New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter was the latest to downplay Obama-supporter Hilary Rosen's insult of Ann Romney of having "never worked a day in her life," in his Sunday Review "news analysis," "From Flash to Fizzle." Stelter argued that Hilary Rosen's insult would be the latest controversy to burn hot and then be totally forgotten:
....Just ask Jeremy Lin, who’s no longer a source of “Linsanity,” or Karen Handel, who’s no longer a top official at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, or Michele Bachmann, no longer a presidential candidate. Or Rick Perry. Or Herman Cain. (If you can remember why they were newsworthy at all.)
In a few days, ask Hilary Rosen, whose comments about Ann Romney sparked a brief but furious “mommy war” last week.
These flash-in-the-pan episodes have long been evident in the entertainment universe. The breakup of a marriage like Kim Kardashian’s or the death of a superstar like Whitney Houston prompts instant heehawing and told-ya-so-ing, and a month later we’re hard-pressed to remember that it happened at all.
But now, the same overreactions happen with political news -- when Sarah Palin hints again at running for president or Rush Limbaugh insults a law student on the radio.
Speaking of "overreactions" – Stelter did six full stories on Limbaugh and free-birth-control advocate Sandra Fluke, and never suggested it was a non-issue with little permanent resonance. In contrast, his Sunday piece marks the first story by Stelter (according to a nytimes.com search) that even mentions Rosen, only to suggest that the controversy is already on the wane. (Little wonder, with such unimpressive coverage from the Times.)
