To the extent that they credit the media at all, they pay less heed to sexism and more to the concentrated, almost crazed efforts by commentators and pundits to bring the primary campaign to an end by forcing Clinton’s withdrawal. There were of course traces of sexism in the mainstream coverage, most notably by a few offenders on MSNBC. But the more important phenomenon Lawrence and Rose uncover is the extent to which the uncivil, even uncouth discourse on the Internet and blogosphere began to pollute the more decorous media, suggesting that in future campaigns, the ruffians may end up running the entire show.

James Boylan is CJR’s founding editor.