Thursday, December 31, 2015

Goodbye 2015. On to 2016: Better, Smarter, and Full of Potential and Possibilities


There was supposed to be more time in this day to write this post, but as with most days this year something came up, or there just wasn't enough time in the day, or, as was more likely, blog posts were running through the brain as the body lay all warm and comfortable in bed. Thoughts, feeling, emotions, words, unable to escape into the internet and land here where they wanted to be because life gets in the way (or a comfortable bed).

2015 was an amazing year - amazing good and amazing bad - full of achievements...like graduating from University with academic honors (magna cum laude), having the opportunity to spend several weeks traveling to a few locations in Canada, starting a new career as a self-employed contract worker, growing a great garden and learning more about the ins-and-outs of that hobby, and while we only completed one painting this year, there is confidence that will pick up when our new studio space (dubbed on Instagram [Yes, this year we "finally" got an Instagram account] and Facebook as 'Frankie's Lady Cave).

It was also a year full of seeing friends, like Club Nette (Skittles, aka, Annette Ford) and Synthesised (Cliff) in Toronto at the 2015 Toronto Tweetup (as well as a slew of others who just won't appear here - but shout out to Blonde Calamity!...sorry everyone else).
And then there was the summer house guests like Cool _Jesse (Jesse) and Synthesised (Cliff). And a road trip to Minneapolis to the Minnesota State Fair where we hooked up with Pudding Boobs (Kim) and had a great night of drinking and catching up.
And then in October, Father, and Baby Brother and his wife came to help put up a large portion of the new garage we're building (well, at this point James has been doing most of the building while we feel useless ...at least until the electrical, insulation and drywall is ready to go up, those we can mostly do solo), and Mother and Angry Brother came too. It was the first time the entire immediate family had been together in such a way in over ten years, since the car accident. (current memory cannot recall if every member was accounted for on Baby Brother's wedding day, but if they were it was certainly not in such an informal familial way).
Dad came two weekends in a row and it was really nice spending that time with him. It was great fun cooking for everyone and connecting with some members of the family we haven't gotten to see much over the years. Baby Brother has turned out to be an amazing man of strength and intelligence and wit (he's a grade A smart ass, and we love it), and he and his wife are perfect for each other in ways that are undefinable.

But

The year was also not so great, as the death of our dog came quickly around graduation time. We lost massive hours at a job we were working at and got denied a more permanent position (such is the bureaucracy of a University in this day and age)
Then later in the year the most tragic of all, the sudden death of Club Nette (Skittles, aka, Annette Ford). Nothing has felt the same since, like there's a considerable amount of air and light missing from the world, the sun only shines half as bright. Given our peppered past of people who have suddenly (and not so suddenly) died, like the first boy we ever liked, cousins, uncles, grandparents, friends...we thought this would be easier to get passed. It's not. It was a massive hit to the heart and soul.

From a mental health perspective it's been up and down a lot, definitely some bad, but there's never enough time to write when the mood strikes to define the bad, or work through the bad like we used to - luckily a trunk full of culled coping strategies over the past couple of years mitigates the harm, pushes it back for some reprieve.
Physically we've managed to stay in pretty good shape - though after the death of Nettie there was a severe uptick in alcohol consumption and we've been working on getting back to better levels because alcohol will straight up fuck with your metabolism and any weight loss attempts. During a full physical (EKG and all) the doctor guessed that we must run because of the low resting heart rate. Not really sure if that means healthy, or is just a symptom or catalyst to the poor circulation. In any case, despite the extra pounds we're as healthy as they get. And the plan is to continue that into the new year. The greatest physical achievement this year was establishing a top run time (of an average of 7.04 mph for 30 minutes) - a run time we have not been able to near in awhile even after being in the gym 3-4 times a week, even when traveling. But that just gives us a goal. In addition this coming year at least one 5K, and maybe a 10K, is planned, which has been sort of a bucket list item since losing a massive amount of weight about 11 years ago and keeping most of it off over the years. It's not really a new year resolution, because those beg to be broken, rather a desire, a goal, a hope, that if doesn't happen, doesn't happen, and there will always be the next year.

This coming year is pretty scary, as uncertainty being self-employed causes much undo stress, but if it continues on the path it has been on it will be amazing. This new venture affords plenty of free time for painting and reading in the winter, and gardening and painting and travel in the summer, and cooking all year round. Plus it brings in more money than we've made at any point in our life...jutting us into a new tax bracket. (also scary!)

The non scary part of the year will be when the garage is complete. This project has taught patience this year, as the hope was that it would be fully complete by October. Unfortuntaly the concrete didn't even get poured until then, and then before anybody knew it there was cold, and snow, and the challenges of building a huge structure (and James is not familiar with how things are built in the USA, as building in England are put together differently).
Plus the garage is massive a massive project. In-floor heating, multiple access doors,six windows. a 34 x 24 structure with the back 12 x 24 space (Fankie's Lady Cave) serving as a painting/writing studio, and workout/yoga space, a gardening space (until the garden shed is built), a hangout space, and a guest area for the friends we've made on Twitter so they can have a nice space to relax and sleep while visiting. There are new visitors planned for 2016 too, so hopefully this all gets done in time! :-)

Before the garage
After the garage (34' x 24')
Meanwhile, all year there have been so many topic we would have liked to write about. 2015 was CRAZY - especially in politics and social issues, and we're always paying attention (thanks to social media it's hard not to), but then sometimes it seems like it's all really been said by everyone, because, well, it's the internet and it probably has all been said, or said faster than someone with a job, a spouse, and hobbies has time to compete with. Writing just falls to the back-burner (hence the scant few blog entries here this year compared to other years).
The one thing that's disappointing about classes being over, having graduated, is that it's harder to sit down and write with no grade or deadline looming over the head as motivation. If there's anything we can be hopeful about for 2016 it's that we can get back into writing, and not just sloppy shit like this blog post, but quality content like the academic papers we've shared with you here over the last few years, or travel entries.

2016...it's peeking right around that corner, mere hours away...full of possibilities...full of potential...potential sadness, potential happiness, potential success, potential failure...how you look at those things, how you act on those things is up to you. Make the better decision, the smarter decision, the healthier decision, and just try, day by day, to be a better you, inside and out. No, it's never easy, but what else do you have to do but try?
Don't let the rampant hate that saturated 2015 via social media and mass media and the internet in general leak into 2016 and overtake it. Hope for better, strive for better, be better.

