Anonymous White House Sources: How They Helped Shape Television News Coverage of the Bill Clinton - Monica Lewinsky Investigation

Esposito, Steven A., Communications and the Law

On February 12, 1999, the thirteen-month-long scandal involving President Bill Clinton and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky came to an end as the U.S. Senate acquitted Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice charges.(1)

Ironically, while Clinton escaped being the first president ousted by impeachment, his chief antagonist in this national drama remained under investigation. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr was being investigated on two fronts. First, the Justice Department examined allegations of misconduct by Starr's office during the Lewinsky investigation.(2) Secondly, and of specific importance to this article, a U.S. federal judge looked into allegations that Starr's office violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) by leaking secret grand jury testimony to the media during the Clinton-Lewinsky inquiry.

The alleged violations of Rule 6(e) drew national attention in mid-June 1998 with the release of the premiere issue of Brill's Content. In the magazine's cover story, Starr admitted that he and his staff occasionally talked with reporters on background.(3) Starr maintained then, as he does now, that his office did "nothing improper." According to Starr, his office did little more than "counter misinformation" from the Clinton camp, adding that grand jury proceedings were never discussed in conversations with the media.(4)

The allegations concerning Starr's office and Rule 6(e) violations, coupled with the use of unnamed sources in coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky story, precipitated a re-examination of anonymous sourcing by the media. Although each news outlet has its own policy regarding the use of anonymous attribution, sourcing standards never have been etched in stone. In fact, for more than a century American journalists have been relying on unnamed sources.(5)

Critics, however, suggest that the overreliance on veiled sources is partially responsible for journalism's sagging credibility.(6) Reports that rely on anonymous sources can make it difficult, if not impossible, for news consumers to evaluate the accuracy of the information presented.(7) The overuse of unnamed sources also can result in slanted news coverage.(8) Anonymous sourcing also has been referred to as a reporter "cop-out"--the fastest and laziest way to gather information.(9)

Defenders, though, view anonymous sources as a vital news-gathering tool that enables reporters to collect critical information that otherwise would be unobtainable.(10) Others suggest that the practice provides benefits to diversity of thought in the marketplace of ideas.(11)

While recent popular and trade publications debate the pros and cons of unnamed sources,(12) research findings on the subject are varied. While some editors and news directors fear that their product's credibility suffers if sources go unnamed, studies indicate that factors other than attribution appear to be more important in shaping the news consumers' perceptions of story believability.(13) Some studies, in fact, have indicated that unnamed sources rate rather highly in perceived credibility.(14)

The findings regarding the frequency of anonymous attribution also are mixed. Researchers have found that 33% of newspaper stories,(15) and more than half of the stories on network television newscasts,(16) contained unnamed sources. Other studies have indicated that subject matter influences the use of unnamed sources. For example, while close to one-third of the interviews in Washington D.C.-based stories were "off the record,"(17) veiled attribution was almost a non-factor in coverage of legal proceedings in which trial participants were under gag orders.(18)

One of the limitations of most of the previous research on unnamed sources is the lack of literature available about television news. The majority of studies on this subject have focused solely on the print media. Given that a majority of Americans claim to get their news and information from television,(19) this is a significant shortcoming. Additionally, few studies have examined the use of anonymous sources in a legal context. Because the media typically are the "first agent of the community to enter a case," the press has the power to shape public impressions about criminal proceedings.(20) The media objectives of producing interesting stories and "outscooping" the competition, however, often are incompatible with the legal mandates of the criminal justice system.

This study sought to add to the scarce body of research in the area of anonymous sourcing in television news. This project examined the use of unnamed sources by the three broadcast television networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, and their leading cable counterpart, CNN. This article examines the unnamed sourcing practices during the Clinton-Lewinsky investigation and should provide journalism and legal scholars and practitioners with a better understanding of the role anonymous sources played in television news' coverage of one of the most high-profile criminal investigations in American history.

The following research questions were asked:

1. What percentage of the news stories contained anonymous attribution?

2. How frequently were unnamed sources cited?

3. What percentage of the sources cited were anonymous?

4. What type of unnamed sources were cited most often?

5. What percentage of unnamed sources originated from the White House and from the independent counsel?

The answers to these questions, together with specific examples, are used to guide a qualitative discussion about how anonymous White House sources helped shaped television news' coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky investigation.

I. METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Because the amount and type of coverage varied from day to day, a …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Anonymous White House Sources: How They Helped Shape Television News Coverage of the Bill Clinton - Monica Lewinsky Investigation. Contributors: Esposito, Steven A. - Author. Journal title: Communications and the Law. Volume: 21. Issue: 3 Publication date: September 1999. Page number: 1. © 1999 William S. Hein & Co., Inc. COPYRIGHT 1999 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.