SALZMAN: Rocky loses focus on Spitzer scandal

Post gets it right in downplaying call girl

By Jason Salzman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Saturday, March 15, 2008

If you were in charge of a daily newspaper, would you put a photo of a hot babe or former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on your front page?

It would depend, of course, on the journalistic logic at play. It wouldn't have anything to do with the hot babe's raw front-page appeal.

On Wednesday, editors at the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post assessed the situation, after Spitzer resigned, and came up with different conclusions.

The Rocky's front page Thursday contained two photos of equal size, one of Spitzer and his wife, the other of Spitzer's alleged call girl, flashing a peace sign and a come-hither smirk. Inside the Rocky, you got another big look at the prostitute in loose-fitting summer garb.

The same day, the Post's front page also had two photos of equal size, one of Spitzer and the other of David Paterson, who became New York's first black governor. Inside the Post, you found an itsy bitsy photo of the prostitute.

The Spitzer saga isn't about the call girl. It's about a hypocritical politician. The man who replaced Spitzer deserved more media attention than the prostitute. So the Post had it right. There was no journalistic justification for the front-page photos of Spitzer's prostitute.

And there's no journalistic defense for the Rocky's decision Thursday to dominate the home page of its Web site with a photo of the prostitute in a bikini - unless the Rocky was trying to attract the crowd that buys Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition.

The bikini shot appeared from about 10 a.m. until a little after noon, with a trashy slide show featuring three photos of Spitzer alone, five of the prostitute with varying amounts of skin showing, and four shots of both Spitzers.

The Post had the good sense to downplay the hottie photos while still making them available.

Asked why the Rocky gave so much prominence to the prostitute's images, Rocky managing editor Deb Goeken wrote, "We felt that she was part of this very dramatic political story - and her photo was an element of that story."

This explains why the Rocky ran the prostitute's photo again yesterday, with information that Penthouse and Hustler are pursuing her. If that's not news, what is?

Conservative cog. By the time Paul Chesser arrived at the "Environmental Hysteria" cocktail party thrown in his honor Feb. 11 at the "penthouse" of the Independence Institute in Golden, he was feeling pretty good about his day in the Denver media.

In his briefing to Republican lawmakers earlier, Chesser had trashed Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to fight global warming, and an article with his views would appear in the next day's Post.

Chesser, of the conservative John Locke Foundation, had yakked in the morning with KOA's Mike Rosen. The conservative blogosphere had dutifully transcribed Chesser's anti-environmental message, and he was booked on John Andrews' KNUS talk radio show.

His interview on Independence Institute President Jon Caldara's TV program was taped and set to air on public television station KBDI Channel 12 a couple days later.

You wouldn't call this a media frenzy, but it's not bad for an obscure visitor from North Carolina.

It certainly made the Independence Institute proud. It booked Chesser's media appearances and covered his expenses, Chesser told me.

But you have to wonder, could Ritter's supporters, who favor his efforts to stop global warming, pull off a similar media streak for their expert?

The dailies would give them a fair hearing. And their allies on the Internet would pay attention.

Their odds of catching airtime on commercial talk radio are low, obviously.

But what's less obvious is that Channel 12 would be a long shot, as well, for an unknown liberal expert on a media tour.

The Independence Institute pays KBDI for the costs of videotaping Caldara's Channel 12 show, and Caldara uses the program regularly as part of his orchestrated media campaigns, as he did with Chesser.

Left-leaning activists have no equivalent KBDI show.

It's true, as KBDI President Wick Rowland e-mailed me, that the "left is very well represented, week in and week out, on much of [Channel 12's] traditional and regular programming."

This includes Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, an icon of the political left.

But there's no show on Channel 12 that serves as a cog in the political machine of a local left-leaning organization, like Caldara's show does for his outfit.

To create such a program, an organization would have to work with KBDI "to structure the show idea, whether produced independently or in partnership with us," Rowland wrote, adding that once a show is produced, broadcasting is free.

Rowland is actively seeking a counterpoint and has had at least three "explicit discussions" in the past few years with left-leaning organizations.

For the sake of fairness, I hope those discussions produce something we can watch.

Jason Salzman, president of Cause Communications and board chairman of Rocky Mountain Media Watch, is the author of Making the News: A Guide for Activists and Nonprofits. Reach him at salzmanj@RockyMountainNews.com.

• March 15, 2008

  8:56 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  RJS07 writes:

  I guess instead of whining, left leaning activists need to do the work required to get your own "equivalent KBDI show"....
  Oh wait, though! You have the regular news broadcasts...

• March 15, 2008

  11:05 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Gene writes:

  I don't know about you Salzman, but but I would rather look at the girl than the governor.

• March 16, 2008

  8:45 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  SASQUATCH writes:

  The Rocky lost focus when it neglected to mention that the N.Y. governor was a Democrat who many politicos believed was on track to the White House.

  And if you think Spitzer's page #1 bimbo in the Rocky was offensive, what about the gold-digging bimbo, Simpson, who was featured on page #1 of the Sunday Denver Post?

• March 16, 2008

  12:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Salzman writes:

  You're right, RJSO7, a left-leaning organization needs to do the hard work to get a show together, both financially and logistically. But Channel 12 should do everything in its power to make the show happen, given the current imbalance.

• March 16, 2008

  4:15 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  freethinker07 writes:

  The reason that there are not liberal talk show hosts is that radio listeners don't want them.

  In fact you can get a liberal talk radio already in Denver, try KKZN. They broadcast Air America. KKZN has an Arbitron Rating of 1.0 which theoretically means that they get 1.0% of the Denver radio market.

  Air America hopes to be profitable after next year. KKZN is owned by a large conglomerate, Clear Channel communication.

• March 17, 2008

  7:33 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Gene writes:

  RE: I don't know about you Salzman, but but I would rather look at the girl than the governor. . . And I am so sorry you can't get channel 12 to carry more liberal dribble. Maybe it has no appeal anywhere?

• March 17, 2008

  12:09 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  mytwosense writes:

  Mr. Salzman, you may have written such a column in the past, but if not, it would be interesting to read one with your thoughts on why radio listeners have been such a good audience for rightwing radio talk shows.

  I've always been curious why the medium appears to be more friendly for that segment than TV is. (The Internet seems to be a free-for-all.)

• March 23, 2008

  8:55 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  gary writes:

  How the RMN covers events!!

  A biker is riding by the zoo, when he sees a little
  > girl leaning into the
  > lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the
  > cuff of her jacket and
  > tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the
  > eyes of her screaming
  > parents. The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the
  > cage and hits the lion
  > square on the nose with a powerful punch.
  > Whimpering from the pain the lion
  > jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker
  > brings her to her
  > terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.
  >
  > A NYT reporter has seen the whole scene, and
  > addressing the biker, says, "
  > Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I saw
  > a man do in my whole
  > life."
  >
  > "Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind
  > bars. I just saw this
  > little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right."
  >
  > "Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a
  > journalist from the
  > Rocky Mountain News , you know, and tomorrow's paper will
  > have this on the first
  > page. What motorcycle do you ride and what political
  > affiliation do you
  > have?"
  >
  > "A Harley Davidson and I am a Republican."
  >
  > The journalist leaves.
  >
  > The following morning the biker buys The Rocky Mountain News to see if it indeed
  > brings news of his actions, and reads, on first
  > page:
  >
  > BIKER GANG MEMBER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND
  > STEALS HIS LUNCH.

  Nuff Said