NBC Mentions Rep. Studds Sex w/Teen Page

Studds Had to Die to Get NBC to Remind Viewers of His Sex with a Teen Page

Gerry Studds had to die for NBC Nightly News to inform viewers of how the former Democratic Congressman had a sexual relationship with 17-year-old male congressional page, misconduct for which the House in 1983 censured him, but did not prompt Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill and other leaders to force his resignation -- nor raise calls for O'Neill's resignation. Despite the Democratic hypocrisy given their current calls for Speaker Hastert's resignation and investigations of who knew what and when about Mark Foley, Saturday night -- two weeks into the media-fueled scandal -- was the first time, according to Nexis, any NBC News program mentioned Studds' name. Anchor John Seigenthaler, who called Studds “Gary,” relayed how “from Massachusetts comes word of the death of former Democratic Congressman Gary Studds, the first openly gay Member of Congress.” Seigenthaler then gave the gentlest of descriptions as he avoided the word “sexual” in his one sentence on the matter: “In 1983 the House of Representatives censured Studds for his relationship with a teenage page.”

ABC does not produce an evening newscast on Saturdays during college football season and college football bumps the CBS Evening News on Saturdays in the Eastern and Central time zones.

As I recall, early in the week of October 2, the ABC and CBS evening newscasts made very brief mentions of the 1983 cases of Democrat Studds, who went on to repeatedly win re-election, and Republican Dan Crane, who also had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old congressional page -- but a girl -- and lost in his next primary. CNN's Jeff Greenfield put together a full story on Studds, Crane and the history of sexual scandals on Capitol Hill.

For how ABC News, which broke the Foley story, treated Studds back in 1983, check Tim Graham's October 5 NewsBusters posting, “ABC on Gerry Studds: Only 'A Strong Sense of Loyalty' and Forgiveness from Voters.”

The brief item on the October 14 NBC Nightly News, as announced by anchor John Seigenthaler:


“From Massachusetts comes word of the death of former Democratic Congressman Gary [sic] Studds, the first openly gay Member of Congress. In 1983 the House of Representatives censured Studds for his relationship with a teenage page. Still, he won re-election until his retirement in 1997. Studds collapsed last week and was recovering in Boston at a hospital when doctors say he succumbed to a blood clot. Gary Studds was 69.”
The Boston Globe's obituary for Studds, on Sunday's front page, noted:

"As the Foley scandal unfolded and he abruptly resigned from the House, Republicans in Washington accused Democrats of hypocrisy, saying they had not spoken out in 1983 when Studds was censured. At the time, he called it 'a serious error,' but refused to resign
http://newsbusters.org/node/8336

 

For the 23,000th time . . .

--- Studds' offense came in 1973 . . . and wasn't even known until 1983. It's not news in 2006. I'm sure NBC "informed" viewers of Studds' censure when it happened . . . 23 years ago. Their job is not to bring it up just to make you happy.

--- There was no attempt to cover up Studds' offense by the Dems. THAT'S the problem with the Foley matter. The COVERUP. I don't give a damn whether Foley resigned or not. I say let him run . . . and get clobbered. But COVERING UP his behavoir for almost a decade is why the GOP is in hot water.

--- To repeat, Tip O'Neill did not cover up offensive behavior that he knew about for years. Dennis Hastert did. Are we clear?

--- The evening news shows are 22 minutes long. Wasting that precious time to bring up 23-year-old news is not very smart. That's what cable news is for . . . to beat this horse to death.

 

You know, Studds was not the only Congressman to be censured by the House in 1983 for having sex with an underage page.

Haven't heard the other guy's named mentioned much in the so-called liberal media, and I'll bet your favorite blogs haven't come within four ZIP codes of it.

I wonder why?

 

Maybe it is because Gerry Studds was re-elected seven times after his censure while Dan Crane simply faded into political oblivion.

 

I think it is really disengenious to mention 'censure only' when he was caught having sex with said male page.

 

The political aftermath of both Studds and Crane is not the point.

The GOP and the so-called liberal media specifically cite Studds and the fact that he kept his job as examples of Tip O'Neill's slap-on-the-wrist response and the Democrats' alleged hypocrisy on Foley. There's been no mention that the Republican Congressman who did the same dastardly deed as Studds also remained in office and ran for re-election. Hell, there's been little mention of the Republican Congressman, period.

It reeks of intellectual dishonesty.

 

You mean NBC didn't do a five-year update on Gerry Studds and a page over the past 20-odd years but only now mentioned it in his obit?
I'm shocked.

 

The ONLY difference in Studds and Crane is that one won re-election, and the other lost.

That's it.

Personally, I don't think either of them need to be mentioned today. However, if one feels compelled to beat this dead horse, ANY mention of Studds MUST also mention Crane --- with similar disdain --- to even come close to objective debate.

But objective debate isn't really the goal, is it?

 

Deep_background is reporting that the freshman Gerry Studds has been sworn in to Congress. More on this story as it develops.

 

David Aldridge has confirmed that Studds is a great name for a Congressman that has sex

 

Isn't it about time for one of the moderators to throw a brush-back pitch high and tight at d_b?

 

Why do people worry about him?

He's no worse than any of the other politico-junkies around here.