Spin Cycle: Inside the Clinton Propaganda Machine
With a slew of simultaneous scandals to his credit and numerous  ongoing 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 inSpin Cycle: Inside the Clinton Propaganda  Machine, an engrossing, 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 White House press secretary Mike McCurry, a  master at defusing volatile situations and walking the fine line with  the press. Though less paranoid and cynical of the media than Clinton,  he often finds himself on both ends of personal attacks and vendettas  that veer far outside the arena of objective reporting. The anecdotes  and carefully buried information Kurtz has uncovered giveSpin  Cyclea brisk pace, along with ample invaluable information that  cuts to the core of this age of media overkill. The author ofHot  AirandMedia Circusand a longtime media reporter for theWashington Post, Kurtz is uniquely qualified to report on the  status of news dissemination in the United States.