Washington Post Joins Corporate Media Campaign to Spread the Hate

By now, you're likely familiar with the parade of racists, sexists, conspiracy theorists and hatemongers on the payrolls of mainstream media: CNN's Lou Dobbs advances the claims of unhinged birthers; FOX's Glenn Beck calls the president a racist; MSNBC pays as an analyst Pat Buchanan, who says slavery was good for black folks. Not to be left behind, ABC welcomed to its This Week roundtable right-winger Michelle Malkin, who has referred to the first lady as President Obama's "cron[y] of color," and is advancing the conspiracy theory that Democratic health-care reform is designed to euthanize old people.

Bottom line: hate sells.

Eager to bring eyeballs to its Web site, the Washington Post this week got in on the act, producing a video featuring two star columnists, Chris Cillizza (reportedly a nice guy) and Dana Milbank (reportedly not), that suggests at a future White House beer summit, Hillary Clinton be served a brew called Mad Bitch.

Once the video began circulating on the blogs, the Washington Post chickened out and pulled the video from its site -- without apology to viewers, and apparently without disciplinary action for the columnists and producer Gaby Bruna.

This should be a huge story -- two respected, important columnists for a major media outlet all but call the secretary of state a bitch -- but corporate media would have to be willing to critique two of their own were the story to get legs. Not likely to happen.

In fact, a day after the video was pulled, Chris Cillizza was featured on the roundtable of this Sunday's CNN show, State of the Union, and was not asked a single question about his role in Mad-Bitchgate.

If the presidential campaign of 2008 was the mainstream media's teachable moment, it seems the wrong lesson was learned. Instead of the corrective soul-searching one would hope for among executives and editors at major media outlets as their on-air figures grappled with their inner sexists and inner racists during prime time, media bigs seem to have reached the conclusion that hatred sells.

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Comments

[sueneu]

We should reconsider the "B" word. The one that rhymes with itch. Strong women, women who speak up, women who hold and use any kind of power have long been called b!t@hes, and certainly the speaker's intent is to insult.
However, we WANT a Secretary of State who can be strong, decisive, and powerful when the situation calls for it.
Therefore, I suggest she take it as a compliment.
I do.

[elsie900]

Adele, thanks for posting this. None of the links herein bring up the video and I can't find it at Media Matters - is there a current link to it?

[shadowgm]

The 'mainstream media' is a myth perpetuated by Rush Limbaugh in order to sell his own toxic brand of hate. Mind, he's against things like the Fairness Doctrine (repealed in 1987), but somehow, in his unregulated 'marketplace of ideas,' he's STILL claiming there's a bias.

Of course, the remedy to that bias is, "HEY! PAY ATTENTION TO ME! ME! ME!"

What's astounding is that the media forgot the advice of Edward R. Murrow - that it is foolish to believe there are two, equally valid and reasonable sides to every argument.

Until we recognize that media's lack of objectivity is because of yahoos like Limbaugh advising us on said lack of objectivity (kind of like asking Bernie Madoff to advise you on retirement planning, what?), we cannot be rid of the demon of the 'mainstream media.'

[reasonshouldrule]

I have fully despaired of the MSM, and no defense of these latest yahoos would be credible. Hate DOES sell, and that's a tragic and very dangerous turn of events in how we all get our information.

[TheBaffler]

It's interesting how not one post in defense of Milbank and Cillizza is allowed here. Some people are astute enough to realize that Clinton deserves some of the scorn she receives.

[reasonshouldrule]

Criticism is always appropriate in a civilized discussion. Name-calling and "scorn" is inappropriate and suggests a lack of real information to criticize.

[johannesrolf]

Milbank and Cillizza are two columnists who got jealous of the play that the hatemongers and satirists of hatemongers like Colbert got, and decided to get in on the act, by being buffoons. and so they are.

[Dots]

Keep this up and we will have a strange group of people willing to serve.
Hummmm. Wait a minute.

[noneIn2008]

Hate raises campaign contributions.

[northstar11]

i think it would be good to list each of those in EDITORIAL POSITIONS and analyse them as to age, gender ,education , politics , birthplace etc---just to see if there is some sort of pattern that leads to spinelessness in adulthood.
somewhere along the line expedience and group think trumps virtue and independence ----

[oneangrymamma]

The Washington Post has a long and shameful history of manipulating news - ever hear of the "mockingbird" propaganda program started by the CIA in the 1950s? Read all about it in this article
"Listen to the Mockingbird': Deconstructing the CIA-Style Disinformation 'Song' of the Washington Post " by CHERYL SEAL
http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/4244/index.php

[mbondr1]

Who knows, we might be better off if she was. Somebody's got to knock some sense into the oval office and chase those pandering Harvard economists out.

[madatnewsmedia]

Oh, blow it out of your ear!

[rick91]

Yeah, get those Harvard eggheads out! Let's get some Yale regular guys back in there!
I think G.W.Bush is free. He made this economic mess, so he should know how to fix it!
More tax cuts for the rich and a good round of golf ought to do it.

[Cyfarchiadau]

This was a great article.
Shame on the Washington Post, the newspaper that sought to bring us the information during the Vietnam War, in the face of the Supreme Court is now dumbing down the news.
Times they are a changin'

[RobertHenryEller]

A good way this might turn out.

The haters are the angry.

The angry are the disenfranchised.

The disenfranchised are the poor and powerless.

The poor and powerless have the least buying power.

Those with the least buying power are worth the least ad expenditure.

The media selling hate are the desperate, financially drowning outlets. And like drowning people, they are climbing up on anything that seems, even briefly, to get them out of the water.

Ultimately, the media that appeals to those who hate will be left in the same position and with the same audience as the Republicans have: With those who hate. The minority.

Nice business model, eh?

[ReedYoung]

quote:
Instead of the corrective soul-searching one would hope for among executives and editors at major media outlets as their on-air figures grappled with their inner sexists and inner racists during prime time, media bigs seem to have reached the conclusion that hatred sells.
/quote

Or, maybe their insurance and pharmaceutical advertisers have offered their ad budgets to whichever "news" sources most effectively distract their victims -- customers, I meant to say customers -- from health care reform.

[CarbonCreditSeller]

Hate does sell, that is why Bill Maher is doing well.

[r3768]

Maher is an OPINION show, not a news source that claims to be based on journalistic standards, fair and balanced, and as we saw a few weeks back, he also doesn't claim some journalist high ground citing Cronkite as his professional guru. Watching all the corporate media clowns all claiming that nearly made me puke and I'm sure, Cronkite roll over in his grave.

[emerger]

You should applaud Bill Mahar for addressing the problems with the media and the incompetence in our government. But it sounds as tho corporate America has succeeded in getting you to accept the status quo and to dummy up.

[rick91]

He's doing well because he's funny, and correct.

[LMPE]

I never watch or read any of those anyway.