Gingersnap
06-13-2011, 11:01 AM
Scott Brown's wife, a journalist, rips coverage of Sarah Palin as 'sexist'
By Russell Berman - 06/12/11 03:07 PM ET
Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) has drawn his share of unflattering news coverage, but it’s the journalist in his family who is the more outspoken media critic.
Brown’s wife of nearly 25 years, Gail Huff, is a longtime television reporter who now works for ABC’s Washington affiliate. When the couple appeared together at a Newseum event Saturday on politics and the media, Huff sharply criticized political coverage in the Beltway, particularly involving Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee.
“I thought the coverage of her when she was on the ticket was sexist,” Huff said in response to a question from the moderator. “I found it difficult many times to watch. The kind of questions she was asked were very different than the kind of questions [Sen. John] McCain was asked.”
Palin faced intense criticism during that campaign following a shaky interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, when she struggled to answer a question about what newspapers she read.
“Part of that I understand is cultural and social. But still, we as journalists have to be above that,” Huff said. “We have to ask the important questions.”
She said the media should “back off [Palin] coverage unless she decides to be a candidate.”
“If she wants to be a candidate, great, then she will get the same fair coverage that every other declared candidate gets,” Huff said.
Sen. Brown was considerably more circumspect about Palin. He said she “obviously plays a role” in the political process but that he wasn’t sure what her plans for 2012 would be. “I wish her well,” Brown said. He is supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination.
She's right; coverage of Palin often includes overt sexism as well as a distasteful snarky tone that appears to blame her for not being upper middle class, Ivy League educated, bi-coastal, irreligious, and urban. J-school has largely killed journalism in this country. The cookie-cutter production of journalism degrees means that people staffing papers and news outlets all share the same background, experience, mindset, and blind spots. It's astonishing that journalists would be so wedded to their narrow worldviews that they would use sexism as a political weapon. It's evidence that journalists no longer care about objectivity.
The Hill (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/165949-scott-browns-wife-a-journalist-rips-palin-coverage)
By Russell Berman - 06/12/11 03:07 PM ET
Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) has drawn his share of unflattering news coverage, but it’s the journalist in his family who is the more outspoken media critic.
Brown’s wife of nearly 25 years, Gail Huff, is a longtime television reporter who now works for ABC’s Washington affiliate. When the couple appeared together at a Newseum event Saturday on politics and the media, Huff sharply criticized political coverage in the Beltway, particularly involving Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee.
“I thought the coverage of her when she was on the ticket was sexist,” Huff said in response to a question from the moderator. “I found it difficult many times to watch. The kind of questions she was asked were very different than the kind of questions [Sen. John] McCain was asked.”
Palin faced intense criticism during that campaign following a shaky interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, when she struggled to answer a question about what newspapers she read.
“Part of that I understand is cultural and social. But still, we as journalists have to be above that,” Huff said. “We have to ask the important questions.”
She said the media should “back off [Palin] coverage unless she decides to be a candidate.”
“If she wants to be a candidate, great, then she will get the same fair coverage that every other declared candidate gets,” Huff said.
Sen. Brown was considerably more circumspect about Palin. He said she “obviously plays a role” in the political process but that he wasn’t sure what her plans for 2012 would be. “I wish her well,” Brown said. He is supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination.
She's right; coverage of Palin often includes overt sexism as well as a distasteful snarky tone that appears to blame her for not being upper middle class, Ivy League educated, bi-coastal, irreligious, and urban. J-school has largely killed journalism in this country. The cookie-cutter production of journalism degrees means that people staffing papers and news outlets all share the same background, experience, mindset, and blind spots. It's astonishing that journalists would be so wedded to their narrow worldviews that they would use sexism as a political weapon. It's evidence that journalists no longer care about objectivity.
The Hill (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/165949-scott-browns-wife-a-journalist-rips-palin-coverage)