Michelle Obama Caught in the News Cycle
Screengrab of DrudgeReport.com (8/21/07)
When I saw this headline at the top of the Drudge Report, I knew it was coming ...
Google News now counts around 197 articles written and repurposed about whether Sen. Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, intentionally slammed Hillary Clinton when she said at a campaign stop, "My view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House." [Video]
.. and it all started with Drudge. [For the uninitiated, Drudge Report is one of the first major online news aggregators, which rose to fame after breaking news of the Monica Lewinsky scandal back in 1998.]
Having worked in a few newsrooms over the years, I can tell you that monitoring Drudge for updates is de rigeur -- especially at 24-hour cable news networks that often have more hours of programming than news to fill them. And controversy -- contrived or otherwise -- makes for good television.
So it came as no surprise to see this same story pop up on CNN's Situation Room that very afternoon.
Host Wolf Blitzer posed the question to Donna Brazile -- a News & Notes contributor who also serves as an analyst for CNN.
From the transcript:
BLITZER: All right, what do you think? Who was she referring to? Because we're trying to read between the lines here.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, she was introducing her husband, and she's trying to tell an audience that really don't know Barack Obama that he's a family man, that he cares about his children, he cares about families, and, as president, he will restore family values to the White House. I don't think she was taking a swipe at the Clintons or Giuliani or anyone else. She was trying to establish his credentials as a family person...Look, she is a straight-talking person. She's very smart, very articulate. She's an asset to the campaign. And I think, if she wanted to take a swipe at somebody, she would not hide words. Michelle Obama would come out and say it.
Let's return to that that question mark in Drudge's headline for a minute ... that lazy journalism question mark. I admit I've been guilty of using it, too. You can pretty much say anything you want as long as you have a question mark because it absolves you of any real responsibility.
Like this: "Alien Life in Arkansas?"
See there? No real reporting required.
And, dare I say, the same is true for the article which started the fracas: A Chicago Sun-Times columnist wrote of Michelle Obama's comment, "She didn't elaborate, but it could be interpreted as a swipe at the Clintons."
Huh?! Could be interpreted? Now let's have a go at the stories which followed:
CBS (New York): "That struck many as an indirect swipe at Clinton, Barack Obama's chief rival."
Boston Herald: "It's not clear how intended the slap was."
The National Ledger: "Michelle has taken off the gloves and is blasting away at Hillary Clinton. At least it appears that way."
Inside Edition: "Some are suggesting that Michelle is subtly attacking her husband's main competition."
Who are "some" and "many"? Perhaps we'll never know. But notice that didn't stop these writers from continuing with the story. For the record, Obama and his camp have shot down the speculation. But it's too late. This story has already grown legs.
[More: NBC's Andrea Mitchell Scolds Matt Drudge for Making Much Ado About Nothing]
UPDATE: [8/23/07, 8:45 AM]
Drudge Barks, TV News Bites
Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Responds
What do you think about this latest campaign "controversy" and the media's coverage of the 2008 election?
7:00 PM ET | 08-22-2007 | permalink
