Sarah Palin and The Media’s Charm Offensive
May 31, 2011
by Lara Brown PhD
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
Gilty pleasures: Larry Flynt, with bodyguard Frank Torres, in his gold wheelchair at the Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco - UK's The Independent (click image)
When it comes to Palin, the media can’t seem to get enough of what they profess to not want.
While excitedly analyzing Palin’s movements and speculating on her future, they minimize her chances and experience (note: two-term president Grover Cleveland had much less when he first ran). Both Democratic and Republican elites believe she is unqualified to serve as president. Further commentators suggest that she (and her truly terrifying message of restoring constitutional principles) might be dangerous for the country.
Her participation on Sunday in the Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C, was yet another example of “the media gone wild.” Leading up to the event, journalists questioned whether she was being disingenuous about having been invited. During the event, they wondered whether she would show up. After the motorcycle ride, they opined on whether she was welcomed or perceived as a distraction by the other attendees. They later followed up with more criticism about how she was conducting her Northeastern bus tour (note: there was little, but praise for candidate Obama’s speech in Berlin in 2008).
Still comparing these stories to past Palin coverage (see Tucson shooting) this frenzy bordered on positive, which suggests one thing: the media are desperate for her to enter the Republican nomination contest. Otherwise the presidential race will involve an overexposed incumbent (Obama) battling three top tier candidates (Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Jon Huntsman) with the combined charisma of an iceberg.
The reason for this hypocritical coverage is simple, but awful. The most-widely consumed news in America involves primarily ugly narratives being told about beautiful people (see People magazine’s reach). This is the sexist underbelly driving the entertainment-is-news paradigm and it is why women in the news, whether journalists or sources, are judged on their appearance (see “sexualized news”).
As for Palin, the mainstream media also know that controversy and criticism, not objectivity and balance lure television viewers and sell newspapers. Her polarizing celebrity increases revenues, and like Flynt, the media’s parasitic profit-model turns Palin into their most prized commodity.
“The reason for this hypocritical coverage is simple, but awful. The most-widely consumed news in America involves primarily ugly narratives being told about beautiful people.”
Very interesting point. Hillary was treated HORRIBLY by the media but I do believe the media went a few steps further in their sexist treatment of Palin. In part, because she is a Republican woman and in part because she is not part of the elite political system. And it’s interesting how Palin’s beauty is the other part of the equation here. As you say in the article, beauty sells and is often turned into a spectacle.
I am not one who is trying to convince anyone to vote for Palin or any other candidate for that matter. But I would like to see Palin given a fair shot and I wonder how on earth that could happen when the media attacks her incessantly and has even been responsible for spreading lies about her. I’m not sure how much of a repeat of 2008 I could take! But somehow Palin has the guts and the smarts for it so we shall see.
Just noticed the picture of Larry Flint. I remember that movie about him staring Courtney Love and Woody Harrelson years ago. I saw it with a bunch of female friends and we thought it was fabulous at the time but now I’m disgusted. This is what Hollywood and 3rd Wave feminism has brought us – Larry Flint as a hero! But what a pathetic man.
Larry Flint is a liberal hero not an American hero. That is because in liberal catechism pornographers represent freedom of speech and so if there is no pornography it follows in their minds that there is no free speech. However it does not follow that if there is no degradation of Jewish men, gay men or black men that there is no free speech.
People magazine is a dentist office magazine. Do you really know anyone who subscribes to it? Yet it is in every dentist office, Dr. office and hair salon. It is fluff, read by bored people as a distraction.
Lara,just for the record not only did Palin have more experience then Cleveland, she had far more executive experience then John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and the current White House occupant had when he ran for President, which at that point for each of them was zero…yet the media never really mentioned that during the last election did they? Was it because she was a conservative woman, you betcha
Leave your Response Want an avatar? Get a gravatar!
Community Room
February 22, 2012 at 11:22 am
February 17, 2012 at 2:39 pm
February 6, 2012 at 4:25 pm
January 30, 2012 at 2:36 pm
January 26, 2012 at 4:38 pm
January 23, 2012 at 1:04 pm
January 15, 2012 at 11:37 am
January 9, 2012 at 6:36 pm
BUILD your NETWORK
Our Network of College Women
Protecting our Teenage Girls
We’re in the Media »
Click to see our latest stories in the media
More Stories »Recent Comments
The Latest from our Blog
Archives
Pioneer Mentors
Blogroll
Find us Online
Subscribe Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS)
The New Agenda is a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls by bringing about systemic change in the media, at the workplace, at school and at home. More...