Charlie Cook, political analyst, made amazing statement on 'This Week'...

Since winning control of Congress, Rep. Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.) hasconstantly complained about "destructive" and "negative" coverage from the"liberal elite media."

For example, when asked on Nightline (11/29/94) about his reference to theClintons as "counter-culture McGoverniks," he first insisted that he hadbeen misquoted--"I used the term McGovernite, not McGovernik--it was one ofthose things that the Times picked up and therefore it's now history"(actually, at least four different newspapers--including the New YorkTimes--quoted Gingrich in their November 10 editions as calling theClintons "counter-culture McGoverniks.")--and then blamed the media forselective reporting: "I didn't say that to attack the president, I wasasked an analytic question. But because I am now the next speaker, I amlearning that everything I say has to be worded carefully and thoughtthrough at a level that I've never experienced before in my life."

In fact, the new speaker of the House--who once described his goal as"reshaping the entire nation through the news media" (New York Times,12/14/94)--has given a great deal of thought to the media and how tomanipulate them. One Newtonian axiom is "fights make news." (Boston Globe,11/20/94) Another skill he has taught to Republican candidates through hispolitical organization, GOPAC, is how to create a "shield issue" to deflectcriticism:

"A shield issue is just, you know, your opponent is going to attack you aslacking compassion," a GOPAC training tape advises. "You better find a goodcompassion issue where, you know, you show up in the local paper holding ababy in the neonatal center, and all you're trying to do is shield yourselffrom the inevitable attack."

But the clearest expression of Gingrich's philosophy of media came in aGOPAC memo entitled "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control." Distributed toGOP candidates across the country, the memo's list of words for Democratsand words for Republicans was endorsed by Gingrich in a cover letter: "Thewords in that paper are tested language from a recent series of focusgroups where we actually tested ideas and language." Next time you hearGingrich complain about media focusing on the negative, refer back to theselists.