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CNN Live At Daybreak

Panel Discusses Media Coverage of Chandra Levy's Disappearance

Aired July 06, 2001 - 07:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to spend a little more time now on the story about Chandra Levy, the missing Washington intern. What's important about this story? The fact that a woman's disappeared without a trace or that she may have been involved with Congressman Gary Condit, a congressman who, by the way, police have interviewed, but who they say is not a suspect? How much media coverage is this worth, and has the focus gone a bit off track?

Joining us now for more on this -- Robert Thompson, who's director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television, at Syracuse University; Matthew Felling with the Center for Media and Public Affairs; and Seth Mnookin of Brill's Content.

Thank you all for being here.

ROBERT THOMPSON, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF POPULAR TELEVISION: Thank you.

MATTHEW FELLING, CENTER FOR MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Good morning.

SETH MNOOKIN, BRILL'S CONTENT: Thank you.

MCEDWARDS: So hundreds of people go missing on any given day. What's given this particular story the kind of pull that it's had?

Robert, let me start with you.

THOMPSON: Certainly, this connection with the congressman. You're absolutely right. For the loved ones of this person, clearly, this story is a missing person. Where is she, what happened, and all of the rest. But the thing that makes this a national story is the possibility of a connection with the congressman, and all of these elements -- intern, alleged affair, and all of the rest of it -- in fact, changed an entire presidential election last time around, and this really is a big story.

MCEDWARDS: They're loaded words: congressman, intern.

Matthew, is it more than that?

FELLING: Unfortunately, I don't believe that it is. I mean, this thing about this story is sex. Sex sells. And just two years ago, in the exact same neighborhood, a 20- something, professional, young woman was last seen in Dupont Circle in Washington. She wasn't seen -- she was featured on the front pages of "The Washington Post" and "The Washington Times." Her face was posted all around the city, and that didn't make its way in the national headlines. She didn't end up on the bumper of a NASCAR driver. She just faded into oblivion, and then her body was found less than a year later. Hopefully, we won't see these events repeat themselves.

But it does show a skewed priority system placed on the media when one person is placed above the other simply because of an intimate relationship.

MCEDWARDS: So what does that say, Seth, that skewing of priorities, as Matthew just put it?

MNOOKIN: I think what we're seeing here, the country and the media organizations of the country are constantly looking for an all- consuming story. This story doesn't just have sex -- it has sex with the politician, as we mentioned, or alleged sex with a politician. It has the resonance of an affair with an intern in Washington, D.C., a dark-haired affair.

MCEDWARDS: I guess my question is does that make it legitimate? How is it legitimate that Congressman Gary Condit's private life becomes part of this story?

MNOOKIN: This story has been further legitimized by the Levy family, who have been using the media to try to get their message out. I think a lot of times, in situations like this, there's a sense that we want to give the victim's family some privacy. This family has not been looking for privacy, so that has sort of created an atmosphere in which the media has felt free to look behind any door.

I think, as the Washington, D.C., police said yesterday, we're not the sex police, and after this all shakes out, there will be some questions about how the media has handled it, and whether it's been appropriate.

MCEDWARDS: Well, what about congressman's privacy? A lot of people say he's a public official. He has to answer for this.

MNOOKIN: The congressman hasn't helped his case by sort of giving the appearance that he has something to hide. It's taken awhile for the FBI to be able to sit down with him and his wife, and certainly one has the sense that if he was close friends with this woman, he would be doing everything he can to try and help her. So I don't think he's been helping his own case.

At the same time, I think the media has probably gone overboard trying dredge up anyone who has been on a date or had an alleged affair with him. I'm not sure what the relevance of that to this case could be at all.

MCEDWARDS: Robert, you want to jump in here. THOMPSON: Colleen -- Colleen -- I don't want necessarily to defend the way this is being covered by the media, but you can really tell how concerned and almost paranoid they are about acquisitions that they're overdoing this, that this is simply becoming something for sensationalism. I see almost as many stories about the media coverage: how are we doing? viewers polls, this story that we're doing right now. There's almost a sense in which as soon as they cover this kind of story, they want to back off and kind of make it look like they're almost apologizing for it, in these kinds of discussions.

