Massa Saga 'Just Heating Up'? Don't Hold Your Breath for Media Obsession

The "Eric Massa saga [is] just heating up," promises the headline for Jonathan Allen's April 19 Politico story about the latest development in the swift demise of the tickle-happy freshman Democrat:

For nearly a year, the allegations of scandalous activity in former Rep. Eric Massa’s office were kept quiet — by the congressman, by male aides who accuse him of sexually harassing them and by other congressional staff.

But with two aides coming forward last week to announce that they had filed harassment claims against the New York Democrat, charges and countercharges are exploding into full public view, ensuring that the Massa saga will not simply go away.

Instead, it will raise old questions about whether Congress is able to effectively police its own members and staff, and the degree to which staff members are responsible for — or even capable of — reining in lawmakers who are accused of abusing their power.

Of course, while I've no doubt that more sordid details of the scandal will drip out into the public consciousness between now and Election Day, I'm not anticipating that the mainstream media, at least the broadcast networks, are that interested in making hay of this matter, which doubtless may reflect poorly on the Democratic Party's management of the House of Representatives.

After all, as we have noted previously, there's a marked difference in how the initial coverage of Massa allegations differ from the media's drumbeat of the Mark Foley scandal. As NewsBusters editor-at-large Brent Baker noted in a March 5 blog post:

[W]hile the allegations against Massa of inappropriate same-sex harassment parallel those against Foley toward subordinates, Massa has barely made a blip on TV: A short item read by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams on Friday night (and a passing reference on Today) while ABC and CBS included him in larger Friday night stories.

Back in 2006, however, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening and morning shows dedicated 152 stories to Foley over two weeks, as documented in the MRC's October 11, 2006 Media Reality Check by Tim Graham: “Foley Feeding Frenzy; Nets Air 150+ Stories: ABC, CBS, NBC Sound Like Perpetual Motion Machine Manufacturing 'Foley Fallout' Against GOP.”