The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 3 of 3)

br> There's media bias, and then there's media bias. A letter writer to Saturday's Washington Post wondered whether its reporter had already endorsed Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for Maryland governor, given these sentences in the reporter's May 6 story: "But Townsend's most potent asset may be her intense sincerity. When she works a room, people feel a connection." NBC's Tim Russert devoted half of yesterday's "Meet the Press" to a fawning discussion of new Kennedy balderdash, this time a volume of "Profiles in Courage for Our Time," edited by Caroline Kennedy , Russert's star guest -- in whose presence he simply couldn't stop beaming and swooning. Has any man ever shown himself to be more in love? /p>

Last week ABC's Peter Jennings gave the game away differently. Midway through the May 6 "World News Tonight," he introduced a Linda Douglass item on a National Republican Campaign Committee telemarketing scheme with these words: "Tonight a slightly dubious, particularly stealthy form of fund-raising art, this one comes from the Republicans." What followed was a report on a rather typical fundraising hustle that tried to flatter the giver into contributing to some GOP effort. As laid out by Douglass, the project clearly made the Republicans look bad. She even discovered that its real purpose was "to help elect Republican candidates." Horrors. But what stood out was the smug, dismissive, gotcha satisfaction on Jennings face during the segment. No one could mistake which political side he's on or why he found news value in the report.

One of the "slightly dubious" aspects of the GOP scheme is that donors were told they'd "be invited to private dinners with congressmen," according to the ABC report. Of all people Jennings shouldn't have found that unusual. In the past, he himself has been a drawing card for Democratic candidates in New York, though he might not known it -- in which case he was duped no less than those who might have contributed to the GOP scheme his news show reported on.

Regardless, as the Prowler has learned, Jennings's presence at fundraisers for such Democratic luminaries as Mario Cuomo, David Dinkins, Mark Green, and Hillary Clinton has been used by hosts of the events to bring people in. "Much more than Rather or Brokaw, Jennings is a social animal. You see him at parties, at events," says a New York socialite. "And I've been to Democratic events where his presence has been leaked beforehand, 'Oh, Peter Jennings will be there.' Whether he was aware he was a drawing card, who knows?"

It might be recalled that Jennings was the least enthusiastic anchor when it came to covering the Whitewater and Lewinsky scandals. According to ABC News staffers in New York, he was openly critical of his "Nightline" colleagues in Washington who did some of the most aggressive reporting in the early days of the scandals. "He hated that stuff, hated having to report it," says a staffer.

topics:
Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Environment, NATO