News organizations devote little attention to NSA spying story

On January 22, the day after The Washington Post first broke the Lewinsky story, the paper ran the following stories:

1. "FBI Taped Aide's Allegations; Seeking Cooperation, Bureau Confronted Ex-White House Intern," a 2,663-word front-page article by Peter Baker and Susan Schmidt

2. "Clinton Scoop So Hot It Melted; Newsweek Editors Held Off On Scandal Story," a 1,098-word Howard Kurtz article about reporting of the matter, on the front page of the Style section

3. "FBI Taped Aide's Allegations; Clinton Denies Affair, Says He 'Did Not Urge Anyone' to Lie," a 1,474-word front-page article by John Harris, with contributions by Terry Neal

4. "Clinton Tie to Va. Woman Led to Probe's Latest Angle," a 605-word article about Kathleen Willey by R.H. Melton

5. "Kindred Spirits' Pentagon Bond; White House Exiles Shared Lively Chat, Confidences," a 1,620-word front-page article by Dana Priest and Rene Sanchez with contributions by Ceci Connolly, Judith Havemann, Susan Glasser and David Segal

6. "Jordan: Power Broker And 'FOB' Without Peer; Lawyer Is Now Key Figure in Starr Probe," a 782-word article by Thomas Edsall, with contributions by staff researcher Ben White

7. "THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS; President Imperiled as Never Before," a 933-word article by Dan Balz, with contributions by Helen Dewar

8. "Affairs of State," an 833-word column by Mary McGrory

9. "THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS; Allegations Against Clinton Could Lead to Impeachment, Prosecution," a 1,042-word article by Ruth Marcus

10. "The Allegations," a 420-word editorial

11. "The Reliable Source," a regular multipart feature of the Style section that dedicated 374 words to the Clinton investigation by Ann Gerhart and Annie Groer.

That's a total of 11 articles, written by or using contributions from at least 20 reporters, and comprising 11,844 words dedicated to allegations that the president lied about a consensual relationship.

The New York Times gave the story similar treatment:

1. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE; In Interviews, President Denies Affair With Intern," a 1,067-word article by James Bennet

2. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE FRIENDS; Friendship of 2 Women Slowly Led to the Crisis," a 1,881-word front-page article by Jill Abramson and Don Van Natta

3. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE OVERVIEW; SUBPOENAS SENT AS CLINTON DENIES REPORTS OF AN AFFAIR WITH AIDE AT WHITE HOUSE," a 2,202-word front-page article by Francis X. Clines and Jeff Gerth

4. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE; Independent Counsel Cites Deceit Pattern," a 419-word article by Sephen Labaton

5. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE CONFIDANT; In Fair Weather and Foul, a Friend to Clinton," a 563-word article by Richard Berke

6. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE; Excerpts From Statements by White House and President on Accusations," a 1,465-word article

7. "A Crisis From Petty Sources," a 755-word editorial

8. "Essay; Presume Innocence," a 692-word column by William Safire

That's a total of eight articles, written by at least eight reporters, comprising 9,044 words.

Now, here's what the Post did on December 17 -- the day after the initial disclosure of the Bush administration's use of the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct domestic surveillance that has been widely described as an illegal trampling of the Constitution:

1. "On Hill, Anger and Calls for Hearings Greet News of Stateside Surveillance," a 1,372-word front-page article by Dan Eggen and Charles Lane, with contributions from Carol D. Leonnig, Barton Gellman, and R. Jeffrey Smith, and researcher Julie Tate

2. "Renewal of Patriot Act Is Blocked in Senate," a 1,073-front-page article dealing tangentially with the NSA matter, by Charles Babington

3. "At the Times, a Scoop Deferred," a 782-word article by Paul Farhi

That's all. Three articles, eight reporters, 3,227 words -- and that's generously including the USA Patriot Act article in the tally.

And from the Times, which had broken the NSA story the day before:

1. "SENATORS THWART BUSH BID TO RENEW LAW ON TERRORISM," a 1,875-word front-page article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Eric Lichtblau, with contributions from James Risen

2. "Behind Power, One Principle," a 1,201-word front-page article by Scott Shane


That's it for the Times: two articles, four reporters, 3,076 words.

All told, on January 22, 1998, the Times and the Post ran 19 articles (five on the front page) dealing with the Clinton investigation, totaling more than 20,000 words and reflecting the words of at least 28 reporters -- plus the editorial boards of both newspapers.

In contrast, on December 17, the Times and the Post combined to run five articles about the NSA spying operation, involving 12 reporters and consisting of 6,303 words.

On February 25, 1998, 35 days after the story first broke, the Post ran four articles and an editorial about the Clinton investigation, totaling 5,046 words, involving 11 reporters, and the paper's editorial board. The Times ran four articles, two opinion columns, and an editorial -- seven pieces in all, totaling 5,852 words and involving at least six reporters and columnists, in addition to its editorial board. The papers combined for 12 articles, columns, and editorials, involving 17 reporters and columnists, as well as both editorial boards.

On January 20, 35 days after the NSA story first broke, the Times ran one 1,324-word article about the NSA operation written by two reporters. The Post ran one 945-word article written by one reporter. Combined: two articles, three reporters, 2,269 words.

