On.

Channel seven. Chandra Levy. Channel twelve. Chandra Levy. Channel nine. Chandra Levy.

I don't mean to be disrespectful to the Levy family plight, the disappearance of a daughter is devastating, but thousands of girls disappear each year, and none of their stories ever get this level of attention. Week after week, we are bombarded with a stream of images I have come to call The Chandra Levy Show.

What the heck is going on?

I think the first person we can look to for an answer is our outgoing President: Bill Clinton. His flamboyant love life captured headlines daily and ignited a public passion for salacious stories from our nation's capitol. Before he was even in Washington, we began to hear tales from Arkansas of a sexy night club singer, and old Bill's exit from the White House after two terms ended even more fantastically with tales of an intern and a stained dress. A sexy tale involving an intern. Hmmmm. Sound familiar?

Which brings me to my second point. Chandra's affair with Congressman Condit is part of the thrust driving this story. Although she was not an intern in his office, she was a Washington intern, and he, as we all know, is a handsome, older, wealthier, more powerful man. Audiences are fascinated with the drama and intrigue of the affair, and networks reward these cravings by supplying a never-ending story day after day.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Levy parents themselves are extremely media savvy. They have hired a PR firm, they step outside to make public statements once a day (thereby ensuring that a pool camera remains outside their front door), and whenever new details lag in the story (necessitating a media slowdown), they manufacture new news to stimulate more stories. The aunt's knowledge of the affair, the search for Condit's derelict brother, the possibility of a lawsuit against Condit-all of these stories have originated with the Levy's themselves to keep their daughter's disappearance front and center on the media stage.

So what does all this mean for us? Well, I guess it means that when we come home weary from another long day at the office, crack open our Coronas, settle into our cushy couches, and pick up our remotes, we'll have no other choice but to watch another episode of The Chandra Levy Show.

July 2001