Media Awards for Coverage of Reidgate

This past week, tens of thousands of media outlets, reporters, commentators, and politicians reported or commented on Sen. Harry Reid’s remark that unemployed men “tend to become abusive,” a comment that ignored the fact that unemployment can also predispose women to abuse.

Following are the awards for the past week’s media coverage of Reidgate:

• Most spirited defense: MediaMatters: “Right-wing media mock Reid for linking unemployment to rise in domestic abuse:” — http://mediamatters.org/research/201002230026

• Blithest attempt to paper-over the existence of female abuse: Christian Science Monitor: “Harry Reid Links Unemployment to Rise in Domestic Abuse” — http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/282567

• Et Tu, Brute? award: Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson: “Reid: Jobless men = domestic abuse. Is he saying we should be worried about Mrs. Reid after the November elections?” — http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0210/Reid_spokesman_Thompson_wifebeating_Tweet_despicable.html

• Best political cartoon: RedState: “Soon-to-be ex-Senator Harry Reid: Arrested for fear of domestic abuse after he loses his job in November 2010” — http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/02/23/morning-briefing-for-february-23-2010/

• Largest audience: Russ Limbaugh: “Dingy: Jobless Men Beat Wives” — http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_022310/content/01125111.guest.html (Weekly audience: Over 20 million persons)

• Funniest editorial: Andrea Tantaros, New York Daily News, “Harry Reid’s remarks making light of domestic abuse prove he needs a lesson tongue-fu” — http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/02/25/2010-02-25_harry_reids_remarks_making_light_of_domestic_abuse_prove_he_needs_a_lesson_in_to.html

• Most thoughtful editorial: Paul Elam of Men’s News Daily: “Reid Backpedaling with Media Help and Public Ignorance.” — http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&oq=&q=%E2%80%9CReid+Backpedaling+with+Media+Help+and+Public+Ignorance.%E2%80%9D&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=NOqHS467KZDT8QaS2tGUDw&sa=X&oi=news_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAsQsQQwAA

• Best all-around article: Kerry Picket, Washington Times: “Leader Reid Distorts the Facts on Domestic Violence.” — http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2010/feb/23/leader-reid-distorts-facts-domestic-violence/?feat=home_blogs

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 10:48 pm and is filed under AbuseGate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. | 783 views | Trackback | Print this page |

| More from Abusegate Bob