Coverage Spotlights the Year of the Woman

The state of the union merged with the State of California Tuesday night in TV’s coverage of the primaries, with the spotlight on winning women candidates and the mad-as-hell attitude by frustrated voters that is fueling the Ross Perot movement.

As Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer swept easily to victory in the Democratic senatorial races, several political commentators, including the astute Linda Douglass of KNBC-TV Channel 4, raised the suggestion that part of the reason might well be reaction to the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill sexual harassment hearings.

“Clearly, women are doing well all around the country,” said Douglass, who then raised the notion that the widely viewed, televised Thomas-Hill showdown before a U.S. Senate committee might have been a factor.

Television made clear that it was not so much a case of a woman of the year--as in the past with Geraldine Ferraro--but the year of the woman. And two leading male politicians who lost to the historic pair of California women candidates attempted to be gracious on TV in defeat, although many viewers might have felt that their comments were rather condescending--unintentionally, no doubt--to candidates who were simply regarded as better, regardless of sex.

In any case, Leo McCarthy, conceding to Boxer, told a reporter: “My timing’s a little off on this. I don’t take this personally.” And Gray Davis, who lost to Feinstein, said: “This might not have been the best year to be a man.” The bottom line is that they lost to more popular politicians.

In perhaps the other major TV impression of the night, a pattern emerged that effectively linked the once-ridiculed campaign of Jerry Brown to the extraordinary rise of Perot, with both reflecting voters’ throw-the-bums-out attitude toward traditional politicians.

It was Brown who started it, with his 800 number for phone-in contributions, which could not be more than $100, and his condemnation of the hoary politics that still dominate. It was a revolutionary TV and radio campaign, reaching out to voters for direct contact, even through the use of less-watched cable outlets. And the campaign turned out to be Brown’s finest hour, making a far greater impact on national political life than his two terms as California governor.

Gov. Moonbeam, huh? No, just the only candidate in the whole crowd who is a genuine futurist. And even the traditional TV reporters such as Douglass and her co-anchor for the night, Jess Marlow--the most authoritative local team in guiding viewers through the primaries--acknowledged that the onetime jokes about the 800 number had been replaced by a recognition that Brown has significantly altered political campaigning.

In an interview with CNN’s Bernard Shaw, Brown, who earlier in the campaign had been dismissed as kind of a political clown, said bluntly: “You’re still talking to me.”

And by night’s end, the Brown influence was seen on a fascinating CBS special with Dan Rather, in which Clinton--picking up on Brown’s tactics--answered the questions of voters who phoned in to an electronic version of the old town meeting.

What’s more, Clinton said that he intended to use this kind of direct communication increasingly in his campaign as the Democratic candidate for President.

Trailing Perot, the protest candidate, in the polls, Clinton had much of the Rather special to himself and used it effectively, displaying more passion and firepower than usual as he seemingly implied he might be bypassing the media more and going straight to the public.

Rather said that Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle and Perot had also been invited to appear on the program but declined. The CBS anchor said Perot didn’t want to stay up past his regular bedtime to take the phone calls.

Throughout the night on TV, Brown reiterated his position that current American politics is “decrepit” and “paralyzed . . . a discredited profession”--which viewers could easily link to the passions that have caused many voters to buy into Perot, even though they know almost nothing of where he stands on many issues.

Throughout the night, local TV could be complimented for showing restraint and not emphasizing the videotape of the Rodney G. King beating or footage of the recent riots despite the solid passage of Charter Amendment F, the police reform measure that surely gained support because of those tragic events.

However, there was also good reason to be angry as KCBS-TV Channel 2 stuck with a movie through much of the early going--despite clearly developing primary patterns that deserved fuller immediate reporting. KABC-TV Channel 7 was no better for a long stretch as it showed “Full House,” “Home Improvement” and “Rose-anne” before plunging into all-out coverage.

Also on the downside, KCOP-TV Channel 13 and KTLA-TV Channel 5 were virtually invisible in the Tuesday night coverage aside from their regular 10 p.m. newscasts. And KTTV-TV Channel 11 did not really get going until the open-ended reporting that followed its own regular 10 p.m. news program.

However, KCAL-TV Channel 9 continued to gain in prestige, using its nightly three-hour newscast to focus on the primaries--and having much of its coverage, anchored by Jerry Dunphy and Pat Harvey, picked up by the respected, national C-SPAN cable channel. It was another shrewd move by C-SPAN, which has moved well beyond its original mandate to telecast the proceedings of Congress.

KCAL was among the stations that continued its primary reports well beyond its regular newscast.

But by far the most aggressive and commanding coverage by a local network station was provided by KNBC, which wisely used Douglass and Marlow, with their political expertise, as its prime anchor team.

And aside from a few goofs in the field and the unnecessary showing of the series “Dateline NBC,” KNBC was also the quickest to jump on significant early developments that would become the big stories of the night. The station broke in sharply with coverage of Clinton declaring victory in his nomination bid, the apparent passage of Charter Amendment F, Feinstein in her moment of triumph in San Francisco, and solid reports on Boxer and Republican senatorial hopeful Tom Campbell.

Republican John Seymour, who will oppose Feinstein for the Senate, would do well, by the way, to purchase a book about grammar. Speaking of Feinstein, he said that there was a difference “between she and I.”

KABC, which did a commendable job once it really got rolling after 9:30 p.m., benefited enormously from the savvy presence of political reporter Linda Breakstone, who explained the finer points about the balloting in an engaging and understandable manner as the station continued its coverage well into the night.

It was a story well worth staying up for--infinitely more entertaining than “Full House” and “Rose-anne.”