The Washington Post Learns the Hard Way: Sexism Doesn't Sell

by Jen Nedeau · 2009-08-06 05:35:00 UTC
Topics:

Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza learned the hard way this past week that sexism in the media doesn't sell.

The two political pundits from The Washington Post tried and failed to get away with suggesting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would drink "Mad Bitch" beer in a segment they did for a satirical vlog called "Mouthpiece Theater" last Friday. The comment from Milbank caused so much uproar that The Washington Post took the video down by the end of the day.

On Monday, Milbank offered an apology to the audience of Mouthpiece Theater - but in such a smug, incredulous manner that it was simply not believable. Not to mention the fact that Cilizza was giggling for most of the "apology" segment. This didn't in fact gain them any traction in their fall from grace of the week before.

Turns out, however, this time, sexism doesn't sell in the media. The Washington Post announced yesterday that they will no longer continue "Mouthpiece Theater":

Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli killed the satirical video series Wednesday after harsh criticism of a joke about Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, which prompted him to pull the latest episode from the paper's Web site Friday night. The Post staffers who appeared in the videos, Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza, agreed with the decision and apologized in separate interviews.

"I don't think the series worked as they intended," Brauchli said. "It was meant to be funny and insightful and translate the superb journalism Chris and Dana do in print and online into a new format."

"Mouthpiece Theater" was designed as a sendup of pompous punditry, with Milbank, the paper's Washington Sketch columnist, and Cillizza, a White House correspondent who writes The Fix blog, appearing with oversized pipes and smoking jackets.

I am really glad The Post took a stand against this behavior. As a person who once interned at WashingtonPost.com and got to know the likes of Chris Cillizza - who admittedly was a very nice and genuine person - it was a shock to see this series broadcast across YouTube. Upon first glance, "Mouthpiece Theater" seemed to be nothing more than a wet dream for political pundits who wished the Playboy Mansion would suddenly find itself inside Beltway - but not an open stage for sexist commentary.

While it is still quite stunning that The Post let this one slip through the cracks and onto YouTube for all to see - I am pleased that all parties involved took responsibility for the error and removed "Mouthpiece Theater" from The Post's commentary coffers.

Jen Nedeau Jen Nedeau is a media relations professional and a writer based in New York City.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Vogue Italia's Black Barbie: A Step Forward or a Step Back?
NEXT STORY:
Fox News' Trotta Still Doesn't Get It: I Want Her Rape Apologism Off the Air

COMMENTS (2)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.