Spitzer: no crime, no story?
All of the attention devoted to the Eliot Spitzer story made me wonder how much interest was generated by the alleged criminal behavior and how much by a married man's decision to hire prostitutes? In 49 states these questions would not be separable.
But in Nevada, of course, brothels offer legal prostitutes to men. I approached local columnists for the Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun with the question: Were you to find out an elected official was frequenting one of our legal brothels, would you consider that a story worth pursuing absent any underlying crusade against legal brothels in his politics?
The Sun's political guru Jon Ralston wrote back instantly:
"If he were not married, it's not a story, unless he ran on a campaign platform against brothels. If he were married, it's a little trickier. It's legal and is it anyone's business? I tend to shy away from private lives unless there is a nexus to public performance, so would have to take into account the latter before making final call."
The Review-Journal's John L. Smith, perhaps, the most widely respected columnist in Nevada, rephrased my question slightly in his response:
"Would I write about a Nevada politician visiting a legal brothel?
Probably not -- unless the official was being a hypocrite (pretended to be a buttoned-down guy, religion on sleeve, etc.) Does the politician vote on adult industry-related stuff?"
Of course, this is a hypothetical politician, and neither Smith nor Ralston seems to offer a definitive answer. But their responses do seem to make clear that to them absent the criminal issue the legitimacy of the story becomes much more questionable.
My personal view is that without some public posture about family values, even for a married man it is none of my business as a journalist if the person is not breaking the law. And no matter who the politician was in the scandal, I suspect, the secondary story of what hooker he was visiting at the brothel would not get play down to her MySpace page, as has happened here. If it was a legal employee just going to work and doing her legal job, she would not be the tabloid star this "Kristen" has become. Or at least not unless she wanted the attention.
This is one of those problems you only have to face in Nevada; one of the reasons working here is so unique.
What do you think: Would the press be reporting on Spitzer with the same fury if he had flown to Nevada and spent his money at legal brothels instead of allegedly patronizing illegal escorts? Would you care as much?
So many of these things go on all the time without geing news.. until someone worth talking about is caught. So he cheated... and paid for it in so many ways... the word karma comes to mind...
Posted by: Aurora Snow | March 14, 2008 at 11:52 PM
So many of these things go on all the time, never a worthy news item until someone worth talking about comes along. So what he cheated- and paid for it in so many ways...
Posted by: Aurora Snow | March 14, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Everybody makes mistakes.
Posted by: Goebel | March 15, 2008 at 06:30 AM
Hypothetically, let's say the Governor was a bachelor, like Jerry Brown in the 1970's, and he visited a legal Nevada brothel. I'm certain over 90% of the news media would justify it as a newsworthy story because the Governor did something that is illegal in his home state. But if that same Governor played poker for an hour at a Nevada casino, the media wouldn't bat an eyelash. The difference is the story about a Governor visiting a brothel contains salacious details which sells a lot of newspapers and give everyone's ratings a boost. The media draws the line not on what is newsworthy, but on what sells..
Posted by: Anything Nacho | March 15, 2008 at 01:08 PM
I live in Las Vegas where prostitution in not legal. However in most of Nevada it is legal and who cares what anyone does with their free time and own money where prostitution is legal and regulated. Who cares is a character like Spitzer wants to come down here and engage in a legal activity? It is his own business. He was stupid and should have come patronized our State.
Posted by: RonNv | March 16, 2008 at 05:01 AM
Besides the legal issue, and the purient interest in the sex, there is the moral consideration. Many people consider this behavior as morally wrong, and an indication of moral deficiency or weakness. In view of this, it is often accompanied with deceit, hiding and perhaps denying the behavior. Many in America would not vote for someone who openly behaved in this way! So while some journalists might feel that this kind of behavior should not be news-worthy if not illegal, they would be greatly out of step with middle America; it only shows the gulf between an elite with a weak idea of morals, and middle America, who while they might do or wish they coud act likewise, nevertheless know it is wrong and would not want to see this kind of immoral behavior in their leaders.
