Major media stylebook.

SCOOP! NATIONAL REVIEW has obtained a copy of Tagging the News: The Index to Correct Opinion, which, we have learned, is widely circulated in newsrooms. Recipients, according to an informant who has contacted NR, can suggest additions or corrections. A Central Committee, made up of John Chancellor of NBC, Peter Jennings of ABC, Johnny Apple of the New York Times, David Broder of the Washington Post, and Al Hunt of the Wall Street Journal, meets periodically and incorporates the best suggestions into the new edition.

Our copy was mailed to us anonymously, by a disgruntled reporter who disapproves of what he calls the "media mind patrol." What is amazing is that its existence has been kept secret for so long. Asked for his comment, L. Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center in Alexandria, Va., said: "We suspected that something like this existed, but it's good to get confirmation." A spokesperson at the Justice Department's Antitrust Division said she had not heard of the document and "could not say"' if it had antitrust implications.

"Only by constant iteration can alien truths be impressed upon reluctant minds." Herbert Spencer 

  abortion. Nobody likes it; Republi
-cans divided over it; a private mat
-ter; a woman's choice; our next civil
war.
  AIDS. Does not discriminate; hits
the poor and minorities hardest; we
are all at risk; no magic cure; outlook
grim; disease of Reagan-Bush years.
  AIDS epidemic. Mention ravages of
it; losing the war against it
  AIDS research. Underfunded.
  American dream. On hold.
anti-Communists. Looking for new
enemies.
  Baker, James. Rede to the rescue;
(obs.);  master  political  strategist
(obs.); AWOL.
  balanced budget. No magic for
-mula; Reagan-Bush never submitted
one; (if one is submitted): dead on ar
-rival.
  bastions. (Use of suburbs, all-male
clubs.)
  black crime. Blacks main victims of
it.
  Brady, Nick. Competent; conserva
-tives out to get him.
  Buchanan, Pat. Divisive; wants to
build wall around country, turn back
clock.
  budget cuts. Always Draconian; gut
programs; hit poor hardest.
  budget deficit. Country's most seri
-ous problem; mortgage on America.
  Bush,  George.  Exploited  Willie
Horton issue in  1988 campaign;
promised us a kinder, gentler Amer
-ica;  practices  sound-bite  politics;
rootless; has Jennifer problem, too;
not an agent of change; frenetic.
California. Biggest prize;  dream
fades.
  catastrophe. Planet headed for it
unless we change course.
  categories. Renounce easy ones.
  checks and balances. (obs.) (See:
gridlock.)
  children's future. Mortgaged.
  choice. A woman's right.
  choices. Bush avoids hard ones.
  Clinton, Bill. Character flaws (obs.);
has Gennifer problem (obs.); Slick
Willie (obs.); comeback kid; redefined
himself; puts people first; wants to
invest, not spend; adult life spent in
public service.
  Clinton-Gore. Handsome duo; ar
-ticulate baby-boomers.
  Clinton, Hillary. Bakes chocolate
-chip cookies; sensational mind; tar
-get of right-wing attacks; mention
distortion of her views; new Willie
Horton.
  consensus.  Old one has broken
down.
  conservatives. Feel betrayed by
Bush.
  Constitution. Living document.
  Cuomo, Mario. Son of struggling
Italian immigrants; eloquent; next
Supreme Court Justice.
  Darman, Dick. Budget czar; brainy;
crunches  numbers;  works  harder
than anyone else.
  democracies. Invest in emerging
ones.
  democracy. Details of it messy; de
-nounce phone-in version.
  Democrats.  Remade  themselves;
pledged change; embraced moderate
platform.
  despair. Pervasive feeling of it in
inner cities.
  Disabilities Act. Brought 43 million
Americans  into  economic  main
-stream.
  Draco. Athenian statesman. (See:
budget cuts.)
  economy. Worst since Great De
-pression (attribute to Governor Pete
Wilson).
  Europe. Dream of a united one still
lives.
  families. Come in all shapes and
sizes.
  family values. Willie Horton issue
of 1992; code phrase for exclusion
and prejudice.
  federal judges.  Under  Reagan
-Bush, ideologically screened.
Flowers, Gennifer. Daughter of
Willie Horton.
  formulas. No magic ones.
for-profit education. McSchools.
  future. We should invest in our chil
-dren's.
  gains. Religious activists try to limit
gay ones.
  gay bashing.  Resurgent;  vicious
hate crime among teenagers.
  gay pride. Celebrate it.
  gays. Under fire; face ugly backlash;
next Willie Horton.
  Gingrich,  Newt.  Negative  cam
-paigner; brought Congress into disre
-pute.
  global cooling. (obs.) (See: green
-house effect.)
  global leadership. U.S. abdicated it
at Rio.
  God. Republicans tell us which one
to believe in. (Cuomo!)
