Elle Purnell of the Federalist compares a recent women’s magazine profile to more “serious” news coverage.
You’ve probably noticed that the big women’s magazines are garbage these days, putting men in dresses on their covers or glorifying obesity as “healthy” or writing about the best lesbian sex toys (I’ll spare you the link to that one!). Unsurprisingly, Vogue’s recent puff piece about President Joe Biden’s struggling press secretary isn’t much closer to a serious piece of journalism. But the worst thing about the fluff-filled feature is that it’s practically indistinguishable from the coverage every leftist in politics gets from other corporate newsrooms, including those whose employees would fancy themselves a few rungs above Andie Anderson on the “serious reporter” ladder.
At the briefing podium, Karine Jean-Pierre has a “quality of directness — blunt, with a touch of compassion,” Vogue writer Mattie Kahn coos. She likes “bright colors and bold eye shadow.” Her “technique” is to “disarm with a smile, then lay out the facts.” (A smile and the facts? Oh, why hasn’t any other press secretary ever thought of that!)
As in any good piece of storytelling, after endearing the heroine to you, this one introduces an antagonist: “House Republicans”! …
… Watching Washington elites slobber over each other on the page is about as gross as it is on camera. And while sickeningly frothy confections like this profile are easy enough to dismiss from sickeningly frothy publications like Vogue, it’s a much bigger problem when the self-appointed “serious” media sound exactly the same.
Let’s play a game: Take a guess whether these excerpts are from the likes of Vogue and Cosmo or from the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” crowd!
After the Biden-Harris inauguration, a fawning column recounted “the fabulous coats at the inauguration,” from “Jill Biden’s sophisticated Markarian tweed” to “Amy Klobuchar’s ‘big aunt energy’ gold” to “Nancy Pelosi’s turquoise extravaganza” to — my favorite — “Janet Yellen’s toasty-warm, weather-appropriate puffer.”
If you guessed that was from a corporate “news” outlet — specifically, The Washington Post — you get a point!