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The Story of the Day was a unanimous selection. All three networks decided to lead their newscasts with the revelation that all three remaining Presidential candidate had their personal privacy invaded by the State Department. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologized to Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain because the files that contain their passport applications had been opened improperly. Even though two contract workers have been fired for the violation and two others disciplined, it was not clear that any actual harm resulted from the intrusion.

ABC's Jonathan Karl (embargoed link) downplayed the seriousness of the offense: "There may not be much of political interest in a passport file anyway. It does contain where you were born and your Social Security number but it does not list all your travels." Hollywood celebrities have their files peeked into, too, Karl pointed out: "There is no evidence of political dirty tricks." CBS' Jim Axelrod took the opposite tack, offering a dire warning to the candidates: "Potentially vulnerable is your most sensitive information--tax records at the IRS, military records at the Pentagon, criminal histories at the Department of Justice." NBC's Andrea Mitchell took a middle ground, telling us that "privacy experts are alarmed" and that the files contain "a treasure trove of confidential information…that could lead to identity theft." Yet the State Department is guessing this is no more than "idle curiosity."


Andrew Tyndall 3/25/08 12:27:56 am

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