Media Indiscretions

Newt Gingich's second wife Marianne has revealed in an interview scheduled to be aired tonight on ABC that Gingrich asked her for an open marriage so that he could continue an affair with his now third wife, Callista.

My take on it is that we really do not have enough information to determine if this is true or not.  Knowing Gingrich's past marriage problems, it does seem more likely but simply relying on a hunch is not enough to condemn Gingrich for the actions for which he is accused.  Knowing the media's selective reporting on stories like this also brings an interesting twist to the story. On top of that, the same people screaming that what one does in the privacy of one's home (or in the case of Bill Clinton, the White House) doesn't matter are now going to be mostly the same group of people wanting to publicly skewer Newt for his accused actions.   

The AP reported that the controversy at ABC revolved around whether or not they would air the interview, and I am sure much gnashing of teeth and many tears were spilled during this "civil war" that had reportedly been going on for some time.  In their obvious worry about not wanting to unduly influence the current Republican race, they decided to air the interview only a few days before the South Carolina primary, right when Gingrich would be gaining in popularity because of his strong base of support there (also, Rick Perry bowing out of the race definitely helps as well).

At The American Spectator, Jeffrey Lord recalls that back when the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal surfaced, Newsweek tried to keep the story under wraps.  Lord continues with a story about the controversy that involved Don Imus (no, not that one) and the sexual indiscretions of Peter Jennings:
 

What will not be mentioned tonight in the report on Gingrich's private life? This bit from Imus in that 1996 [White House Correspondents Dinner] speech:

And then there's Peter Jennings, who we are told more Americans get their news from than anyone else -- and a man who freely admits that he cannot resist women. So I'm thinking, here's Peter Jennings sitting there each evening, elegant, erudite, refined. And I'm thinking, what's under his desk? I mean , besides an intern. (groans) The first place the telecommunications bill should have mandated that a v-chip be placed is in Mr. Jennings shorts. (groans)….

By the way, and this is really awful, (laughter) if you're Peter Jennings and you're telling more Americans than anyone else what's going on in the world, shouldn't you at least have had a clue that your wife was over at Richard Cohen's house? (laughter, groans, boos) She wasn't at my house!

Notice the text transcript includes the editorial note of "groans" and "boos." Why was this? This was a dinner of mainstream media journalists. It was OK for them to decide whose private life to poke into -- but certainly nowhere on the list did that include one of their own, which Peter Jennings very much was. The irreverent I-Man took time in his speech to mock the-then very much alive ABC News anchor Mr. Jennings for -- his private life. It was a huge social no-no. In spite of the fact that the Jennings reputation in the day, off-camera and certainly never discussed much less reported about on camera anywhere, was that the then three-times married anchor was your basic womanizer. In fact, Jennings was in 1996 already divorced from wife number three and the very next year would marry a fourth time. The Imus reference to an intern under Jennings' desk while he was reporting the news on camera was in reference to a gossipy tidbit that had long circulated about Jennings on-air conduct yet mysteriously was never the subject of an investigative report by ABC's Brian Ross. Powerful public figure boss with an intern under the desk? Can you imagine if, say, the public man at the time had been then-Speaker Newt Gingrich?  But it was Jennings, not Gingrich…so…the I-man had crossed a line.

Notice also the next item the I-Man joked about. Again, this reference involved something that was never investigated by ABC News. To wit, as Wikipedia delicately phrases it now:

On August 13, 1993, Jennings and Kati Marton publicly announced their separation in Newsday. The couple had previously split in 1987 for four months after Jennings found out that Marton was having an affair with Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen.

In other words, what the I-Man said that was deeply inappropriate to the mainstream media in the room that night was to joke out loud and on camera to the country about the insider gossip of the day that Jennings's third wife had once left Jennings for, again in the words of Wikipedia, "an affair with Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen."

For this offense of saying these things about the private life of ABC News anchor Jennings, Don Imus received a torrent of media criticism. Notably, a then-frequent guest on his radio show was ABC reporter Cokie Roberts. Ms. Roberts was so appalled and angered by this public discussion of Jennings' private life that she quite publicly and hotly vowed she would "never" appear on the Imus show again.

I never knew this about Jennings but it is interesting nonetheless. 

The problem as highlighted by Lord isn't about wanting to keep conservatives' indiscretions a secret and only highlight liberal promiscuity.  It's about equal treatment of anyone, regardless of the position of power they hold.