TV REVIEW : ‘Frontline’ Probes How Press Ran With Jackson

The “Frontline” documentary “Running With Jesse” is an interesting if narrow peek behind the scenes of politics. Airing at 9 tonight on Channels 28 and 15 and at 10 on Channel 50, it perhaps discloses less about the candidate than about the news media that covered him.

In this case the candidate is Jesse Jackson, whose 1988 run for the Democratic presidential nomination certified his standing as a leader able to capture the nation’s attention. His support may have been predominantly black, but everyone listened.

As this program shows, the biggest listeners of all may have been the media. Whether through intimidation or charm, Jackson has better understood and mastered the press than any other contemporary politician. That, above all, is tonight’s message, as the camera travels with the Jackson campaign from its modest start in snowy Iowa, through Super Tuesday, to the Democratic Convention that was influenced by Jackson’s presence even as it nominated Michael Dukakis.