Happy New Year, family, friends, readers, lovers, haters...May 2016 bring you all that you deserve.



Sunday, October 18, 2015

Cooking With Frank: Baked Jalapeño Poppers

In an effort to get back into blogging and writing (*fingers crossed*) it seemed like a good idea to start with a recipe.

Traveling, working (two jobs now - more on that another day) and gardening made sitting down and putting fingers to keys a daunting endeavour. Now that fall is here vacation traveling is over, and all but the last bits of the plants have been pulled from the soil in preparation for the fall tilling.
As an aside, the total harvest this year - that actually made it to a scale before being eaten - was upward of 137+ lbs (62 kg)! It was a good year after all and things were still budding and trying to make fruits and vegetable right up to the day they were getting ripped from the ground.

Okay, so back to the recipe. This one was requested by Jessica back in August, and she's been waiting patiently.

These jalapeño poppers also have the benefit of being healthier than average because they are not breaded or deep fried. They are for real jalapeño lovers. They are also pretty gluten free, which deep fried ones are not, you know...if you're into that kind of thing. (You can read our little gluten rant here: Cooking With Frank: Gluten-Free Turkey Lasagna)


Baked Jalapeño Poppers
This is actually going to be TWO recipes, but let's start with the tools and essential ingredient.

You'll need the following tools:
Silicon Baking Sheet

  • baking pan
  • non-stick spray (like Pam) or a silicone baking sheet. Baking sheets are amazing and reusable.
  • cutting board
  • knife
  • bowl or container to put seeds in
  • GLOVES, rubber or whatever.

The essential ingredient:

12 large jalapeños, cut in half, seeds removed and rinsed.

The important thing to remember is to always wear gloves. Not only should you always wear the gloves while handling the jalapeños, you shouldn't touch anything with that gloved hand that you're later going to touch with your bare hand. And if you somehow expose your hands to the peppers, for fuck sake, don't touch any of your mucus membranes...not your nose, not your eye (make sure you've taken your contacts out for the day just in case)...and keep your hands off your genitals.
Also...it may be suggested that you wear a pair of goggles. Because if one of those jalapeños decides to squirt at your face, the last place you want it landing is in your eye. If you have particularly strong peppers you may also consider wearing something over your mouth while you rinse them because the water may cause the chemical to go airborne.
You don't want to be a victim of your own pepper spray attack.

This is all advice from direct experience having not done those things over the years.

Here is some more solid info and tips about handling jalapeños http://www.livestrong.com/article/474739-jalapeno-peppers-skin-irritations

Okay. Now that you've been warned about that we can move on to the safer ingredients.

Bacon, onion & cream cheese stuffed jalapeños,
and basil, fresh tomato and mozzarella salad

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

1 lb (454 g) cream cheese, room temp
3 slices bacon - you can obviously use more but this will be adequate enough. Make sure to fry out as much of the fat as you can and save it to the side, and set the bacon on a paper towel to cool and remove excess fat.
3/4 c (180 ml) onion. diced (about half a medium large onion)
1-2 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tsp (5ml) bacon fat (you can use any type of fat, coconut oil, olive oil, butter...by why would you?)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Nutrition Information generated using
myFitnesspal recipe calculator

Optional: a small amount of fresh grated parmesan cheese or fresh herbs of your choosing

Preheat oven to 350° F
Cook the bacon as directed and once cooled enough to handle chop it into small pieces. In the same pan use some of the reserved bacon fat and fry the onion and garlic over medium low heat until translucent. Season with salt and pepper (you probably don't need very much at all) Set aside and cool. If you haven't prepared the jalapeños yet this would be a good time for that.
Once the mixture has cooled fill each of the jalapeño halves with the mixture using your gloved hands. Don't overfill them, there shouldn't be an excess mixture, if there is you can disperse it among the peppers once they have all been filled.
Place on silicone baking on a baking pan or spray pan with nonstick spray and line the peppers on tray. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until they start to brown on the top. 

-------------------------

Okay. Easy, right?
Now let's get a little fancy.
First, a world on chorizo. It's a sausage and not all chorizo is created equally. [Go here to learn about the differences: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/chorizo or here for more information than the average person needs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorizo]
The kind you're going to use for this recipe is Mexican chorizo.

The following recipe has the benefit of being much healthier. Almost half the calories and half the fat. But retains the full on deliciousness. Add a salad and either of these recipes becomes an exhilarating dinner!




Chorizo and Goat Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

6.5 oz (185 g) goat cheese, room temp
4 oz (114 g)Mexican chorizo sausage
3/4 c onions (180 ml), chopped
1 c (240 ml) sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (preferably cherry tomatoes as they are sweeter, measure before chopping)
1-2 tsp (5ml) bacon fat (you can use any type of fat, coconut oil, olive oil, butter...by why would you?)

Nutrition Information generated using
myFitnesspal recipe calculator
Preheat oven to 350°F
Heat oil in pan and add onions. Cook onions for about 1-2 minutes and then add chorizo to pan. Cook for at least five minutes. 

It should look like this when you're done.
Cool mixture to room temp (again this would be a good time to prepare the 12 large jalapeños by cutting them in half, removing the seeds and rinsing them).



Add chorizo onion mixture to the goat cheese and blend well. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and continue mixing into well incorporated.
Once the mixture has cooled fill each of the jalapeño halves with the mixture using your gloved hands. Don't overfill them, there shouldn't be an excess mixture, if there is you can disperse it among the peppers once they have all been filled.
Place on silicone baking on a baking pan or spray pan with nonstick spray and line the peppers on tray. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until they start to brown on the top.



 Prepare yourself for deliciousness! 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

She Was...

It was about three years ago, just before the London Ontario Tweetup, that we tried to cajole her to come meet us with promises of hiding under tables and eating Skittles and drinking vodka with her. That year she thought about it but ultimately declined. There was anxiety.

The following year, the first Toronto Tweetup, we mentioned it and then didn't talk to her about it again...and she came! We grabbed her and held her and marveled at the physical being that was her. You know how it is, when you finally meet a friend face-to-face.

