The Media and the Firestone Scandal
Media Monitor | By Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid | October 10, 2000
In an August 13th editorial, the New York Times conceded, “Had it not been for a Houston television report on the problem that triggered a spate of complaints to the [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] earlier this year, most drivers would still be unaware of their danger.”
The major media are tired of any scandals having to do with President Clinton, but they have certainly jumped on revelations that Firestone sold consumers some defective tires. Even though the story has become big, with Senate and House panels competing to see who can appear more concerned, the credit for making it into a national controversy doesn’t belong with the national media.
In an August 13th editorial, the New York Times conceded, “Had it not been for a Houston television report on the problem that triggered a spate of complaints to the [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] earlier this year, most drivers would still be unaware of their danger.” That station is KHOU, whose investigative team first reported the story in February of this year.
This is extremely important because journalists for the major media tend to look down on local media. They tend to think that local reporters are shills for area corporations or would rather spend their time on fluff. Another argument against local media is that they just don’t have the investigative resources necessary to do serious journalism. But where was 60 Minutes on this story? Or Ted Koppel’s Nightline? Both have huge staffs. Instead, as noted by Joan Claybrook of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen organization, the Houston station “led the way in making this a national recall...” KHOU’s stories led other local television stories to cover the matter and, finally, Claybrook said, “it sparked 60 Minutes [in] getting involved.”
The New York Times acknowledged the role of the station as well, reporting that “What had been a quiet issue for Firestone and Ford began to turn into a storm in February, when someone who had been injured in an accident involving a Ford Explorer with Firestone tires contacted KHOU...The station ran a segment on possible problems with the tires. Slowly, other stations picked up on the story.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration even gave credit to the station for forcing it to react to the problem.
After the original KHOU report aired, a corporate executive with Firestone wrote the station to complain, saying the story was filled with falsehoods and misrepresentations. But the stories were too dramatic to ignore. In August, the station aired a follow-up, telling how a middle-aged Texas couple, Cynthia and C.J. Jackson, had been heading out for a vacation on the road. They were traveling in their Ford explorer when they changed lanes and heard a pop. The pop was the tread coming off the tire. The truck was shaking and it rolled. The next thing Cynthia Jackson remembered was waking up in the hospital, discovering that both of her legs would have to be amputated below the knee, and that her husband was dead.
The Firestone scandal touches a chord with the American people because it affects ordinary people. But the Clinton scandals on the national level are just as important, even more so. The government cover-up of the cause of the TWA 800 crash involves 230 people, more than twice as many victims in the Firestone scandal. But so far at least the national media don’t want to hold the government accountable.
Reed Irvine is the former Chairman of Accuracy In Media and Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report.
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