The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.

It’s not enough to stop the dismissiveness at Clinton’s importance, though.  He proceeds to dismiss the efforts and importance of Melinda Gates also; “Newsweek is nuts for wasting pages saluting Melinda Gates for her attempts to eradicate polio. Gates is obviously a passenger on that effort, helmed by her husband.”  Only a misogynist could completely dismiss her contributions to the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”.

Shafer actually fails to even mention International Women’s Day or Women’s History Month; begging the question whether he was even aware of them.  Not surprising since the media pays little attention to these newsworthy events.  So who is the one avoiding newsiness and “the week”?  He also claims that Brown misses the mark on her mission statement “about filling the gaps left when a story has seemingly passed, or resetting the agenda, or coming up with an insight or synthesis that connects the crackling, confusing digital dots.”  Granted, perhaps Brown should have named the events *on the cover* that surely inspired the issue.  This was likely an editing decision made to avoid the unfortunate fact that trumpeting Intl Women’s Day or Women’s History Month seems to be a ratings killer.  No surprise since Shafer voices an opinion that is probably all to common:

“One would think that with the Arab world spinning apart, political insurrection visiting Capitol Hill and the state houses, and the NFL going on sabbatical, the week would be so hot that Brown could stir-fry its ingredients for a sizzling meal.”

Keeping yourself informed of newsworthy information is not supposed to be entertainment. The news should not need to be “hot” or “sizzling”. Tina Brown should be receiving kudos from people that respect Hillary Clinton and have been eager to see her reflected well in the media.  She should be congratulated for choosing a timely theme for her debut issue and publishing a positive and thorough profile of Clinton’s work.  She could only possibly be faulted for choosing the more compelling photo to run with the online story as opposed to the magazine cover.  The news has rightly been lately dominated by an almost all male upheaval in the middle east.  But the very important story of women’s rights in these Islamic societies is barely mentioned, if not virtually covered up (i.e., Lara Logan).  Brown gives us a very powerful image of Clinton representing a female presence and viewpoint in this completely male-run part of the world.

Finding Shafer’s article at the top of Slate’s homepage on International Women’s Day is an insult to the event and the people that respect it.  Hopefully, it will now also result in more attention being paid to Brown’s responsible journalism.