Tim Meets The Ladies

There's been much ado about Sunday's Meet The Press (Colbert! Colbert! Colbert!) but when it came onscreen on Sunday morning, I noticed something instantly: Tim Russert's first panel featured Doris Kearns Goodwin, Kate O'Beirne, Judy Woodruff and Sally Bedell Smith — all women.

It's not that there are never women on MTP — there are plenty of regulars in addition to those mentioned above, like Mary Matalin and Margaret Carlson and Andrea Mitchell and Gwen Ifill — and it's also not rare for the opening panel to consist homogeneously of one sex (cf. Sept. 30/07, Sept. 16/07, Sept. 9/07, Aug. 26/07, July 22/07, and so on). It's just damned rare for that one sex to be female.

But, it has happened before! I asked an NBC spokesperson and was told that they'd had an all woman panel on before, on the topic of foreign policy. February 2, 2005, featuring NBC's Mitchell, the BBC's Katty Kay, and WaPo's Dana Priest and Robin Wright.. (I sent a follow-up email asking if now they could send me the date of the all-male panel. Ha, ha!) But seriously, folks: A glance down the guest list of MTP this past year does have plenty of women...just way more men. Obviously this reflects, to a certain degree, the numbers in the industry: There aren't usually younger faces on these shows, and though women are participating in the political discourse with gusto these days, the demographic represented by the guests skews heavily male (and reflects the atmosphere that dominated while these pundits were on the rise). White House Project founder and HuffPo contributor Marie Wilson wrote about this phenomenon earlier this week:

A few years ago, my organization, The White House Project, published a report called "Who's Talking," which highlighted the lack of women guests on the Sunday morning talk show circuit. Our research found that women comprise only 14 percent of guest appearances on these shows. Since that time, Meet the Press and other major talk shows have taken strides to rectify the situation and include more women opinion makers, journalists and experts. Sunday's show demonstrated what happens when you add women to the conversation: the discussion becomes anything but standard conventional wisdom-speak.

While the four women spent time addressing Sen. Clinton's campaign, one of the most important observations made during this discussion was about the enormous changes her candidacy has brought to the political dialogue. As pointed out by the panel, overnight male presidential candidates have started talking about women's issues.

Interesting! While I think it damns MTP's many male experts with faint praise to imply that that their views are "conventional wisdom-speak (just as I would recoil from characterizing the contributions of these women as "conventional lady-speak"), Wilson's point about broadening the discourse with the inclusion of different stakeholders is a good one. I did not ask whether MTP has ever featured an all-black panel, or an all-gay panel, but I imagine the results of those conversations would be far from conventional wisdom-speak as well.

Does this mean that NBC and Russert should institute quotas on their show? Of course not. But it's a great thing to be noticing, because the first step toward positive change is awareness. It's how an all-female panel came to be on Meet The Press in the first place...or a single female panel member, for that matter. Today, an all-female MTP panel is notable — and it's notable that it's notable, so, hopefully it will be noted. (NB: Just notin'.) From there will come the change that will make it less notable in the future. Even without an active decision to make those changes, MTP will move in that direction just by dint of the younger women who are now coming up the ranks as real experts: NBC's Norah O'Donnell is already well on her way, likewise former NBCer and now CNNer Campbell Brown and Time's Ana Marie Cox, but there's also people like the American Prospect's Garance Franke-Ruta, Slate XXers like Emily Bazelon and Dahlia Lithwick, Megan McArdle at the Atlantic, CNN's Jessica Yellin (who, we hear, is gellin' like a felon).

While MTP could certainly mix things up diversity-wise — on all levels — by tapping a more robust mix of younger writers, that's not necessarily what I am suggesting. There is no substitute for the wisdom that comes from experience (or the perspective that comes from, say, speaking with authority on the Reagan-Carter presidential election because you voted in it — a claim someone like Matt Yglesias can't make, seeing how he was born in 1981). But, there is also no substitute for the exchange of ideas that comes about from mixing different points of view. Demographics do make a difference...and that, we would humbly note, is worth noting.

Related:
Marie Wilson: Adding Women Changes Everything at Meet The Press [HuffPo]

Correction: We originally put Jessica Yellin at ABC; she moved to CNN this past August and is their Congressional correspondent.

