Periodicals On The Watergate Scandal

Time, Newsweek Defensively Backed Out of Weinergate and Scorned Our 'Pitiless ...

Since we disposed with the notion that the networks had a feeding frenzy on the Anthony Weiner scandal, what about the news magazines? They began with a whimper, but then that week’s magazines were summer double issues. After the week off, what happened in their June 27 issues? Not much.

Newsweek didn’t offer a down arrow in their “Conventional Wisdom” column, but they gave an up arrow to “GOP Fringe,” arguing “Perry, Bachmann, and Paul show screwballs’ strength.”

Up front, Newsweek acknowledged the end of Weinergate with a two-page photo and about 150 words on Weiner, but they gave a page to fashion writer Robin Givhan to prattle on about how Mrs. Weiner “says much with her wardrobe.” I think people would rather hear her speak. First question: "You really know how to pick 'em, huh?" Abedin drew nothing but coos and back-pats from the media in this whole thing.

The pull quote: “In slim trousers and a pop of neon, Huma Abedin exudes calm and control amid chaos.” Who needs a press coneference when your "neon pop" will do the talking? She gushed:

Fashion, used wisely, is a declaration of relevance. When Abedin posed for Vogue in 2007, she established herself as a Washington power personality. Last year, she made a return appearance in her wedding gown: a succinct pronouncement that her social currency had only risen in value.

Time magazine was actually worse than that. It had no picture, no summary of the resignation or career of Weiner They only published a column on page 62 headlined “ No Pictures, Please! The scandals that stick aren’t always the worst. They’re just the ones we can see.” Nancy Gibbs, who was a Clinton stalwart during Monicagate, barely mentioned Weiner as she discussed the weight of the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal for Nixon:

Could he have survived Watergate if we had just read about his actions rather than heard them unfold in all their greasy glory? There's no way to know, but when it comes to Weiner, we can hazard a guess. A new Pew poll found that most respondents thought the recent rash of sex scandals reflects not lower standards among lawmakers, just higher scrutiny. Had we not seen the crotch shots and read the sexts but merely heard that Weiner was communicating inappropriately with his fans, it's hard to believe he would have been judged unfit for congressional service by his peers.

ontd_political: The NOTW phone hacking: Milly Dowler and Hugh ...

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Grant recalled how he had bugged ex-News of the World journalist Paul McMullan to discuss the phone hacking scandal. In a transcript published by the New Statesman, Grant asked McMullan if it was true that John Yates, acting deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, had been asked about the possible hacking by a parliamentary committee. "The part that [is] particular scary is not just that this was a national newspaper that [was] doing this, but it's the ramifications, it's the parts of this story that are yet fully to come out, which are; how many newspapers were using phone hacking on a widespread and industrial basis, because it was not, I can assure you, just the News of the World. "Equally scary, the apparent collusion of parts of the Metropolitan Police - we already know because Rebekah Wade has admitted this, something she now regrets admitting - that the News of the World was often paying off Metropolitan Police officers. Money changed hands. So the police involvement, and the fact that the police have dragged their feet for so long in investigating this massive scandal, is very frightening. The police aspect is terrifying.