The whole "being at the Tweetup" didn't last long. Ultimately we ditched the whole thing, along with James, Nettie, and Cliff, and took off on adventures on our own. (You can read about it here: http://just-call-me-frank.blogspot.com/2014/06/choose-your-own-adventure-tweetup.html)

That weekend, sometime after 2am at a hero Burger on Queen St, eating Skittles off of the table, we're pretty sure this is when Nettie officially became The Skittles. Officially.
We've never spent time with her where she didn't have bags of them stashed in her purse (or where she was stashing them in ours *smiles wistfully*)





Shortly after last summer's Toronto Tweetup we got a message from her saying she would be on her way through the area, off to visit family in western Canada, and could she swing down for few days visit with her man (Don) and Goo (her son), and then stay again on her way back home. This was an obvious treat having seen her not that long ago, so we said yes.

She ended up being here the hottest parts of the summer, and our house has no air conditioning. We ended up spending sweltering days together lounging on the furniture, her with her notebook and pen, Goo with his digital games, just existing comfortably.
Honestly it was so comfortable having her here that we don't even recall how we passed all of the time - it must have been close to six days total - aside from eating home cooked meals, hanging out in the backyard around a fire, and all the excitement that comes with having an autistic (eight year old?) boy in the house for the first time (it was a learning experience!).





Except for one night.

The day had been beyond hot, the air still, unmoving and clinging. You could tell something was brewing, the air had that feel and the environment had that pallor all through the day, turning that strange yellowy green that it does on hot summer afternoons right before something fun happens. You could see pregnant dark clouds inching their way in from the west, eventually they got so close we walked out to the end of the block to marvel at them, which is pretty much the west edge of town, and to see the first pulses of lightening. And then suddenly you could see a wave of dust forming, rolling closer, and the wind all of a sudden just went nuts. This area of the county isn't exactly a stranger to tornadoes. Screaming with excitement and getting hit with the first drops of rain, we all turned and ran for the safety of the house.

We got into the house and the wind kept picking up, the lightening got stronger and closer, the thunder boomed. Then the lights went out. We lit candles and discussed playing board games and pondered at other ways in which we could pass the time. By this time the worst parts of the storm had skirted the town, as it usually does, and we were left in the center of walls of lightening, ominous clouds and considerable wind, because the heat of the day was still contained in the house, and the candles were adding to the stickiness with every minute, we came to a conclusion.

Let's go out and chase this thing around the countryside. It was bound to be cooler anywhere but here.

We all piled into the 4Runner, buckling Goo (her son) into the center of the backseat telling him that the adults were going to do something very silly right now. Chasing storms in the Midwest isn't exactly the safest activity, kids.

And we drove around for what must have been an hour, stopping so Nettie could jump out and take pictures here and there (she loved to take pictures), like at the graveyard at the edge of town where she took some great photos, and speculating on where to go next for great views.

It was a great summer, and that is a favorite memory.

This past June Cliff and Nettie agreed to have a sort of reunion and go the the Toronto Tweetup again. So we went, James happily in tow because these are a few of his favorite people.

We made them dinner at the AirBnb condo we rented downtown, a four course meal with ingredients sourced from St. Lawrence Market. Of course, we all agreed to make an appearance at some of the Tweetup events, but ultimately we ditched everyone (again) and went to other places, quieter places, to drink and talk about music and politics and life and this and that and everything.

The next day we woke up and met for Mimosas at Cliff's hotel room (a tradition) and then walked to the old Distillery District to try out artisan chocolate and eat fancy Mexican food, and walk from floor to floor of the Case Goods Warehouse and Cannery Building critiquing the art that graced the walls. Sometimes critiquing with knowledge and expertise, sometimes with silliness.
That night we walked around town in the dark trying to find random art parties, talking, enjoying each other's company.
The next day, Sunday, we had brunch at the AirBnb condo and sat around, more talking, laughing. We signed the painting we had created for Nettie, which she inspired with her words, and sent it off to its new home.



People must have thought us supremely antisocial whenever we were at Tweetups together, or maybe even rude, but the thing that made this little group of friends great is the independent streak they recognized in each other, as well as shared passion for writing, arts, and a common intellect (though, Nettie was always so much smarter when it came to many things).  We were fast friends from the start, through the years on Twitter, where we met, and the time spent together in the non-digital world.

To be honest other than the times we'd hang out in person there was very little communication, digital or otherwise. And never phone calls. Just random message that said things like "<3 love you ^_^ drive by affection". We understood each other, the exhaustion that socializing tended to cause, the time that living in your own head, so to speak, and being creative, took up.
We enjoyed each other's company from sun-up, to almost sun-up again, whenever we spent time together. And it was a satisfying friendship that we were looking forward to experiencing for years to come.

We were just on the cusp of planning a trip to Viva Las Vegas in April, calendars had been marked, hearts had been sent.

She was amazing, super smart and fun, and full of complexity. And such a patient mom with Goo.
And the way she could spin words; she had such a talent and love for writing, like writing was the only way she knew how to breathe. She paved her own path with words. She truly was a renegade soul.

She was one of the few people we've known that felt genuine.

This last Saturday she passed away in her sleep, just shy of a week from what would have been her 33rd birthday.

Nobody can explain it.
The autoposy rendered inconclusive results. The tox screens will take nearly half a year for anything to be discovered. But like Cliff said...at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what the tox screen says.

It's completely unfair that she's gone. And waves of disbelief will ripple alongside those of grief for years.

Our heart aches for her husband and Goo. Especially Goo. Sometimes it seemed Nettie and he had their own special language. It's hard to imagine the confusion he is going through right now. Hearts ache for Nettie's entire family, friends she had that we didn't know, everybody whose life she touched. And she did. She touched many.

She was just embarking on a new adventure of marketing her writing and her art. You could just tell she was excited by all the prospects of the future, the possibilities, the people (in her own introvert way).

She will live on in the ones and zeros of the digital world, her art and her words live here. Whenever we find ourselves missing her, wanting for her words, the beauty she created, we can find her in the volumes she left behind, the volumes of herself, raw and gritty, beautiful and light.

She was wrong when she said she wasn't a firework yet. She'd always been a firework. But the kind that's safe to hold onto...full of promise and beauty and sparks.

(From her Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ClubNettePrintShop?ref=search_shop_redirect)

Sweetheart. You have been imprinted. We will never forget you. <3

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Gardening Update 2015

This is our third year independently gardening. It's been far better than last year when a very wet spring left much of one of the plots under water.

Still, the early spring led to early planting in general and the growing season has been...awkward. The spring came so fast the gardens needed a massive weeding weeks before anything could be planted. And then one weekend it took ten hours to weed. Which made it just go crazy immediately and everything shot up overnight. 

