "There's nothing sinister about it.... We got behind the XFL and promoted them because they said we were going to get a buy. Then they told us the Zone wasn't right for them and didn't buy us. So we decided we shouldn't waste our time talking about them." Nothing sinister at all--if you think that businesses should have to pay media to get news coverage.
Although a Daily News spokesperson declared publicly that "we stand by the story" (New York Times, 6/14/01), the paper obviously learned its lesson. In June, the Daily News ran a highly unusual four-page advertorial, written by a freelancer at the paper’s expense, effusively extolling the virtues of the supermarket industry. The same spokesperson explained that the supplement was "part of a package of advertorial, advertising and value-added marketing that we hope will bring supermarkets back into the newspaper." Sample copy: "When the block associations stage their annual parties on 138th Street and 139th Street, they know they can count on the neighborhood Met Food and C-Town Supermarkets for juice, soda and buns." While alarming critics, the overture also failed to sway all of its intended audience: Declared one unmollified supermarket exec: "I’ll go back if they fire the reporter and his editor."
Just hours before, Bedingfield had himself received a memo from CNN Networks/USA president Jim Walton explaining just why it was important that CNN begin covering the NASDAQ. The exchange is a major advertiser on the network, and CNN chair Walter Isaacson and head of ad sales Larry Goodman had an upcoming meeting with them. "Walter and Larry are meeting with the NASDAQ client on Friday," the internal memo obtained by the Daily News explained. "Larry wants to take a tape with him showing them how we cover the opening and closing of the markets."
Having been caught blatantly ordering the news division to cater to an advertiser, CNN reversed itself, and Isaacson acknowledged that the directive had been "a mistake": "We should cover the markets based on editorial judgments and viewer interest and we will make no commitments to advertisers that would have us do otherwise," he said (Daily News, 9/7/01) It was a far cry from the network’s official response just a day earlier, which stated that the network "always covered the financial markets, including the NASDAQ, and it makes perfect sense to now cover the opening and closing bells." What a difference exposure makes.
The Boss's Business
For mega-corporations, cross promotion is just good business, as is ignoring or downplaying the work of corporate rivals. A company like AOL/Time Warner admits freely (to shareholders, anyway) that using some of its media holdings to promote other properties is a prime marketing strategy. The trouble is, readers and viewers can’t discern why certain things are selected as newsworthy; they think news is news, not covert corporate self-promotion, and they have an ever-shrinking number of places to go for news that isn’t dominated by such conglomerates.
But TV Guide’s J. Max Robins (3/10/01) reported that Sawyer’s supposed scoop, for ABC’s PrimeTime Thursday, might be more plausibly attributed to the fact that Jerri Neilsen’s book, Ice Bound, was published by Talk/Miramax Books, which like ABC News is owned by the Disney corporation. And Talk/Miramax had Ice Bound pretty locked up: The book was excerpted in Talk magazine (2/01), and the movie rights are owned by Miramax. As one of Robins’ sources says, "Once you have a deal like that in place, it’s a no-brainer that the TV piece will end up at ABC News. That’s part of what Disney is paying for when Talk/Miramax spends a bundle on a hot property." Diane Sawyer denied that ABC had any corporate advantage.
For their part, Talk/Miramax said they only went with ABC for publicity because they offered the best deal; they claimed that part of the sweetener was the promise of three segments on ABC’s Good Morning America. That sounded a little fishy to TV Guide’s Robins, who noted that NBC’s Today show gets 2 million more viewers a day than its ABC rival, and NBC claimed they offered 5 segments on Today, plus a Dateline. Sounds more like horsetrading than journalism, doesn’t it?
Fair enough. But little over a year later (11/11/01), the paper was singing a different editorial tune:
Keeping the Cardinals in downtown St. Louis is critical to the city's future. Mayor Francis Slay believes that the departure of the Cardinals would be "catastrophic" and he has the figures to prove it. A strong economic case can be made for the ballpark and village project.
What changed? As the local Riverfront Times pointed out (11/14/01), the most conspicuous difference was the fact that the Pulitzer Company, which owns the Post-Dispatch, got a stake in the Cardinals in March 2001.
According to the British Register newspaper (6/18/01), MSNBC doctored the Journal’s copy in a number of ways, some of them highly problematic. In one example, the network rewrote a sentence to omit a reference to Microsoft’s competitors. The Journal wrote: "Microsoft said that since last summer, Hotmail has been running on both Windows 2000 and the Solaris operating system from Sun Microsystems Inc." But on MSNBC.com that sentence read: "Microsoft said Hotmail has been running on Windows since last summer." Neat trick, eh?
The Register pointed out that the concerns about such "creative" editing will only increase as Microsoft expands its media involvement.
"Chalk it up to early glitches," a CNN spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times (8/20/01). "If it happened, it was inadvertent." Headline News vice president Teya Ryan maintained that the show’s headlines feature "whatever producers think the audience would be interested in," with no special effort to promote affiliated networks.
