WaPo, how low can you go?

Washington Post Joins the Mainstream Media in Embracing the Hate, Ripping on Obama and Clinton

By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet. Posted August 1, 2009.

Media bigs seem to have reached the conclusion that hatred sells, so they're embracing their inner sexists and inner racists.



If the presidential campaign of 2008 was the mainstream media's teachable moment, it seems the wrong lesson was learned. Instead of the corrective soul-searching one would hope for among executives and editors at major media outlets as their on-air figures grappled with their inner sexists and inner racists during prime time, media bigs seem to have reached the conclusion that hatred sells. So they're selling it hard.

The latest exhibit is a Washington Post video (sponsored by the oil company, BP), in which one of the paper's A-list columnists suggests that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton be served a brew called Mad Bitch during a visit to the White House.

Add that to a month that saw CNN's Lou Dobbs advancing the cause of far-right-wingers who suggested, despite the evidence, that Obama is not a U.S. citizen, and the assertion by Fox's Glenn Beck that Obama "hates white people."

And don't forget the racist commentary written by MSNBC's Patrick J. Buchanan, who was rewarded for his invective with a paid appearance on the popular Rachel Maddow Show. (The question is not why Maddow had him on the show -- she adroitly took Buchanan down -- but why Buchanan remains on the MSNBC payroll after calling Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor a "quota queen" and an "affirmative action hire" who advocates for "tribal justice".) .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/politics/141712/washington_post_joins_the_mainstream_media_in_embracing_the_hate%2C_ripping_on_obama_and_clinton_/

K&R!