Posted by: William L. | March 16, 2008 at 05:15 AM
Hypothetical is great, but what Eliot Spitzer did was illegal in New York and in the District of Columbia where the assignation took place as well as a violation of the Mann act. I'm not quite getting your point here - is it that Mr. Spitzer should have flown to Nevada for some legal extra-marital action? That still would be a poor fit with his law-and-order public persona developed through years of prosecution of Wall Street violations so strict they verged on the appearance of persecution.
Here's a twist to ask your pundits; would a prominent male politician or celebrity hooking up with a male prostitute receive the same treatment in the press as if he had met a female prostitute?
Posted by: Stubenville | March 16, 2008 at 07:04 AM
i have to agree with the position of JON RALSTON. i sincerely believe stories like this are NON ISSUES. I felt the same way about president Bill Clinton and then more recently the allegations made against John Mc Cain.
The private personal affairs of people in public office are not my concern regardless if they are married or not. honestly i could care less! Those issues are FAMILY ISSUES! A politician's personal family issues of this sort have absolutely nothing to do with me as a citizen or my tax dollar. i believe in the old saying, "we got bigger fish to fry".
a given politicians position on the economy, illegal immigration, taxes, our national defense, etc... these are the issues i'm concerned with because they have a direct affect on my life. what a politician does behind closed doors is his/her business even if it happens on the job. i don't care!
Now, i do have to offer a couple of examples of situations that would concern me and that i think would be NEWS WORTHY.
1. did a politician use tax dollars to pay for something like this? it seems i'm always paying more in taxes and i don't think it right to throw my money away on something like this especially when the guy earns more than i do.
2. did a politician commit this behavior in public in such a way as to harm the public image of our country or the office he/she holds? i'm a firm believer in that what people do in the privacy of their own homes or hotel rooms are their business, but if an american politician did something like this in public under the eifel tower for example then yes i'd say its an issue.
neither of these situations are the case and for this reason i believe the story itself is a NON ISSUE. i don't need anyone getting into my private life and i see no reason why i need to involve myself in theirs.
i believe the issue of "CHARACTER" in a politician should be judged on their official agenda and votiing record only, because that is the only thing that has any affect on the rest of us. their personal lives have no affect on their constituency.
Posted by: chris theisgen | March 16, 2008 at 09:25 AM
The press would probably report the Spitzer sexual abuse story the same way because of Spitzer’s hypocrisy in portraying himself as a person that feels compassion for prostitutes abused by johns and pimps.
A john who rents a person for sex is a sexual predator and they should be put on the national sexual predator list. The NY Times published a study that found that 2/3 of prostitutes suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Less than 5% of the general population suffers from PTSD. The prostitutes in the study were prostituted on the street and in brothels. The study director Dr. Melissa Farley stated, “we need to view prostitution itself as a traumatic stressor.”
Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times reported that almost half of prostitutes have attempted suicide. People should be aware of the enormous damage that johns like Spitzer inflict on prostitutes. A john would inflict the same damage on a prostitutes they rent regardless of whether the country where the abuse occurred legally allowed him to abuse prostitutes, so the media should frequently report about this social problem to educate people.
http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/issues/prostitution_legalizing.html
Posted by: Beatrice | March 16, 2008 at 06:07 PM
A leader should be morally good in his of her life. One aspect we call "morally good" is playing sex only with his/her spose. How can you effectively and efficiently manage national affairs or governorship in New York while you fail to control your marriage life by sleepling recklessly with prostitues?
So media has the responsibility to reveal to public every politician morally wrong conduct, no matter what his or her position is!
Tjipta Lesmana
Jakarta, Indonesia
Posted by: Tjipta Lesmana | March 17, 2008 at 02:20 AM
Spitzer took one last look at the economy for NY, and said, "Honey, what is the quickest way out of this office?"
I'm outa here!
Posted by: farnk | March 17, 2008 at 05:22 AM