Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Hands of a reporter in the hearing room typing a story.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Phil Jones, CBS reporter to give you full, in-depth, workings of the United States Congress, you could probably go in every living room in this country and find people snoring or having turned off the television set and left.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Charles Gibson, (Charlie Gibson) television reporter, The average piece in evening news show is minute and half, minute and 45 seconds. By the time you explain the difference between the Subcommittee and the Committee, the Floor and the Conference Committee and coming back the House and the Senate, you ve killed half your minute 30.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Print journalists taking notes in a hearing.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Leo Rennert, McClatchy newspapers reporter newspaper readers, I think, naturally expect to get detailed reports and to have some substance and depth and content in stories. I hope they do. I think radio listeners by and large are conditioned to have maybe 5 minutes of news on the hour. Television you want a little bit of show biz spin. So these expectations, I think, influence both what the audiences look for when they either tune in or open up the papers well as what the providers do.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Reporters at work.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Mark Walton, CNN reporter, A local s job is often to kill time. He s going around looking for interviews with the local Senator or Congressman. If he can get two of those interviews done in a day and can fill a couple of minutes on the local news block, he s done his job.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Leo Rennert, McClatchy newspapers reporter we cover very intensely the two Senators from California. We have a 45 member House delegation from the state. And of those 45, we give extensive and intensive coverage to 8 House members who represent districts where our papers circulate in Northern California. So, there s great local and regional focus in our coverage.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
CU of hands on a typewriter keyboard. Pull out to reporters (journalists) on typewriters in a press room.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
James Miles, press secretary, on telephone. Talking to camera I need them and they need me. I can really help a district reporter by calling him and saying, hey, I ve got something good, are you interested? He can really help me by making sure that if there s a slant on a story that s favorable to my guy that he ll exercise that. That s the honest real world of political reporting and political press work.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Charles Gibson, (Charlie Gibson) television reporter, well I think there a little bit of a problem in that the local reporters take, will often take things a little bit questioningly from their members. It s like when you cover the local baseball team. You don t want to get shut out with the local baseball team so you write a couple of nice articles about them. I think the local reporters have to watch that they don t that they maintain their cynical approach to their local Congressman. As long as they do that, they re doing their job well.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Ted Kennedy (D Massachusetts) moves through a dense crowd and take the podium.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Leo Rennert, McClatchy newspapers reporter national evening news or national network, they really put higher premium on getting reported, particularly if they do something positive, in the local paper.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Chris Robling, President of House GOP Press Secretaries, If the Des Moines Register comes down hard on a Congressmen from Iowa, that s going to have a real effect on his career. So, I think they appreciate national attention when it comes but they absolutely guard that private or that local attention on a day in and day out basis.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Michael J Robinson, Political Scientist It makes perfectly good sense to believe that as the national media: The Post, The Times, the networks, the news weeklys, focus on the institution and focus only on members during scandal while at the same time the local press is issuing press releases in the name of the member, that you re going to find two very different views on Congress. The national view which the public sees on TV is Congress the institution either following a part or scandal ridden. Back at the local level of course you have a different image. The individual member is going a great job. So what I think we conclude is the public likes its Congressman but doesn t like its Congress.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Host Ed Newman wraps up and signs off.
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
Closing credits
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
DO NOT USE WETA credit
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
DO NOT USE Funding credits
Congress: We The People 8/23/1983
DO NOT USE PBS ID