From pundit to pachyderm, Capitol watchers see it all

0 Comments | Insight on the News, March 9, 1998 | by Kenneth Lambert

If 1997 was any indication of things to come, the pursuit of coverage on Capitol Hill will continue to be wild and wacky. Advocates and activities have learned what best captures the attention of the press.

It happens in Washington without Like cherry blossoms blooming and budget crises looming, media is a given, and that's why advocates and activists flock to the nation's capital.

When Congress is in session, hundreds of newspaper and magazine reporters, TV and radio producers, sound engineers and photographers swarm Capitol Hill looking for news -- or a close approximation of it. Naturally, publicity seekers go where the are.

But even by Capitol Hill standards, media manipulation has risen to new levels. Because two or three "news" conferences can happen at the same time, people have resorted to gimmicks and stunts to draw coverage. Charts with bar graphs are out; elephants, celebrities and cleavage are in.

Children almost always guarantee coverage, but they are unpredictable and often inadvertently send the wrong message by yawning during the staged event. It doesn't make for good pictures in the newspaper or footage on the news networks.

Animals guarantee more coverage than children. The bigger the beast, the better the coverage. Rep. Jim Saxton, New Jersey Republican and vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, last year used a full-grown pachyderm to point up his support of legislation to help protect Asian elephants.

But even animal-rights activists know sex sells best. Having suffered a backlash from stunts that required members to splash red paint on women wearing fur coasts, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have adopted a more humane approach: Scantily clad women called "lettuce ladies" serve vegetarian "not dogs" to tourists and reporters trekking up the steps to the Capitol.

Celebrities work. Since special interest groups often come to the Hill to push for causes dwarfed by more pressing issues, they have learned to compensate by enlisting actors to pitch their message. Christopher Reeve and John Travolta, for example, have appeared in Washington to get some press for smaller issues.

Lesser-known demonstrators have taken to using flags in abundance. Five years ago, a few flags at a news conference would do. Now it takes at least 30 to draw a proper crowd.