Who says television news doesn’t fall under the entertainment
category? The psychology seems to be identical in both divisions.
You know the syndrome: for weeks before some special event or
broadcast, a network will hype the upcoming show, hoping to tease
such great expectations out of viewers that not one of them and his
sister will miss it. But by the time the show is being shown, the
network couldn’t care less about it. It’s already busy hyping some
new upcoming spectacular. Needless to say, any viewer who got taken
in winds up feeling used. Which explains why TV is our leading
producer of cynicism.
So it was last night on ABC’s News World Tonight with Peter
Jennings. Earlier in the day the Senate had passed campaign finance
reform, culminating years of media-approved efforts to use the
oversold cause on behalf of and against the usual sets of suspects.
It was always John McCain can do no wrong, and Mitch McConnell
should be jailed. Anchors like Peter Jennings earning millions a
night and correspondents like Linda Douglass spending that much
alone on their hair each day were always decrying the awful
corruption money brings to politics.
So like the spoiled rich everywhere, once they got what they
wanted they immediately became bored. Last night’s brief report on
the Jennings news was amazingly anticlimactic. It came well after
the lead stories, and betrayed about as much excitement and drama
as closing time at a saloon where the bartender’s last duty is
sweeping up the worn linoleum floor. It almost made for an
objective, worldly-wise report. The theme might have been: What
reform?
There was nothing celebratory about the report, no soundbite
from soft-speaking Abe Lincoln McCain, no hasty questions thrown at
McConnell as he disappeared behind the tinted glass of his car
door. Instead it emphasized the rush now on to raise as much soft
money as possible before the ban kicks in next November.
Douglass mentioned President Bush has raised millions for Senate
candidate and that Democrats three weeks ago “took home $6 million
in one night.” But then a clip ran of Tom Daschle saying that
night: “This is the most successful dinner I believe we’ve ever
had.” Can you believe that? A Democratic leader made to look worse
than the president?
After more talk about the “fundraising binge to scarf up big
contributions from corporations and labor unions while they [sic]
are still legal,” Douglass let it be known that opponents of the
new law argue it “will not stamp out big money [but] simply shift
political influence to a new set of power brokers,” a point
reinforced in a soundbite from Republican Sen. Don Nickles. She
went on to mention that groups like EMILY’s List will become “more
powerful than ever,” and said not an approving word about this
pro-feminist development.
She ended on a knowing note: “And tonight, Peter, the campaign
lawyers are scrambling for ways around the new law, and they are
confident that they will find them.”
To which Peter replied, “Thank you, Linda. Linda Douglass.” Then
he said something about the “worst floods in a generation” coming
up next. Maybe after those floods recede we’ll hear from Peter and
Linda about the need for a new round of campaign finance reform.
For now, though, they seem all reformed out.
