Sabato, Larry J. and Robert S. Lichter. “News Coverage of the Clinton Scandals: An Overview.” When Should the Watchdogs Bark? Media Coverage of the Clinton Scandals. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1994. 5-13. Print.

            Sabato and Lichter provide an overview of the Clinton Scandals and their media coverage.  The skeptics of the Clinton Administration start with personal affairs that date to long before the president’s campaign to the Whitehouse.  In 1993, “four Arkansas state troopers who had worked on then-Governor Clinton’s security detail publicly accused him of rampant womanizing”.  The media picks up this scandal and exposes the new issue in political news coverage: whether or not the “president’s personal life” is fair game for broadcast outlets.  The Whitewater case, which involves the controversies of financial problems associated with Whitewater Development Corporation, grabs far more headlines than the President’s personal relationships.  The Whitewater coverage outweighs that of the personal scandals during the Clinton Administration, and the coverage on the Whitewater Scandal is at a minimum.  For, over the years of Clinton’s presidency, “scandal news of all types has accounted for only five percent of the administration’s coverage of the network evening news broadcasts”.  Thus, the coverage of the Whitewater Scandal has been at a minimum in the news press, and the broadcast media has been more focused on the policies of the president, as opposed to personal issues.