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Edwards affair was open secret for media
The whispered allegations about John Edwards were an open secret that was debated in every newsroom and reported by almost none.
- By Howard Kurtz, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 23:22 August 11, 2008
Washington: The whispered allegations about John Edwards were an open secret that was debated in every newsroom and reported by almost none.
The story of John Edwards' affair with a former campaign aide became so widely known that by last week there seemed little point keeping it isolated.
And yet, even as some national news organisations tried halfheartedly to confirm the tawdry tale, they ignored it in public - wary of the National Enquirer, of Edwards' dismissal of "tabloid trash," of wading once again into the swamp of sexual scandal without definitive proof.
By early last week, journalists were in the awkward position of refusing to report on explosive allegations that were almost certain to knock the former North Carolina senator out of the Democratic convention. They were in a box of their own making, one that came to feel airtight and uncomfortable.
When critics, especially on the right, accused the media of protecting a Democrat because of liberal bias, journalists were unable to respond, because to do so would be to acknowledge the very thing they were declining to report. At the same time, news organisations have fewer reporters to dig into what most considered a less-than-pressing priority.
As the political fallout came to be openly debated in the North Carolina papers, I pursued the matter and was struck by Edwards' refusal to talk about whether he had a relationship with Rielle Hunter, his former campaign aide, or to even issue a statement.
Edwards' actions did not seem to be those of a man with nothing to hide. I came to believe that we should publish a story. But I don't get paid to make those decisions.
Belated confession
Only Edwards' belated confession on Friday to ABC's Bob Woodruff allowed news organisations to jump on what most people already knew.
Those who blithely dismiss a brash supermarket tabloid - what New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller called the "hold-your-nose quality about the Enquirer" - had better check the record.
The Enquirer's standards certainly aren't my standards, and I still believe that paying sources, as it did in the Edwards case, taints a story. But the paper knows how to conduct an investigation for certain kinds of stories.
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