Quora Questions are part of a partnership between Newsweek and Quora, through which we'll be posting relevant and interesting answers from Quora contributors throughout the week. Read more about the partnership here.
Answer from Konstantin Toropin, CNN journalist:
How does the New York Times evidence for the alleged Donald Trump assaults compare with what it required before publishing the Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky and John Edwards stories? I have a sneaking suspicion that this question isn't really interested in comparing the evidence of each of these cases but is actually suggesting that the "crooked media" is running the Trump accusations on thinner evidence than they did for Democratic scandals, thus foolishly exposing their bias.
Paula Jones: According to Jones, on May 8, 1991, she was escorted to then-Arkansas Governor Clinton's room in the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock where he propositioned and exposed himself to her. She said nothing until 1994 when she told her story to American Spectator, a conservative political magazine. Jones then filed a sexual harassment suit against Clinton in May 1994, two days before the three-year statute of limitations, seeking $750,000 in damages. The "evidence" in this case was Jones's story. As a result, Jones's case ended up fizzling and, after a dismissal and an appeal, Clinton settled the suit in 1998 for $850,000, with no apology or admission of guilt. All but $200,000 was directed to pay legal fees.
The coverage of this scandal generated more than 500 articles in the four years between the filing of the suit and its settlement.
In the days after the lawsuit was filed, Jones's attorney, Susan Carpenter-McMillan, was a guest on Meet the Press, Crossfire, Equal Time, Larry King Live, Today, The Geraldo Rivera Show, Burden of Proof, Hannity & Colmes, TalkBack Live.
Monica Lewinsky: The Lewinsky scandal, which has ties to the Jones lawsuit, was famously broken by the Drudge Report, (though the Washington Post ran a story the next morning) alleging that Newsweek was sitting on a story that Clinton's White House urged Lewinsky to lie to Jones's lawyers about whether the intern had an affair with the president. The evidence in this case was, initially, 10 recorded conversations a White House aide had with Lewinsky in which she graphically recounted details of a year-and-a-half-long affair she said she had with Clinton.
Again, the coverage was extensive, with papers like the Washington Post hosting entire sections of coverage to the affair and subsequent hearings and impeachment.
John Edwards: This case is a bit interesting. The story was broken by The National Enquirer and it was ignored for a time because its only evidence was an anonymous source. What really legitimated the Enquirer's claims was their catching Edwards at Beverly Hills hotel where Rielle Hunter was staying. The Enquirer claimed to have video and photos of the two meeting. This encounter got the blogosphere (back then, this was a thing) talking and finally the inquiries and increasing pressure forced Edwards to admit the affair in a long interview with ABC's Bob Woodruff. Of the three, this example involves the thinnest evidence and the most notable delay of coverage by the main stream media.
To summarize, the evidence in the other cases was Jones's story, recorded testimony and an anonymous source followed by Edwards being "caught." Now, comparing these allegations directly to Trump's case is problematic.
In Jones's case, the evidence was thin, it was just her story. She also didn't take her story to a prominent, mainstream outlet. She went to a smaller, partisan magazine. It's impossible to say what would have happened had she gone to The New York Times or Washington Post. Jones also filed a lawsuit, which none of the women accusing Trump have done.
In Lewinsky's case, scandal came from already rolling coverage and the evidence was fairly damning. Ken Starr was already in the picture and the Clinton investigation was going full steam. In some ways, this case is perhaps most similar to what is happening to Trump as these allegations come in the midst of already ongoing coverage of a scandal but the evidence of the Lewinsky scandal was substantial. Also, its important to note that Clinton and Lewinsky had consensual sex. The scandal here was lying to a special prosecutor.
And finally, with Edwards, there was an anonymous source that went to a tabloid. Now sure, its easy to say that the delay in taking this source seriously is an example of elitism on the part of the major outlets, but bear in mind that tabloids don't have a great track record. Remember Ted Cruz's Sex Scandal with the 5 secret mistresses?
So where does that leave us? Who knows. These attempts at comparing various scandals, especially Trump's to Bill Clinton's, is pretty silly.
How does the NYT evidence for the Trump assaults compare with what it required before publishing the Paula Jones, Lewinsky, and John Edwards stories? originally appeared on Quora—the knowledge-sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
More questions:
- The New York Times: What are the different positions at a newspaper like the Times or WSJ and what role does each play in producing a news story?
- Donald Trump: What should Donald Trump do to maximize his chances of winning the 2016 US Presidential election?
- Politics of the United States of America: Do you still want Hillary Clinton to win after the email leaks from October?
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