But Ryan acknowledged that Headline News would never spotlight programs on MSNBC or Fox; those CNN rivals are off limits, regardless of whether producers think the audience would be interested or not. (No word on why promotions for upcoming TV movies qualify as news in the first place.)
When Inside.com asked about the piece, a Time spokesperson was less than apologetic, writing, "Time reporters interviewed three different test preparation programs, including Kaplan, but the quotes and information from Princeton Review suited our story in a way that the reporting from the other two programs did not." The spokesperson added that "Time didn’t feel the need to state that we’ve produced a college guide with the Princeton Review." Readers who might have felt the need to be so informed were out of luck.
Using their editorial space to promote their own boss, and by extension themselves, was the result of an objective choice, Fortune’s managing editor explained to the New York Times (11/15/01). It wasn’t just that he’s one of the smartest people they know, said Rik Kirkland; Levin also fit the magazine’s strategy to "get some of the most famous." Kirkland assured that it wasn’t just Levin’s employees who think he’s a genius: "He is a media visionary--blah blah blah. Look at the clips. That is the rap on him." Despite Levin’s ability to inspire such praise, many media critics still felt Fortune should have looked beyond the boss’s office for icons of intelligence.
Hager’s enthusiastic report left out strong criticisms many aviation experts had of the jet. According to the June 2 Wall Street Journal, details about the Sonic Cruiser "sparked some doubts in the industry regarding its technical and economic viability." Environmentalists have noted that the Cruiser could consume between 20 to 35 percent more fuel just to go a bit faster; when critics argued that the plane's poor fuel efficiency would do more harm than good, Boeing vice chair Harry Stonecipher rejoined that there’s "plenty of fossil fuel still around" (London Times, 6/19/01).
Besides the criticism, Hager’s story left out something else: the fact that NBC parent company General Electric has plans to invest $1 billion over the next three years in the creation of the proposed jet’s engine.
Powerful Players & PR
"The media is separated into two categories. One is content and the other is advertising. They’re both for sale. Advertising can be purchased directly from the publication or through an ad agency, and the content space you purchase from PR firms." This cold-eyed assessment comes from the pitch letter of a "media relations" firm that offers to generate content for its clients "so now you can buy the news stories just like you buy ads." Few respectable outlets would admit that their "content" is for sale, of course, but as these items suggest, sometimes it sure looks that way. And some power figures, lobbies, and institutions don’t need firms to represent them; their influence is amply evident.
According to that account, editors at the Tribune-Review describe news subjects as either "FOD" (Friend of Dick) or "EOD" (Enemy of Dick) and make decisions about the publication or placement of stories accordingly. Former reporter Lynne Margolis notes that Scaife’s dislike of Sen. Arlen Specter (R.-Penn.) is such that Specter was deleted from a story about a Senate hearing he chaired. "We’re not being accurate if a major focal point of the story is missing," said Margolis.
Former editor David House noted that Scaife "hates the mayor" of Pittsburgh, Democrat Tom Murphy. Says House: "Murphy’s fine on page one. As long as it’s something awful about him."
At the same time, the Tribune-Review frequently quotes representatives of groups that Scaife funds, only rarely disclosing the connection to readers. The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, to which Scaife has given $2 million, appeared in more than 100 stories opposing a new baseball stadium for the Pirates.
Current Tribune-Review editor Frank Craig told Brill's he’s "never felt constrained by our editorial opinion with regard to how we cover the news," calling to mind what press critic George Seldes called the "most stupid boast in the history of present-day journalism"--reporters who say they are never told what to write, because they write what they are supposed to without being told.
Despite its significance, according to an account in New Times Los Angeles (11/22/01), the story was held pending a meeting between Takenouchi, his editors and the hospital board's chair, David Fleming. Having been told that the story was "incomplete," Takenouchi submitted a research memo to Daily News editor David Butler shortly thereafter. But three weeks later, Butler reportedly had not even read the memo, and, according to Takenouchi, indicated that the story was not "newsworthy."
The story was eventually killed, following a meeting between the paper's editors and publisher Ike Massey and members of Valley Presbyterian's board of directors. Some suspect that the discussion focused on something other than the journalistic merits of the piece; Massey and Fleming, according to New Times, are not exactly strangers, serving together on the boards of several organizations.
Unhappy with the decision to keep the story from public view, Takenouchi left the paper. The magazine Revolution, published by the California Nurses Association, printed the story in its September-October 2001 issue.
For Fleming, the advantage is money. "If opportunities arise that we can generate revenues off of our cover...then it helps me achieve my goal, which is basically to survive in this crazy business," she told the New York Times (7/30/01). No surprise, then, that the Wells Fargo story was not an isolated incident; though Fleming wouldn’t reveal her "going rate," a prospective client told CityLife that it was described as a "non-negotiable" $15,000. What about disclosure when an apparent news story is really something else? Fleming doesn’t think readers need it, and as for the stories’ (paying) subjects, "I don’t think these women would want to have that disclosed."
