Huffington Post: Misplaced Priorities in Story Selection

A news outlet’s intentions and professionalism are not only shown in how they report on the issues, but which ones they report on. Unfortunately, the latter standard shows the Huffington Post’s priorities are often misplaced, as they delve into completely inconsequential news about Sarah Palin.


-This article about Palin’s clothing is unbelievably superficial reporting, and without any redeeming news value apart from satisfying personal curiosity or serving as an attack on Palin. While $150,000 on clothing seems excessive, even for presidential candidates who must strive to look professional and appealing, it is an inconsequential sum compared to how much is spent on campaign expenses or new spending plans, items that if covered, would help readers understand the campaigns. This story from Politico, which the Post linked to, is a significantly better example in that it actually speaks to Republican donors and finds out what they think about this, receiving various and nuanced opinions in the process.

-This article , like many of the other stories about Palin’s ignorance, is mere “gotcha” journalism, potentially the result of the Huffington Post reporters trying to seem clever and analytical, or trying to make Palin appear stupid, rather than .pursuing informative election coverage. The ignorance might have some relevance if it could be demonstrably linked with Palin’s voting on global warming, but as it stands, all this signifies is that Palin has difficulty demonstrating her knowledge in press conferences.

-This article gives more attention to an admittedly vulgar Freudian slip McCain made to a greater degree than any of President Bush’s gaffes. While the Huffington Post did report on Obama’s remarks about “bitter” Americans – albeit without any regard for journalistic ethics concerning deception or political participation – those remarks were more newsworthy because they spoke to Obama’s thoughts about American conservatives and were clearly more deliberate, and attracted more attention from the national press than McCain’s adding an “n” to “cut” likely ever will.

The criticisms leveled against Sarah Palin have varying degrees of legitimacy. Her supposedly dealing harshly with people who opposed her in her tenure as Governor of Alaska is concerning and worth investigation, given that she is being considered for a position of even greater responsibility. Criticisms about her family and politicizing not having an abortion despite knowing that her son would have Down syndrome is overly personal reporting, albeit with some relevance to her political views. The stories I listed, however, are nearly inconsequential, and by posting them on the website, the managers of Huffington Post send a message to their writers, their readers, the candidates and the wider journalistic community that these stories are, in fact, news.

The stories also indicate a strong anti-Republican and especially anti-Palin tilt in the Huffington Post’s news. While news organizations should not create false balance or censor stories for fear of being labeled as biased, the Huffington Post seems to put McCain and Palin to a higher standard of scrutiny than Obama and Biden, as I have never seen them cast the Democrats in a critical light over something so minor, like Obama’s absent flag pin. While objectivity is an appealing but flawed concept for journalists, striving for fairness is an absolute necessity, and is severely lacking in the Huffington Post’s coverage of Republicans.