“Invisible” Sexism, Little Information, Taint Political Coverage
By SusanUnPC on January 17, 2008 at 12:04 PM in Bush/Cheney, Clinton, John Edwards, Media, Obama, Sexism
Erica Jong, one of my heroes, has written a powerful remembrance of “It Was Eight Years Ago Today (But It Seems Like Eighty),” a record of the skewed journalism of the 2000 election that failed to properly inform voters about the choice between Bush and Gore, the subsequent disastrous eight years of Bush rule, and what — if any — lessons were learned, even by female journalists, about not merely opining or being cleverly catty, but about actually REPORTING and INFORMING the voters.
Here are some key snippets on the failure of journalists to do their duty, as well as the sexism in the current campaign:
You’d think that after eight years of Bushwa, we’d look deeper at the candidates and what they read, what they think, what they’ve done all their lives. You’d think we’d notice that Hillary was always for kids and mothers and flex time and family leave. You’d think we’d notice that the people of New York State hated her at first as a carpetbagger but then fell in love with her because she did so much for them — even in the formerly Republican areas upstate. You’d think we’d notice that Obama is extremely promising as a leader but a bit unseasoned. You’d think we’d notice that the press is anointing him without much inquiry while enthusiastically smearing HRC. You’d think we’d notice that electing a new face is not as important as looking at thirty-five years of passion for civil rights, women’s rights, the Constitution. You’d think we’d mistrust the press a little more because the press just loved smearing Al Gore before he was a Nobel-ist. He was always very smart. Do we need the dynamite factory to validate our perceptions? Apparently.
Even today, Alessandra Stanley, covering the rather dull amity and politesse of the Democratic debate of January 14, 2008 (politeness is always dull to our hyperbolic press) for the New York Times, said that Hillary was “using niceness as an ice pick.” The other candidates, Obama and Edwards, were just polite. They were merely nice.
This sexism is still invisible to us — especially when it comes from women writers. It’s just Ms. Stanley’s opinion that Hillary uses niceness as an ice pick, but her opinions are not on the opinion page.
Once upon a time — way way back in the Pleistocene — there used to be a difference between hard news and opinion, but that distinction is now gone. So we must be aware of it–or we’ll be screwed again like in 2000.
I’m thrilled that this seems to be a Democratic year and we have a choice between a woman and an African American, but we can take nothing for granted. I will work my tail off for whichever Democrat gets the nomination. … I can blog till the cows come home, but if the voters refuse to look at Hillary’s record, and refuse to read and research, I can’t shove my passions down their throats.
The truth is all candidates make promises — that’s the nature of campaigning. George W. Bush pretended to be a compassionate conservative, a uniter not a divider. He said he was against nation building. His actions were always the opposite. I think Obama’s heart is in the right place. I like him. I will work hard for him if he’s nominated, but I really don’t know him. His record is sketchy.
I know Hillary’s record. She has made some whopping big mistakes — but she admits them and she has shown an incredible capacity for change and growth. I trust change. I trust growth. The presidency, JFK said, is not a very good place to make new friends. Nor is it a place for on the job training. It is not one job but many. It takes passion, ideas, vision, eloquence, but it also takes experience, administration and seasoned judgment. Hillary has these things. Obama is as untested and untried as George W. Bush was (and Gore was not).
Do we need another president learning on the job? I think not — even if his heart, unlike Dubya’s, is in the right place. Give Hillary a break. She has always come through for her constituents. Isn’t that what we need to know more than eloquence, promises and hope?
From Erica Jong’s “It Was Eight Years Ago Today (But It Seems Like Eighty),” Huffington Post, January 17, 2008
You really need to read it all. Are journalists doing this all over again, eight years later? This:
I was astounded that journalists seemed to love this dumb frat boy named George W., who glad-handed the press while they made fun of this brilliant man (Al Gore) who had a good grip on foreign policy, the environment, the economy (we had a surplus then, remember?) social issues, civil rights for minorities and majorities (women’s rights).
::::::::::::::::::::::::
P.S. Who’s one TV pundit who is actually reporting fairly lately? You won’t believe me. But it’s true. It’s Dan Abrams. On his new MSNBC show, which airs just after Olbermann’s Countdown, which just got removed — again — from my DVR list of daily shows I tape because Keith is sniping, and only covering the catty stories, not the substantive issues.
I’d already been erasing Keith’s show after about two-thirds of the way through because I refuse to listen to that tripe about Britney Spears, but — really — I learn so little from him, even in the “news” sections. Why doesn’t Keith do an hour on the economic crisis, and each candidate’s stimulus package? Something that INFORMS us? My two must-watch shows are “PBS Newshour” and “BBC World News America,” on BBCAmerica. Those two programs always inform me, stimulate my thinking, tell me something I didn’t know.
When I get back from physical therapy, I’m going to transcribe some of what Abrams said last night. It was outstanding. And fair! Not anti-Obama. Not anti-Edwards. Not pro-Hillary. Just fair! What a shock.
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
by 
* (Included in the 
* 
.by David Fredosso who wrote 2008's 
- You'll have access to 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books, as well as ultra-fast Web browsing with Amazon Silk -- faster than iPad. Full e-mail and document access and a keyboard. Fire can transmit what is on your screen onto a connected TV or monitor without an accessory. It runs Flash (iPad doesn't). 
