Bill Press: The summer of Chandra

By Bill Press, Tribune Media Services

WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- The summer of 2001 will be remembered for many momentous events, such as when George W. Bush started t-ball games on the South Lawn; or when Rush Limbaugh re-signed for $245 million worth of hot air; or when Mariah Carey checked herself into a mental hospital.

But, most of all, it will be remembered as the time when the American media, once and for all, destroyed its own reputation for objectivity and integrity. It will be remembered as the “Summer of Chandra Levy” and a textbook case of media overkill. Both in print and on television, the press managed to turn the Levy case into a sleazy summer novel -- with just as many cheap thrills, and just as few actual facts.

Take the most recent media circus surrounding the case. The D.C. police announced a tip had been received by a California website that Levy’s body was buried under a parking lot under construction at Ft. Lee, Virginia -- and suddenly the cable channels went wall-to-wall.

Regular programming was suspended. Helicopters hovered over the army base. Camera trucks surrounded the front gates. Reporters did endless stand-ups about nothing. Cadaver dog experts were interviewed. Could they sniff through asphalt? Was the body stuffed in shrink-wrap? Would they find Chandra Levy buried alongside Jimmy Hoffa?

Only three hours later did the FBI announce they were suspending any search of the parking lot, pending verification of the source of the rumor. Finally someone bothered to get first things first. The next morning, we learned that the FBI had received the same tip a week earlier, and dismissed it as a hoax. Once again, the media had not let the facts get in the way of tabloid coverage.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there were 800,700 reports of missing persons last year, most of them children. Every one of those cases was devastating for the families involved. Chandra Levy’s disappearance is a tragedy, but no more than all the rest.

Let’s be honest, there’s only reason we know about Chandra Levy at all. She would be as anonymous as all the other missing persons we never heard of except for one fact -- she was having an affair with a member of Congress. That may be important. And if that relationship brings more attention to this case and helps find Chandra Levy and maybe even other missing persons, the publicity will have served a useful purpose. But it’s no excuse for the non-stop parade of rumors, slander, gossip and garbage we've had to endure over Chandra Levy and Gary Condit.

The Ft. Lee fiasco is only the latest in a string of rumors, all breathlessly reported as fact -- without checking first. Rumor: Just before her disappearance, Levy made a flurry of last-minute phone calls to Condit. Fact: according to her phone records, there were none.

Rumor: the last person she called was Condit. Fact: her last call was to a male friend at the Bureau of Prisons. Rumor: Levy was pregnant. Fact: she was not. Rumor: Condit also had an affair with an 18-year-old girl in Modesto. Fact: the FBI says the girl’s father was lying.

Rumor: Levy walked into a D.C. hardware store to have new keys made, days after she was reported missing. Fact: store records show no trace of her.

And then there’s the most outrageous media excess of all. Every day, the parents of Chandra Levy, her aunt and her uncle, go on national television and, in effect, accuse Congressman Condit of having something to do with her disappearance. The FBI and the D.C. police department have both said, repeatedly, he is not a suspect. They insist he has cooperated fully. Yet Levy’s parents continue to accuse him, and can do so anytime they want on national television.

The summer of Chandra Levy is also the summer of shame, when, in the interest of filling time and space, the media lost all sense of fairness or honesty. It is not fair to destroy any person’s reputation without the facts, not even a politician’s. It is not honest to devote hours to chewing, discussing and speculating about sensational “new” developments without first determining their accuracy.

In the middle of the media madness, one level head survives. Of all the networks, only CBS News and Dan Rather refused to join the Chandra rush because, said Rather, he preferred to stick to “decent, responsible journalism.” It’s nice to know there’s one left.