The great American scandal devoted to the Clinton-Lewinsky saga caused a lot of debates and misunderstandings among the press, the members of the White House, and ordinary people. The case under analysis appeared to be one of the most striking in the sphere of politics and presidency. Though Americans are not completely satisfied with the modern press, they always require some fresh information to be involved in the life of the whole country. The sex affair mentioned above resulted in a renewed interest of the population in the papers, though not always a positive one. The question of the media’s place in the life of the public and influence on common opinion was faced by all the press representatives at the time of Lewinski’s story distribution. Reporters express a different view on the problem.
According to Sherry Ricciardi, the American reporter, the Clinton-Lewinski sex scandal can be compared with the explosion among the press and resulted in great demand for information. The journalist raised the problem of media distrust. This so-called soap opera was very important for the people though they were not involved in it. The polling carried out showed that about 69% of the population never considered the scandal to be true, and only about 9% trusted the reporters. The story attracted a great number of people in Washington, where more than 73% believed the press. The story of Lewinski was followed almost by everyone; people expressed their attitudes and opinions towards the political tension. The representatives of the media were concerned about the possible negative perception of the press; the public considered that the accuracy of the press was ruined because of the constant competition between certain editions. Though the rate of criticism among the population was constantly increasing the reporters tried to ignore it and continued to develop the story of the Clinton-Lewinski saga.
A political science professor Arthur Miller wrote a lot of detailed facts devoted to the problem. He tried to explain that the Lewinski scandal united the political and social life of the country and caused serious contradictions between them. The public seemed to lose their complete confidence in the politicians and their activities. Miller managed to prove that distrust of political leaders is caused by their immoral behavior. The scandal was pronounced to be public and open to any discussions. The sex affair was a background for the majority of polls which were devoted to Clinton as a personality and a political leader. Politicians and members of the White House in their turn were also questioned and, according to the results of the voting, Clinton was recognized as an immoral and weak leader. The majority of politicians’ votes showed that this affair broke Clinton’s reputation and resulted in complete distrust of him.
To support the facts of the public distrust of the media Neil Hickey researched some sources in order to prove this. He stated that people had been angry with the work of the press; the media too exaggerated the personal life of political leaders and the facts seemed to be too artificial. About 44% of the population considered that the press overplayed the significance of the scandal. The results of the social poll (about 89% of the questioned people) stated that this affair of Clinton-Lewinski would not have influenced the rate of public involvement in the private life of the politicians. Journalists believed that people who were not interested in the reasons and results of great scandals should not have participated in such polls and influenced the common public opinion. According to their way of thinking the population was always concerned only about some general problems such as transportation and institutions rather than political life, this explained why they could not have evaluated the level of the scandal in a proper way. 69% of journalists consider that they should reflect the private life of the politicians in public only when it influences the population’s performance.
Sinead O’Brien, the author of the article “In the Midst of the Whirlwind”, noted that this scandal was closely interwoven with the reputation of the press in the country. The Clinton-Lewinski saga was recognized as the most serious scandal sex affair of the year and of that time which influenced and even changed the public attitude towards the press. The author highlighted the importance of the media during the period of the scandal examination. As it was stated by David Carr, City Paper Editor of Washington, the journalists had carried out hundreds of researches and polls and worked putting all their efforts with the lack of sleep and endless work. They strived for providing the public with the true facts and complete descriptions of the reasons for the problematic political atmosphere. Their efforts were aimed at the fair atmosphere in the press realization and positive public perception of their work.
During the whole time of the affair discussion, the majority of the population tried to support their president. The nature of the social opinion is based on the strong background and outlines the deprofessionalization of the state media. The contradictions between public opinions lied in the immoral Clinton’s behavior but strong political skills. The critical attitude of the public towards the role of the media influenced the results of the survey data. The researches of some journalists proved that the public view on political life is influenced by the general government performance rather than the behavior of a particular leader.
References
Hickey, Neil. “After Monica, What Next?” Columbia Journalism Review 37 (4): 30-33. 1998.
Miller, Arthur H. “Sex, Politics, and Public Opinion: What Political Scientists Really Learned from the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal”. Political Science and Politics 32 (4): 721-729. 1999.
O’Brien, Sinead. “In the Midst of the Whirlwind”. American Journalism Review 20 (2): 29. 1998.
Ricchiardi, Sherry. “Double Vision”. American Journalism Review 20 (3): 30-35. 1998.