It has been a momentous, historic week in American politics: on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton officially became the first woman to ever be nominated as the top-name candidate on a presidential ticket.
History. pic.twitter.com/1ayWTx8SPH
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 26, 2016
Let’s reiterate that point: in the 227-year history of the American presidency, no woman has ever been a political party’s main contender for the White House.
This moment is for every little girl who dreams big. #WeMadeHistoryhttps://t.co/DRAJuUUhOr
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 26, 2016
So you’d think that Clinton’s achievement would have made front page news around the world?
Well, it did, and it didn’t.
As writer Kelsey McKinney pointed out, lots of newspapers across the US carried news of Hillary’s big win on their front pages – but accompanied their stories with pictures of her husband, Bill Clinton.
https://twitter.com/mckinneykelsey/status/758279911140302848
https://twitter.com/mckinneykelsey/status/758320264014733313
https://twitter.com/mckinneykelsey/status/758315034569084929
Now, there’s an argument that because Bill Clinton was the headline speaker at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night that he was the big “news-maker” image that should lead the story.
https://twitter.com/wallernikki/status/758298630843469824
nominating conventions a little weird in being one of the few places where you win something major and not be there that night
— Matt Pearce 🦅🇺🇸 (@mattdpearce) July 27, 2016
There were no images of Hillary on stage at the convention on Tuesday – she only appeared in a taped message on screen.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
But that’s not a good enough reason, right?
https://twitter.com/mckinneykelsey/status/758284784552382464
I mean, if the foreign papers could figure it out… pic.twitter.com/6LYnWx6umU
— Josephine Tovey (@Jo_Tovey) July 27, 2016
Journalist and writer called out the editorial decisions for what they were: “enduring sexism”.
https://twitter.com/annehelen/status/758285074987151360
Petersen continued:
She also had this to say to claims that women were “over-reacting” to the picture issue.
However, Kelsey McKinney did find some papers that did Hillary justice:
https://twitter.com/mckinneykelsey/status/758293862724927489
https://twitter.com/mckinneykelsey/status/758341351322685440
And one paper, the Seattle Times, came out and apologised:
@annehelen We blew it. Focused too much on what was happening live @ DNC, folks praising her achievement. Should've shown Hillary
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) July 27, 2016
Congrats Hillary. Her.ie is with Her.
