Read on Twitter
Ok, gotta say this. I am sick and tired of the misogynistic behaviour we’ve been seeing from journalists in the daily media availabilities. What follows is a thread I’ve needed to get off my chest for some time. 1/15
Yesterday we heard a reporter ask @CMOH_NL ‘What have you heard from other provincial CMOs that could be applied to easing restrictions here in NL?’ WTF?! What she has heard?! 2/15
This is a CMO who managed to rein in a surging cluster, bring new caseloads to zero faster than most other provinces, and maintain one of the lowest provincial death counts in the country. 3/15
And she gets asked what she's heard?! Not what she, as an educated accomplished health officer thinks, but what other CMOs say?! WTF! The q implies there are gaps In her knowledge/competence b/c she’s moving too slowly. It's disrespectful, belittling and really unnecessary. 4/15
Do we hear male cabinet ministers routinely asked “What do you hear from other ministers?” when they hold a presser to announce a policy? It’s a roundabout way of implying she is not as competent as CMOs of provinces that are reopening faster (at a hefty cost in lives) 5/15
A CBC example: “Different public health officers are coming to different conclusions…Not saying she’s wrong, just asking how people feel about it.” This is classic “I’m not sexist BUT…” framing. Yes you ARE implying she’s wrong–& inviting others to step up & say it for you 6/15
There’s a stereotype women=nurturers & men=better suited to economic/political realm. Of course its stupid and false. But it’s reflected in these q's which imply @CMOH_NL is being overly cautious and not cognizant of the fiscal sit'n. Repeated q's to this end are insulting. 7/15
OF COURSE she knows the fiscal impact. Her JOB is not to maintain some perverse balance of deaths and GDP growth, her JOB is to save lives. And she’s doing a freakin good job of it. There’s a reason she’s given the power to shut businesses – it’s b/c we value lives more. 8/15
No, it’s not only male reporters acting this way. But the systematic practice of undermining a woman in high public office, questioning her competence by comparing her to others, and blatantly asking her WHAT SHE CAN LEARN FROM THEM, is fundamentally sexist. 9/15
The response will be “it’s our job to ask tough questions.” But a question is not “tough” just because it’s mean. Challenging & undermining a woman’s competence & decisions is not “tough” no matter how aggressively it’s framed. It’s the oldest trick in the misogyny toolkit. 10/15
The @CMOH_NL has said: “Here’s our plan.” 90% of reporter q's are on why they think her plan is wrong & efforts to bully her to change it. These journos are unable to simply accept a woman’s decisions & move on without trying to have their say & push her this way and that. 11/15
It’s impt to question/challenge experts & expert opinions. But do it with substance, not in ways that fuel the well-documented problem of women experts having to work twice as hard to be taken half as seriously as men. These q’s are not respectful/intelligent ones. 12/15
I know these reporters are good ppl and probably don't even realize what they’re doing. But in their haste to push what *they* think should be done, they’re retrenching a really problematic institutionalized misogyny. 13/15
The daily media q's are really devolving into lobby efforts where reporters demand the @CMOH_NL let them get back to their daily lives. Many of the q's are repetitive, blatantly pro-business & implicitly sexist in the subtle ways they undermine her competence/credibility. 13/15
The q’s are all about ‘how fast can we go back to our pre-pandemic lives, play tennis and take our dogs to be groomed’ [literally!] rather than how can we collectively build a sustainable future out of this multifaceted mess that we’re currently in? 14/15
A smart critical question is fine. It’s impt! But IMO the barrage of q's at these ‘availabilities’ has crossed the line into a sustained pattern of sexism. It’s not “tough”, it’s not journalism, its not in the public interest. It’s implicitly misogynistic and needs to stop. 15/15
