Dennis Prager says that when he goes on the radio, people talk to him afterwards about what he said. When he goes on TV, people talk to him afterwards about what he looked like.
On Sunday’s "Reliable Sources," Howie Kurtz discussed the recent brou-ha-ha over Jennifer Love Hewitt and the unflattering bikini shots of her published on TMZ (well, it was more recent last weekend when it was discussed on Fox News Watch! Just sayin’). Kurtz discussed the matter with CNN’s Carol Costello and Star Editor-at-Large Julia Allison. While Allison’s web–savvy (and, er, awareness of female body image in the media) are well-documented, Costello seemed a bit less than familiar with the current state of the gossip bloggerati:
COSTELLO: We’re talking about TMZ, which is a third-rate gossip site. We’re not talking about any magazine of any heft. We’re talking about male bloggers who posted…
ALLISON: But that is what people read.
COSTELLO: … who posted blogs anonymously poking fun at Jennifer Love Hewitt. We’re not talking about "People" magazine.
ALLISON: Well, and "People" magazine talked about the situation. Obviously, it was interesting enough for them to debate it.
Cut, meanwhile, to the Hewitt bikini shot on the cover of People magazine. Oops. Never mind that the post in question was authored by "TMZ Staff" and TMZ has a growing staff of both men and women — many of whom hold management positions, according to TMZ rep Carolyn Fenton — as befits a growing burgeoning breaking-news gossip website often referred to as a "juggernaut" with scoops that are routinely used (and duly credited) by all the cablers, CNN included. But, thanks for the expertise, Carol!
Costello also didn’t have much pity for Hewitt or her privacy concerns, calling her a "hypocrite" and raising her appearance on the cover of "Maxim" magazine "in very sexual poses":
She’s the one that objectified herself…. Had she never appeared on that kind of magazine, perhaps she wouldn’t be garnering the attention that she is right now. I mean, doesn’t she deserve those comments if she puts herself out there as an object?
Hmm. That rang a faint bell, and reminded us of the last time we’d seen Costello on "Reliable Sources" — in October, talking about the pressures on TV newswomen to look good.
KURTZ: Carol Costello, have you had that reaction, where somebody has seen you and, rather than focusing on the report that you did, it was more about how you were wearing your hair or what — what dress you were wearing that day?
COSTELLO: Absolutely — I absolutely have fought that through my career. People write in all the time about what my hair looks like. But you know what? I’m a really good reporter, and I prove that every day in "THE SITUATION ROOM". And I don’t feel that my career has been defined by the way I look.
and
KURTZ: Carol Costello, 20 seconds. Do you find it insulting that you feel like you’re being graded this way, despite your obvious journalistic credentials?
COSTELLO: Yes, I do feel insulted. You know, I feel insulted by all these web sites who say they talk about the news business, yet they have a hottie list. And somehow they have to rank women according to their hotness in the news business. I really don’t get things like that. And that, to me, is offensive.
Okay so wait: Both Jennifer Love Hewitt and Carol Costello have jobs where they are seen on-camera, where, yes, there is a non-visual skill set involved but where their looks are — regrettably or not — part of the package. But why is it that when Jennifer Love Hewitt complains of unwanted attention she asked for it, but when Costello complains of the same thing it’s "offensive"?
