ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Nomatterhowoftenmediascholarsandcolumnistsscoldthemforit, peoplelikescandal.Scandalsellsnewspapersandtabloids,keepspeople infrontoftheirtelevisions,andprovidesendlessopportunitiesforconversation.Thisisnotanewphenomenon;thepennypress,earlytabloids, and"jazzjournalism"thrivedonscandal.Ofallthenewsstoriescurrent in1989,thetoptwointermsofaudiencerecognitionweretheconvictionofOliverNorthandthetrialoftheRev.JimBakker,whilethemajor storywithleastrecognitionwascatastrophichealthcarecoverage,which surelytouchesthelivesofmanymoreofthenews-watchingpublic(Price andCzilli1996).Twoofthehighest-ratednewsinterviewsever,atleast beforetheO.J.Simpsontrial,wereBarbaraWalters'conversationwith DonnaRicein1987,andDianeSawyer'swithMarlaMaplesin1990 (Mellencamp1992).1TheTopTenstoriesinaudienceinterestidentified bythePewResearchCenterforthePeopleandthePressareconsistently personality-ratherthanissue-driven,althoughnotnecessarilyscandals. In1998,theClinton-LewinskyscandalbecameperhapsthebiggestU.S. newsstoryever(atleastuntilthequalitativelymuchdifferentSeptember 11catastrophe),anditalsomarkedthearrivaloftheInternetasasite bothfornewinformationandforpopulardissectionofthescandal.Three weeksintothescandal,Lewinskydrew"asmanypeopleasPrincessDiana andtheSuperBowltomajormediawebsitesliketheWashingtonPost, APNewsandCNN.NewMonicasiteshadtheirtrafficzoomfromzero tomorethan15,000dailyhitswithinhours,whileexistingsitesreported trafficjumpingfrom10,000hitsto100,000hitsaday.Andthe"Drudge
Report;' which was averaging 55,000 hits a day, skyrocketed to more than 300,000 daily hits" (Kaplowitz 1998).
