Giuliani's 'Personal & Political Baggage' Goes Largely Untouched by Media

Will the media look past Giuliani's perceived status as "America's Mayor"?

Washington, DC - Despite the fact that presumptive 2008 Republican presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's political career has been marked by numerous controversies, major papers and broadcast news networks have either ignored or downplayed "personal and political baggage" identified by his staff in an internal document that lays out his plan for a White House bid.

"It seems that 'America's Mayor' is getting the royal treatment by the media," said Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters for America. "Is the press so in love with Rudy that they'll just look the other way as even his own campaign admits that his position on social issues and his past political scandals are major hurdles? It's time for the media to do their job and report on the damning contents of the Giuliani campaign plan."

The media have overlooked a number of inconsistencies, questionable conduct and political controversies in Giuliani's career, some of which were reportedly laid out in the internal document. According to a January 2 New York Daily News article, the Giuliani camp recognized the potential presidential candidate's "central problems," such as, "his private sector business; disgraced former aide Bernard Kerik; his third wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani; "social issues," on which is he is more liberal than most Republicans; and his former wife Donna Hanover."

The Daily News reported that it had received the Giuliani camp's "top secret plan" and that the documents the paper obtained listed several controversial aspects of Giuliani's career that his staff recognized as potentially damaging politically. NBC and ABC, however, gave scant attention to this story and CBS ignored it altogether. The Washington Post reported on the document in a January 3 article, but the story appeared on Page 4 of the paper's A section. In contrast, the front page of the January 3 Washington Post featured an article on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) admission from 11 years ago that he tried cocaine as a young man.

BACKGROUND

Leaked Giuliani document lays out his potential political troubles -- and still the media look away

http://mediamatters.org/items/200701040004

Summary: Major papers and the broadcast news networks have either ignored or downplayed the "personal and political baggage" identified by the staff of former New York City mayor and presumptive 2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in a document that lays out his plan for a "bid for the White House."

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