An Open Letter to the Washington Post
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Posted by Guest Blogger August 4th, 2009 |
By Guest Blogger Adele M. Stan
August 4, 2009
Mr. Marcus W. Brauchli
Executive Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20071
cc: Andrew Alexander, ombudsman
Dear Mr. Brauchli:
As members of Women, Action & the Media, we write to protest the Washington Post’s production and presentation of the July 31 “Mouthpiece Theater” episode titled, “Menage a Stella Artois,” and the Post’s cowardly manner of addressing the controversy generated by the video’s patently sexist — and otherwise tasteless — content.
We believe the Post owes an explanation to its online viewers as to how such a video came to be produced and presented on the Post’s Web site. As you are no doubt aware, the show’s hosts, Post columnists Chris Cillizza and Dana Milbank, attempt to spoof President Obama’s “beer summit” between Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Sgt. James Crowley by suggesting future summits at which Washington notables might be served oddly-named — and by the hosts’ lights, aptly named — beers, including one for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called “Mad Bitch.” In addition, Rep. Chip Pickering, who is in a legal fight with his wife, is recommended for a brew called “Bitter Woman From Hell”, and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, is the appointed recipient of a brew called “Arctic Devil.”
Although the misogyny spoke most loudly to us among the many problems with the piece, it must be noted that the video also contains racially insensitive material and a general spirit of meanness that is an outrageous find on the Web site of the paper of record for our nation’s capital. For example, Mr. Cillizza and Mr. Milbank express gratitude that Sgt. James Crowley didn’t order “White Rascal”, and that Gates did not request a “Big Black Stout” or a “Double Black Stout”. Exactly whose America is the Washington Post covering?
The utter contempt for women displayed in this video speaks to the struggle that women face in every workplace, that women journalists face in every newsroom, and that all too often weaves its way into news coverage of women and of issues pertaining to women. The Post’s cowardice in addressing the problem — simply removing the video with no explanation, no apology to viewers, and no promise of disciplinary action to be taken against those who made and posted it — speaks just as loudly.
When material sent out to the public by journalistic institutions goes awry in some way, it is customary for the institution to offer an accounting of what went wrong, and how such errors of judgment will be avoided in the future. We expect the Post would wish to share with us and with viewers of its Web site the process by which this video made it onto the site, and what corrective action the Post plans to take. Who will be held to account for creating and displaying this offensive material? Will the parties involved face disciplinary action?
We also expect that the Post, with its history of accountability to its readers, would see the wisdom in issuing an apology for the Post’s creation and presentation of a work that sought to get laughs based on sexism.
Do note, however, that our concern is not just for those who, like us, are profoundly offended by this video. We are equally concerned for those who are not, and for the Post’s contribution to a mainstream news culture that is racing to amplify the worst sentiments expressed in our political life. Video segments such as yours, especially when advanced by an institution with the credibility of the Washington Post, serve to poison the atmosphere and harm the nation at large.
We look forward to your response. If you’d like to meet us over a beer, however, we’ll choose the brews, thanks.
Sincerely,
Jaclyn Friedman
Director
Women, Action & the Media
Adele M. Stan
Acting Washington Bureau Chief
AlterNet
Carol Jenkins
President
Women’s Media Center
Jennifer Pozner
Director
Women in Media & News (WIMN)
Frances Kissling
Center for Bioethics
University of Pennsylvania
Katha Pollitt
Columnist
The Nation
Julianne Malveaux, PhD
President
Bennett College for Women
Gloria Feldt
Board Member
Women’s Media Center
Ellen Bravo
Author
Taking on the Big Boys, or Why Feminism is Good for Families, Business and the Nation
Tracy Van Slyke
Project Director
The Media Consortium
Shireen Mitchell
Media & Technology Chair
National Council of Women’s Organizations
Shira Tarrant, PhD
Author and Assistant Professor
California State University, Long Beach
Andi Zeisler
Editorial Director
Bitch Media
Margaret Morganroth Gullette
Resident Scholar
Women’s Studies Research Center
Brandeis University
Carolyn M. Byerly, PhD
Associate Professor of Journalism
Howard University
Veronica I. Arreola
Freelance Writer and Board Member
Women In Media & News (WIMN)
Tracy Viselli
Blogger and Co-founder
Nevada Interactive Media
Jill Miller Zimon
Writes Like She Talks
Miranda Spencer
Journalist and Media Critic
Nancy Gruver
Founder
New Moon Girl Media
Denise Di Stephan
Freelance Writer
Ariel Dougherty
National Project Director
Media Equity Collaborative
Audrey Bilger
Associate Professor of Literature
Claremont McKenna College
Jamii Claiborne
Assistant Professor of Media Studies
Buena Vista University
Jayati Vora
Web Editor
The Nation Institute
Joan Dawson, MPH
Writer, Editor and Advocate
Ann Neumann
Blogger and Writer
Otherspoon
Tara Bracco
Writer and Founder
Poetic People Power
Kathy Magnuson
Co-Publisher
Minnesota Women’s Press
Marge May
Producer and Host
“Women’s Windows”, WERU-FM Community Radio, Maine
Marcia G. Yerman
Writer and Consultant
Women’s Issues
Peaco Todd
Political Cartoonist
Women In Media & News collaborated on this letter, which was sent today by the women of the WAM! (Women, Action & the Media) community. It is cross-posted from Center for New Words.
Guest Blogger Adele M. Stan is a blogger, author and editor. She is currently AlterNet’s acting Washington bureau chief.