Clinton Wedding Questions: What are You Wearing, Madam Secretary?
I’ve been feeling very conflicted lately about Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.
Of course, it’s good news. Weddings are happy occasions—even though, in my opinion, they should all be held at city hall or in Las Vegas and cost no more than $500 including the rings—and Chelsea is a former first daughter, so a bit of public spectacle is expected.
On the other hand, the media coverage is making me a little upset. I have seen no fewer than 4 news stories this week about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She is in the middle of a four-country tour, visiting Afghanistan, Pakistan, Korea, and Vietnam. Yet, every interview I have seen—from the Associated Press to the Washington Post to the evening news—offers obligatory information about her trip, but ultimately focuses on a single perspective: that of Mother of the Bride.
Sure, Pakistan is interesting and all, the articles say, but what are you wearing to the wedding? Who’s invited? How many bridesmaids?
She is the Secretary of State!, I yell at my screen.
It’s possible that a man in her position would be asked these questions, but I doubt it. We can’t truly know for sure, however, since no one else is in her position: Hillary has a unique resume and place in the world. Nevertheless, I don’t remember Brian Williams asking George W. Bush questions about daughter Jenna’s wedding in 2008. I also haven’t seen interviews like these with Bill Clinton, who is at least as media-accessible as his wife.
For all I know, Hillary loves talking about her daughter’s wedding. And there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of fluff alongside the “real” news, especially when it humanizes a public figure. So I’m conflicted. Maybe this coverage shouldn’t bother me at all. But it does. Does it bother you?
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I agree with many of your points in your well written blog post, but I think you go to far in your criticism of the media. For every “mother of the bride” fluff piece I read I saw at least two solid pieces of journalism about her work as secretary of state. How was that possible? I looked for them. Main street media has to run fluff, but news can come from so many sources now that if a news outlet is running to much “soft news” and not enough “hard news” you can change the channel, the URL or paper.