We could go on and on with comparisons like these, and bring in other news organizations, but it should be clear by now that the nation's leading news organizations haven't given the NSA spying story anywhere near the coverage they gave the Clinton-Lewinsky matter. And, based on available evidence, they haven't dedicated nearly the resources to pursuing the NSA story that they dedicated to the Lewinsky story.

So, some questions for the Times, and the Post, and ABC, and CBS, and NBC, and CNN, and Time, and Newsweek, and other leading news organizations:

1)How many reporters, editors, and researchers did you assign to the Lewinsky story when it broke? How many remained assigned to that story one month later?

2)How many reporters, editors, and researchers did you assign to the NSA story when it broke? How many remained assigned to that story one month later?

3)How do you explain the disparity?

We assume many news organizations would respond by saying that they aren't devoting as much attention to the NSA matter because it hasn't captured the nation's attention the way the Lewinsky investigation did.

But that's a canard; as we demonstrated above, the Times and the Post ran a combined 19 articles totaling more than 20,000 words just a day after the Lewinsky story first broke -- long before they could have known whether the public was interested. If the story captured the nation's attention, it's because the media forced it down our throats. And if Americans aren't captivated by the NSA matter, it may be because the media aren't hyping it nearly as much as it has much lesser stories.

The Post's Howard Kurtz effectively -- if unintentionally -- illustrated this bizarre tendency by news organizations to pretend that they merely reflect what people are talking about rather than shaping the national conversation. In his January 18 online column, Kurtz responded to criticism by Media Matters for America and others that he gave unwarranted attention to ages-old, baseless right-wing attacks on Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) by writing an article recounting the attacks for the January 14 edition of the Post. Kurtz noted that the attacks are, indeed, old, but added they are now "getting national play."

But the attacks aren't "getting" national play -- Kurtz is giving them national play. Prior to his article, the only "play" the allegations were getting came in a hatchet job by the Brent Bozell-operated Cybercast News Service upon which Kurtz based his article.

NSA spying stories we'd like to see

What kinds of stories could we see if news organizations were to devote as much attention to the president's authorization of a domestic spying operation that many think is illegal and unconstitutional as they did to a presidential affair?

* Profiles of the people involved: Such pieces were standard during the Lewinsky investigation, but are not nearly as common now. Who are the Justice Department and NSA officials responsible for crafting the spy plan? What are their backgrounds? Their expertise? What other controversial administration actions have they been involved in?

* Serious and detailed examinations of the opinions of legal and constitutional experts. Conservative constitutional scholar Bruce Fein and American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Norman Ornstein have said that the president's authorization of the wiretapping scheme may constitute an impeachable offense -- but those comments haven't appeared in either the Times or the Post, or most other media outlets. What other experts have criticized -- or defended -- the program? Rather than simply reporting that the Bush administration says its actions are legal, and critics disagree, news organizations could -- and should -- offer a comprehensive picture of the opinions and analyses of relevant experts.

* Assessments of the effects of the NSA program. The Bush administration claims the domestic spying operation has thwarted terrorist attacks. Is this true? Some of the success stories the administration and the media have recounted are dubious at best, such as the much-touted capture of Iyman Faris, who pleaded guilty to a harebrained plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge with a blowtorch -- and whose capture reportedly had little to do with the NSA program.

* An exploration of the possibility that the NSA program may not only have been an illegal and unconstitutional trampling of the rights of countless Americans, but may actually have harmed national security. For example, evidence obtained through the program may turn out to have been illegally obtained -- and thus inadmissible in court, which may result in actual terrorists going free.

* Given that at least nine Republican senators have expressed concern over the NSA program, an enterprising reporter might try to get comments from every member of Congress. Given calls for congressional investigations, including those made by at least six Republican senators, an examination of previous congressional investigations and oversight of the Bush administration would seem to be in order. Have previous comments by Republicans expressing concern with administration policies resulted in meaningful investigations? Or have they simply paid lip service to the idea of oversight without following through?

* Polling. Given the media's obsession with horse-race commentary and public opinion polling, it's long past time for detailed polling based on accurate questions about the NSA domestic spying and other Bush administration scandals. Zogby International polls have found that most Americans think Congress should consider impeachment if Bush deliberately mislead the country into war or if he "wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge" -- and those polls have been ignored by the media. News organizations that in 1998 polled on whether people thought Clinton should be impeached if he had an affair now refuse to ask whether people think Bush should be impeached if he broke the law.

* Aside from impeachment, and questions relating to NSA spying, we've long argued that polls that ask if Bush mislead the country about Iraq should ask some obvious follow-up questions. Like, "Do you think the president's statements about the need to go to war in Iraq will make people more or less likely to believe him if he again makes the case for war?" And "If you think people will be less likely to believe him next time, does that make America more or less safe"?

And that's just a starting point. This is a situation in which the president of the United States admits ordering a secret domestic spying operation that many in his own party find troubling and that even some of his fellow conservatives have described as impeachable. Surely, if news organizations were to devote half the attention to this matter that they devoted to the Lewinsky matter, there would literally be dozens of worthwhile, interesting, and important stories to tell.