Tag Archives: sexism in the media

Lynette Long: NEW AGENDA TARGETS CHRIS MATTHEWS FROM LA TIMES

Lynette Long: NEW AGENDA TARGETS CHRIS MATTHEWS FROM LA TIMES.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews remains in the bull’s eye for new women’s group

Forget the battle for the White House — here’s a campaign that’s really heating up: the bid by a new women’s group to hold Chris Matthews accountable for what it asserts is “misogynistic journalism” practiced by the voluble MSNBC political pundit.

The New Agenda, a nonpartisan organization promoting women’s rights, today sent a letter to NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker asking for a meeting to discuss Matthews’ attitude toward women.

Amy Siskind, one of the group’s founders, said in an interview it wants Matthews (at right, with Ron Reagan behind him) to issue a public apology and change his on-air behavior. Absent that, he needs to be fired, she said…

The group’s letter applauded the recent decision by MSNBC to remove Matthews and Keith Olbermann from prominent roles anchoring political events, but said more action is needed.

“MSNBC can regain its reputation as a respectable news organization by taking more appropriate action against Chris Matthews,” the letter said. “If Matthews were an employee in a Fortune 500 company, he would have been fired for sexual harassment long ago. Instead, MSNBC peddled misogynistic journalism to the American public.”

Compiling a list of actions that it deemed offensive, The New Agenda wrote that the “Hardball” host a couple of years asked if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would “castrate” a fellow Democrat with whom she had feuded, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

The letter also faults Matthews for likening Hillary Clinton, during the Democratic primary campaign, to Nurse Ratched, the power-mad character from Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

“The historic candidacies of both Hillary Clinton and [Republican vice presidential nominee] Sarah Palin have brought to light for all Americans the rampant sexism in the media,” the letter said.

For the complete post go to Lynette Long: NEW AGENDA TARGETS CHRIS MATTHEWS FROM LA TIMES.

Why We Fight : The New Agenda

Why We Fight : The New Agenda.

This is a post that sums up the kind of media sexism women have had to grapple with and the long terms effects it may have on today’s youth:

Gary Kamiya’s article in Salon was graced by that picture of Palin. That picture of Hillary is from Spy Magazine, circa February 1993, just a month after she and Bill arrived in Washington.

The post concludes:

This is why we fight. We fight for my daughter and the millions of girls like her who are endangered by the sexist rhetoric that passes for media these days. We fight for the millions of boys who are looking at the Progressive Dude Nation right now, at their style, their pazzazz, their irreverence, and who are wanting to posture the same stance one day if they haven’t adopted it already. There is more at stake than just this year, this election, or the next four years. There are legions of young minds being shaped, and we must inform them, using rhetoric that is natural to their intellect, of what is going on right now and what is possible for the future.

Ouch, the Media Might Need to Put a Little Ice on that (Wizbang)

Ouch, the Media Might Need to Put a Little Ice on that (Wizbang).

The most amusing thing to watch following the Palin speech last night was the journalists pretending not to know why on earth Sarah Palin would be so critical of them. She definitely landed a punch with her criticism. Roger Simon shot back with a sarcastic, dare I say “shrill,” column listing the reasons the media does not owe Palin an apology. My answer to Simon’s silliness is to tell him that Republicans have no problem with the media asking questions. We would love to see the media ask all kinds of questions, not just of our candidates though. There are hundreds of questions that have not been asked of Barack Obama, but the media had plenty of time to go around in search of DNA samples.

Clinton Aides Say Treatment of Palin is Sexist

Clinton Aides Say Treatment of Palin is Sexist.

Sarah Palin found some unlikely allies Wednesday as leading academics and even former top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsed the Republican charge that John McCain’s running mate has been subject to a sexist double standard by the news media and Democrats.

Georgetown University professor Deborah Tannen, who has written best-selling books on gender differences, said she agrees with complaints that Palin skeptics – including prominent voices in the news media – have crossed a line by speculating about whether the Alaska governor is neglecting her family in pursuit of national office.

“What we’re dealing with now, there’s nothing subtle about it,” said Tannen. “We’re dealing with the assumption that child-rearing is the job of women and not men. Is it sexist? Yes.”

Among the eyebrow-raising comments in recent days:

  • Democrat Joe Biden, in what he intended as self-deprecating remark, observed, “There’s a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent. … She’s good looking.”

  • Liberal radio host Ed Schultz used the words “bimbo alert” to refer to Palin, and the Huffington Post featured a photo montage of Palin with the headline, “Former Beauty Queen, Future VP?”

  • CNN’s John Roberts recently pondered on air: “Children with Down’s syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of vice president, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?”

“There’s no way those questions would be asked of a male candidate,” said Howard Wolfson a former top strategist for Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Barbara Risman, a leader of the Council on Contemporary Families and a sociology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said she hoped that Palin and the uproar over her coverage would prove itself to be a cultural milestone: “I think it’s really important, from this day forward, that we all ask about every candidate’s work life and home life. It’s sexism otherwise. … We have to be careful not to ask her questions that we wouldn’t ask a male candidate.”