Politics are a talk show turnoff

The Kitchen Sink
    By Karen Abravanel

Apparently irked by the allegations against President Bill Clinton, LAW '73, talk-show host Sally Jesse Raphael took democracy into her own hands. "This is a town meeting," she told an audience last week. As usual, her producers stamped the show's title on the bottom left corner of the television screen. And as usual, this title ended with an exclamation point: "The President's Crisis!"

I came across this particular show by accident, although I must admit that I have seen enough episodes to follow the program's evolution. I have watched Raphael's hair become redder, her glasses become smaller and trendier, and her topics become more bizarre. Now, instead of consoling angry transsexual divorcées, Raphael wanted to play politician.

Raphael's endeavor reflects a modern obsession with public opinion. We seem more and more interested in hearing what our fellow citizens have to say, and technological improvements make it easier to listen. Even as viewers criticize Judge Koch on the "People's Court" website, though, the town meeting maintains its place as the established forum for democratic debate. This forum, which originated in the small towns of New England, provided a method for direct legislation--every citizen participated in the political process.

Perhaps Raphael's use of the phrase "town meeting" seemed a bit far-fetched, since her show could not result in any voting or actual

decisions. Yet in terms of its structure, Raphael's show--like all talk shows--had the basic elements of a town meeting. It had a group of citizens (the audience), a central gathering place (the studio), a political issue to discuss (the current allegations against the President) and a leader or moderator of sorts (Raphael). And dedicated to the proposition that all audience members are created equal, talk shows encourage everyone to express his or her opinion.

That Raphael should assume the role of political moderator is not extraordinary. Talk show hosts have often ventured into politics, and vice versa. In the 1980s, Phil Donahue led heated debates about civil rights. Geraldo Rivera, as a correspondent for several news programs, earned national recognition for his government exposés. Oprah Winfrey gained enough political clout to upset American beef prices. And after years of service on the city council, eventual talk show host Jerry Springer became one of Cincinnati's most popular mayors.

Raphael, however, has received no recognition for her political endeavors--to her dismay. In support of her town meeting experiment, she interpersed clips from past shows to demonstrate her previous encounters with the Clinton administration. In a 1994 clip, for example, Paula Jones's sister revealed her conviction that Paula was lying to get money. "But no one remembers this one because it was on my show," Raphael explained, shaking her head.

To begin her latest attempt, Raphael warmed up her audience with some pointed questions. "So how many of you think that other presidents had affairs?" Raphael asked. A sea of hands responded. "And how many of you think this is a media circus?" The audience roared.

As Raphael added guests to her panel, though, audience participation declined proportionally. The media analyst and the CNN commentator yelled at the Republican. The sex therapist labeled Clinton a "narcissist," and the family psychologist advised the President to tell Chelsea the truth.

How could the audience members add to a discussion which was no longer their own? They couldn't. During the entire hour, only four audience members spoke. One woman accused the media of blowing the issue out of proportion, and making the United States "look bad." A young man insisted upon the legal notion of "innocent until proven guilty." Another audience member denounced the constant attacks against the President. And a former intern conveyed his absolute support for the Clinton administration.

Usually, members of talk show audiences cannot wait to have their say; this time, Raphael all but begged for their participation. "Hands up whenever you want to say anything," she said, trying to hawk her second-rate panel in the marketplace of ideas. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, no one wanted to buy.

What happened? Raphael's town meeting experiment failed when she could not elicit the participation of her audience--one cannot learn the public's opinion when the public is unwilling to give it. Her experiment may have had the necessary structural elements, but declaring these elements a "town meeting" does not yield an authentic democracy. A real democracy is more than the sum of its parts, and its maintenance requires hard work and strong leadership. Raphael fell short this time.

Just ask Mayor Springer.

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• When wisdom replaces wonder, 1/16/98

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