It is being overdone. Twenty-four-hour news needs to find this story of the century that comes along now about every 2 1/2 years or so.

On the other hand, as this develops, it's almost a promo for the almost nitroglycerine-like story that it could possibly become.

MCEDWARDS: Matthew.

FELLING: Yes, I think that Seth had a point in that we are -- the media likes to sink its teeth into things.

But your question is well taken in that we are -- we have to look at the legitimacy of this story. And before we -- before we throw the baby out with the bath water and blame the whole media for over covering this, I want to -- I want to raise the point that the 24-hour news networks, this has become an extreme every 15 minute event: Where is Chandra? Chandra Clock, Chandra Watch. But only NBC out of the three major networks has deigned to place this on its national nightly newscast. NBC has put 10 minutes on since April 30. ABC and CBS haven't even bothered touching it. They've been focusing on stem cell, they've been focusing on The Hague, they've been focusing on the energy crisis and that shows that not everybody within the media thinks with the same mind in terms of priorities.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Hold those thoughts, gentlemen, we're going to take a short break here and we will be right back after a short break on more on this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: All right, I am back with Robert Thompson, Matthew Felling and Seth Mnookin to explore a little bit further this story.

OK, gentlemen, we've got a congressman involved in this story, a man who is not a suspect, police say, but who police are talking to, talking to him and his wife, so the media are covering this. We've got Chandra Levy's aunt telling the "Washington Post" and CNN that there was a relationship, according to her.

But let's just say for a moment that all of this gets cleared up somehow and it comes out that Congressman Condit had absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy. What happens to him? Is he finished -- Robert Thompson?

THOMPSON: I don't think he's finished. As a matter of fact, the way Americans perceive journalists right now, he could actually come off as being a real victim in this whole situation and he's certainly distanced himself up until now. So far this has been presented as sort of a mystery in the making -- breaking news. And because of course we've got now 24-hour news services, as opposed to simply 15 minutes a day that we had back in the '60s and before, we're seeing this all uncovered. But, no, I don't think so far this has, by any means, destroyed his political career.

MCEDWARDS: Matthew, should he be coming out and saying more?

FELLING: Well that's more of a public relations question, but definitely. American thinks that the truth will out and America has conditioned itself since the '70s to not take politician's word for much when it comes to personal affairs. And if Condit learned anything from the mid-'90s and from Clinton-Lewinsky, he should have learned that be as forthcoming as possible because to clam up and to allow the footage of you to be walking and running away from the camera to be broadcast 24-hours a day on the networks is damning.

MCEDWARDS: Seth.

MNOOKIN: Well, I mean at this point we can only speculate about what his motives actually are for not dealing with the press and I think part of it certainly is his desire to deal with his family first. But I think, thus far, he has been hurt by at least the impression that he has something to hide. I do agree that journalists are not very popular among the public. And if it turns out that he's been hounded unfairly, that he didn't have an affair with this woman -- with the -- with this intern, then there's a strong possibility that it's not going to hurt him politically.

MCEDWARDS: But what about...

MNOOKIN: He's...

MCEDWARDS: But what about the responsibility of journalists? I mean you say that they've been -- that he's been hounded. I mean what responsibility journalists have at any point to, I don't want to use the word back off, but I guess that's what I'm saying. I mean even the Washington police said yesterday that all the furor around this is not great for their investigation -- Robert.

THOMPSON: Well, I think, you know, certainly journalists cross lines all the time, but you know the job of a journalist is not necessarily to listen to what the police are saying and to listen to everybody that's telling them to back off. The job of a journalist is sometimes to get in people's face. The fact remains there is a missing woman out there and there is a connection with a congressman and that is something that I think journalists are naturally going to be interested in. And in many ways, that's what the job of a journalist is, to be interested in such a story.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Robert, you just got the last word there. I'm sorry we have to leave it there. We could go on and on with Robert Thompson, Matthew Felling and Seth Mnookin. Thank you so much for your time this morning. MNOOKIN: Thank you.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

FELLING: Thank you, Colleen. Good morning.

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