Some things have been producing faster than others (when they should actually be producing slower), and some are just caught in a stalling pattern.

This also marks the first year for starting some plants indoors, instead of buying them all, and then transplanting. Mostly squashes - which was a success - and tomatoes and peppers - which was not a success and yielded two surviving pepper plants and one tomato).

The south plot is officially out of control. At least the squash (we think it's one plant, but it seems like it should be two), and which was added after two of the melon plants didn't take off, so it didn't get recorded on the garden map, has taken up a good third of the roughly 220 square foot garden and is producing at least eight squashes of various sizes. They seem to be buttercups. In any case it's wrapping itself around everything in comes in contact with...potatoes, green onions, eggplants...it's trying to take down everything.

The first eggplant has a bulb, and there should be 7 more by summer end.
We watched a bee pollinate one of the melon plants this morning. It was totally cool. (we have two small watermelons growing, from the seeds of a grocery melon, no less!)

The broccoli was a bust this year. We pulled two of the six up because they just can't stop bolting. Also, spinach and lettuce bolted too fast for the third year in a row, so it seems like it's time to give up on growing that. It takes up too much real estate.

We have a slight pieris rapae (cabbage butterfly) problem. We need a butterfly net. Because chasingbutterflies around the backyard wouldn't look crazy at all...
Not sure if it's them, but something has chewed tiny holes in much of the swiss chard and potato plant leaves.

In the west plot we now have loads of baby tomatoes, some plum tomatoes. The others are starting to ripen. The peppers, sadly, are not doing so well.

The other squash plants are not producing as much (save the spaghetti squash) which has encouraged us to research hand pollination for next year. Yep. We're gonna help the plants have sex next year.

There's more, but we'll wait for another day.

So far this year we've picked:
- Zucchini (not as many as hoped)
- Bean
- Green onions
- Snap peas
- Radishes
- Broccoli
- Green peppers
- Tomatoes
- Potatoes
- Various herbs (sage, basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, tarragon)
- Parsley
- Swiss chard

Oh, we used a measuring wheel to determine how much bigger we're making the garden next year. We're adding 228 more square feet, for a grand total of 858 square feet. :-)

And we're considering a small greenhouse to start the plants in...because lining them all up in big totes around the dinning room for weeks on end...with cats in the house...is not ideal.

This has been your 2015 gardening update. :-)

Various Photos From This Year's Garden
(most recent was taken about a week and a half ago)

West Plot


South Plot





Squash Blossoms from the West Plot


Produce







Spaghetti Squash and a Buttercup Squash





Shisito Peppers

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

So You Care About Human Life? An Abortion Rant

Much of what is said here has been said by many others. You've probably read it too. This is our way of saying it.

People who decry abortion because it is potentially painful to the fetus - which is essentially an unfeeling mass of cells until around the 20th week* (do your research, scientific, not from talking heads) - and “cruel”, among a litany of other charges, are confusing.

Those same people are fine with sentencing that same fetus to a [potential] life of pain: poverty, hunger, sadness, mental and emotional anguish from being born into a society that tells them that their mother [or father] is lazy, worthless, and where they are statistically destined to a similar fate. If that child makes it into the foster care system, either at birth, or after a chance at healthy development has passed due to the home life they were born into, they are bounced between families or live in orphanages until they are lucky enough to be adopted. Sometimes the foster care they receive is equally as damaging to them emotionally and mentally. Sometimes they never get adopted. This is cruel and painful treatment.

Never mind the life of the mother.

These same people condemn using their tax dollars for food stamps to prevent hunger, housing that prevents homelessness, and other assorted costs that go into taking care of those less fortunate. Many of which are children born to parents who did not have access to preventative services (and this doesn’t just mean abortion).

These same people are fine with defunding an organization because 3% of what they provide is NON-TAX FUNDED abortions, which also provides contraception - preventing these very social
(Source)
conditions as well as potential abortions - and which also provides much needed and important reproductive health services to low-income women – like cancer prevention.
Yeah. But you care about human life, right?

You can’t make people give birth to something they don’t want. Sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes accidents happen because of poverty, drug abuse, and mental illness. Often times those sometimes are what the tax dollars you clutch in your hands are paying for. You can’t have it both ways.

But they care about human life. Sure.

Let’s not discuss how usually those same people have no problem with the death penalty (and those people aren’t always guilty, or gun related deaths in lieu of regulation.

Let’s not even get started on how much of your taxes go to funding war which directly results in the ending of hundreds of thousands of lives. Full complete thriving lives that have families, hopes, dreams, jobs.
But no. They care about human life?

---------------------------------------
*The 20th week is generally the cut-off date, in some states it's up until the 22nd week. All but three states have laws against aborting the fetus if it is viable (can exist on machines reasonably outside of the womb

Consumer Friendly Sources: not directly cited, because fuck it, our academic paper career is on hold until we register for grad school, or find a bag of extra free time. Please report spelling and grammar infractions.
Read the sources yourself.

Friday, July 3, 2015

The New York Times Coverage of Presidential Sex Scandals: Clinton-Lewinsky and the Roles of the Press

It's been well over a month now since graduation and we've been sitting on this paper trying to come to a decision.

A very esteemed and seasoned professor, for whose class (Media History) this paper was written, indicated that it's worth considering publishing in a professional journal, calling it a "great read and fine piece of scholarship". It got a "100% A+"

After considering the pros and cons of publishing, the decision finally came down to a "No".
It's quite likely more people will read it "published" here on this blog - at least the people who matter will read it. And that's all that really matters.

Anyway, it can always be removed if minds change...like in the case of using it for a grad school entrance portfolio...

In the meantime, feel free to give it a read (and any of the other "great" papers here), leave a comment, or do none of those things. 



