i
The Associated Press
Headlines such as “Sex and Lies”
and “The XXX Files” screamed from
newsstands Saturday, along with
warnings to readers to expect more
than their usual breakfast-table fare.
The graphic sexual accounts from
Kenneth Starr’s massive report on
President Clinton were reprinted in
newspapers nationwide, as concerns
about offending readers were out
weighed by die implications of accu
sations that Clinton committed
impeachable offenses.
“We think this was an historic
enough event in our country that peo
ple would want to have as many facts
before them as possible to reach their
own conclusions,” said Raul Reyes,
assistant managing editor at the San
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Papers big and small published
special sections, added pages to their
often thin Saturday editions and print
ed extra copies. Whether they pub
lished all or part of Starr’s report,
most papers included warnings about
the details of Clinton’s affair with
Monica Lewinsky.
In St Louis, where home-run king
Mark McGwire dominated this past
week’s pages, readers will have to
wait until Monday to get their full ver
sion of the report in print
The St Louis Post-Dispatch pub
lished the Starr report and rebuttal on
its Web site Saturday. But it had no
room in the paper Saturday or Sunday,
when it was running a special com
memorative for McGwire.
I--:--—
66
To X-rate the section is equivalent to
saying ‘Juicy Bits Here’and we thought that
was a little condescending.’’
Joseph Leiyveld
New York Times executive editor
“The Starr report just pales in
comparison in terms of what is going
on about Mark McGwire,” said Dick
Weil, managing editor.
The Washington Post printed the
report in a 25-page special section
with a three-paragraph, large-type
advisory about the lurid contents atop
the section’s front page. The Arizona
Republic also ran a special section
with the complete report and a dis
claimer.
The New York Times printed the
entire report as a special section and
devoted five of its six front-page sto
ries to Clinton, but did not print a
muiuu^t
“We felt that it was almost impos
sible that an individual reader could
pick up the report without knowing
what was in it after everything that
had been on television last night and
everything they would read on our
front page,” said Joseph Lelyveld,
executive editor.
‘To X-rate the section is equiva
lent to saying ‘Juicy Bits Here’ and we
thought that was a little condescend
ing,” Lelyveld said.
Clinton’s hometown newspaper,
the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in
Little Rock, published the entire
report in a22-page special section and
devoted three-quarters of its front
page to the story under the banner
headline: “Starr Report: Sex and
Lies.”
Tabloids, of course, got in their
gibes. The New York Daily News
headline called die report “THE XXX
FILES,” and the New York Post pro
claimed it Clinton’s “DAY OF
SHAME.” The Philadelphia Daily
News screamed “YUCK!”
Ben Bagdikian, a former assistant
managing editor and ombudsman for
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ers, especially parents, would likely
view reprinting the sexual accounts as
overkill given die report’s exposure on
TV and the Internet
Some readers will say, ‘We knew
all of this all along; did they have to
print all of these salacious details for
my kids to see?”’ said Bagdikian, pro
fessor emeritus and former dean of
the University of Califomia-Berkeley
graduate school of journalism.
"1
Posting of Starr report
slows Internet speeds
NEW YORK ( AP) - For those
seeking the Starr report on die Web,
waiting was part of the search.
But even those trying to conduct
their routine Internet activity found
jam-ups and long delays.
As millions rushed Friday to
download Independent Counsel
Kenneth Starr’s report about President
Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, gov
ernment computers and Web sites
were swamped
Some called it the Internet’s
busiest day ever.
“This is the first big test of the
Internet to distribute a lot of data,” said
Mark Simmer, a vice president at Web
directory Lycos. “It wasn’t designed as
a broadcast medium. It was designed
as a communication medium. It’s like
everyone lifting up the same phone to
talk to their mother on Mo&er’s Day.”
Possibly most telling in the Web’s
acceptance as a toddling mass medium
was Congress’ decision to use it to dis
tribute the report
Still, there woe fumbles. An hour
after the report was released, the White
House, Senate and House Web sites
were hopelessly snarled, as were the
four other government sites offering it
All across the Internet, the slow
down was felt. According to the
Internet Traffic Report, a Web site that
monitors and indexes the Net’s speed,
North America and Europe were most
affected, especially the areas around
New York and Washington. Even call
r11 »'
ing unrelated Web sites was some
times sluggish. •'
The slowdown shows the Web is
still primitive, said Abdelsalam
Heddaya, vice president of Infolibria,
a maker of computers that help move
data around the Net
As the wired population grows, the
news sites will have trouble keeping up
with the crowds. But they are trying.
The news Web site
http://msnbc.com reported 26 servers
working at full capacity - and more
were being installed to meet demand -
but at times in die afternoon it was still
inaccessible or slow to respond.
Once the report was posted, CNN’s
Web site was getting more than
4uu,uuu nits a minute, spokesman
Kerrin Roberts said
That was higher than the record
320,000 a minute Aug. 31 when the
Dow Jones industrial average plunged.
To ease the crush, http://cnn.com
stripped out most pictures and graph
ics to present a fast-loading version.
Traffic on The Associated Press’
Web site peaked at about 20 times the
normal load just prior to the release
shortly before 2 p.m., said Ruth Gersh,
editor of the AP’s multimedia services.
Still, with the cyber-rush, frustra
tion was inevitable. Even television
anchors had problems getting the
report quickly. “If somebody wants to
step over to the fax machine and fax
us, we’d appreciate it,” CBS’ Dan
Rather said
No crimes
committed,
Clinton says
REBUTTAL from page 2
misconduct short of an offense
against the state, is not redressable
by impeachment,” they wrote.
Ultimately, that will be up to
Congress to decide - a point that
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, made
tartly. “David Kendall is not the one
who will decide what is impeach
able and what isn’t,” said the chair
man of the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
“It’s the House of
Representatives.
Former independent counsel
Michael Zeldin said the White
House appears to be trying to set its
own guidelines for the public to
decide how serious Clinton’s actions
were.
“It sounds like the White House
is saying, ‘What are the rules?’ If
tins is not a criminal lie, how is that a
high crime and misdemeanor?”
Zeldin said.
The more successful die White
House is in making that argument,
the harder it might be to gain the
public support needed for impeach
ment, said Georgetown University
law professor Paul Rothstein.
“If something is not a crime, I
think there will be an initial reluc
tance to view it as very serious,” he
said.
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If this describes you and you would like to
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DATE: September 16
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LOCATION: NROTC Library on first floor of MAN Building
(Nth and Vine)
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September 14 & 15
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