Sarah Palin has always had beef with the “lamestream media,” but she started getting more specific about that beef Sunday night when she criticized Politico’s use of anonymous sources in an article about Republicans looking to put the kibosh on her presidential chances—our two cents are here. Today, Palin has taken aim again at Politico for its photo editing choices on Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan’s story, “Michele Bachmann bid adds drama to the GOP leadership race.”
The “pic” in question was the one below, which initially ran with the Bachmann article. It comes courtesy of The Daily Caller, which has made much of the story.
After seeing the imapge this morning, @SarahPalinUSA tweeted:
Press: why use this Bachmann pic in LEADERSHIP story?Ur 2 transparent “@politico: Bachmann leadership bid adds drama http://politi.co/d46HwR
Palin then wrote an e-mail to The Daily Caller explaining her beef:
“A photo of Rep Bachmann in a Leadership article [with] the title including a ‘drama’ angle … showing her being made up with cosmetics?!”…
…“Would they do this to a male candidate? Kinda’ like the Newsweek cover of me in running shorts. Kinda’ like all these recent articles that mention what I’m wearing or not wearing, yet not one mention of anyone else’s garb in the same article. It gets old, it’s boringly transparent, it’s beyond subtle.”
Palin has a point, even if she makes it beyond unsubtly. The picture was unnecessarily and pretty brazenly sexist. And Politico eventually agreed, switching it for the one below later in the morning (a good move: we would have hated to see them level the playing field by showing a pic of Mitch McConnell in the makeup chair). Executive editor Jim VandeHei told the Daily Caller, “We agreed it wasn’t the best choice of photos, so we changed it.”
Interestingly, nothing on the Politico story explains the switch for those who might have visited the site this morning and come back for a second read this afternoon. Not “2 transparent” after all, we guess.
"Kinda’ like the Newsweek cover of me in running shorts."
She posed for that picture. Kinda' lame complaining about it being used for the cover. She shoulda' spoken up during the photo shoot if she thought it was sexist, no?
#1 Posted by cab91, CJR on Thu 4 Nov 2010 at 10:26 PM
I am sure Bachmann did not run to the Politico and try to trash Palin and others, after such a great win. I trust Bachmann to always do the right thing when it comes to the country. We don`t need another T. Lott.
#2 Posted by charles shepard, CJR on Fri 5 Nov 2010 at 05:22 PM
So, we have never seen a male politican in a make up chair or combing is hair?
Does John Edwards come to mind? Or Paul Wolfowitz?
#3 Posted by Carol, CJR on Sat 6 Nov 2010 at 12:18 PM
Am tired of the hypocrisy of media savvy politicians jumping on mainstream media for any reporting they do not like or for getting asked un-prescreened questions, thus generating more buzz than they or their platitudes instead of real ideas deserve. Am also tired of mainstream media not delving deeply into the issues underlying the 15 second sound bite jingoistic solutions to decades old problems these types of politicians promulgate and giving them more attention than they deserve for their superfluous rants and raves. And by all means, please run photos of Mr. Boehner getting spray tanned or whatever it is he does to attain his special glow. I also think Chris Matthews was wrong to jump all over Ms. Bachmann at her election night party with questions she obviously didn't hear clearly. And even if she did and those might have been her answers anyway, it was an inappropriate moment and a cheap shot.
#4 Posted by Tom, CJR on Sat 6 Nov 2010 at 04:31 PM
>> pic of Mitch McConnell in the makeup chair
*Shudders*.
#5 Posted by F. Murray Rumpelstiltskin, CJR on Tue 9 Nov 2010 at 06:41 AM
She "posed" for the picture? Really? Right...
So Politico "agreed" it wasn't a good pic to run with their article - how about an explanation of how they arrived at that choice in the first place? Can't stand to look too carefully in the mirror at your own biases? (would the same have been done if Nancy Pelosi were the subject of the article?)
SAD state of affairs when media TRY to pass themselves off as non-partisan yet aren't held accountable for sexism and other biases in their "reporting." (like Dan Rather gushing live on air how thrilled he was at Pres. Clinton's election...) Hey, have your opinions, it's a free country - but don't then try to pass yourself off as unbiased afterwards.
#6 Posted by John, CJR on Thu 16 Dec 2010 at 04:55 PM