investigations pending, President Clinton has been bombarded by the media in a

fashion not seen since the last days of the Nixon administration. Despite this

unwanted attention, Clinton has managed to maintain lofty approval ratings and

successfully deflect even the most ardent attacks. How does he do it? This

question is answered in full in Spin Cycle, a backroom look at how news is

created and packaged in the White House and the methods used to distribute it

to the public. In painting a detailed picture of the hand-to-hand combat known

as a press conference, Kurtz shows how the use of controlled leaks, meticulously

worded briefs, and the outright avoidance of certain questions allows the White

House to control the scope and content of the stories that make it to the front

page and the nightly network news. As Kurtz makes clear, the president and

First Lady are convinced that the media are out to get them, while the journalists covering the White House are constantly frustrated at the stonewalling and the lack of cooperation they encounter while trying to do their jobs. In the middle is the White House press secretary Mike McCurry,

circus, where the ringmaster's on the president's team manage to keep their leader's approval rating surprisingly high. In spite of the never ending parade of scandals.

because they don't want to learn information they might have to reveal to

stonewalling, stage managing, and outright intimidation. He depicts a White

House obsessed with spin and pulls back the curtain on events and tactics that

consciences as the struggle to protect the boss. As the scandal drums beat

high as those of Ronald Reagan. But the new year has brought a barrage of new

advisors, probes into the minds of the White House aides, and even such things

allegations, and the president and his advisers face once again the challenge of

Some common words found in the essay are:
White House, Mike McCurry, Oval Office, Spin Cycle, President Clinton, House Kurtz, Lanny Davis, Howard Kurtz, Ronald Reagan, white house, Richard Nixon--facing, spin cycle, white house aides, bill clinton, mike mccurry, house press, leaves wondering, approval ratings, clinton administration, white house press, newspapers watch, house aides,
Approximate Word count = 1358
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)