By Brent Bozell, Creators Syndicate, Inc.
June 1995 – As our country’s technological pioneers pave new lanes on the information superhighway, one discovers an entirely new way of studying the national media being their most indiscreetly ideological selves. Away from the constraints of editors, encouraged by the freedom of interactive communication, journalists are having a polemical field day on the Internet.
One rich lode of information can be found on the ABC News bulletin board on America Online. That’s where in November we found Peter Jennings’ infamous ABC Radio commentary attributing the elections to “a nation full of uncontrolled two-year-old rage. The voters had a temper tantrum last week.”
While Jennings blatantly exposed himself to the world with his current take on politics, ABC’s coverage of the Contract With America has regularly reflected that point of view. Stupid voters voted for stupid politicians who are now rewarding them with a stupid legislative program. ABC must attempt to correct the people’s tantrum, since, as reporter and weekend anchor Carole Simpson proclaimed, viewers “really want (journalists) to help direct their thinking on some issues.”
It’s the Online Auditorium offerings where the ABC reporters seem to let their hair down when they take questions from average computer gearheads around the country. On January 5, Simpson worried online: “I fear that the Contract With America, if enacted, may be detrimental to the family, especially those single women and their children ... my fear is that Mr. Gingrich, given his history, may increase what I see as a new mean-spiritedness in this country ... I would like to think that the American people care about poor people, about sick people, about homeless people and about poor children. I am shocked by the new mean-spiritedness.”
When one user declared that ABC’s liberal bias was “obvious,” she responded: “I disagree wholeheartedly. I think it’s, again, an example of the mean-spiritedness that is these days also directed at the media.” And what about ABC’s’ spirit in it’s coverage of Newt, described by reporter Jim Wooten as “the poster boy for political resentment and rage?” Simpson claimed: “I think the coverage of the new Republican leadership has been extremely positive.”
Perhaps the richest gleanings came on March 2 from John Hockenberry, who reports for ABC’s Day One. Hockenberry came from National Public Radio, and the snobbery is still intact: “I found the audience for NPR very engaged and awake. It meant that by necessity you could write and speak up to the listeners ... ABC is much more a wild pitch out into a dark stadium. It means that your writing is often aimed downward because in television, there is not the expectation that viewers are active.” Hockenberry underlined that attitude by declaring: “I think American politics thrives on ignorance today. I think American policy works without a backup plan as long as people are so unrepentantly uninformed.” That stupid public again.
But Hockenberry wasn’t finished. “I think that capitalism is inherently amoral and it is folly to expect that a system run on greed will be able to adopt some virtuous precepts to prevent the violations of human rights.” When the big bucks TV reporter drew charges of hypocrisy, he replied: “It is hypocritical if you think that I am only a mouthpiece for the shareholders of Capital Cities ABC, but I’m not. I only decried capitalism as a system that could be run with human rights as a paramount value. I think that wouldn’t work.”
Of Clinton’s political prospects, Hockenberry wrote: “Faced with the choice of a crowd-pleasing fanatic trying to look like a Republican and about a hundred real Repubs ... it looks tough to me.” When asked if the Contract With American could work, Hockenberry joked: “Yes. I’m moving to Switzerland.”
The most recent participant was Capitol Hill reporter John Cochran, who also believes “Gingrich, has gotten pretty good press.” Cochran noted disagreement among Republicans on tax cuts, especially that “Sen. Bob Packwood, for example, chairman of the Finance Committee, is certainly conservative on most issues. But Packwood is extremely dubious about any tax cut until we are well on the road to balancing the budget.”
No one, but no one, except Cochran considers Packwood “certainly conservative.” He is not only a social liberal who voted against Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, but according to National Journal’s 1992 ratings, he drew only a 54% conservative score on economic issues, compared to 89% for Bob Dole. Lord knows what Cochran would consider to be a “moderate” Republican.
Will these computer-generated proclamations of opinion lead to a new era of candor in network news? Will the “news” people cast aside the sheep’s clothing of objectivity and finally admit they are wolves out to bite Newt? That would be refreshing – but
not surprising. 
