Foxnews.com
It's been four days since Ann Coulter's now-infamous use of the "F word" to describe John Edwards during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, and the media coverage has evolved from muted whispers to a full-on bonanza. Here's a quick timeline:
Friday, March 2: The speech hits the airwaves and the instant backlash is...no backlash. The AP and the Washington Post initially decline to include the slur in their coverage of the event, while the New York Times mentions only that Coulter was a principle draw for the masses of conservative activists waiting in line to get inside. The only major paper to nab the story is the LA Times, which quotes Coulter on Saturday and even puts the controversy in a headline.
No surprise, the blogosphere is ready and willing to take up the charge, with both liberal and conservative bloggers lambasting the speech and starting a petition calling for the CPAC to stop inviting Coulter to speak. The Edwards website leaps into the fray, posting the video of Coulter's slur and soliciting $100,000 in "Coulter Cash" to "show that inflaming prejudice to attack progressive leaders will only backfire."
The TV Newsers are quick to jump in on the action, with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann playing the unedited clip Friday night during his show. Fox sticks to its formula, with National Review editor Rich Lowry and Young America's Foundation spokesman Jason Mattera downplaying and defending the slur on "The Big Story with John Gibson" and Sean Hannity refusing to condemn Coulter when asked about the remark. CNN manages to get tangled up in its own coverage; as "CNN Newsroom" correspondent Rick Sanchez calls the speech "downright hateful," the on-screen text is simultaneously promoting Coulter's scheduled appearance that night on the network's "Paula Zahn Now." Our own Arianna Huffington gets into the debate as well, calling for a TV boycott of Coulter on "Larry King Live."
Tuesday, March 6: Backlash alert! CNN reports that Verizon, Sallie Mae and Georgia-based NetBank want their ads pulled from Coulter's website. Her syndicate, meanwhile, is declining to comment to E&P about whether they'd publish a Coulter column containing the "F word."
Over at WaPo, Howard Kurtz, (perhaps prompted by being recently taken to task for his apparent right-lean) grabs the issue by the horns, offering a full column dedicated to...the initial lack of coverage of the incident.
And finally, Jack Shafer throws in his two cents with a "Best Of" list of Coulterisms. Our favorite? "[Clinton] masturbates in the sinks." We can only imagine what the Hillary camp would say to that one.
