By Dylan Leverett/ reporter
In a recent Huffington Post article, reporter Judah Robinson expressed his disgust for the generalization right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh made about a perceived female takeover of the media.
Limbaugh based his irrational rationale on a Politico article by Hada Gold that describes the all-female group of reporters that covers Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.
Limbaugh coined the overtly disrespectful term “chickification” to describe the idea of the imagined change in the press corps.
The original Politico article more or less illustrates the draw and interest Clinton has garnered from female reporters because she’s a female candidate, not about a female-run journalist conspiracy. Granted, the article also fairly discusses some of the questionable biases of the Clinton reporters as well.
The article quotes Carolyn Ryan, the political editor of The New York Times, who explains the reasoning behind the following Clinton has amassed.
“One, a younger generation of talented women reporters is coming of age just as Clinton pursues the presidency,” Ryan said. “Two, while I don’t think editors are choosing reporters to cover Clinton because of their gender, women are drawn to this story journalistically, given its sweep, history-making potential and the way the Clinton story intersects with the broader discussion about gender, power and culture.”
This seems a justifiable reason for a reporter to follow a candidate: the interest they create and their relatable nature. Robinson points out Limbaugh couldn’t have missed the mark more.
“The Women’s Media Center analyzed new content produced last year between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 and found that men generated 62 percent of the news,” he wrote. “Women still face an uphill battle for equal representation in newsrooms, especially in those of the nation’s top newspapers. The report notes that women accounted for 32 percent of bylines in The New York Times and about 40 percent of those in The Washington Post.”
Limbaugh needn’t worry about being usurped from his windbag pulpit by an army of imagined female reporters anytime soon.