Google Drive Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0L6-YMPxtu7Tm12am1qUEd1NmM/view?usp=sharing
The New York Times Coverage of Presidential Sex Scandals:
Clinton-Lewinsky and the Roles of the Press

      I.          Introduction
Journalistic Values and Objectivity
Throughout American history the press has evolved to play a role in influencing society’s view of not just events, but also public officials, using a platform of ideology tied to culturally moral values. According to Herbert Gans, “journalists [have moved] beyond their strictly professional role to act as [...] moral guardians and [have] transform[ed] themselves from reporters to watchdogs” while they “uphold a particular set of norms and values”[1] becoming not just watchdogs but social gatekeepers in society.
Despite roots grounded in the mid 1700’s, it wasn’t until sociological research was applied to journalism in the mid-to-late 20th century that concrete structures for notions of newsworthiness, and theories on how news should be approached and reported, were crafted. Additionally, it was around this time that precedent for the values by which journalists should be guided became a standard by which quality journalists adhered.[2]
Of the significant media sociologists of the 20th century, Herbert Gans has been a persistent influence on the philosophies of journalistic integrity and values. Of the six “enduring values” of journalistic reporting outlined by Gans, two can be significantly applied to the ways in which the press covers stories related to public officials and their private lives, such as alleged sex relations. These two values are Altruistic Democracy and Moderatism.
Under the principles of Altruistic Democracy, government officials should behave altruistically, and as the principle is under guidelines for the press, the press should then attempt to portray them in such a way.[3] The concepts of altruism have strong moral implications indicating that in addition to being selfless and having concern for the well-being others, political figures should also be personally moral as well. A role model for society as a figurehead of the Nation in relations both within the borders as well as outside of them.
The second “enduring value” is Moderatism which speaks to the discouragement of excess or extremism in reporting.[4] As polls in recent history have shown, excess or polarized reporting can lead to audience exhaustion, compromising the relationship the press has with the public.[5] Additionally, over saturation of a subject can lead to undue public outrage, elevating the issue to scandal proportions, even if the topic at hand is low in scandal content. By the guidelines of Moderatism, the press should report on news items conservatively, and avoid undue inflammation of the subject/event. This also has a slight relationship with objective, as reporting should stay on topic and refrain from indulging in speculation, which may lead to excess reporting.
Therefore, in addition to the Altruistic Democracy and standards of Moderatism in press coverage, objectivity also becomes an important value. Tying them together, as professor and researcher Tim Vos states, “the defining characteristics of objective journalism includes [...] impartial and balanced reporting and writing, a detached and impersonal point of view [...]. Thus, the objectivity norm holds these practices as ‘moral ideals’ or as ‘morally potent prescriptions’”.[6]
Over the past few decades the private lives of public leaders have become an increasingly  hot topic for the press. As far as government officials are go, the position of the President is the highest and, according to tenets of Altruistic Democracy, should therefore generally be maintained as embodying the highest altruistic and moralist quality. With the press’ penchant for exploitation of the private lives of leaders, does press coverage of presidential sex lives run in accordance with “enduring values” of journalism? Further, should it be considered newsworthy? Does coverage that elevates the private lives of public officials to that of scandal play a role in fracturing the “enduring values” previously highlighted, violating the ideals of objective journalism and negatively impacting the relationship between press and public?

Historical Presidential Sex Scandals and The New York Times
Political leaders, particularly presidents, have long been known to be unfaithful at some time or another, both prior to and after their forays into the White House.[7] From what history has told us, the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton have succumbed to temptation. Yet, prior to the 1990’s there was what would appear to be a conservative amount of press coverage related to the sexual inklings of presidents, particularly presidents while in office, despite clear indication that there were, in fact, presidents who had mistresses while serving in the White House.
A longstanding revered news agency, The New York Times, established in September of 1851, is a reliable source for historical coverage. A search of their database of now-known presidential “sex scandals” in history, such as Warren G Harding (1921-1923) and Nan Britton; John F Kennedy (1961-1963) - a renowned “womanizer” - and Marilyn Monroe (among alleged others); and Lyndon B Johnson (1963-1969) and Madeleine Brown, elicits no evidence of coverage or mention by The New York Times. It appears that it was not until the infamous President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and Monica Lewinsky sex scandal of 1998 that the press decided that the sexual discrepancies of the President were newsworthy.
While Herbert Gans notes that in the mid-1970’s there was an increase in press coverage related to topics that revolved around the maintenance of Family[8], which infidelity would certainly apply, it appears that the evolution to include the private life of the president, particularly for The New York Times, was slow. The coverage of Clinton and Lewinsky stands as a turning point in this genre of journalism.

Post-1998, Sex Scandals and Journalistic Criticism
Looking from the past to the present, the sex scandal between President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton and Monica Lewinsky appears to be the fulcrum point in the sensationalization of the sex lives of public figures by the press. Even today, despite the misgivings and criticism from within the industry in regards to the media response, given the state of press as it currently is, it is hard to imagine that if given the chance they would do things differently.
Ultimately, we must wonder if the private lives of public officials, particularly sex scandals, are even newsworthy, whether they be the president or any other in public office. There are a few theories on why the sex lives of presidents may be relevant to the leadership of a county - such as it reflects the quality and competence of their leadership. Given the rich tapestry of past presidents and their indiscretions, and their success and effectiveness in office[9], that theory can be laid to rest.
However, there are some perspectives that makes a good argument for the unworthy status of presidential sex lives as news, and they are based on concerns for the nation and press. Creating scandals out of the private lives or sexual relations of presidents, through decidedly un-Moderatism methods of journalism, is potentially dangerous as scandals are threats to the nation as a unit.[10] These threats manifest in ways such as diverting attention away from serious matters, compromising the faith in the President, eroding social foundations and inciting moral panic as well as damaging the public’s confidence in the press.
According to Gans, in an interview with Stephen D Reese, many years after his groundbreaking media research, journalists write for each other.[11] Holding that in account, if Gans is correct in his assertion, and if much of the writing that surrounded the press coverage of presidential sex lives violates the spirit of objectivity, as well as the “enduring values” previously discussed, then the public is losing confidence in the press at the hands and narcissism of the press itself.
Alternatively, competition with new media, which was just in its first stage of altering the media environment in 1998, blurring lines between news and entertainment, was under enormous pressure leading to vast rivalry for audience.[12] Therefore it also may have been pure competition that led to the glut of coverage, a strive to appear a relevant “gatekeeper” while competing with the new technologies presented by Internet journalism, many of whom did not feel compelled to adhere to the same standards.
Either way, there is indication that the press coverage of the 1998 sex scandal between President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton and Monica Lewinsky is recognized as having a profound impact within the industry and is worthy of analysis and scrutinization.

