Rethinking media politics and public opinion: Reactions to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal

Political Science Quarterly

Volumn 116, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 425-446

  Lawrence, Regina G ^a   Bennett, W Lance ^b  

^a PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035465573     PISSN: 00323195     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/798024     Document Type: Review

References (60)

1. John Zaller, "Monica Lewinsky's Contribution to Political Science," PS 31 (June 1998): 182-88.
2. Gary Jacobson, "Impeachment Politics in the 1998 Congressional Elections," Political Science Quarterly 114 (Spring 1999): 46.
3. Republican leaders also questioned the validity of the polls, which showed steady majorities in opposition to impeachment. See David E. Rosenbaum, "G.O.P. Says It Ignores Critical Polls on Inquiry," New York Times, 27 September 1998.
4. See, for example, Neal Gabler, Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998).
5. Critiques of sensationalized coverage of the Lewinsky scandal have been made by Gabler, Life the Movie; Jim Lehrer, "Blurring the Lines Hurts Journalism." Nieman Reports (Summer 1999) 60-1; and Samuel Popkin, "When the People Decline to Be Spun," New York Times, 10 November 1999, among others. For an opposing view, see Michael Gartner, "How the Monica Story Played in Mid-America," Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1999): 34-6; and Public Agenda, "Journalists Give Press High Grade for Scandal Coverage," (http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/cjrpolls/cjroct.htm), 15 December 1998.
6. Critiques of sensationalized coverage of the Lewinsky scandal have been made by Gabler, Life the Movie; Jim Lehrer, "Blurring the Lines Hurts Journalism." Nieman Reports (Summer 1999) 60-1; and Samuel Popkin, "When the People Decline to Be Spun," New York Times, 10 November 1999, among others. For an opposing view, see Michael Gartner, "How the Monica Story Played in Mid-America," Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1999): 34-6; and Public Agenda, "Journalists Give Press High Grade for Scandal Coverage," (http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/cjrpolls/cjroct.htm), 15 December 1998.
7. Critiques of sensationalized coverage of the Lewinsky scandal have been made by Gabler, Life the Movie; Jim Lehrer, "Blurring the Lines Hurts Journalism." Nieman Reports (Summer 1999) 60-1; and Samuel Popkin, "When the People Decline to Be Spun," New York Times, 10 November 1999, among others. For an opposing view, see Michael Gartner, "How the Monica Story Played in Mid-America," Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1999): 34-6; and Public Agenda, "Journalists Give Press High Grade for Scandal Coverage," (http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/cjrpolls/cjroct.htm), 15 December 1998.
8. Critiques of sensationalized coverage of the Lewinsky scandal have been made by Gabler, Life the Movie; Jim Lehrer, "Blurring the Lines Hurts Journalism." Nieman Reports (Summer 1999) 60-1; and Samuel Popkin, "When the People Decline to Be Spun," New York Times, 10 November 1999, among others. For an opposing view, see Michael Gartner, "How the Monica Story Played in Mid-America," Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1999): 34-6; and Public Agenda, "Journalists Give Press High Grade for Scandal Coverage," (http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/cjrpolls/cjroct.htm), 15 December 1998.
9. Critiques of sensationalized coverage of the Lewinsky scandal have been made by Gabler, Life the Movie; Jim Lehrer, "Blurring the Lines Hurts Journalism." Nieman Reports (Summer 1999) 60-1; and Samuel Popkin, "When the People Decline to Be Spun," New York Times, 10 November 1999, among others. For an opposing view, see Michael Gartner, "How the Monica Story Played in Mid-America," Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1999): 34-6; and Public Agenda, "Journalists Give Press High Grade for Scandal Coverage," (http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/cjrpolls/cjroct.htm), 15 December 1998.
10. Doris A. Graber, Processing the News: How People Tame the Information Tide, 2nd ed. (New York: Longman, 1988); W. Russell Neuman, Marion R. Just, and Ann N. Crigler, Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992).
11. Doris A. Graber, Processing the News: How People Tame the Information Tide, 2nd ed. (New York: Longman, 1988); W. Russell Neuman, Marion R. Just, and Ann N. Crigler, Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992).
12. William Gamson, Talking Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992); Benjamin Page, Who Deliberates? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
13. William Gamson, Talking Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992); Benjamin Page, Who Deliberates? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
14. Virginia Sapiro and Joe Soss. "Spectacular Politics. Dramatic Interpretations: Multiple Meanings in the Thomas/Hill Hearings," Political Communication 16 (July-September 1999): 285-314.
15. Zaller, "Monica Lewinsky's Contribution," 186.
16. See Daniel Yankelovich, Coming to Public Judgment (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1991), chap. 4.