  GOP. Battle for the soul of it; plat
-form tilts to the right.
  Gorbachev, Mikhail. World leader;
changed history.
  Gore, Al. Raised to be President; en
-vironmental vision; centrist message;
shaped by near-death of son.
  government. Gridlocked; still has
important role to play; all too easy to
blame.
  greenhouse effect. Most serious
threat we have ever faced (poss.
obs.).
  gridlock. (See: government.)
hate. The Right spews it; Republi
-cans practice politics of it.
  higher office. More women running
for it.
  Hill, Anita. Women believe her.
homophobia. Mental sickness, or
moral failing; caused by right-wing
hate.
  Horton, Willie. Exploited by George
Bush in 1988 campaign.
  House of Representatives. Elec
-tion of President might be thrown
into it (obs.); Newt Gingrich tried to
bring it into disrepute.
  ideology. Voters are tired of it.
inclusion. Democrats practice poli
-tics of it.
  infidelity.  Sleazy  charges  of it
against Bill Clinton.
  investment. Clinton would increase
it.
  Johnson, Magic. National  hero;
teaches nation's youth; unbowed by
HIV.
  Judiciary  Committee.  All-male;
women disgusted with its treatment
of Anita Hill.
  Justice Kennedy. Grew.
  Justice Souter. Grew.
  Justice Thomas. Failed to grow.
  Kennedy, Edward. Unmatched leg
-islative record; dream lives on.
  Kerner   Report.   Nothing   has
changed since it.
  labels. Reject them; old ones don't
mean anything.
  liberal. Not a scary label any more.
(See: labels).
  litmus test. (Use with caution; con
-sult your editor. Bush is not allowed
to have one for his Court appointees,
but Clinton does have one.)
  Los Angeles riots. Mention perva
-sive feeling of powerlessness and de
-spair;  carnival  atmosphere;  root
causes: racism, poverty.
  men. Still don't get it.
  middle class. Politicians pander to
it; Clinton-Gere appeal to it (speak
to your editor if in doubt).
morality. Ask whose is to be im
-posed.
  name-calling.  Won't  work  any
more. (See: liberal.)
  New York City. Still vibrant; next
Willie Horton.
  Nineteen-eighties. Decade of greed.
  Nineteen-sixties. Era of optimism;
time of compassion.
  ozone hole. Legacy of greed.
  ozone layer. Atmosphere losing it.
  pandering. Middle-class tax cuts
face accusations of it.
  Perot,  Ross.  Texas  billionaire;
Rorschach blot, wild card, launched
on Larry King Live, talk-show candi
-date (obs.); quitter (obs.);  still  a
player.
  personal responsibility. Calls for
it have Willie Horton overtones.
  Phillips, Kevin. Conservative ana
-lyst.
  policies.  Haven't  failed--haven't
been tried.
  poor. Get poorer, hit hardest; ask if
America's traditional compassion for
them is wearing thin.
  population growth. Imperils the
planet.
  poverty. Statistics of it soaring; root
cause of riots.
  privilege. Suburbs, all-male clubs
  bastions of it. (See: suburbs; bas
-tions.)
  Quayle, Dan. Draws chuckles; still
lives in Ozzie and Harriet world;
can't spell potato; blames elites and
comes from rich family of newspaper
owners;  divisive;  mention  Spiro
Agnew.
  racial fears. Code words appeal to
them.
  rage. Always legitimate, in contrast
to hate (qv).
  Reagan,   Ronald.   Frightening
(obs.); genial (obs.).
  Reagan years. Excesses of them
have  names:  Milken,  Boesky  &
Trump.
  Republicans.  Help     their   rich
friends.
  right wing. Bush caves in to it.
  rising tide. In 1980s, failed to lift
all boats.
  Rodney King videotape. Seventy
-five seconds etched into the nation's
consciousness.
  school choice. Code phrase for ra
-cism.
  solutions. Renounce simplistic, sil
-ver-bullet, or Band-Aid ones.
  Souljah, Sister. No Willie Horton.
species. Vanishing.
  spotted owls. Endangered by greed.
  states. Financially strapped.
  statistics. Of AIDS epidemic, al
-ways grim.
  suburbs. Edge cities; faceless; Ross
Perot country; homogeneous; bas
-tions of: wealth, racism, privilege,
gun-owners.
  system. Worked in Watergate; still
needs fixing; tinkering will not fix it.
tent. GOP should be a big one.
tropical forest. Acre of it vanishes
every second.
  Truman, Harry. Knew who he was.
two major parties. Mention decline
of them (obs.).
  United States. World's largest debt
-or nation; becoming a talk-show na
-tion.
  vision. Demand planetary one.
  voters. (Before election) disaffected;
(after election) have spoken.
  wallet. (See: will.)
  Washington. Gridlocked.
  Watergate. The system worked.
  will. Contrast with wallet, in saving
our cities.
  women.  Empowered;  note  their
growing role in politics; can't be
judged by their recipes; historic year
for them; face growing AIDS risk.
yachts. The rich got bigger ones in
1980s.
  Yeltsin,  Boris.  Still  a  question
mark.