II. Methodology
The aim of this paper is to analyze the coverage through perspectives of “enduring values” of the press as outlined by media sociologist Herbert Gans, along with potential violations of objectivity news standards, in the 1998 coverage of the President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton and Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. To round out the analysis, the response of journalists and communication professionals will be also analyzed in order to shape a more complete picture of how the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal became a turning point for press and media.
Primary methodology was executed through researching the principles of early journalism education in the 20th century, particularly the sociological implications as outlined in the work of Herbert Gannes. Drawing from that, secondary methodology leads to the research of previous presidential sex scandals previous to 1998 in order to establish a base of comparison, which will then be used in the analysis of media coverage of the 1998 incident involving President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, specifically that of The New York Times. As the coverage was unreasonably dense, predominant focus will be on the initial articles released on January 21, 1998 to those leading up to the end of January 31, 1998. More directly, the primary core of the examination will be applied to the section titled ‘The President Under Fire’.
 Finally, a study of the commentary, reflections and criticisms related to the coverage, by those within the industry, as well as educators, on the heels of the first ten days and beyond, will be analyzed to ascertain the impact that the overall press coverage of the sex scandal had on the industry. Through these methods, incorporating the Altruistic Democracy and Moderatism tenets of “enduring values”, an overall interpretation of the press coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal will be determined. Additionally, the impact that the potential violation of these tenants had on the relationship between the press and the public shall be ascertained.

III. Literature Review
The 1998 press coverage of the affair, alleged cover-up, and obstruction of justice involving the 42nd President of the United States William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton and Monica Lewinsky was by all means historical for America, for journalism, and for politics. The exploration of the archived records of The New York Times for coverage of known presidential philanderers throughout history up until 1998 revealed that there was not much coverage of the private lives of presidents while they were in office. Many of the presidential extramarital affairs or questionable sexual relations took place either before entering the White House, or after. These relationships played little influence in their viability to get elected, whether they were discovered prior to election, having no news value at The New York Times either during or post public service.
However, that shifted in 1998. From the Arts, to Business, to the Technology and Finance sections, coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal permeated all corners of the The New York Times news. Additionally, over the ten day period between January 21, 1998 and January 31, 1998 The New York Time generated over fifty pieces, from Front Page to the Opinion section, centered around President Clinton, his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky and the alleged obstruction of justice. At least eight stories related to foreign policy issues and matters of the nation even made mention of the scandal in their content. Despite some alleging that the “suborning perjury” was the catalyst in the exorbitant news coverage[13], the alleged perjury had the least amount of mention overall in any of the articles. Of all of the coverage throughout the first ten days, the section entitled ‘The President Under Fire’, which did not exist prior to January 21, 1998, and whose sole purpose appears to be the daily coverage of the aforementioned malfeasance, accounted for over twenty-five of the stories. Additionally, a search of just Ms. Lewinsky’s name between those same dates uncovered one hundred and sixty-six articles. It appeared that everybody was trying to get a piece of the publicity pie, from the Newsweek reporter who claimed he was scooped[14], to the woman who said the tapes were her idea, Lucianne S. Goldberg, and garnered extensive subsequent news coverage[15]. Even within the publishing halls of the New York Times, everybody wanted to be writing about Bill and Monica - or as Frank Rich put it, more simply, it was “All Monica All The Time”.[16]
In terms of objectivity, those first ten days of coverage by The New York Times, particularly the section “The President Under Fire”, provided a solid appearance. However, while it stuck with the issues of the case revolving around the affair, almost to the point of repetitiveness, it did little in clarifying the issue of the alleged perjury. It was only in venturing outside of that section, such as into the opinion pieces, where the aspects of the subject were given more light, but were also met with much less objectivity and were the rhetoric was more inflammatory. However, opinion journalism is not necessarily intended to provide a neutral view, only to offer a counter to the editorial stance.
On more than one occasion the effects of the Clinton-Lewinsky conflict on specific segments of the population was the primary lense of the articles written. In recounting interviews the journalists often illustrated balanced opinions regarding the public’s opinion of the activities of President Clinton. In addition to public commentary, quotes from interviews, and polling, The New York Times added further transparency on how the public felt about the subject, as well as the quantity and quality of press coverage.
Just five days into the coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal started, Corrine Brown, a Democrat representative of Jacksonville, Florida was quoted in an interview saying that it was as if President Clinton “has (already) been tried and convicted in the press”[17]. In another article that same day a member of the public was quoted saying that “the media is way out of line” and that “the President's personal life is none of our business”.[18] In another interview the following day one respondent lamented on “[...] the news media’s obsessive interest” stating that residents of his town “were grateful there was something else to watch”, referring to the recent Super Bowl coverage.[19] By day nine of the coverage more people expressed their dispassion about the moral angle of the allegations. “What somebody does on the side -- their morals -- that's their business”, said one interviewee in an article written by Evelyn Nieves regarding the ice storm that had just hit an upper New York counties. “I don't really see why this [Clinton-Lewinsky] story is as big as the media is making it out to be” said another.[20]
This indicates that in the fervent coverage by the media there was apparent confusion about demand for it.
As Janny Scott wrote in a January 26th New York Times article, “the press's handling of the accusations has repeatedly illuminated the tension between the rules by which many journalists say they are governed and the demands of the marketplace for information in which reporters operate”.[21] Based on the Scott’s statement, there seemed to be some dissonance between what and how the media was reporting, and its basic understanding of what the public, the marketplace, wanted - even as they reported on the very issue of audience feedback.
Just one week after the coverage started, a poll by The New York Times/CBS News revealed that “Sixty-five percent of Americans said the news media had spent too much time covering the allegations swirling around Mr. Clinton”[22] and in some cases prompted protesters to brandish placards reading ‘Kill the Overkill’ and ‘News, Not Views!’.[23]
Throughout the mass of harrowing press coverage of the sex scandal and alleged perjury by media, the president managed to maintain high levels of approval for job performance. “People invoked the widespread reports of former President John F. Kennedy's infidelities as evidence that sexual conduct had little to do with leadership capabilities”, wrote Dirk Johnson.[24] A report on January 26th indicated that polls strongly suggested that the public still had faith in the president[25] despite the around the clock coverage which many thought was negative, and the brief dip in the polls[26], which rebounded relatively quickly. Some reported that his approval was on the rise[27].
 One New York Times article stated that “interviews around the country suggested that many people outside Washington were not very concerned about whether the President had had an affair.”[28]As Maggie Scarf asserted in a piece for the New Republic, people knew that Clinton wasn’t going to “play the role of moral exemplar” already being very aware of his ”tendency to get involved in sexual imbroglios”, and this contributed the public's overall lack of fascination with the allegations.[29] Juxtaposing the barrage of press coverage from this perspective, with the disinterest of the public, this indicates that perhaps the press was not writing for the benefit of the public, rather for their own benefit or in the very least in competition with each other.
On the appetite for coverage, Seth Schiesel reported that “the Internet [had] already played a bigger role in the Lewinsky scandal than it has in any major news event“.[30] The reported alleged bottomless hunger that the public had for coverage via the internet may very well have exacerbated the growing coverage by other media formats. However, by all accounts in the New York Times, the public was exhausted of the coverage, and desired less of it.

