Fun Times: Let's Compare Coverage Of Kerry Troop Joke With That Of Boehner
September 14, 2007 -- 2:02 PM EST // //
I noted yesterday that it's become something of a cliche to point to a Republican gaffe and say, "Imagine the media outcry if a Democrat did that." But in this case the point really does need to be hammered home. What you've got here -- yet again -- is that same old unsightly double standard that the big news orgs reflexively adopt when covering "gaffes" committed by Democrats and Republicans, particularly ones involving military issues.
The evidence of this is just overwhelming at this point. And it's a really big deal. It's not even too much of a stretch to say that this media failing among others is one reason we're in Iraq today, since it helped prevent Al Gore from winning the election by enough votes to render his victory theft-proof. There's been a bit of acknowledgment of this problem within the industry of late. But there's never been a full-scale reckoning with it. The denial about it just runs too deep.
And Boehner's remark offers a perfect chance to marvel at this anew. Here's how: We can compare coverage of it to John Kerry's botched joke in October 2006. The missteps are very similar: Both denigrated the troops; both Kerry and Boehner are peripheral players to the main current political event; both made remarks that are ambiguous and could be read as a mistake; and both came under fire from members of the opposition party.
So let's compare the coverage. Kerry made his botched joke on October 30, 2006. Here's a partial list of news orgs that covered this, often as stand alone stories, in the two days following:
CNNThere hasn't been anything remotely like this by the big news orgs in the days since Boehner's remark. There was a paragraph at the end of a Times story, a Caucus blog item, a one sentence mention in USA Today that didn't even frame the remark as controversial, a blog item in The Politico, a UPI story, and a spot by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Nothing on the nets or wires or in most major papers. I'm talking here about big news orgs, not local news outlets or blogs. If you find anything else, let us know, and we'll post it.Fox News
ABC News
MSNBC
NBC News
ABC News
CBS News
CNBC News
Associated Press
McClatchy
PBS - News Hour With Jim Lehrer
The Boston Globe
The Chicago Tribune
The Washington Post
The Washington Times
The New York Times
The New York Post
The Los Angeles Times
USA Today
Why is this?
The answer is simple: Kerry is a Democrat, and Boehner is a Republican.
I don't mean that to sound cavalier. But if you unpack it, it really is pretty much the case. Judging by the news product we see on a daily basis, the way the press approaches Dems and the military is two-fold. Dems are either presumed to be genuinely anti-military by instinct, or, more likely, they're presumed to be vulnerable to Republican charges that they're anti-military. Sure, this is a generalization, and there are plenty of exceptions. But those are the basics.
Point is, those are the prefabricated storylines that are tacitly -- and often overtly -- used as the guideposts by which decisions are made as to whether things like the Kerry botched joke gaffe or Boehner's remark are news. Kerry screwed up a joke. Why is that a huge story? Because it reinforces perceptions that Dems are anti-military, and gives Republicans an opening to score some points. That's what makes Kerry's thing a "gaffe" -- and, perversely, what turns it into news.
There just isn't any such pre-fabricated storyline on the Republican side. So a line like Boehner's is merely confusing, about as perceptible to the press as radio static. Boehner said that troop deaths are a "small price" to pay for realizing Bush's vision in the Middle East? Why, he couldn't possibly have meant it. Or, alternatively, Republicans aren't vulnerable to charges that they're anti-military. Therefore, this doesn't really qualify as a "gaffe" -- and therefore isn't really news.
Who knows -- maybe we'll see lots more coverage of this, now that the very serious and respected John McCain and Joe Biden have said that what Boehner did is a bad thing. But there's simply no chance that it will earn anywhere near the attention that Kerry's "gaffe" did.
Update: Steve Benen compellingly lays out the case here.