News Execs Dismiss Notion Of Sexism In Coverage Of Clinton

Angered by what they consider sexist news coverage of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, many women and erstwhile Clinton supporters are proposing boycotts of the cable networks, putting up videos on a "Media Hall of Shame," starting a national conversation about sexism and pushing Mrs. Clinton's rival, Senator Barack Obama, to address the matter.

But many in the news media -- with a few exceptions, including Katie Couric, the anchor of the "CBS Evening News" -- see little need for reconsidering their coverage or changing their approach going forward. Rather, they say, as the Clinton campaign fell behind, it exploited a few glaring examples of sexist coverage to whip up a backlash and to try to create momentum for Mrs. Clinton.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[nonconformist2]

ENDING THE WAR

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE

ECONOMIC POLICIES THAT ACTUALLY BENEFIT THE PEOPLE

That is what matters in this election. Everything else is just self-indulgent whiney fluff.

[sharonh]

Dear huffpost moderator, why do you delete my comments? There was nothing offensive to anybody.

[sharonh]

Dear huffpost moderator, are you discouraging comments by the delayed posting time?

[Quilter]

Dr. Sue,
While you dug up a quote about Shirley Chisolm for your comment, you did not address the fact that she and the list of other women who ran for president were never mentioned throughout the entirety of the Hillary Clinton campaign for President. Must this become a battle of the white feminist versus the black experience in this country? Are we back to that place? Then I suggest you read Bell Hooks, "Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism". For any white woman feminist to ignore the rampant racism/bigotry in this primary campaign and now general election campaign is to remain complicit. Dr. Sue, do you deny the racism/bigotry directed toward Barack Obama and Michelle Obama? I was too young to march for Civil Rights, however as an African American woman who was raised by working class parents who sacrificed to send me to private schools...I was one of 2 Black girls in my high school graduating class of 100....I am no stranger to the struggle to make my African American experience valid and seen as equal while assimilating the mainstream White American point of reference. Dr. Sue, when you were marching back then, is that what you hoped to achieve for me? Don't threaten us. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. goes both ways. Hillary Clinton gave as good as she got, and she lost. Take it like a woman.

[Bliss]

Hillary did talk about Shirley Chisolm in Los Angeles at a union speech before 300 people. I was there. Hillary Clinton gave as good as she got, and she lost. That's a good way to put it.

Still, we should be able to examine sexism where it exists. Doesn't mean there's no racism. Doesn't mean anything else except for the fact that we should be able to examine sexism where it exists.

[nonconformist2]

Here's a fair question though: Every time a woman tries something and does not win, is it the result of sexism? Or are there other factors? Every time a woman is treated unfairly by the media? Is it sexism? Or is it her personally? I think it is a dangerous proposition to classify everything negative that happened to Hillary as "sexism". I think, at least, there is room for debate.

[snarkopolitan]

Remember Edwards was knocked out largely because of his haircut. If he'd been a woman.....?

[Quilter]

Hillary Clinton did not mention the other women who ran for POTUS before her because she did not stand on their shoulders. She was standing on her husband, POTUS Bill Clinton's shoulders. Proximity to power. Now, there are some feminist values to look up to.

[Triciann]

Let's get it straight, saying something nasty about a woman is not sexism. Much of what was said could, and would if the positions been reversed, have been said about Obama, a man. For example comments about not conceding when the math meant Clinton could not win. Few comments were reflections of real sexism. The Clintons encouraged rough talk when they said such things as "politics is a contact sport" and "get ot of the kitchen if you can't take the heat". Hillary Clinton enjoyed it when Obama was the subject of caustic remarks.

Women run the risk of damaging their positions in the workplace if every negative comment is classed as sexism.

[nonconformist2]

As a woman, I agree with you. It has the effect of reinforcing the idea that women are weaker and need "special" treatment. That they can't succeed on their own. Look at how long it took HRC to concede, because she was a "woman" and needed time to get her "feelings" under control.

[sharonh]

That is not why she suspended her campaign--she has yet to concede. As a woman, I am ashamed of you.

[DrSue]

Quilter, you remind us that a black woman, Shirley Chisolm, ran for President several decades ago. What you do not mention is that Shirley Chisolm repeatedly said that any injustice she suffered as a black person was diminished many times over by the injustices she suffered as a woman.

For the press or any intelligent observer to deny the rampant and vicious sexism in this primary campaign is to become complicit in it. You are simply lying to yourselves. And then, to attack Senator Clinton or her supporters for demanding respect makes you the issue. As we used to say back in the 60's, if you are not part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. And now, you expect us to join you because you ignore our rightful concerns, or worse, you call us racists. I've spent more time on civil rights marches than most of you and you couldn't be more wrong about that. What I do not have a tolerance for is ignorance and that is what I am hearing from Senator Obama's supporters.
If you want unity, it is simple. Get your candidate to show due respect for the other candidate who won 18 million Democratic votes and make her his VP candidate.
Oh, and start showing your respect for those 18 million voters, fast.

[kira181]

DrSue ...........And the saddest thing of all is the women who will rake you over the coals for your comment. Makes your blood run cold. I find that, since this primary, I am less incredulous of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos. What the hell is wrong with women?

[Triciann]

To DrSue,

I agree with all those who have criticized your comments. I believe most or all are women. So am I but I have come to the conclusion recently that given the choice of employing a man or a woman an employer would be silly to choose the woman because if they have the same attitude as you they could hold the employer to ransom if their demands were not always met. For example if a promotion went to a male colleague it would be called sexism and there would be trouble.

Maybe as a woman you have been badly treated and that is why you have a chip on your shoulder but please realize that not all women share your experience. Many have achieved just as much as their male counterparts and we are becoming increasingly embarassed by those who are living in the past.