IV. Further Presentation of Findings
Even before the 1998 story broke, forever sealing the fate of blue dresses and cigars everywhere, the press was primed to cover President Clinton and his newest salacious activities. They had already had years of warming up with the coverage of his affair with Gennifer Flowers and the very present Paula Jones sexual harassment charges, in what has been described as “relentless attack[s] on his personal life”.[31] Despite the previous acceptance of press coverage surrounding Clinton’s sexual peccadilloes, even those within and closely linked with the industry recognized that this time the coverage had gone a bit overboard.
Nine days after The New York Times began coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky incident, Carey Goldberg wrote, in an early reflection of the coverage, that:

[...]rarely, if ever, has the examination of the reporting of a news event turned into such widespread mass self-flagellation by the news media, of the news media, on and in the news media. The self-criticism ranged from an entire program of ''CNN Live'' yesterday dealing with the ''Media Madness,'' to sheepish descriptions by television news anchors of their own colleagues' ‘feeding frenzies.’”[32]

One writer, Pulitzer prize winner for Commentary, Russell Baker wrote a scathing Opinion piece for The New York Times referring to the coverage as a “disgusting media meltdown,  referring to the reporting as “priceless examples of media struggling to appear high-minded while groping for rock bottom in the depths of hypocrisy”, saying that “apparently what it takes today to survive in the competitive media market” is “smut”. He went on to discuss the persisting “bad odor” of the media and how they will be “big losers in the long run” for the way in which they were approaching the reporting of Clinton-Lewinsky.[33]
In the same article written by Goldberg, where she reflects on the “widespread mass self-flagellation by the news media”, the director of the Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, Marvin Kalb was quoted as saying that he thought that the way in which the media was covering the scandal was “perhaps one of the most sorry chapters in American journalism.''[34] Reiterating, Goldberg concludes that “rarely have so many citizens and analysts piled on in one great outpouring of disapproval and even disgust -- aiming in particular, at how few facts and how much gossip have made their way into supposed news reporting.”[35] This was just another criticism that surfaced which indicates that the overall press coverage of the scandal was not as objective as perhaps the selected ‘President Under Fire’ section of The New York Times had been.
These are not simply evidences that there were problems in the reporting, problems unlike any other time in history, these are flat out incriminations, direct demonstration of  the corruption of “enduring values” and objectivity that took place in the overall reporting of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair.
The angles used in order to create legitimacy to the Clinton-Lewinsky incident as news manifested in ways such as the impact it may have on the American children[36], to what the rest of the world thinks[37], to the implications the issue might have on workplace sexual harassment where employees have been “inhibited by political correctness”.[38] All of this set the precedent that the scandal was not just about the President’s conduct. In effect this establish the idea that it was about everybody - about how the scandal made the United States look as a nation, about how it would impact your workplace, about how it would impact your family - it is about us, about “Our American society”[39] -  and it was about the responsibility of public officials as moral guides and figureheads.
According to Mindy Cameron of The Seattle Times, in consideration of the way the press covered the Clinton-Lewinsky issue, she stated that the journalistic goal is to hold up those in public office to high standards.[40] First, this puts the onus on the press in deciding what standards should be placed the highest, and requires value judgments which in turn is evidence to the lack of objectivity or neutrality that some of the press may have in reporting on the private lives of public officials. This reflects the gatekeeping aspect that has evolved in the press. Yet, startlingly, just under a year before Clinton-Lewinsky broke, a Pew Institute report revealed that “more Americans now think press coverage of the personal and ethical behavior of political leaders is excessive” a representative figure that increased 13% in under ten years.[41] Yet the press pushed on despite the public’s disinterest and fatigue.
The alleged obstruction of justice should have been paramount in the reporting, it being the most significant factor as far as how the personal behavior of a president can reflect his ability to lead a nation. However, it seemed to be the sex that ignited the media coverage, particularly in regards to The New York Times, who did very little to clarify the perjury charges. Nary was there mention in the reviewed ‘The President Under Fire’ articles of the lying, the obstruction of justice. Of all of the material analyzed, only one article made mention that the audio recordings, which themselves got a plethora of related coverage, may include “suggested obstruction and perjury”[42], alleging admission from Lewinsky that Clinton had indeed tried to convince her to lie about their sexual relationship under oath in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. From the perspective of the prominent issue in the mass of reporting, it would seem that in the first ten days what the American public, or perhaps the press, was really concerned about was whether or not Clinton had indeed had sexual relations with “that woman”. Even then interest in that was paltry.
The poor state of reporting actually led to apologies from journalists, even years later, who felt they may have “contributed to the ceaseless coverage”.[43] In recounting the coverage, Gerson and Roebuck likened the anomaly of the press’ outrage and the public’s tolerance of the Clinton’s actions to a gulf.[44] Reflecting on the overall press coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Williams and Carpini describe it as the significant turning point in which the gatekeeping role of media was fundamentally changed, particularly in political communication.[45]