Comments

[GenericBlogger]

There is one exception to the no-gray-ha­ir-clique. Donna Brazile who appear's on ABC's Sunday morning news program anchored by George Stephanopoulos.

But I don't see anyone influenced by her display of gray hair.

[TommyMcCarthy]

It is quite common for the panel on Gwen Ifill's "Washington Week" to be composed of all women. What I like best about that is it is done UN-selfconcsiously & w/o fanfare.

The last time I saw an all-woman panel on the show I was watching w/ a freind and niether of us noticed until Gwen was thanking her guests. Progress, of a sort.....t­m

[GenericBlogger]

The percentage of women elected in public office rises as time goes by and Meet The Press and other programs should present guests who reflect the gender and racial makeup of government positions.

To Tim Russert's credit, he didn't have Maureen Dowd or any other NYT tongue lasher this past weekend. He also gives Doris Kearns Goodwin air time that other programs don't.

The quality of female pundits and media members is generally no better or worse than their male counterparts. Males and females with caliber ranging from questionable to evident appear on TV news media. Some are partial to some networks than others.

Campbell Brown's expertise at NBC was questionable especially when she was a dumber Courician when cohosting the weekend Today Show. Brown leaving that weekend program of fluff and embedded infomercials doesn't make her an expert. She will have to prove herself and it will take time for her to shed her specialties in fluff. Katie Couric has yet to succeed after more than a year at CBS.

[anghiari]

Katy has yet to succeed at what? Getting people to watch news or her news at CBS? Newspapers and television are trying to hold on to an audience who are finding their news elsewhere. It is a product of the times. Also there is less and less belief by the press that they are willing to tell the truth if it makes Washington seem terrible. A $60 mil paycheck sounds like some sorta success to me.

[dawlishgal]

I just heard a congresswoman from Florida making an analogy that compared helping children with no health insurance to MANURE! Said something to the effect that the Democrats can't put powdered sugar on the manure and come up with a donut). Where are the Democrats when it comes to demanding that SHE apologize to children? Does anybody seriously think that if a Democrat compared military appropriations to manure, there wouldn't be a huge outcry?

What's with Florida anyhow and those ghastly Republikker women they elect?

[esl]

Norah O'Donnell and Campbell Brown???? Puleeeze, give me a break. Neither one of them can "read" the news without a teleprompter. I doubt either one even knows what is going on in the world. Though, Brown might know a lttle since she married a Bushie who was on Paul Bremer's team in Iraq.

[PhantomAviator]

What a non-issue.
Gee, Rachel, would you have submitted this THIN "op-ed" to a newspaper?
Then please don't subject US to it.

[sufi66]

"...there is also no substitute for the exchange of ideas that comes about from mixing different points of view."

True, but what does this have to do with gender?

[Tiger]

If there had been a woman of color added to the mix this panel night have actualy been interesting. As usual this was just another bunch of elite white woman speaking from the point of view of "elite white woman". Yawn.

[larry278]

There is a probability that no lady of color in the MSM would risk her reputation as a skilled news person by appearing on Mr Russert's Sunday Morning whatever. It's a led pipe cinch that Tim is frightened of being exposed as a third rate talking head by a witty lady of color who is known as an accomplished news person. Male MSM mavens are known for having delicate egos like Ferdinand, the bull with a delicate ego in kiddie lit of yore.

[anghiari]

Rachel reminds me of the women who are voting for Hillary--their eyes are on the prize, but they tend not to be terribly inclusive. Two questions for these women and even Rachel. How can Hillary retain Villaragosa, the Mayor of L.A. as the Chair of her campaign in California when he has cheated on his wife, who is being treated for cancer, and humiliated her and his children in such a public way? He was dating a female news reporter and has now left his wife to set up house with the reporter. This was not Tony's only dalliance--he has a history of them. I guess it would a bit difficult for hillary to call him out on his philandering!

The other question is how many of these middle class and upper middle class women who are supporting Hillary are employing minority women to care for their children or their homes yet they are paying low wages and no unemployment insurance? These same women who are so invested in sisterhood don't seem to mind taking advantage of some women.