17. The analysis presented here utilizes polling data from four sources: The New York Times/CBS poll, the Los Angeles Times poll, the Gallup poll, and polls conducted by The Pew Center for the People and the Press. All four organizations conducted extensive polling throughout the year-long Lewinsky/impeachment scandal and in many cases repeated particular questions often enough to yield useful comparisons across time. Much of the Pew Center data analyzed here was obtained directly from the Center's private archives, though some is available from the Center's on-line archives (www.people-press.org/content.htm); Pew Center data has been cited to those archives when possible. Data from the Los Angeles Times polls (http://www.latimes.com/news/timespoll/stats/HTML/archive1. htm#1998) and the Gallup poll (www.gallup.com) were gathered from their extensive on-line poll archives. Data from the New York Times/CBS polls were gathered from the Nexis database.
18. The analysis presented here utilizes polling data from four sources: The New York Times/CBS poll, the Los Angeles Times poll, the Gallup poll, and polls conducted by The Pew Center for the People and the Press. All four organizations conducted extensive polling throughout the year-long Lewinsky/impeachment scandal and in many cases repeated particular questions often enough to yield useful comparisons across time. Much of the Pew Center data analyzed here was obtained directly from the Center's private archives, though some is available from the Center's on-line archives (www.people-press.org/content.htm); Pew Center data has been cited to those archives when possible. Data from the Los Angeles Times polls (http://www.latimes.com/news/timespoll/stats/HTML/archive1. htm#1998) and the Gallup poll (www.gallup.com) were gathered from their extensive on-line poll archives. Data from the New York Times/CBS polls were gathered from the Nexis database.
19. Molly W. Sonner and Clyde Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting: Public Support for Bill Clinton During the Lewinsky Scandal," PS 32 (September 1999): 554-557. See also Molly W. Sonner and Clyde Wilcox, "The Paradoxes of Clinton's Popularity" in Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, eds., The Clinton Scandal and the Future of American Government (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000).
20. Molly W. Sonner and Clyde Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting: Public Support for Bill Clinton During the Lewinsky Scandal," PS 32 (September 1999): 554-557. See also Molly W. Sonner and Clyde Wilcox, "The Paradoxes of Clinton's Popularity" in Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, eds., The Clinton Scandal and the Future of American Government (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000).
21. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, "That Clear Line Between Public and Private Conduct," Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 30 March 1998, 21.
22. Los Angeles Times poll #417, 15 November 1998.
23. See, for example, The Gallup Organization, "Public Generally Tolerant of Presidential Extramarital Affairs," (http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr980306.asp), 6 March 1998; Sonner and Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting," 557.
24. See, for example, The Gallup Organization, "Public Generally Tolerant of Presidential Extramarital Affairs," (http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr980306.asp), 6 March 1998; Sonner and Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting," 557.
25. Jacobson, "Impeachment Politics," 46.
26. Mark Fischle, "Mass Response to the Lewinsky Scandal: Motivated Reasoning or Bayesian Updating," Political Psychology 21 (no. 1, 2000): 155.
27. Fischle, "Mass Response."
28. This assumption that Clinton objectively deserved to lose political power because of the Lewinsky matter seemingly underlies Fishcle's argument. For example, Clinton supporters "expended a great deal of energy processing [the] evidence in such as way as to 'construct seemingly reasonable justifications' for the things they believed and wanted to continue to believe: namely, that Clinton was, and is, a good leader." See Fischle, "Mass Response," 151.
29. This observation is supported by other data as well; see, for example, the Los Angeles Times poll #406, 15 November 1998.
30. Ibid.
31. Zaller, "Monica Lewinsky's Contribution," 183.
32. Howard Kurtz, Spin Cycle (New York: Free Press, 1998).
33. The New York Times did not consistently report the exact wording of these poll questions, though most appear to have asked respondents whether the Lewinsky situation was "a private matter having to do with Clinton's personal life" or "a public matter having to do with his job as President." Some New York Times/ CBS polls asked respondents whether the situation was "more" a matter of one or the other, rather than offering a simple either/or choice.
34. See The Pew Center for the People, the Press, and Public Policy, "Senate Trial: Little Viewership, Little Impact" (http://www.people-press.org/Jan99rpt.htm), 1 February 1999.
35. Marjorie Connelly, "Confidence Grows in Clinton's Ability to Remain Effective," New York Times, 29 January 1998.
36. James Bennet, "Despite Intern, President Stays in Good Graces," New York Times, 24 February 1998; Pew Center, "White House Scandal Has Families Talking" (http://www.people-press.org/parentrpt.htm), 15 November 1998.
