Spin Cycle :: essays research papers

SPIN CYCLE&9With so numerous different scandal to his credit and numerous ongoinginvestigations pending, President Clinton has been bombarded by the media in afashion not seen since the last days of the Nixon administration. disrespect thisunwanted attention, Clinton has managed to maintain lofty approval ratings andsuccess totaly deflect yet the most ardent attacks. How does he do it? Thisquestion is answered in full in Spin Cycle, a backroom look at how parole iscreated and incase in the White House and the methods utilize to distribute itto the public. In motion-picture show a detailed picture of the hand-to-hand combat cognizeas a press conference, Kurtz shows how the use of controlled leaks, meticulouslyworded briefs, and the outright avoidance of certain(a) questions allows the WhiteHouse to control the scope and content of the stories that make it to the front endpage and the nightly network news. As Kurtz makes clear, the president andFirst bird are convinced that the media are out to get them, while the journalists finishing the White House are constantly frustrated at the hinder and the lack of cooperation they encounter while trying to do their jobs. In the center field is the White House press secretary Mike McCurry, a professional person at defusing volatile situations and walking the fine line with the press. though less paranoid and cynical of the media than Clinton, he often finds himself on some(prenominal) ends of personal attacks and vendettas that veer far outside the arena of objective reporting. The anecdotes and guardedly buried information that Kurtz has uncovered give this book a dashing pace, along with ample invaluable information that cuts to the core of this age of media overkill.&9Kurtz focuses mainly on White House response to scandal news in 1996and 1997, and he does not purport to cover most other aspects of the relationship between the president and the press. And within the narrow scope of his research, he had only fragmentary access to important information. For legal and political reasons, smock House aides were probably not inclined to volunteer the square truth. Whats more, the story is still unfolding. Though he adds nothing to what is known about recent happenings in the Oval Office, he does shed devolve on a subject that remains of considerable importance the techniques used by the Clinton administration to shape the way it is portrayed in the press. It never seriously takes up the issue that seems to lie at its core.