Crappy Headline Department
From Mistah Kurtz .
Headline sez:
E-Mail Deriding Katherine Harris Costs Editor's Job
Story sez:
The Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune recently ran a 4,400-word, 2 1/2-page spread on Republican congressional candidate Katherine Harris. And when one reader
complained that Democratic candidates were getting short shrift, Managing Editor Rosemary Armao responded with a remarkably candid e-mail -- one that wound up
costing her her job.
"Katherine Harris is an international figure, like her or not," Armao wrote of the woman who became a central player in the presidential recount in Florida. "She's going
to be the next congresswoman from this area, like it or not. . . . I have no intentions of covering each of the Democratic candidates to the same extent."
Armao added: "I do not intend to vote for Harris. . . . I blame the Democrats for not finding a better candidate . . . and I blame our culture for craving as its public
figures, women like Katherine who are very pretty, hard-working and without original ideas that I can find."
<...>
"The recount transformed her into a Republican Party hero and role model for women," the story said. "Critics knock it as the latest break for a politician they consider
intellectually shallow, ethically shady and easily manipulated by power brokers. Harris is a lightning rod for angry Democrats, who count her as little more than a
wealthy opportunist. . . . To supporters, she is sincere, upright and astute, a relentlessly hard worker who is charming and outgoing, yet politically tough."
The article drew an e-mail complaint from Florida attorney Dennis Plews, who wrote another Herald-Tribune editor: "The one-sided puff piece on Kathryn [sic] Harris
was beneath the dignity of an independent newspaper." Armao sent him the controversial response.
In an interview earlier this week, Armao said: "I don't as a journalist feel I have to balance the Republican candidate -- an international figure, whether you like her or not
-- with the Democratic candidates." She said the Democrats competing for the primary nomination are "complete unknowns" and simply "won't get as much space."
Referring to a recent Herald-Tribune piece about a mixed-breed canine running for the seat, Armao said: "The dog is not looking too bad."
