TMZ has only been in Washington, D.C., for a few weeks, but the salacious gossip website is already making an impact: bugging politicians, tracking vacationing members of Congress, and reporting on a senator’s trip to Disney World.
It’s quite the start as websites and TV channels attempt to break into the political landscape, with their first focus on members of Congress taking a two-week recess — usually meaning politicians return to their home districts and states to meet with constituents — during a record partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
As that holiday approached, TMZ offered a distinctly tabloid-y appeal.
“As TSA officers are selling their blood to keep a roof over their heads, members of Congress are packing their bags for a 2-week vacation, and we want pictures!” Read an article.
“Since the compromise isn’t working, maybe some shaming is in order, and that’s why we’re asking everyone for the next 2 weeks to keep an eye on how the people who ‘work’ on Capitol Hill are enjoying their leisure time.”
TMZ misstated what was actually going on — it wasn’t a vacation — but the move paid off.
The outlet soon had photos of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham spending time at Disney World in Florida: preparing to ride Space Mountain and appearing to have a bubble wand in hand. It was a scoop that any DC news organization would be proud of, and it was followed up by CNN, The Hill, The Daily Show, and more.
Apparently pleased with the outcome, the website kept the journalistic focus on the holiday, which would have served as a more noble effort had TMZ not misrepresented it as a “two-week holiday”. Still, it was offering a new approach: highlighting a practice — in this case, how little time members of Congress actually spend working at the Capitol — that may be obvious to Washington insiders, but which has the potential to raise the ire of regular people.
While the amount of leave members of Congress get is standard information for someone from Politico or The Washington Post, TMZ covered it as if it were a new issue: “Our 2-week leave wasn’t enough, so let’s do it again!!!” Read one headline in late April, reporting on another furlough in early May.
That line of somewhat misguided reporting led TMZ to a story when it met with Representative Dan Meuser, an obscure Republican from Pennsylvania. One of the website’s reporters, Charlie Cotton, addressed Meuser by saying: “Good to see you, brother,” before adding: “I’m a little disappointed that Congress is going on yet another break” while the DHS bill had not passed.
After Meuser thought about constituency work, Cotton pointed out that Republicans hold both the House and the Senate, before blaming the Democrats. He continued walking, to which Meuser said: “You’re not being respectful. Don’t talk to me anymore,” later adding: “Talk to the fucking Democrats,” before quickly walking away.
This was quite convincing reporting, and its adversarial nature will surely delight anyone who has watched journalists toy with politicians. But TMZ’s writing of the video missed important context.
“Things heated up when Charlie pressed Meuser, saying that Republicans have majorities in both houses, so why can’t they pass a bill to fund DHS?” TMZ wrote.
“Musser retorted, requiring 60 votes in the Senate to pass the bill and left Charlie with these words – ‘Talk to the f***ing Democrats!’
The inclusion of Meuser’s answer without clarifying information makes it seem like both Republicans and Democrats were the problem: in fact, the Senate had already voted in favor of the DHS funding bill, and it was the Republican-controlled House that was not passing the legislation. It was disingenuous for Meuser to claim that the Senate or the Democrats had anything to do with that process. A different news organization with more experienced staff might have pointed this out. TMZ did not.
Some reporting has been less high-minded than focusing on the government shutdown, such as in mid-April, when TMZ cornered Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was in the news after it came to light that he once cut off the penis of a road-killed raccoon. TMZ asked Kennedy what she did with the raccoon penis: The secretary didn’t answer, but the footage was quite amusing.
This is partly the goal. TMZ’s founder, Harvey Levin, has said that the DC appearances will be “sometimes fun, sometimes overly serious”, and TMZ staffers have gone so far as to mimic TMZ’s famous Hollywood reporting, by going up to people and asking them questions.
This requires some study. There are 535 members of Congress, and in April, Cotton posted a photo on
While there may be some excitement, TMZ has got some political stories wrong.
“Multiple sources with knowledge tell us Queen Bey (Beyoncé) will make a big surprise appearance as VP Harris officially accepts the Democratic Party’s nomination for president,” TMZ reported on August 22, the day the Democratic National Convention was set to wrap up in Chicago.
“We’re told Chicago PD is on high alert as they are involved in the security of Beyoncé at the United Center Arena.”
It turned out that several of TMZ’s sources were not aware. Beyoncé did not attend the conference. Her publicist told the outlets, “Beyoncé had no plans to be there. Reports of the performance are false.” This prompted a correction from TMZ.
TMZ wrote on
It wasn’t really an apology, and it didn’t indicate much sincerity. But while it may be easy to learn about TMZ, its outsider perspective can be valuable if trained on the right targets. As New York Magazine reported: “The recent scandal over Eric Swalwell’s much-rumored lewdness and previously unreported sexual misconduct underlined that there is plenty of room for differing newsgathering sensibilities.”
If TMZ can uncover stories that are known to mainstream journalists but are not reported in exchange for access or in the spirit of “this is not the way things are done”, then perhaps the less interesting aspects of TMZ will be worth it.
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