Het Lewinsky-schandaal. Van pekelzonde tot impeachment

This article discusses the Monica Lewinsky scandal which concerned a love affair between the President of the United States and a 21 year old trainee Monica Lewinsky. The affair started in the summer of 1995 and became public knowledge in January 1998. At first it seemed that a real 'Lewinsky gate' was in the making but as it turned out - surprisingly for many - the public was not willing to participate in the kind of character assassination some of Clinton's mostly Republican political adversaries had in mind. 'Independent counsel' Kenneth Starr was seen to be less independent than he should have been and much more politically prejudiced. Although Clinton clearly lied under oath about the nature of his relationship with Lewinsky public opinion remained solidly opposed to impeachment. The author concludes that this scandal does not confirm James Lull and Stephen Hinerman's thesis that 'managers of modern news media actively try to turn stories into scandals.' If the media had lived up to the thesis Clinton certainly would have lost the presidency.

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