V. Conclusion
By outlining the two “enduring values” of Gans, that of Altruistic Democracy and Moderatism, and joining them with objectivity in reporting, a framework to analyze the coverage of the 1998 Clinton-Lewinsky scandal by the press was established. Further, the distressing yet politically neutral impact that the coverage had on the public became clear throughout the reporting, even if The New York Times itself only played a small role, and illustrated the way in which the press exploited its roles as gatekeepers.
There was clear indication that the public was not overtly interested in the Clinton-Lewinsky story, and additionally was tired of the press covering the private lives of public officials, particularly in this case. Yet, despite this, the press pushed on, transforming their role as gatekeepers into rabid guard dog. In doing so they further eroded their relationship with the public, which can clearly be detected today where they continue to wear away at the public’s perception of them through ceaseless coverage littered with speculation and sparse on important facts. As the imminent and post-coverage criticism of the matter indicates, even those within the community recognized the ugly state of the coverage as a contributing factor to the erosion of the relationship between the press and the public.
What is strange is that despite all of the criticism that the barrage of coverage of Clinton-Lewinsky received, it seemed to set a precedent for the future of similar approaches to news coverage, leading to less objective reporting, and increased coverage that hammers away at a topic relentlessly, continuing to contribute to the fatigue and loathing of mass media among the public.
Of all of the coverage, specifically vexing was the article regarding how the Clinton-Lewinsky situation was affecting the children. While it is the role of the press to reflect issues in a way that relates it to the public, it seems manipulative in that it not only made the issues about the nation as a whole, but brought it home and made it about “your children” and about how it is affecting the family unit.  To use children to incite some sort of moral outrage among the populace, in a news matter not directly related to youth, is disingenuous. However, at the same time this may be just a reflection of the increase in press coverage related to the maintenance of Family, harking back from the 1970s[46]. This way of covering the scandal was effective in eliciting the sense that there was an innocence was being lost, as parents fretted about how they would discuss such issues like oral sex with their children. Repulsively, the entire time the press took no responsibility in how they contributed to the exposure.
By today’s standards one would view the incessant coverage of an event such as Clinton-Lewinsky as par for the course, even down to the way in which media exploits segments of the population. According to the literature related to the “aftermath” of the way the press handled this particular news event, it is pretty clear that it had a significant role in blazing that path. What is additionally surprising is the press’ reluctance, particularly “mainstream media”, to return to the standards prior to 1998.
Further, in light of the changed roles of the press, perhaps the high standards journalist purport to be holding those in public office up to, as watchdogs and gatekeepers, which never was grounded in true objectivity, should be altered. No longer does the press enjoy the same relationship with the public that it had prior to 1998, and any such actions now comes off as a show of undue authority by the press. There is no longer a place for them to influence society in topics of culturally moral values or integrity, especially by exploiting the private lives of political figures by holding them up to some press-defined standards. In their continued evolving roles they forget the concepts of networthiness, they forget objectivity, they violate “enduring values” of their practice, they disregard their station - but the public does not, and it causes further resentment.
By the principles of the “enduring value” of Moderatism, the response from the public regarding Clinton-Lewinsky alluded to disinterest in Altruistic Democracy. Paired with indications of loss of objectivity in press reporting, and juxtaposed with the press’ own grievances, one can surmise that the press was responsible for turning the issue into the blow-out scandal that was the journalistic hallmark of 1998. It may also be concluded that they are responsible for their continued poor relations with the public.
The coverage of Clinton-Lewinsky by many of the reporters at The New York Times was commendable. Despite the plethora of coverage over those first ten days, they provided multifaceted views from citizens, from those in the political circle, as well as opinions of those outside of the Nation. While it is true that they contributed to the avalanche of coverage, they did so with the high standards one would expect.
What the issue of Clinton-Lewinsky established, through the analysis of the coverage by The New York Times, was that the supposed implications of why the private and sexual lives of public figures and presidents are not newsworthy is correct. First, the sexual morals of a President Clinton do not necessarily reflect his ability to do his job or be successful, nor did it compromise the faith public had in him as a president. Second, it established that creating scandals out of the private lives and sexual relations of presidents by disregarding Gans’ “enduring values”, like Moderatism, can be damaging. Doing so indeed diverts attention away from other matters[47] that may be more important to the country as it dominates news cycles. Furthermore, it is a catalyst in damaging the public’s confidence in the press.




Citations
[1] Gans, Herbert J. "News & the News Media in the Digital Age: Implications for Democracy." Daedalus, 2010, 8-17.
[2] Deuze, M. "What Is Journalism?: Professional Identity And Ideology Of Journalists Reconsidered." Journalism 6, no. 4 (2005): 442-64. Accessed March 9, 2015.
[3] Warner, Charles. "Herbert J. Gans’s News Values and The Elements of Journalism." Online Presentation, PowerPoint
[4] Warner, Charles. "Herbert J. Gans’s News Values and The Elements of Journalism." Online Presentation, PowerPoint
[5] Pew, Research. "Other Important Findings and Analyses." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press RSS. March 20, 1997. Accessed 2015.
[6] Vos, Tim P. "‘Homo Journalisticus’: Journalism Education’s Role in Articulating the Objectivity Norm." Journalism 13, no. 4 (2011): 435-39.
[7] Ayers, Jr, Diamond. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE HISTORY; 14 Presidents Have Been The Talk of the Pillow." The New York Times, January 25, 1998. Accessed 2015.
[8] Gans, Herbert J. Deciding What's News: A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek, and Time. New York: Pantheon Books, 1979. 19.
[9] Ayers, Jr, Diamond. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE HISTORY; 14 Presidents Have Been The Talk of the Pillow." The New York Times, January 25, 1998. Accessed 2015.
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[11] Reese, Stephen D. "Managing the Symbolic Arena: The Media Sociology of Herbert Gans." In Science with Effect: Reviews of Journalism and Media Effects Research, 279-293. VS Verlag Für Social Sciences | Springer Specialist Media Wiesbaden GmbH, Wiesbaden, 2009.
[12] Williams, B. A., & Delli Carpini, M. X. (2000). Unchained Reaction: The Collapse of Media Gatekeeping and the Clinton–Lewinsky Scandal. Journalism, 1 (1), 61-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146488490000100113
[13] Ayers, Jr, Diamond. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE HISTORY; 14 Presidents Have Been The Talk of the Pillow." The New York Times, January 25, 1998. Accessed 2015.
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[40] Gerson, Michael J, and Karen Roebuck. "America's 'Purtian' Press." U.S. News & World Report 125:13.
[41] Pew, Research. "Other Important Findings and Analyses." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press RSS. March 20, 1997. Accessed 2015.
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[43] "TV Host Olbermann Apologized to Clinton for Lewinsky Coverage." Yahoo! News. October 10, 2014. Accessed 2015.
[44] Gerson, Michael J, and Karen Roebuck. "America's 'Purtian' Press." U.S. News & World Report 125:13. 26.
[45] Williams, B. A., & Delli Carpini, M. X. (2000). Unchained Reaction: The Collapse of Media Gatekeeping and the Clinton–Lewinsky Scandal. Journalism, 1 (1), 61-85
[46]  Gans, Herbert J. Deciding What's News: A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek, and Time. New York: Pantheon Books, 1979. 19.
[47] Bronner, Ethan. "THE PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: THE MEDIA; Reports of Sexual Scandal Have Everybody Talking." The New York Times, January 23, 1998. Accessed 2015. 
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