37. James Bennet, "Despite Intern, President Stays in Good Graces," New York Times, 24 February 1998; Pew Center, "White House Scandal Has Families Talking" (http://www.people-press.org/parentrpt.htm), 15 November 1998.
38. See, for example, David O. Sears, "Symbolic Politics: A Socio-Psychological Theory" in Shanto Iyengar and William McGuire, eds., Explorations in Political Psychology, (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993), 113-149. Zaller, however, explicitly dismisses the symbolic dimensions of public reaction in "Monica Lewinsky's Contribution," 186.
39. See, for example, David O. Sears, "Symbolic Politics: A Socio-Psychological Theory" in Shanto Iyengar and William McGuire, eds., Explorations in Political Psychology, (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993), 113-149. Zaller, however, explicitly dismisses the symbolic dimensions of public reaction in "Monica Lewinsky's Contribution," 186.
40. See Sapiro and Soss, "Spectacular Politics," 287.
41. Quoted in Richard Cohen, "A Shoe Must Drop," Washington Post, 26 November 1998.
42. David Bositis of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, quoted in Sam Fulwood III, "Blacks See Familiar Persecution in Clinton Plight," Los Angeles Times, 14 September 1998.
43. Similar differences were recorded among whites and blacks: 28 percent of whites said they liked both Bill Clinton and his policies, versus 77 percent of blacks. And while 38 percent of whites said they liked Clinton's policies but not Clinton personally, only 18 percent of blacks divided their approval in this way.
44. See The Gallup Organization, "Clinton's Options in Grand Jury Testimony Appear Limited," (http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr980815.asp), 15 August 1998. See also Sonner and Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting," 556.
45. See The Gallup Organization, "Clinton's Options in Grand Jury Testimony Appear Limited," (http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr980815.asp), 15 August 1998. See also Sonner and Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting," 556.
46. The Gallup Organization, "Public Views Willey Charges as Little Different from Those of Other Women" (http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr980320.asp), 20 March 1998.
47. Carol L. Silva, Hank C. Jenkins-Smith, and Richard A. Waterman, "The Economy, the Independent Counsel, and the Politics of Impeachment" (paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Atlanta, GA, 2-5 September 1999).
48. W. Lance Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion, 3d ed. (New York: Longman, 1996); Robert Darnton, "Writing News and Telling Stories," 2 (Daedalus 1975): 175-194: Itzhak Roeh, "Journalism as Storytelling, Coverage as Narrative," American Behavioral Scientist 33 (November-December 1989: 162-68.
49. W. Lance Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion, 3d ed. (New York: Longman, 1996); Robert Darnton, "Writing News and Telling Stories," 2 (Daedalus 1975): 175-194: Itzhak Roeh, "Journalism as Storytelling, Coverage as Narrative," American Behavioral Scientist 33 (November-December 1989: 162-68.
50. W. Lance Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion, 3d ed. (New York: Longman, 1996); Robert Darnton, "Writing News and Telling Stories," 2 (Daedalus 1975): 175-194: Itzhak Roeh, "Journalism as Storytelling, Coverage as Narrative," American Behavioral Scientist 33 (November-December 1989: 162-68.
51. Los Angeles Times poll #417, 15 November 1998. A Gallup poll conducted at the same time gave people different choices and, therefore, offered a slightly different picture. Gallup asked whether the controversy involving Clinton and Lewinsky was "mostly the result of a right wing conspiracy which is out to get Bill Clinton" or "mostly the result of Clinton's own behavior." Given these choices, 44 percent blamed a conspiracy, while 46 percent blamed Clinton's own behavior. Frank Newport and Alec Gallup, "Clinton's Popularity Paradox" (http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr980131a.asp), 15 November 1998.
52. Los Angeles Times poll #417, 15 November 1998.
53. Richard L. Berke and Janet Elder, "Damaged by Trial, Senate's Standing Sinks in Public's Eye," New York Times, 3 February 1999.
54. Pew Center "Senate Trial."
55. See Jacobson, "Impeachment Politics"; Sonner and Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting"; and Silva et al., "The Economy."
56. See Jacobson, "Impeachment Politics"; Sonner and Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting"; and Silva et al., "The Economy."
57. See Jacobson, "Impeachment Politics"; Sonner and Wilcox, "Forgiving and Forgetting"; and Silva et al., "The Economy."
58. Dhavan V. Shah, Mark D. Watts, David Domke, and David P. Fan, "Explaining Clinton's Press Coverage and Public Approval: Strategic News, Framing and Cueing, and Opinion Backlash" (paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, Acapulco, Mexico, 25-28 May 2000).
59. See "Off with Their Talking Heads," New York, 23 November 1998, 27-9; Michael Gartner, "How the Monica Story Played in Mid-America," Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1999): 34-6.
60. See "Off with Their Talking Heads," New York, 23 November 1998, 27-9; Michael Gartner, "How the Monica Story Played in Mid-America," Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1999): 34-6.