Jody Sommers

This paper will examine the role and subsequent impact of media agenda setting, priming and framing in the Kathie Lee Gifford sweatshop scandal that swept the news headlines in the spring of 1996. Gifford is the popular morning talk show co-host on the nationally syndicated program, Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee,

who was publicly criticized for representing a Wal-Mart clothing line manufactured by sweatshop labor. Gifford retaliated by denouncing sweatshop conditions, and took her argument to a Congressional Hearing that eventually led to the passage of the Apparel Industry Partnership, which attempts to prevent such labor abuses. Gifford also claimed that the media singled her out and personally attacked her because she was a celebrity and it would bring more attention, therefore ratings, to those covering the scandal.

Of significance to the issue is the media’s historical lack of attention toward the sweatshop issue. It is widely known that sweatshops exist in major U.S. urban areas, such as Los Angeles, New York, and Oakland as well as on the U.S.-Mexico border, primarily employing immigrants. The media has not covered the story on a regular basis, especially to the degree of the Gifford story, usually only turning their attention to anti-sweatshop protesters who make a scene at THE GAP or NIKE protests. So why did the media jump on Gifford and relentlessly pursue this story? Recall Michael Jordan was also criticized for his endorsement of NIKE but not to nearly the same extent. The initial complaint was lodged by the New York based National Labor Committee, a watch dog organization that has a long history of advocating for sweatshop laborers. Why has the media ignored previous labor abuses? Are immigrant or anti-capitalist stories overlooked for political reasons, or due to editorial discretion and why?

Gifford offered the media infotainment, merging celebrity with tragic images of Honduran children sewing Wal-Mart clothes for pennies a day. The media presented an issue that has plagued America since the cottage industry as though it were being reported for the first time. Gifford provided the newsworthy aspect, the labor issue was secondary. Regardless of the self-interest of the media, actual policy was created as a result of the attention the story received due to the celebrity scandal. The media placed the issue in the public forum, thus setting the agenda, and impacted legislation. The media was a useful tool, though criticized by Gifford.

This paper aims to uncover reasons the media covers certain stories over others and how they can be an effective tool in shaping policy and politics despite the ulterior motives of profit. The research will provide an overview of the agenda setting, priming and framing theories and roles of the media. An informal content analysis of newsprint articles generated as a result of the story will be incorporated, uncovering the level of analysis, context and scope of the issue presented by the media. Furthermore, an interview with the National Labor Committee’s Executive Director, Charles Kernhagen, will be conducted to determine their interpretation of the media’s role prior to, during and after the Gifford story.