Media Break, Media Make p.24

Posted
By: GEORGE GARNEAU AS A POLITICAL adviser, Dick Morris made his living manipulating the press and public for the gain of his clients, Republicans and Democrats.
He was forced to resign two week ago after the supermarket tabloid Star disclosed his yearlong affair with a call girl. The story, for which she was paid, included kinky sex and breaches in confidentiality with the president.
Morris may be down, but he's not out ? not out of the media, anyway. Quite the opposite.
Unknown to his employers on the Clinton campaign, he signed a deal with Random House five months ago to write about his role in the campaign, the New York Times reported Sept. 6.
When the scandal broke, under terms of an escape clause, Morris actually solicited higher bids from other publishers, but went back to Random House for a revised $2.6 million contract.
Unnamed White House sources suggested the earlier contract violated disclosure regulations.
While the book won't cover the scandal, Random House chief Harold Evans remarked, "If we didn't publish books by people who had illicit sex, we would be out of business."
A day earlier, the Times' Maureen Down reported Morris had pitched himself to CBS as a political commentator, a role the network was discussing.
Meanwhile, more is coming from the Star on Morris: an out-of-wedlock child born to a former girlfriend.
Stay tuned to your nearest media outlet for more.
?(The supermarket tabloid Star offered various mainstream newspapers a chance to break its scandalous story (right) of presidential adviser Dick
Morris' relationship with a hooker. The New York Post accepted the offer and published its account, including a front-page photo and headline, two days before the Star hit the newsstands (far right).) [Caption]

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here