[Bliss]

That has to be one of the worst examples to back up an idea. Totally discounts anything else you'd have to say. Wow.

[nonconformist2]

I think that this is all a matter of perspective and many of us will disagree about it. As a woman, and a feminist, I DO NOT believe that sexism was to blame for HRC's loss, or as prevalent as some people claim. Was the press harder on HRC than the other candidates? ABSOLUTELY. Where I differ, is the underlying reason for this treatment.

First, it is impossible to separate out negative treatment of HRC b/c she was a woman vs. because she was a Clinton. Hear me out. The press never liked the Clintons. If you don't agree, think back to when Bill was President. They never gave him a break. The Clintons were also overtly hostile to the press from day one. One of the skills of being a good President, fair or not, is being able to manage the press. HRC has always had high negative ratings (people usually love her or hate her, nothing in between) - how do you separate people's negative response to her, as a person and individual, from her gender.

Second, HRC's gender did not hurt her in the polls. Did some people refuse to vote for her b/c she was a woman? Probably. But not to a large degree. She is the one who got the white working class male vote (the group which most likely would be suseptible to sexism). She had a solid base of voters and they did not abandon her b/c of negative news coverage.

[sharonh]

The press adored Bill Clinton--again, don't know what you are talking about.

[nonconformist2]

Explain to me how Obama has disrespected Hillary? Give me specific examples.

[snarkopolitan]

1. Hi llary can't be VP if Bill won't release his library contributors. Period. Email him about it if you feel so strongly.
2. Both H & O have shown respect for each other, their followers should do the same. Each group could cancel out the other, so threatening is not a good tactic, even if it feels good at the time.
3. Allowing the man who voted to impeach H's husband, joked about her daughter's looks, verbally abused his wife in public and would undo Roe V Wade to take office is a slap in the face to Hil lary and women in general. No real feminist would let McC win.

[DragonMama]

Geez, sometimes it seems like people are insistent upon feeling like victims. I swear, some of the misogynistic-caller-outers would consider the phrase "she ran a rotten campaign based upon crappy advice" misogynistic because it used a *gasp* FEMALE GENDER PRONOUN! Seriously, I've seen the argument that simply refering to HRC as "Hillary" in the media was misogyny because "the men are referred to by their surnames" (NOT kidding, that was the argument). Well, then shouldn't HRC be called RODHAM instead since Clinton is her "slave" name? And anyway, did you folks happen to notice what her campaign-produced rally signs say on them??? Errrr.. it just says "HILLARY" (which is an interesting psychological juxtiposition against both McCain's - which just say McCain - and Barack's which say things such as "Change We Can Believe In" and "Keeping America's Promise" with his name in very small print - just another psychological indicator about who/what the campaigns are really about, eh?)

[PatrickforO]

I encourage everyone to contact this site about the slow moderation. One liners get right through, but put some substance in your comment and forget it.

[CookieWrites]

THOSE WHO CANNOT SEE THE SEXISM ARE PART OF THE SEXISM.

[nonconformist2]

Woman don't always lose because of sexism. Sometimes they lose, because the other person played a better match.

[DragonMama]

And those who can't see the absurdity are part of the absurdity.

[sharonh]

And sometimes, as in your case, those who see the absurdity are part of the absurdity.

[nonconformist2]

LMAO!

[cherylm1937]

HRC did not run the campaign that she should have. Now, rather than accept responsibility for her own mistakes; it's now all about sexism. While there were moments that should not have happened under any circumstances, Hillary's campaign was an ineptly-run, MALE dominated campaign. Even bringing in someone new to oversee things (an african-american woman, no less) could not undo the damage already done by the in-fighting and egocentrism of that MALE dominated environment within that organization. But when everything is said and done; Hillary had the final word as the leader of her organization. Period.

[TheRagingModerate]

To those of you who see sexism in every mean-spirited comment about Hillary, and ESPECIALLY about every such comment that has even an allusion to anything sexual or biological in it...

There's an article on Huff Post right now headlined, "Hitchens: 'I Might Orgasm in My Trousers' Over Fall of Bill Clinton." The remark was about BILL Clinton, so I assume we can all agree it's not sexist?

So now the obvious question: If Hitchens' disgusting and vitriolic remark had been made about HILLARY Clinton, would it be "sexist"? I would hope your answer would be "No," since it is obvious that Hitchens' motivation was related to gender bias. And yet, can any of you honestly say that this ugly comment wouldn't be right at the top of your list of "sexist" attacks against Hillary if it hade been about her?

Doesn't this raise some doubts in your minds as to whether you might be reading sexism into the pundits' comments a little too eagerly?

[ObamaEdwards]

Exactly. Nice point.

[Mygirl]

Shame on you Hillery and supporters. You give us Women a bad name.

[benne]

Interesting how many Obama female supporters like being labelled "girl" as in "Obamagirl," etc. Perhaps they think they benefit from sexism.

[nonconformist2]

Interesting how Hillary ran a campaign in which she repeatedly used the phrase "I'm your girl" and insisted on being called "Hillary" rather than "Senator Clinton" when it suited her to win votes that way. And when it suited her to win votes by "playing the victim" that is what she did to win votes. And when it suited her for criticizing Obama for not being as tough as her, that is what she did to win votes. And when she complained about being picked on (and apparently not being tough enough), that is what she did to win votes.

When are you going to wake up and realize that you were being played by a consumate politician who used anything and everything to try and win, often contradicting herself completely. Which is she, the tough fighter who can take on the republican slime machine and prevail, or the weak victim who can't handle tough press coverage?

[Ciriakalove]

Benne,

When Bill Clinton referred to Hillary as "my girl," was he being a sexist? Poor HRC supporters, they will say and do anything not to vote for a black man. How sad.