The (Howard) Dean Scream

[SacTown Chronic]

Interesting article from Edward Wasserman (Knight professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University in Virginia) in the Miami Herald about the so-called "Dean Scream" and the media's culpability in shaping Howard Dean's image.

'The Dean Scream'


"And with Dean's recent appointment as Democratic Party chairman it's being hauled out as constituting the ceiling on whatever political ambitions he might still have, proof that he's shaky, unstable, unfit to serve -- Howard Dean's Chappaquiddick.

You've seen the clip. After Janet Jackson's ''wardrobe malfunction'' at the Super Bowl, it's the most famous news video of 2004. Dean is addressing campaign supporters after he lost the Iowa party caucuses in January. He's screaming for no apparent reason, practically shrieking, ticking off the states where he's vowing to continue the race. His face is red, his voice breaking. He looks deranged. It's a portrait of a man out of control. It's documentary evidence that Dean lacks the temperament for high office.

In fact the Dean Scream was a fraud, probably the clearest instance of media assassination in recent U.S. political history.

Last year, a young cable news producer attended one of our twice-yearly Ethics Institutes at Washington and Lee University, in which students and journalists gather to discuss newsroom wrongdoing. He brought two clips.

• The first was the familiar pool footage of Dean in Iowa. The candidate filled the screen, no supporters were visible. Crowd noise was silenced by the microphone he held, which deadened ambient sounds. You saw only him and heard only his inexplicable screaming.

• The second clip was the same speech taped by a supporter on the floor of the hall. The difference was stunning. The place was packed. The noise was deafening. Dean was on the podium, but you couldn't hear him. The roar from his supporters was drowning him out.

Dean was no longer scary, unhinged, volcanic, over the top. He was like the coach of a would-be championship NCAA football team at a pre-game rally, trying to be heard over a gym full of determined, wildly enthusiastic fans. I saw energy, not lunacy.

The difference was context. As psychiatrist R.D. Laing once wrote: We see a woman on her knees, eyes closed, muttering to someone who isn't there. Of course, she's praying. But if we deny her that context, we naturally conclude she's insane.

The Dean Scream footage that was repeatedly aired rests on a similar falsehood. It takes a man who in context was acting reasonably, and by stripping away that context transforms him into a lunatic.

But that clip was aired an estimated 700 times on various cable and broadcast channels in the week after the Iowa caucus. The people who showed that clip are far more technically sophisticated than I and had to understand how tight visual framing and noise-suppression hardware can distort reality."

[wendybeth]

There was a small bit on this just after the incident, because so many people who were there knew the real story. Unfortunately, it did not make it to mainstream media, primarily because the outlets either were embarassed by their culpability with regards to spreading the story, or it did not fit their agenda. Sad, isn't it?

In keeping with the media manipulation theme here- I noticed an article, at Fox, of all places, that theorises that the actual person behind the CBS debacle was Carl Rove. I thought that from the first, since it would be such an A****er thing to do, and Rove was A****er's protege. We'll see if it goes anywhere, though.

Lol! It edited A t w a t e r , and I just realised why...

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by wendybeth

In keeping with the media manipulation theme here- I noticed an article, at Fox, of all places, that theorises that the actual person behind the CBS debacle was Carl Rove. I thought that from the first, since it would be such an A****er thing to do, and Rove was A****er's protege. We'll see if it goes anywhere, though.

Lol! It edited A t w a t e r , and I just realised why...

Hehehe. Alright, alright, I'll fix that. This is the second time we've run across that (last time being the city name). I was ammused by it, so I left it in, but that will eventually get annoying.

[scaeagles]

I actually respect Dean and think the scream was played up far more than it should have been. I respect him because he typically says what he means. I thought the scream was funny, but shouldn't have been.....campaign ending.

[alphabassettgrrl]

I miss Howard Dean. I enjoyed the campaign when he was still in it.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I had no clue about the context thing. Bummer. He'll never recover from that. I'm surprised the "liberal media" didn't help him out. I guess they were just looking for ratings, per usual.

[wendybeth]

I suspect you're right, CP. Still, I'm sure it will come out eventually, when Rove suffers his inevitable downfall or is stricken with a terminal illness and decides to come clean, like his mentor. Dean was elected to lead the DNC, so perhaps he will be able to overcome this, but I still don't think he's a strong enough candidate.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I also supported Dean and think he is a good guy who got a raw deal with the whole scream thing. I doubt he could ever truly bounce back from that.

Damn liberal media.

[scaeagles]

Liberal media was thinking big picture. Dean would have gotten slaughtered, and they knew that. I do not think the democrat leadership wanted Dean to win the nomination.

[€uroMeinke]

Ever since Nixon's sweaty upperlip may have lost him the election to Kennedy, Candidates have had to be more media savvy. They must be aware of how they look in a crowd, how they look on TV, and how they might sound on radio - all of these images impact their potential electability. Right or wrong it's the political reality.

Dean could have recovered from the scream, but at the time it happend his campaign was already running out of steam and it became a symbol of that fact. The media siezed on that, as they should - capturing the alegoric images to tell the tale in 30 seconds or less.

Reagen and Clinton were experts on managing their image, both took some embarrassing hits in their tenure but managed to ride them out and see their approval ratings soar. Dean just failed at having a proper comeback.