Media floods APA with ?perspective? calls on Clinton sex scandal

Journalists are making unprecedented efforts to contact psychologists who can offer perspectives on such issues as adultery, betrayal and sex in the workplace, all as a result of the sex scandal that began enveloping the White House earlier this year, APA?s public communications staff says.

In the week after allegations that President Clinton had sex with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and asked her to lie about it under oath, APA?s Public Communications Office received more than 40 calls from reporters. All were asking for names of psychologists willing to be interviewed for stories about the embattled Clinton. The calls came from some of the biggest news outlets in the country, including the four major television networks, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times.

The number of media calls tied to the scandal exceeds any APA?s public affairs office has received over a single major news story, says Doug Fizel, deputy director for public affairs. ?We may have gotten more over time for the O.J. Simpson case, but that was over two years?not a week,? Fizel says.

The media demand for psychology?s take on President Clinton?s plight reflects the important role psychologists can play in helping the public understand the psychological and behavioral aspects of major news stories, says Rhea K. Farberman, APA?s associate executive director for public communications. But psychologists must be careful, she warns, to avoid making certain conclusions and speculations that journalists often ask of them during such major news events. For example, they should immediately make clear to the reporter that they can explain only psychological research and theory, but not the behavior of an individual?including the president.

Psychologists who received frequent interview requests about the Clinton scandal say most reporters accepted those ethical boundaries.

?The people who called me were very respectful, in terms of the way they asked their questions,? says Shirley Glass, PhD, a suburban Baltimore psychologist who is often interviewed by the media about marital infidelity. ?They didn?t expect me to talk specifically about the Clintons or the other women [linked to the president].?

But Fizel says that a couple of television news producers asked him for names of professionals who could provide a psychological profile of Lewinsky?something that most psychologists would regard as unethical. Such segments never aired, he adds.

So why were psychologists in such demand during the days after the Clinton scandal broke?

?This story goes right to the heart of behavior,? Fizel says, ?and the media needed experts to explain it?especially at a time when they had so few facts to fill their pages and their airtime.?

Overall, many reporters were looking for information about generic psychological topics that had some relevance to the case, he says. Adultery, morality and reckless behavior were among the most common topics of the psychology-related stories that accompanied the coverage.

But sexual addiction seemed to be the most popular topic for news gatherers. At least 14 media outlets called the Public Communications Office asking for help finding experts on compulsive sexual activity, according to APA records on media inquiries.