According to a report in the New York Daily News (8/27/02), the show attracts prominent business leaders and government officials. The company responsible, Multi-Media Productions, produces 104 shows a year; in addition, the group produces short documentaries, hosted by 60 Minutes anchor Morley Safer, about companies that have paid for the privilege.
How does this square with "old-fashioned" ideas about journalism? According to David Hazinski, a former NBC News correspondent who once co-anchored the show, it isn't much of an issue, and the show provides a service. "There are thousands of companies that don't get air time, no one ever heard of them," Hazinski said. This way, "a couple executives go on a show without having to worry about someone beating the hell out of them."
Government and Other 'Official' Pressure
With the ability to write laws or enact policy with direct impact on media owners, government officials are the ultimate power players. They can also restrict access to themselves or their meetings, leaving reporters without the information or quotes they may need for basic reportage on issues of public import. As much as many people may believe journalists exist to be a thorn in the side of official power, the reality is that reporters who regularly or seriously offend powerful officials often face a tough time, in the community and on the job.
In certain circumstances, as when the country is at war, many outlets don’t require coercion; they re-interpret their journalistic responsibility as presenting the administration’s "best case," often silencing critics or dissenters in the process. 2001 saw both overweening government influence and media self-censorship in worrying abundance. (For a more comprehensive look at media and the "war on terrorism," see Extra!, 11-12/01.)
The question of how to present the words of bin Laden or representatives of Al Qaeda is certainly a valid one for journalists to consider. The statements require context and explanation of the kind journalists should use to bracket the remarks of any party in a major news story. But in the context of recent heavy-handedness on the part of the administration, Rice's request suggests that the White House is actually asking for something other than simple journalistic judgment.
Originally the administration expressed concern about the possibility of Al Qaeda members sending "coded messages" to their followers in the segments. But Rice's main argument to the networks seems to have been that bin Laden's statements had to be restricted because of their content. NBC News chief Neal Shapiro told the New York Times (10/11/01) that Rice's main point "was that here was a charismatic speaker who could arouse anti-American sentiment getting 20 minutes of air time to spew hatred and urge his followers to kill Americans."
The following day, Fleischer took the administration's campaign further and contacted major newspapers to request that they consider not printing full transcripts of bin Laden's messages. "The request is to report the news to the American people," said Fleischer (New York Times, 10/12/01). "But if you report it in its entirety, that could raise concerns that he's getting his prepackaged, pretaped message out."
While some outlets bridled at the White House interference, but others seemed actually to appreciate the pressure. "We'll do whatever is our patriotic duty," said Fox owner Rupert Murdoch (Reuters, 10/11/01). In an official statement, CNN declared: "In deciding what to air, CNN will consider guidance from appropriate authorities" (AP, 10/10/01). CNN chief Walter Isaacson added, "After hearing Dr. Rice, we're not going to step on the land mines she was talking about" (New York Times, 10/11/01).
Joseph Franklin, chief adviser for the alumni group West Point Project that is backing the ad campaign, told AP that it was a "wonderful coincidence" that the network will be showcasing West Point during wartime. It looks like it will be up to viewers to figure out where the news ends and the ads begin.
The wording of Bronstein's letter raised red flags for a number of other editors and newspaper professionals, according to the New York Times (9/10/01). To some, Bronstein was giving the appearance of trying to trade an editorial position for news access. Bronstein denied the charge, saying that there was "certainly no quid pro quo" in the offer, implied or otherwise. One hopes that journalists at the Chronicle wouldn’t settle for an answer like that when investigating conflicts of interest in other aspects of public life.
After the meeting, Borrero said, the vice-president, David Light, told him that the officials warned that they could block the renewal of the station's license if Borrero's criticisms were not muted. Days later, the show was pulled off the air.
Serrano, Menendez and Velazquez challenge Borrero's account. They wrote in a statement, "We made it very clear that we did not care for WADO's journalistic standards and would not support its community programming."
"It’s not uncommon for a reporter working on a project to go back to their regular assignment and have another person take over. I don’t see anything out of order," claimed Democrat and Chronicle editor Karen Magnuson (Washington Post, 10/20/01).
What seemed out of order, to Rivoli and others, were the circumstances surrounding her being pulled from the story--an investigation of which she contends the "heart and soul" was still to be published. Just hours before heralding her publicly, Rivoli’s editors had sent her a memo saying "we need to cool down on the District Attorney story." Editor Magnuson acknowledged that she had "received a complaint from the district attorney’s office about a reporter being unfair and inaccurate," but said that had "no influence" on their decision.
Conversations Rivoli recorded with metro editor Bob Finnerty suggest otherwise. In one, Finnerty explained that Magnuson "doesn’t want it to be thought that Howard killed the story. We’ve got to do this for business reasons." He then added, "You know, I mean for the journalism side of it." In another conversation, an agitated Rivoli argued that the paper pulled her off the story "based on people Howard Relin asked you to call. How fair is this?" To which Finnerty responded, "No, it’s not just Howard. We called some other people, too." He went on to criticize Rivoli for "getting just a little too close" to the story.