Participation & Pluralism in Democracies, U.S. Politics & Government - 20th Century, U.S. Politics & Government - 1945 - 1989, U.S. Politics & Government - 1992-2001, Mass Media & Politics, U.S. Politics & Government - 1980-1989, Journalism - General & Mi

Right in the Old Gazoo

Name: Right in the Old Gazoo
Author: Alan K. Simpson
ISBN: 9780688113582

by Alan K. Simpson

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Overview

Senator Alan K. Simpson has never hesitated to call out reporters when they've overstepped their bounds. Eighteen years in the United States Senate have given this outspoken politician plenty of opportunity for clashes with the press, which he now recounts in Right in the Old Gazoo. With his distinctive, pull-no-punches style, Simpson points out where the media have erred (all over the place!) and offers a wealth of vividly told anecdotes that show how an irresponsible press threatens the freedoms that Americans hold dear. And here for the first time he gives his side of dustups with journalists, such as veteran reporter Peter Arnett and National Public Radio's Nina Totenberg. It's an insightful book that is also entertaining to read. Simpson laments that too many journalists today have become "lazy, complacent, sloppy, self-serving, self-aggrandizing, cynical, and arrogant beyond measure." He describes how newspaper and television reporters manipulate the American public by presenting skewed versions of the news; he discusses the use of polling information (and pollsters), and he raises ethical questions about the now-common practice of unnamed sources in news reports. To Simpson, journalistic ethics have almost all but disappeared in the zeal to hunt down a story, and he feels that there is little sense of fairness, respect for privacy, or even simple human compassion. Simpson's compelling, behind-the-scenes examples scrutinize the press's aggressive treatment of Gary Hart, Clarence Thomas, Robert Bork, and Dan Quayle.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The tart-tongued Sen. Simpson (R-Wyo.) retires this year after three terms, so this readable mix of memoir and criticism serves as his valedictory. "[T]he media need to rein themselves in," declares this participant in and observer of numerous media controversies. Indeed, Simpson knows that the news business isn't pretty. During his early days in Wyoming, he saw underprepared reporters focus on controversy, not substance. In Washington, the situation has worsened, he says, contending that the media too often dig dirt instead of analyzing national problems. He has had a Washington Post reporter misquote him and refuse to apologize when confronted with a tape. These experiences lead Simpson to propose useful reforms-the press should admit errors, focus on substance, resist off-the-record sources-that recall more thorough journalistic critiques by James Fallows and Howard Kurtz. More controversially, Simpson declares that the landmark 1964 libel case New York Times v. Sullivan "turned public officials into raw meat," and argues that it should be undone. While that proposal is worth debating, other Simpson segments sound merely partisan. He criticizes CNN correspondent Peter Arnett for broadcasting Iraqi propaganda during the Gulf war but declares that the rules for American reporters were reasonable. And he maintains that his statements during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings-"I really am getting stuff over the transom"-were no worse than the media attacks on Thomas. Author tour. (Jan.)

Library Journal

Senator Simpson turns the tables on the press with his critical appraisal of journalists and the contemporary media establishment. The publication of his book is scheduled to coincide with his retirement from an active political career that began in the Wyoming House of Representatives in 1964 and continued from 1978 to the present in the U.S. Senate. Over the years, Simpson has experienced many memorable encounters with reporters. In a folksy and down-to-earth style, he offers his version of events many readers will remember from the media coverage. Mixed in with the many anecdotes is a serious discussion of the role and responsibility of the press in a democratic society. Simpson constantly cites the Code of Ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists and challenges reporters to take it seriously. This book should be added to collections where materials on contemporary politics circulate well. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/96.]-Judy Solberg, George Wash ington Univ., Takoma Park, Md.