Same Old, Same Old

I have to agree with Marie Cocco on this one, which you can read in full on Alternet here:

I have nothing against Jim Lehrer, executive editor of "The NewsHour" on PBS, or Tom Brokaw of NBC, or Bob Schieffer, the host of CBS' "Face the Nation." But how about a dose of reality? Race and sex already have become flashpoints in this campaign. McCain's age is an issue and Obama is sparking enormous enthusiasm among younger voters. So why are we stuck in a media rut with three white men, the youngest of whom, Brokaw, is 68?

Cocco goes on to mention Christiane Amanpour, Andrea Mitchell, Katie Couric and Gwen Ifill (chosen to moderate the VP debate) as qualified alternatives. Brokaw is retired, for crying out loud! It's obvious Tim Russert would have had that spot, had he still been alive. NBC could have taken the opportunity to increase its diversity—a new perspective! good TV! positive press!—during a year when such issues are very much on everyone's mind. But it didn't.

You might even leave aside race and gender. What does the choice of those three moderators say to those under the age of 40 (who, I might add, will be the most affected by the next president's policies on Social Security, health care and war)? I understand the concepts of seniority and loyalty (although those ideals don't seem to be helping anyone working at a newspaper). I understand that the debate questions might be the same even if the moderators looked different. But sociopolitical power is largely (mostly?) a matter of representation—and based on the choices made here, we can see who still holds the power in this country.

With Dads Like That ...

This is what Jamie Spears has to say about daughter Britney:

"She sometimes calls me 50 times a day and asks me things that light my life up. But, like all daughters, she is very manipulative and cunning. So she gets what she wants a lot."

No wonder the girl is a mess. This is her father's view of women?

To Channel 13: Rape Is Not a "Sex Scandal"

Discussing the recent bad publicity surrounding the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, tonight's sports anchor (not Keith Murphy--another guy) at WHO-TV called this a "major sex scandal."

For those who don't feel like clicking, "this" is the alleged rape of a female athlete at the University of Iowa by two male football players and a third male accomplice, followed by an alleged cover-up, followed by furious reactions from almost the entire state, followed by a reopening of the whole damn investigation by the state board of regents.

"Sex scandal" -- I don't think so.

To be fair, Channel 13 has covered the case pretty well. You can even look at WHO's Web site here for a timeline of events. But still ... gotta watch those words.