Election Fallout: Revenge, Texas-Style   

Rep. Dick Armey plays the heavy with Texas' Belo

What does a nine-term congressman do when his son, the heir apparent, gets trounced in the primary race to take over his seat?

Blame the media, of course.

U.S. Rep. Dick Armey did just that--and then some. In October, the Texas Republican tried to introduce legislation to punish Belo Corp., the company that owns the Dallas Morning News, a newspaper Armey blames for sinking his son's campaign.

Armey, the House majority leader, insisted the legislation had nothing to do with old-fashioned Lone Star revenge. He simply got a sudden interest in media monopolies after his son, Scott, lost his congressional bid.

"It is an important issue. It goes to the strength of our democracy," Armey said after privately asking fellow Republican lawmakers to slip the anti-media-concentration amendment into an unrelated military construction appropriation bill. With a little prodding from the Texas press corps, Armey admitted the amendment was aimed specifically at a "mega-monopoly media only within the North Texas area."

Officials at Texas-based Belo--which owns, among other things, the Morning News; a paper northeast of Dallas, the Denton Record-Chronicle; and WFAA-TV in Dallas--say it's no secret Armey has the company in his crosshairs. In June, the majority leader told the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call that the Morning News has "an outrageous vendetta against me that was focused on my son."

Armey's amendment called for the Federal Communications Commission to require any media company to sell one of its holdings if it owns a network-affiliate TV station, a large-circulation newspaper and another daily newspaper in the same market. If the law passed, Belo would be forced to sell one of the three properties.

The younger Armey was beaten in a run-off for his father's seat by a political newcomer last spring. Scott Armey, a former Denton County judge, was the subject of a series of Morning News articles that his father believes deflated his campaign. The paper delved into Scott Armey's record, citing numerous examples of times he used his political position to help friends and campaign contributors with jobs and legislation.

Bob Mong, president and editor of the Morning News, says the stories about Scott Armey were well-sourced and fair. No one in the Armey clan asked for a correction on any of them, including the ones that looked into the candidate's questionable judicial record. "They've never contacted anyone at the Morning News to complain," Mong says. "I guess there had been some indirect word over time that they weren't happy."

Still, Armey's anti-Belo legislation surprised the Dallas newsroom. Belo officials released a statement accusing Armey of "misuse of congressional leadership powers for personal retaliation." Armey's congressional colleagues agreed and blocked the media-holdings amendment from the main bill.

Armey vowed to find another vehicle for the amendment before he retires. And because of the state this centers on, after all, don't be surprised if the Armey-Belo skirmish turns Texas-size, says Denton Record-Chronicle political reporter Tom Reedy.

"This is Texas," Reedy laughs. "This is nothing."