Clinton to ABC News: It's payback time
The former president chastises Peter Jennings for ABC's "sleazy" coverage of Whitewater -- and he's right.
By Eric Boehlert
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http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/11/23/jennings_clinton/index.htmlNovember 23, 2004 | President Clinton's prime-time interview with ABC on Nov. 18, in conjunction with the opening of the Clinton presidential library, was for the most part a feel-good, nostalgic affair, as Clinton looked back on his presidency with ABC anchor Peter Jennings. But Clinton flashed real irritation when Jennings suggested some historians thought that Clinton's presidency had lacked "moral authority," without mentioning its having been tarnished by independent counsel Kenneth Starr's multiple investigations.
"You don't want to go here, Peter," snapped Clinton, who proceeded to criticize the reporting of ABC News, in particular, in the 1990s. "Not after what you people did and the way you, your network, what you did with Kenneth Starr. The way your people repeated every little sleazy thing he leaked. No one has any idea what that's like."
In truth, Clinton's criticism of the media's overheated and often conspiratorial scandal coverage could be applied to a host of mainstream news operations. But it was fitting that the comment was directed at ABC, which occupied a unique role amid the seven-year, $70 million media feeding frenzy surrounding Starr's probes. At times ABC, led by reporter Jackie Judd and producer Chris Vlasto, seemed to act as the broadcast counterparts to the print reporters relying on news from the Office of the Independent Counsel -- making an early investment in the Whitewater story and determined to see it pay off.
"Jackie Judd and I are proud of the work we did," Vlasto told Salon in an interview. "It's unfortunate
feels that way, and I don't want to relive the history. But we did a lot of stories over a lot of years and our stories speak for themselves. They have stood the test of time."