In mid-January of 1992, the Star, a national tabloid specializing in stories about the personal lives of celebrities, published an article in which Gennifer Flowers claimed to have had a twelve-year affair with Bill Clinton, then the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. The story was initially downplayed in the mainstream press, in part because the allegations were two years old. It was also initially ignored because the Star, described in one mainstream newspaper article as better than most of the national tabloids but still a step below the National Enquirer, was deemed an unreliable news source.

The decision by Bill and Hillary Clinton to directly address the issue by appearing on 60 Minutes (a choice made in part because the show would air immediately following the Super Bowl and thus give them access to a very large audience) brought it more centrally into the mainstream press. The Clintons, who helped perfect the art of using the nontraditional media for political ends, also appeared on shows like Primetime Live, Donahue, The Arsenio Hall Show, and MTV either to directly refute or to deflect the allegation. Although the Clintons’ efforts were successful in rallying public support and partially diffusing the controversy, the alleged affair had gained some legitimacy within the mainstream press as a campaign issue – members of the press could point to the existence of legitimate sources (e.g., the Clintons themselves) and to the fact that other traditional news outlets were covering the story to justify their expanded coverage. The press could also justify covering what was initially defined as a private matter by focusing on the issue of whether the president was “lying” to the public.