Susan Arbetter - Reaction to the Press Coverage of Jesse Jackson's Union College Commencement Speech

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, black activist, founder of the Rainbow Coalition, and advisor to President Clinton, spoke recently at a small school in upstate New York. While the crowd loved the speech, they didn't have the same reaction to the press covering the event. On the Media's Susan Arbetter reports·

It was a big day for Union College, a school of 2,000 near Schenectady, New York. One thousand people turned out for Jesse Jackson, who spoke on issues ranging from racism to partisanship to education funding.

SFX - Jackson Speaking -

The crowd was enthusiastic, until after the speech the press corps started asking questions. Richard Fox, a political science professor at the school, wrote an angry op-ed piece in "The New York Times," condemning the press corps.

Cut, Richard Fox: "He gave a rousing speech for 70 minutes on a wide range of issues: poverty, education, crime, civil rights. He referenced the scandal and then took questions from the press, and they asked him five or six questions that seemed to completely ignore the substance of the speech."

Most of the questions from the press were about the impeachment trial; one reporter asked Jackson about which team re rooted for during the Superbowl. But the audience asked mostly issue-oriented questions ranging from economics to racism.

Cut, Adam-Paul Smollack: "They undermined the importance of his message."
Professor Fox wasn't the only person to notice the media's apparent lack of interest in Jackson's prepared speech. Adam Paul Smollack a 19-year-old student and reporter for the Union College student paper, was so struck by the single mindedness of the reporters' questions, he asked Jackson about it.

Cut, Smollack: "My question to him was, "After giving a powerful speech, the first question the media asks is about the White House in crisis and doesn't it undermine the moral issues our country needs to face?"

The question gave rise to the loudest applause of the night. "Times Union" reporter Andrew Brownstein, who was covering the event, thought the observation had such insight, said Smollack in his article the next day. But he defends the questions the reporters asked at the press conference.

Cut, Brownstein: "Covering a speech isn't an ideal. The reporter looks forward to the Q & A to get the person off-script. You find out things you wouldn't have found out any other way."

Although the audience at a Jesse Jackson speech may get fired up, Brownstein says the press corps can't. It has a responsibility to cover the news critically and to focus on the news of the day.

Cut, Brownstein: "Here is Jesse Jackson, now a trusted advisor to the President. We would be remiss if we didn't ask him about the impeachment."

Across town, at the competing "Independent Gazette" newspaper of Schenectady, Managing Editor Thomas Woodman agrees.

Cut, Woodman: "I think that if the news media isn't interested in the impeachment trial of a president for the second time in history, we'd have to hang our heads in shame."

But Professor Fox says other issues were overlooked because the press focused on impeachment.

Cut, Fox: "Of course it's a serious issue. I feel at the same time, the media has been obsessive about the issue. Just because an issue is historical and has been in the front of our faces for 15 months doesn't mean there aren't other stories that may even be more important in people's lives. "

And, says Fox, the media set the agenda.

Cut, Fox: "I wish that wasn't their job so entirely, but I don't see how that's actually possible; I mean, everyday they make decisions about what stories to run and that becomes the news."

As it should be, says the "Gazette's" Thomas Woodman. He says it's the job of the mainstream media to take raw information and sift it through the editorial process, and that system enables newspapers to print news in context. If readers aren't satisfied, there are alternatives.

Cut, Woodman: "There are checks and balances to that, especially in this market where there are 6 daily newspapers. If people constantly disagree with our judgment, they'll go somewhere else."

But student Adam Paul Smollack thinks the media are determining what the news is by the very questions they decide to ask. He cites the Jackson press conference as a perfect example.

Cut, Smollack: "The media made the news by asking questions thatpertained to the impeachment process and the next day reporting on partisan issues and Jackson's responses to those questions and NOT reporting on the substance of his message."

The Times Union's Brownstein, though, argues the substance of Jackson's message wasn't news.

Cut, Brownstin: "In this case, Jackson's main thrust was not new. So it's not something I would have had any questions about anyway."

Still Union College sophomore Smollack insists the media have lost their way. He says they need to step back and re-evaluate the role they play in society.

Cut, Smollack: "How many times does the press ask the impeachment questions?"

Sfx Jackson speech......

Both the "Times Union's" Brownstein and the "Gazette's" Woodman point out one of the ironies of the criticism leveled against them: Professor Fox's blistering op-ed piece may not have run in "The New York Times" at all if it hadn't been about the Lewinsky scandal. Fox says he appreciates the irony, but the issue is too important to ignore....

Cut, Fox:"I thought the issue being raised is the media's attention to the subject matter, and that transcends the Lewinsky scandal. The issue is the coverage and the Lewinsky scandal is a vehicle for a discussion of it."

For On the Media, I'm Susan Arbetter.