When the president speaks, these days, America listens. The annual State of the Union address last week attracted a lot of attention, and a lot of ink.
But this soon after Sept. 11, and the memories of horrific attacks on Americans, controversy around the speech seemed minimal, according to news reports, and even politicians’ responses were noticeably less partisan than in years past.
All the major networks carried the event live, so citizens had a chance to hear their president that night, and then to read the highlights, details and reactions in the next morning’s newspaper.
The Bee provided readers with a thorough, if somewhat traditional, package of news about the speech. The story dominated The Bee’s front page Wednesday, and encompassed more than 200 column inches of the main news section. Here’s what that included on Page 1:
*A photo of the smiling president, flanked by the vice president and house speaker, at the top of Page 1.
*Three excerpted quotations from his comments about terrorism, foreign policy and the economy.
*The dominant headline on the page which read, “Bush: U.S. still vulnerable.”
*A large horizontal photograph of the president speaking at the podium to the crowded House chamber, a rather spectacular sight given the gathering of the nation’s leaders.
*The main news story, “He warns of danger, urges unity, sacrifice,” written by Bee Washington Bureau Chief David Westphal. He noted immediately that the president received “a hero’s welcome for his campaign against terrorism.”
*An analysis by a Boston Globe writer who pointed out that in one short year the president had earned “the unambiguous support of the American people.” That headline was “President’s message resonates with resolve.”
And a Page 1 index to some, though not all, of the other stories and pictures about the event.
Inside the main news section was a lot more. A separate story reported Bush’s soaring popularity in California and the nation, and 20 inches or so of additional direct quotes from the speech ran down the side of the page. The unusual security measures rated another story, and one more photo of the president appeared as he shook hands with Vice President Dick Cheney.
The full text of the speech was made available on The Bee’s Website, Sacbee.com.
The editorial page, never hesitant to take presidents to task, supported Bush’s call for unity and his leadership, but suggested a more conservative approach to paying the bills.
What got attention?
So what, if anything, got the attention of Bee readers checking out this massive on-deadline report? Bill Clinton’s picture was in the paper.
The Bee was being partisan and liberal, according to three readers who voiced the identical complaint. The newspaper ran nice pictures of Clinton on Page 3, they said, and small or poor pictures of the president. It was all a deliberate attempt to make Bush look bad, they said.
The complaints were so similar I asked one caller if she had been listening to talk radio. No, she said, she just couldn’t stand Clinton getting “the limelight.” Even if it was not on the front page but on Page 3 with the rest of the state news.
For the record, here is the response by Deputy Managing Editor Mort Saltzman to those readers’ complaints that Bush’s coverage should have been bigger and better:
“We published four stories on President Bush’s speech that night, including two on the front page,” Saltzman said. “We published excerpts of the speech and carried the full text on Sacbee.com. We used four photographs, two on the front page. We had one story about Clinton on Page 3 and published three photographs, one photograph too many in my very subjective second-guessing judgment.
“I think the photographs on the front page were chosen to demonstrate the import and grandeur of the event, particularly because it was President Bush’s first State of the Union speech and it came after Sept. 11. I also think the photo of Bush and Vice President Cheney along with the speaker of the House was important because there had been much speculation beforehand as to whether Cheney would be at the speech, for security reasons. The photograph of the entire House chamber could not be done small. It needed some size.”
As for the issue of Clinton getting too much attention, it seems reasonable to me that a news organization should cover a former president speaking within 100 miles.
A newspaper can’t decide news issues based on a few individuals’ intense dislikes. The comments were reminiscent of those I heard as a child from a few people who hated Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife with an intensity that remains bewildering 50 years later.
When newspapers make mistakes, or exercise bad judgment on political stories, they can expect to be ripped by partisans and non-partisans alike.
But in the case of this State of the Union speech coverage, these complaints reflected something deeper than a demand for fairness. They were demanding partisanship of the very sort they claimed to despise.
Check us out
A few Bee readers are still chuckling, while editors were not amused, after discovering that this newspaper reported a man was “executed by lethal injunction.” No lawyer jokes, please.
One Bee reader who received an inquiry from a reporter contacted us to verify that the reporter actually worked for the newspaper. We were happy to affirm that was the case.
If you ever want to check to make sure, you can see a list of Bee managers and reporters by following the “Contact The Bee” link on the left side of the Sacbee.com home page.
Some participants were disappointed that The Bee did not cover the local demonstrations during this year’s observance of the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade court decision. The newspaper ran a brief wire story about the national events.
The answer from editors remains the same as in years past: There are far too many demonstrations of various kinds for The Bee to cover them all. The Bee covers very few annual demonstrations at the state Capitol, as most are staged for publicity and often aimed at television cameras. Most are not considered newsworthy by the editors.
That’s a legitimate explanation. It also would have been very simple to add one line to the national story and report that a local protest was also held.
But no one should expect the advocates and participants to be satisfied.
