An Open Letter to the Washington Post

UPDATE: Another win for WAM!mers (and for journalism, and for women). Marcus Brauchli responds:

Thank you for your letter about the July 31 episode of “Mouthpiece Theater.”

We are aware of and sensitive to the issues that you raise, although we don’t see all of them quite as you do. It is plainly true that humor doesn’t deconstruct well (and we realize you may dispute that the video contained any humor).

We removed the video from our site on Friday because, as we said at the time, parts of the video went beyond what we believe should have been published on The Post’s site. We have since published a note to readers on the video player of the website, something we should have done immediately.

We did not have a good process in place for reviewing videos before they are published on our site, and we are correcting that.

We appreciate your commitment to responsible journalism and the high standards to which The Washington Post has always held itself. We share it.

Sincerely,

Marcus Brauchli

August 4, 2009

Mr. Marcus W. Brauchli
Executive Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20071

cc: Andrew Alexander, ombudsman

Dear Mr. Brauchli:

As members of Women, Action & the Media, we write to protest the Washington Post’s production and presentation of the July 31 “Mouthpiece Theater” episode titled, “Menage a Stella Artois,” and the Post’s cowardly manner of addressing the controversy generated by the video’s patently sexist — and otherwise tasteless — content.

We believe the Post owes an explanation to its online viewers as to how such a video came to be produced and presented on the Post’s Web site. As you are no doubt aware, the show’s hosts, Post columnists Chris Cillizza and Dana Milbank, attempt to spoof President Obama’s “beer summit” between Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Sgt. James Crowley by suggesting future summits at which Washington notables might be served oddly-named — and by the hosts’ lights, aptly named — beers, including one for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called “Mad Bitch.” In addition, Rep. Chip Pickering, who is in a legal fight with his wife, is recommended for a brew called “Bitter Woman From Hell”, and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, is the appointed recipient of a brew called “Arctic Devil.”

Although the misogyny spoke most loudly to us among the many problems with the piece, it must be noted that the video also contains racially insensitive material and a general spirit of meanness that is an outrageous find on the Web site of the paper of record for our nation’s capital. For example, Mr. Cillizza and Mr. Milbank express gratitude that Sgt. James Crowley didn’t order “White Rascal”, and that Gates did not request a “Big Black Stout” or a “Double Black Stout”. Exactly whose America is the Washington Post covering?

The utter contempt for women displayed in this video speaks to the struggle that women face in every workplace, that women journalists face in every newsroom, and that all too often weaves its way into news coverage of women and of issues pertaining to women. The Post’s cowardice in addressing the problem — simply removing the video with no explanation, no apology to viewers, and no promise of disciplinary action to be taken against those who made and posted it — speaks just as loudly.

When material sent out to the public by journalistic institutions goes awry in some way, it is customary for the institution to offer an accounting of what went wrong, and how such errors of judgment will be avoided in the future. We expect the Post would wish to share with us and with viewers of its Web site the process by which this video made it onto the site, and what corrective action the Post plans to take. Who will be held to account for creating and displaying this offensive material? Will the parties involved face disciplinary action?

We also expect that the Post, with its history of accountability to its readers, would see the wisdom in issuing an apology for the Post’s creation and presentation of a work that sought to get laughs based on sexism.

Do note, however, that our concern is not just for those who, like us, are profoundly offended by this video. We are equally concerned for those who are not, and for the Post’s contribution to a mainstream news culture that is racing to amplify the worst sentiments expressed in our political life. Video segments such as yours, especially when advanced by an institution with the credibility of the Washington Post, serve to poison the atmosphere and harm the nation at large.

We look forward to your response. If you’d like to meet us over a beer, however, we’ll choose the brews, thanks.

Sincerely,

Jaclyn Friedman
Director
Women, Action & the Media

Adele M. Stan
Acting Washington Bureau Chief
AlterNet

Carol Jenkins
President
Women’s Media Center

Jennifer Pozner
Director
Women in Media & News (WIMN)

Frances Kissling
Center for Bioethics
University of Pennsylvania

Katha Pollitt
Columnist
The Nation

Julianne Malveaux, PhD
President
Bennett College for Women

Gloria Feldt
Board Member
Women’s Media Center

Ellen Bravo
Author
Taking on the Big Boys, or Why Feminism is Good for Families, Business and the Nation

Tracy Van Slyke
Project Director
The Media Consortium

Shireen Mitchell
Media & Technology Chair
National Council of Women’s Organizations

Shira Tarrant, PhD
Author and Assistant Professor
California State University, Long Beach

Andi Zeisler
Editorial Director
Bitch Media

Margaret Morganroth Gullette
Resident Scholar
Women’s Studies Research Center
Brandeis University

Carolyn M. Byerly, PhD
Associate Professor of Journalism
Howard University

Veronica I. Arreola
Freelance Writer and Board Member
Women In Media & News (WIMN)

Tracy Viselli
Blogger and Co-founder
Nevada Interactive Media

Jill Miller Zimon
Writes Like She Talks

Miranda Spencer
Journalist and Media Critic

Nancy Gruver
Founder
New Moon Girl Media

Denise Di Stephan
Freelance Writer

Ariel Dougherty
National Project Director
Media Equity Collaborative

Audrey Bilger
Associate Professor of Literature
Claremont McKenna College

Jamii Claiborne
Assistant Professor of Media Studies
Buena Vista University

Jayati Vora
Web Editor
The Nation Institute

Joan Dawson, MPH
Writer, Editor and Advocate

Ann Neumann
Blogger and Writer
Otherspoon

Tara Bracco
Writer and Founder
Poetic People Power

Kathy Magnuson
Co-Publisher
Minnesota Women’s Press

Marge May
Producer and Host
“Women’s Windows”, WERU-FM Community Radio, Maine

Marcia G. Yerman
Writer and Consultant
Women’s Issues

Peaco Todd
Political Cartoonist